Showing results by narrator "Bill Hare" in All Categories

Like many historical figures, Harun al-Rashid’s biography has become part reality and part myth. A real individual and the fourth caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, Harun al-Rashid is best known to many individuals because of his role in famous literature like One Thousand and One Nights, not necessarily because of his policy decisions. This is unusual because Harun al-Rashid was perhaps the most influential of the Abbasid caliphs due to his role in bringing economic prosperity.

In 722 BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed the kingdom of Israel, and after a siege of three years, the city of Samaria fell to the troops of Sargon II. As was a common practice in the ancient world, the victor uprooted the inhabitants and forced them into exile, scattering the refugees throughout Asia Minor and possibly Africa to destroy them as a cohesive group and prevent them from possibly revolting. That exile brought about the end of the 10 lost tribes of Israel. Only the much smaller and less important kingdom of Judah, nestled in the arid lands of the south, survived....

The term robber baron has largely fallen into disuse in the 21st century but there was a time when it was a popular epithet that described the kind of man who, it was believed, built his fortune by taking things belonging to others. Of all the men labeled as robber barons during the Gilded Age, few were as influential as Henry Clay Frick, who rubbed shoulders with men like J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie while overseeing some of the era’s biggest companies.

Over the last 2,000 years, ambitious men have dreamed of forging vast empires and attaining eternal glory in battle, but of all the conquerors who took steps toward such dreams, none were ever as successful as antiquity’s first great conqueror. History for Kids: The Illustrated Life of Alexander the Great provides an entertaining look at the facts and myths surrounding one of history’s most famous men and conquerors, while exploring the lasting legacy he left.

Pavlov's dogs are to Psychology 101 what Rome is to antiquity classes. This particular series of experiments and the concept of classical conditioning likely ring a bell for many readers and listeners because they have been referenced in countless texts, both scientific and otherwise, and they have seeped into various forms of pop culture throughout the years.

The invasion across the Channel came in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. That day, forever known as D-Day, the Allies commenced Operation Overlord by staging the largest and most complex amphibious invasion in human history. The complex operation would require tightly coordinated naval and air bombardment, paratroopers, and even inflatable tanks that would be able to fire on fortifications from the coastline, all while landing over 150,000 men across nearly 70 miles of French beaches.

Of all the authors and poets American schoolchildren may be exposed to over the course of their education, Robert Frost is often one of the first, and on rare occasions that he is not, it is still a near certainty that some of his most famous poems will be discussed at some point. Frost may not be as remembered or influential as other American literary giants, or even poets such as Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, but his career was historic in terms of its length and breadth of accomplishments.

The belief in lycanthropy is far older and more complex than most people suspect, dating all the way back to antiquity, and werewolves were once assumed to be very real. Indeed, people were even put on trial and executed because the courts of law were convinced they could change their form and kill innocent people. For thousands of years, werewolves have represented a strange and ancient tradition that still echoes through culture to this day.

Though it might be hard to believe, the Americans did not have a covert operations organization when they joined World War II, and like the British, it took them some time to realize it could be a powerful tool. As a result, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was not established until June 13, 1942, six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Wahhabism is the most common form of politicized fundamentalist Islam, now most associated with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda and the official religion of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It is widespread throughout the Islamic world, especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan (where it was the official religion of the Taliban). Together, the Saudi and al-Wahhab families formed a potent alliance, with the Saudis gaining an ideological backing for their small state and the Wahhabis gaining a powerful and increasingly wealthy patron.

The 19th century saw the rise of one of the largest, most powerful empires of the modern era. The sun never set on the British Empire, whose holdings spanned the globe, in one form or another. Its naval supremacy linked the Commonwealth of Canada with the colonies in South Africa and India, and through them trade flowed east and west. An integral but underutilized part of this vast trade network included China, a reclusive Asian kingdom closed off from the Western world that desired none of its goods.

After Prussia was victorious in the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck played a waiting game where the unification of Germany was concerned, as the joining of the southern states - initially resistant to Prussian rule, friendly with Austria, and bent on independence - would have to be overcome. What was needed was “a clear case of French aggression” toward either Prussia or the southern states. Not only would such a move by Emperor Napoleon III trigger the terms of the treaty between the German states, but it would keep the remaining world powers out of the conflict.

Worship of the Feathered Serpent can be traced back 2,000 years, and the Serpent’s cults appear all across Mesoamerica. The Olmec, the Aztec, and both the Yucatec and K’iche Mayans all had different names for this deity, including Kukulkan, Q’uq’umatz, and Tohil...Quetzalcoatl was and remains one of the most interesting and enlightening stories ever to have come out of any civilization, and his stories offer a better understanding of the Mesoamerican world.

On August 28, 1914, a British naval force of 31 destroyers, two light cruisers, and a submarine force emerged from the early morning mist on a mission deep into German home waters. Their target was Heligoland Bight, a bay on the German North Sea coastline located at the mouth of the Elbe River. Despite these obstacles, the British Navy succeeded in scoring a decisive victory. Without the loss of a single British ship, the British raid force managed to sink several German cruisers and destroyers.

He was a pioneering film director who had 518 films to his credit. His work spanned the silent and sound eras. Most of his films were completed in a span of 15 years. But today he is known only for one of his films, one considered by historians to be a landmark in cinema as well as the most controversial ever made. He could not escape the controversy of this one film before he died in relative obscurity, his contributions to the motion picture industry forever marred.

Welcome to Mumbai, one of India’s most bustling, populated, action-packed, creative, and absolutely random cities. Located in Western India in the state of Maharashtra, Mumbai is a natural destination for travelers who are seeking to get a feel for Indian city life and its environs. Experience Mumbai takes listeners to Mumbai’s touristy district and beyond, exposing them to local architecture, art, nature, cuisine, dance, and more in a way that will make a trip to Mumbai an experience unforgettable.

Despite a general dearth of African American names rising to musical prominence during the years of Reconstruction, Black talent existed in good measure for both popular and classical genres. And among the most notable musicians celebrated in the present day is composer Scott Joplin, who in his day earned the moniker “King of Ragtime”.

Europeans had believed in the existence of this Christian kingdom for hundreds of years, making Prester John a fascinating but difficult topic given that his story was entirely one of legend. Given that he was not a real figure, many modern histories either omit him or ignore his story and influence altogether, but as counterintuitive as it may seem, Prester John is important because for over 500 years people thought he was real. As a result, people took very real actions attempting to find them, and they had an impact on the world, as far back as the travels of Marco Polo.

French Senegal: The History of the French Colony and Senegal’s Transition to Independence examines how France established the colony, and how that colony affected events in the 20th century before Senegal became a modern nation.

The most famous battle of the 19th century was undoubtedly Waterloo, and the biggest battle of the Napoleonic Wars was Leipzig, but neither one of those legendary battles was the biggest of the century. That distinction instead belongs to the Battle of Königgrätz, a little known, but decisive conflict in a war between Prussia and Austria. Though it lasted only seven weeks and only had one truly decisive battle, the Austro-Prussian War nonetheless changed the political outlook in Europe forever.