History in Pics

Dead bodies brought in the St. Ignatius Church following a U.S. raid on Prague, on 14 Feb. 1945.

Lincoln’s Cats

In 1930, the Hunter brothers embarked on an incredible journey, flying nonstop for 23 days. During this epic flight, they meticulously examined their plane’s engine mid-air to ensure smooth operation. This daring feat showcased their exceptional skill and determination, setting an aviation milestone and inspiring future generations of pilots.

Check out a mysterious ancient culture and the 3,000-year-old mounds they left behind.

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One cat, Simon, was given the rank “Able Seacat Simon” after dutifully killing rats and mice that were destroying the HMS Amethyst’s food supplies. The ship had come under fire during the Chinese civil war and many of its crewmen had died. The cat had been gravely injured, too, but he picked out the shrapnel himself – seriously – and went straight to killing the rodents that were overrunning the ship. He unfortunately passed from his injuries two weeks before he was scheduled to receive the Dickin Medal. To this day, he is the only cat to receive this award.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the other side of No Man’s Land…

Meet Percy, mascot of HMLS (D20) “Daphne” with Lt Drader. Both survived the War, and Percy retired to live out his peacetime life in the Drader family home.

(Here’s a video clip; given how noisy, hot and smelly early tanks were, Percy seems remarkably unfazed.) 

A US Army tank cat, Mustard of the 321st, with a Renault FT light tank and its driver Sgt Postal…

A Royal Artillery kitten (the battery mascot)…

Pincher of HMS Vindex on what looks like a Sopwith Pup scout…

Togo, ship’s cat of HMS Dreadnought (though I’ve also seen “HMS Irresistible”)…

Ship’s cat of HMS Queen Elizabeth atop 15″ main battery…

And speaking of big ships and big guns…

Gold jaguar figurine, Moche culture, Peru, 100-800 AD

Sculpture of a Bison (replica)

This is a replica of a 14,000-year-old sculpture found in the Madeleine Cave in France and is made of reindeer antler.

This is a incredibly rare find. A ball of yarn made from stinging nettle fibers in the Late Neolithic (5900 years old) in what’s now Marin-Epagnier in Switzerland. The thread has been preserved by being carbonized. Look at how much thread that is! And how fine and even it is spun! The skill going into this is absolutely incredible. Imagine the incredible textile work that must’ve been made with that. For a reference here’s a ball of nettle yarn I managed to make with a drop spindle. That took me 300 hours of work.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3467 

LoC ClassDG: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Italy, Vatican City, Malta SubjectRenaissance – Italy SubjectBorgia, Cesare, 1476?-1507

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Cesare Borgia, by Raphael Sabatini

Lucretia Borgia