Showing results by author "Hourly History" in All Categories

The phrase "an heir and a spare" refers to the imperative for members of the royal family to provide both an heir to take on their title and a spare. In this equation King George VI was the spare - the second son of King George V and Mary, and never expected to sit on the throne. King George VI, or Albert as he was known prior to his kingship, had a career in the Royal Navy and served during the First World War before King Edward VIII’s decision to abdicate his throne.

The assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Franz Ferdinand didn't just ignite the fuse to the tinderbox that was Europe in the early years of the twentieth century. When war was declared and the soldiers set off to fight the "war to end all wars," World War I realigned nations, sent their economies reeling, and toppled thrones and classes. Hungary was a particularly vivid example of how quickly a nation's fate could plummet from empire to supplicant.

Discover the remarkable life of Sacagawea... Sacagawea is widely known as the Native American woman who helped guide Lewis and Clark across the western frontiers of North America in the early 1800s. It was an extraordinary journey that took a small band of explorers thousands of miles into uncharted territory, across treacherous mountain passes, vast plains, and all the way to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. This was indeed a remarkable and historic period for both Sacagawea and the rapidly growing nation of the United States.

In 1642, King Charles I and the elected Parliament of England went to war over the future of the Stuart kingdom. Over the next nine years, three civil wars would be fought, devastating the populations of England, Scotland, and Ireland. With the authority of the monarchy, the freedom of Parliament, and the power of religion at stake, the English Civil Wars decided the future of Great Britain and influenced the future of politics around the world.

Isaac Newton seemed to be a most unwanted child of the world. Ignored by his mother, scorned by contemporaries, seemingly at war with the world in which he lived, Newton turned his energies to things unseen. His laws of motion and law of universal gravitation would set the stage for a most extraordinary life. Follow along as you travel from a rugged stone farmhouse to Trinity College, Cambridge to the halls of London exhibitions where Newton found himself the celebrity of the age. Looking back on Aristotle, and inspired by all that Galileo had brought the world, Newton made his life work much of what is heralded as the modern age. He saw what no one else did, and his vision saw into the universe. See how he did it, and why.

One of the most controversial figures in British history, Oliver Cromwell entered the world as an insignificant member of the English gentry and left it as the all-powerful Lord Protector of the entirety of England, Scotland, and Ireland. A radical Puritan, Cromwell believed that his meteoric rise through the ranks of the English military and parliament was an expression of God's will.

Discover the remarkable history of the Nuremberg Trials...In 1933, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, triumphant after the July 1932 elections, was the largest political party in Germany. The Nazis quickly banned all other political parties and proceeded to implement the policies which aroused the anti-Semitic sentiment of the German people. When the Allied Powers joined forces to fight the Nazis, they were determined to bring the German leaders to justice in an international court where they would be tried for their war crimes.

In the midst of World War I, the Easter Rising took place in Dublin and throughout Ireland in April 1916. The revolutionary movement faced many problems from the beginning, including splintered leadership, disorganized support, opposition from moderate supporters of home rule, and prepared retaliation from the British.

Bernard Montgomery, “the Spartan General”, was one of the giants of World War II. He was a field marshal, as well as an entirely powerful personality, who shaped much of how that aforementioned cataclysmic conflict turned out. If it weren’t for Montgomery’s steady hand in North Africa, for example, it would have been much harder for the Allies to prevail. Montgomery was born the humble son of a minister. As he matured, he grew increasingly bold and confident in his own abilities. He realized he was a natural leader of men—and others quickly came to realize it as well.

The October Revolution of 1917, which saw the fall of the tsar and the installation of a provisional government in Russia, was a momentous event in modern history. However, the Russian Revolution was far from the end of the story of the establishment of Communism in Russia. Within months, the Red Bolsheviks were under attack by the reactionary Whites. The civil war raged for more than two years, leaving millions dead and many millions more displaced. Although less well-known than the revolution, the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922 did far more to shape the modern world.

Machiavelli's very name is synonymous with strategy and cunning. This is no hyperbole—the term "Machiavellian" has long been part of our vocabulary. And it all traces back to one man: Niccolo Machiavelli. Yet for all the associations his name conjures—cunning strategy, swift reversals of fate, ruthless political calculation—most of us know surprisingly little about Machiavelli himself. Who was the man behind the legend?

Bonnie and Clyde took part in plenty of brazen heists during their short lives. From small-town filling stations to rural banks, they left behind a trail of chaos and carnage in their wake. Initially, the public seemed rather intrigued by this pair of romantically involved desperadoes, thumbing their noses at authority during the depths of the Great Depression.

Golda Meir began her career as a grassroots activist whose tireless efforts helped ensure the creation of a Jewish homeland. As a diplomat and negotiator, she played a pivotal role in securing the recognition and funding that made the founding of Israel possible in 1948. She would go on to serve as the new nation’s foreign minister and, ultimately, as its prime minister—one of the first women in the world to hold such an office.

Britain may have had more than its fair share of kings, but King Edward I is most certainly one for the record books. Edward I was a foundational figure in every sense. It was Edward who conquered Wales and incorporated it into England. It was Edward who set the stage for the conquest of Scotland—a brutal campaign that would define the final years of his reign and ignite centuries of conflict.

Patrick Swayze was more than just a beloved Hollywood star—he was a force of nature. Known for his magnetic presence and irresistible charm, Swayze captivated audiences worldwide with roles that showcased his unique blend of ruggedness and grace. But behind the scenes, few knew the true extent of the challenges he faced on his journey to stardom.

Few women in history have inspired such contradictory reactions as Catherine de Medici. To her admirers, she was a brilliant stateswoman and a steadying force in an era of great religious conflict. To her enemies, she was something far darker: a scheming foreigner, an Italian serpent coiled at the heart of the French court. What almost everyone agreed on was that she was extraordinary.

Violent confrontation between armed groups over the supply of illegal narcotics is something we commonly associate with criminal gangs in modern cities, but in the mid-19th century Great Britain went to war with Imperial China in order to continue to supply Chinese addicts with opium. The two wars that followed have become known as the Opium Wars, and they led to the utter defeat of China, the establishment of a British colony in Hong Kong, and the continuation of a narcotics trade that was worth millions of pounds each year to the British.

Dating back to the fifth century, the legend of King Arthur, his Queen Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table is an integral part of British national mythology. From its beginning as a few lines of Latin text written in a sixth-century monk’s hand, Arthurian legend has blossomed over the years into a unique universe built on the real foundations of Britain’s Dark Ages and the principles of ancient chivalry.

James I of England and VI of Scotland was the first king to rule both countries. He was faced with division between his realms and caught between the religious wars of the Reformation. Spending most of his reign at odds with the religious and parliamentary powers around him, James did little to unite his people. Unable to take a firm stand on critical issues, he spent his life avoiding them.

Discover the remarkable life of Johann Sebastian Bach... During his lifetime, Johann Sebastian Bach was a Konzertmeister who played eloquent music for the masses at church, but his unique, free-flowing style was not always appreciated when his day job called for him to play traditional church standards. He was jailed by a duke, passed over for promotions, and told repeatedly to tone it down. Yes, for most of his life, Bach was more akin to an unsung hero than the celebrated genius we know him as today. That recognition would come, but not until long after he was gone.