Richard III (1452-1485) put his dead brother’s son on the throne, schemed to take the crown, and started a war. He imprisoned his two young nephews in the Tower of London. Still a lot more is in question thanks to his successor Henry VII erasing his predecessor from history. The last king from the Plantagenet …
Author Archives: admin
Czech wild west fun
Apache Chief Winnetou, his braves and German crack-shot Old Shatterhand race horseback into an old western town. They are there to do battle against evil-doers making mischief against law biding citizens. Karl May movie reenactment This is part of a wild west reenactment of a hugely successful movie based on one of Karl May most …
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake (1540 – 1596) was an English knight, a navel officer, a pirate, and the favorite sea dog of Queen Elizabeth I. Privateer Queen Elizabeth I issued a special mandate encouraging attacking and stealing the bounty of Spanish ships. With the mandate Drake became a privateer. He helped fund Britain’s war against Spain. …
Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) born Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios was a Venezuelan military genius and political leader. He led a revolution that liberated South American countries that are now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia from the Spanish Empire. Caste System Born to a wealthy, politically connected, Venezuelan family, …
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) was a romantic era German, French composer and impresario. A child prodigy, at four he studied violin with his father; at nine he fell in love with the cello. At 14 he was accepted as a student to the prestigious Paris Conservatoire. International Fame But Offenbach grew bored and left after a …
E. T. A. Hoffmann
E. T. A. Hoffmann, (1776-1822) born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was a German author of fantasy and Gothic horror. He was also a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Hoffmann is one of the major creators of the Romantic movement. Jacques Offenbach His stories were the basis of the famous opéra fantastique by Jacques Offenbach, …
Nat Love
Nat Love (1854-1921) was a slave born on Robert Love’s Tennessee plantation. After the civil war ended and the slaves were freed his parents became sharecroppers. His father Sampson died shortly after and Nat took a job at a local farm to help breaking horses. Westward Eventually Nat traveled to Dodge City, Kansas where he …
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German professor of theology, a composer, a priest, and a monk. Horrified by the indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church he became a major initiator of the Protestant Reformation. Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement. It swept through Europe in the 1500s. The Reformation divided the …
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an escaped slave from Maryland. He was an author, editor, diplomat, suffragist, and a national leader of the abolitionist movement. Orator & writer A brilliant orator Northerners had a hard time imaging that he had once been a slave. This inspired him to write his first autobiography which became a best …
Sir Kenelm Digby
Dashing 17th century courtier Sir Kenelm Digby (1603 –1665) was a dashing 17th century courtier. During his time on the continent Marie de Medici fell madly in love with him and wrote about him in her memoirs. An English courtier, diplomat, philosopher, and astrologer Digby was also a privateer. Privateer A privater is a government …