History

History

At their peak, nearly a third of England's temperance halls aimed at curbing the scourge of alcohol once stood in London - a statistic that says as much about Victorian drinking habits in the capital as it does about the scale of the movement that rose up to challenge them. And many of the survivors are "hidden in plain sight" with new names and functions.

Taking its name from the word for "boiling waters," Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Georgia dates back more than 12,000 years and features Indigenous earthen mounds used for burials and ceremonies. Today, it's in talks to be designated a national park with expanded acreage. "This was a capital city for the Creek Confederacy," says Tracie Revis, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative (ONPPI).

The foundations of several buildings made of mudbrick were unearthed, evidence of a self-sustaining residential community that sheds new light on early Christian monastic life in the region. Details of the architectural remains point to a well-planned complex. Mohamed Abdel-Badei, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, said the mission uncovered rectangular mudbrick buildings oriented west to east, with dimensions ranging from about 8 by 7 metres to 14 by 8 metres.

A gold ring with a deep-blue, oval setting - decorated with fine spirals of filigree and tiny granulated beads - has been recovered from medieval deposits in Tønsberg, a historic town in southeastern Norway. The ring was found during an excavation in the modern town centre, where archaeologists have been investigating layers of urban life preserved beneath today's streets. The discovery was made within the protected archaeological area known as Tønsberg Medieval Town.

In the early 19th century, the invention of the loom threatened to turn the labor market upside down. Until then, cloth was made by skilled artisans, but the loom enabled more cloth to be made more quickly by less-skilled workers. One could even argue that the Jacquard loom, a loom that allowed for complex weaving patterns via punch cards, was the first computer.

Debt, poverty, war, and death in early-20th-century Venezuela were direct consequences of the machinations of Johnny Mack, a Philadelphia contract man connected to the highest ranks of the Republican Party. Mack used Venezuela to stage a war against his US rivals to establish a monopoly on asphalt, gaining control of a sputtering tar pit, which has been compared by more than a few to the gates of hell, near which no trees could grow nor birds fly.

The accompanying catalogue for Hawai' i: a Kingdom Crossing Oceans features more than 150 works, from ancient Hawaiian treasures to important contemporary pieces, telling "a compelling story of movement, allyship and cultural exchange [between the UK and Hawaii]". An inventory of the entire collection of Native Hawaiian works housed at the British Museum, the largest collection outside of Hawaii, is included in the catalogue.

It was long ago that poly­the­ism, as the sto­ry comes down to us, gave way to monothe­ism. Human­i­ty used to have many gods, and now almost every reli­gious believ­er acknowl­edges just one - though which god, exact­ly, does vary. Some pop­u­lar the­o­ries of "big his­to­ry" hold that, as the scale of a soci­ety grows larg­er, the num­ber of deities pro­posed by its faiths gets small­er.

Siegfried's remarkable life was one of contrasts, new beginnings, and lasting friendships. Childhood on the Geyersberg in the town of Dobeln in Saxony, Germany, was magical; a loving family, school friends, and the innate charm of the town made it so. But this was also a time in Germany of regimentation and uncertainty. Siegfried was drafted into the German anti-aircraft when he was 15. What followed under the communist regime was equally unpleasant.

Ada Lovelace is recognized today as the world's first computer programmer, thanks to her 1843 paper in which she wrote the first algorithm on punch cards to make calculations on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. That same year, she had daguerreotype portraits taken by photographer Antoine Claudet. Claudet had learned how to use the new technology from Louis Daguerre himself in the late 1830s.

An archaeologist working alone in the historic center of Tnsberg, Norway, discovered a medieval gold ring with elaborate decoration and a blue oval gem set in the middle. Only 63 other gold rings from the Middle Ages are in the joint database of the Norwegian university museums collections, and it's been 15 years since a gold ring from the period was found in Tnsberg. This example is exceptional for the intricacy of its design and high quality of craftsmanship.

Public houses - inns, taverns, and alehouses - during the Jagiellonian Dynasty (1385-1572) in the city of Cracow and its immediate surroundings functioned as important establishments in the everyday life of the city. Although taverns and alehouses are often treated as a key feature of medieval life, surprisingly few books put them at the centre of the story. This one will appeal to anyone working on social history, and it should also interest researchers of medieval towns and urban violence.

