Five Common Historical Misconceptions Explained

Vikings, Lady Godiva, Napoleon, Vomitorium, Columbus

Waterloo

From wikipedia:
Waterloo (Russian: Ватерлоо) is a 1970 Soviet-Italian film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo, and is famous for its lavish battle scenes.
It stars Rod Steiger (portraying Napoleon Bonaparte) and Christopher Plummer (portraying the Duke of Wellington) with a cameo by Orson Welles (Louis XVIII of France).

The film includes some 15,000 Soviet foot soldiers and 2,000 cavalrymen as extras (“it was said that, during its making, director Sergei Bondarchuk was in command of the seventh largest army in the world”). Fifty circus stunt riders were used to perform the dangerous horse falls. These numbers brought an epic quality to the battle scenes.

wikipedia
YouTube

Malmaison Virtual Tour

 

Virtual Tour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_de_Malmaison

The Battle Of Austerlitz

From the kultur.com website:

This stunning program features dramatized reconstructions and ‘eye-witness’ accounts of Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous battle, plus Russian archive film footage from Bunderchuck’s masterpiece War and Peace. With 3D graphic mapping techniques and delightful period imagery, ‘The Battle of Austerlitz’ is a memorable account of a bloody battle which had a profound effect on the course of European history.

Other Napoleon related DVDs
The Napoleonic Wars
The Battle Of Trafalgar
The Battle Of Austerlitz
The Battle Of Borodino
Napoleon’s Road to Moscow
The Battle of Waterloo

Napoleon on His Imperial Throne

Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne
By Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Also see this earlier post: Concise Napoleon Timeline

Concise Napoleon Timeline

PBS has a nice concise Napoleon timeline here and a section covering his Campaigns and battles here. There is a lot more Napoleon info if you just go through the links once you get to the site. Here is the site map.

Missing body parts of famous people

From cnn.com:
Remember that goofy uncle of yours who always tried to impress you by “stealing your nose” or pulling the ol’ separating-his-thumb-from-his-hand move? Well, those parlor tricks are nothing compared to the appendage stunts pulled by these 10 (6) famous people.

- John Wilkes Booth’s neck bones

- Einstein’s brain

- “Stonewall” Jackson’s arm

- Saint Francis Xavier’s hand

- Napoleon’s bits and pieces

- Oliver Cromwell’s head

Read the article here.

Napoleon Poisoning Claims Debunked

From the discovery.com article:
Napoleon Bonaparte did not die from arsenic poisoning, a new examination of the French emperor’s hair has established.

The man who dominated much of Europe in the early 19th century died at age 52 in British-imposed exile on St. Helena in the south Atlantic, where he had been banished after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

For decades, scholars have debated how Napoleon met his early death on May 5, 1821.

The autopsy and conclusion of his personal doctor, Francesco Antommarchi, indicated that Napoleon died of stomach cancer.

But the veracity of Antommarchi’s report was questioned in 1961, and more recently in 2001, when high arsenic levels were found in Napoleon’s hair. Various theories of conspiracy, treachery and poisoning followed.

According to those claims, the former French Emperor was poisoned to prevent a return to power if he escaped exile.

Now, Italian scientists have repeated the hair testing using a small nuclear reactor. The study will be published in the March issue of the Italian journal Il Saggiatore.

Read the article here.

The 50 key dates of world history

From the timesonline.co.uk article:

The eminent historian Richard Overy, editor of The Times Complete History of the World, chooses the dates that he believes have most influenced humanity.

The historian’s choice

1 c.3500 BC Invention of the wheel and plough in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq); invention of the sail in Egypt: three fundamental inventions for trade, agriculture and exploration.

2 c.3200 BC Invention of writing in Mesopotamia: the means to record and understand human history.

3 c.3000 BC Founding of the first cities in Sumeria (present-day Iraq): origin of modern social and administrative structures.

4 c.1600 BC Modern alphabet invented: the essential means of communication of complex concepts and culture.

5 c.1600 BC Beginning of Greek civilisation: essential to Western heritage and the root of mathematics, philosophy, political thinking and medicine.

6 753 BC Foundation of Rome: the Roman Empire is a pillar of the modern age, producing ideas on justice, law, engineering and warfare.

7 c.670 BC Invention of ironworking: metallurgy is the key to further technical, economic and military developments.

8 c.551 BC Birth of Confucius, the founder of one of the world’s major philosophical systems.

9 490 BC Battle of Marathon: the Greeks repel a Persian invasion, securing the survival of Greek culture and science.

10 486 BC Birth of Buddha, founder of one of the world’s major religions.

11 327 BC Empire of Alexander the Great reaches into India: the first example of a long-term and often violent interrelationship between Europe and Asia.

12 202 BC Hannibal is defeated by Rome: the victory is essential to secure the survival and expansion of Roman civilisation.

13 27 BC Founding of the Roman Empire: this is the start of the classic period of Roman domination in Europe and the Mediterranean.

14 c.5 BC Birth of Jesus Christ, founder of the many branches of Christianity. The exact date is disputed.

15 AD 105 First use of modern paper: this replaced stone, slate, papyrus and vellum as a cheap and convenient medium.

Read the article and the rest of the 50 here.

Western Paradigm 9/17/07

Western Paradigm, September 17, 2007

Fake Napoleon death mask ?

Bugatti Veyron “Pur Sang”

Media Studies and other trendy ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees ‘leave students disatisfied’

The mystery of China’s celtic mummies