This doesn't happen often, says Flora Karagianni, director of EKBMM. Usually, we already know about the frescoes and we restore them. To see white walls suddenly reveal figures and faces is a moment of great joy and revelation. This did not happen elsewhere. In other monuments we've preserved outside Greece, the frescoes were known and we simply did cleaning and stabilization. The joy of such a discovery, we truly experienced at the Church of Saint Nicholas.

Today in history: On Jan. 3, 1977, Apple Computer, months after its founding, was incorporated in Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Mike Markkula (MAHR'-kuh-luh) Jr. Also on this date: In 1777, Gen. George Washington's army routed British troops in the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, a key turning point in the Revolutionary War. In 1861, more than two weeks before Georgia seceded from the Union, the state militia seized Fort Pulaski, in the coastal area east of Savannah, at the order of Gov. Joseph E. Brown.

1 Which Briton has the most statues erected in their honour? 2 Which parts of the world have no assigned time zones? 3 Whose portrait of Elisabeth Lederer recently sold for $236m? 4 Germany's Isabell Werth is considered the GOAT in what Olympic sport? 5 Which Old English poem commemorates a battle of AD991? 6 What is the oldest university in the Netherlands? 7 Which US rocker died in Bath in 1960? 8 What phase follows a full moon?

For over a thousand years, Constantinople stood among the medieval world's richest and most sophisticated cities. As the capital of the Byzantine Empire, it was more than a political centre: it was a living city shaped by imperial ceremony and Christian devotion, by merchants and craftsmen, and by the everyday routines that kept a vast urban population fed, housed, and working.

A conversation with Kim Bowes about her recent book, Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent, which presents a brilliant new model of the Roman imperial economy, specifically for how the majority of the population experienced it. We talk about the skeletal evidence, monetization, affluence and precariousness, and levels of consumption.

When most people think of tiaras, they picture royalty or brides, not the military; however, the unique headpiece has a place in the history of the US armed forces. At one time, three branches of the armed forces offered tiaras to servicewomen for formal events, and the Navy still permits them today, though spotting one in the wild is rare.

A silver pendant decorated with an image and attributes of Assyrian goddess Ishtar has been discovered ancient city of Amos near Turunc, southwestern Turkey. Decorated with repousse figures and hammered dots, the round medallion has a hanging loop at the top indicating it was worn on a necklace. It is missing a part of the lower left quadrant, but the lion's fierce roaring face, body, hind legs and tail are all preserved. A female figure wearing a tall headdress stands on the lion's back.

1. Vinum da docto, laico de flumine cocto; Ille bibat vinum, qui scit formare Latinum. Translation: Give wine to the learned, water cooked from the river to the layman; Let him drink wine who knows how to shape Latin. Explanation: This proverb highlights the idea that wine, symbolising sophistication and culture, is suited for those educated and knowledgeable (the learned), while the uninitiated (laymen) might make do with simpler fare, here metaphorically described as "water cooked from the river." It also implies that true appreciation (of wine or language) requires skill and understanding.

It would­n't sur­prise us to come across a Japan­ese per­son in Venice. Indeed, giv­en the glob­al touris­tic appeal of the place, we could hard­ly imag­ine a day there with­out a vis­i­tor from the Land of the Ris­ing Sun. But things were dif­fer­ent in 1873, just five years after the end of the sakoku pol­i­cy that all but closed Japan to the world for two and a half cen­turies.

The Texas Revolution (1835-1836) is one of the most important events in American history as it established the Texas Republic, leading to the annexation of Texas as the 28th state in 1846, which ignited the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The Mexican-American War resulted in the Mexican Cession, through which the USA gained the territories of Alta California, New Mexico, and Texas in 1848.

The American Revolutionary War is one of the most studied conflicts, as well as one of the most celebrated times in U.S. history. Despite this, many of its basic facts have faded from memory. Many of us have forgotten the crucial battles and iconic people involved, alongside the motivations that drove the colonies to rebellion. However, understanding these events is necessary to understanding our country.