Scientists Finally Pinpoint the Pathogen That Caused the Irish Potato Famine
For nearly 150 years, starting in the late 17th century, millions of people living in Ireland subsisted largely off one crop: the potato. Then, in 1845, farmers noticed that their potato plants’ leaves were covered in mysterious dark splotches. When they pulled potatoes from the ground, most were shrunken, mushy and inedible. The blight spread alarmingly quickly, cutting yields from that year’s harvest in half. By 1846, harvest from potato farms had dropped to one quarter of its original size.
The disease—along with a political system that required Ireland to export large amounts of corn, dairy and meat to England—led to widespread famine, and nearly all of the few potatoes available were eaten, causing shortages of seed potatoes that ensured starvation would continue for nearly a decade. Ultimately, over one million people died, and another million emigrated to escape the disaster, causing Ireland’s population to fall by roughly 25 percent; the island has still not reached its pre-famine population levels today. Read more.
May 4, 1970: The Kent State shootings take place.
The shooting of unarmed students by members of the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University, was one of the most notorious domestic events of the Vietnam War Era. It took place in the midst of a protest which itself was a reaction against government policy; antiwar sentiment was widespread throughout the nation, particularly among young people, so when President Nixon announced in late April that the U.S. military was to conduct military operations in Cambodia in pursuit of the PAVN and Viet Cong forces (which seemed to contradict his policy of Vietnamization and détente), student-organized protests on university campuses across the country erupted. These student strikes eventually involved at least 400 campuses, although the National Guard was deployed to only twenty-one of them, one of which was Kent State University in Ohio.
The Kent State demonstration began on May 1; the National Guard was called to the campus on May 2 by Governor James Rhodes, who denounced the student protesters and claimed that they were ”the worst type of people that we harbor in America”, comparing them to Nazi brownshirts and the Ku Klux Klan. Many in Kent and across the nation agreed with the governor’s condemnation of student protests, but just as many disagreed, to varying degrees. When the shooting and killing of Kent State students made national headlines, the issue remained just as divisive, with many believing that the students had brought the violence upon themselves. On May 4, the tensions between the guardsmen and students heightened. Tear gas was used in the guardsmens’ attempts to disperse the crowd, and at some point in the confusion, for some still unknown reason, a little under half of the 77 guardsmen present began to fire into the crowd of students. The guardsmen later claimed that they had been shot by a sniper and were firing in self-defense; this claim was denied vehemently by the students, who admitted to throwing rocks, and also by the New York Times reporter who had been on the scene. The reporter also wrote:
As the guardsmen, moving up the hill in single file, reached the crest, they suddenly turned, forming a skirmish line and opening fire.
The crackle of the rifle volley cut the suddenly still air. It appeared to go on, as a solid volley, for perhaps a full minute or a little longer.
Some of the students dived to the ground, crawling on the grass in terror. Others stood shocked or half crouched, apparently believing the troops were firing into the air. Some of the rifle barrels were pointed upward.
Near the top of the hill at the corner of Taylor Hall, a student crumpled over, spun sideways and fell to the ground, shot in the head.
When the firing stopped, a slim girl, wearing a cowboy shirt and faded jeans, was lying face down on the road at the edge of the parking lot, blood pouring out onto the macadam, about 10 feet from this reporter.
Four students were killed, and nine were wounded (one was permanently paralyzed from chest down). Of the four killed by rifle fire, two had not been participants in the protest. According to eyewitness accounts, the students were shocked at the fact that the guardsmen had fired upon them and even more shocked that they had fired live ammunition instead of blanks. John Filo, the photographer who captured the Pulitzer Prize-winning image of Mary Ann Vecchio and Jeffrey Miller (pictured above), also believed at first that the guardsmen were firing blanks. President Nixon expressed regret for the killings, although he suggested that the students’ disruptive activities had “[invited] tragedy”, and, according to a Gallup poll, the public agreed - according to the survey, only 11 percent placed blame on the National Guard, while 58 percent blamed the students. Eleven days later, two black students were killed at Jackson State University during an antiwar protest, though these events failed to capture national attention as the Kent State shootings did.
Oh hey look one of the first Kent State posts I’ve seen all day.
Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism
The harsh winter of 1609 in Virginia’s Jamestown Colony forced residents to do the unthinkable. A recent excavation at the historic site discovered the carcasses of dogs, cats and horses consumed during the season commonly called the “Starving Time.” But a few other newly discovered bones in particular, though, tell a far more gruesome story: the dismemberment and cannibalization of a 14-year-old English girl.
“The chops to the forehead are very tentative, very incomplete,” says Douglas Owsley, the Smithsonian forensic anthropologist who analyzed the bones after they were found by archaeologists from Preservation Virginia. “Then, the body was turned over, and there were four strikes to the back of the head, one of which was the strongest and split the skull in half. A penetrating wound was then made to the left temple, probably by a single-sided knife, which was used to pry open the head and remove the brain.” Read more.
my all time favorite history story is that time the Austrian Army attacked itself. I mean just the Battle of Karánsebes
(Source: queenlafresia)
Off the shores of Alexandria, the city of Alexander the Great, lies what is believed to be the ruins of the royal quarters of Cleopatra. A team of marine archaeologists led by Frenchman Franck Goddio made excavation on this ancient city from where Cleopatra, the last queen of the Ptolemies, ruled Egypt. Historians believe this site was submerged by earthquakes and tidal waves more than 1,600 years ago.
The excavations concentrated on the submerged island of Antirhodus. Cleopatra is said to have had a palace there. Other discoveries include a well-preserved shipwreck and red granite columns with Greek inscriptions. There were also founded two statues which were lifted out of the harbor. One was a priest of the goddess Isis; the other a sphinx whose face is said to represent Cleopatra’s father, King Ptolemy XII. The artifacts were returned to their silent, because the Egyptian Government says it wants to leave most of them in place to create an underwater museum
Most of you probably know this is one of the Angel’s from Hellboy. But did you know that this is actually a more accurate protrayel of what angels are apparently supposed to look like according to The Bible? Although, and correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I remember they had 6 wings, covered with eyes on the wings. And had two eyes on their face, but used 2 wings to cover their face at all times, because if a mortal ever saw their face they would die. Angels from the bible are fucking terrifying honestly. :P
boring personal tidbit/rambling: When I was a kid I used compulsive behaviors to control my extreme anxiety. I was also raised Southern Pentecostal which focuses a lot on Old Testament scripture. We were told about what angels really looked like in Sunday School when I was 6 or so. The bible mentions multiple faces, being covered in eyeballs, constant singing, lion heads, etc. This spawned an extreme fear of angels and they became the butt of my anxieties (“If I open and close this door 10 times I won’t see an angel”). I use to pray to never see an angel, and I had recurring nightmares that my sister locked me in a room with cement angel statues that came to life and approached me while screaming. Then they would skin me and sacrifice me.
If you think about it, angels are kind of horrifying. Besides being described as beasts and monsters, they’re practically brainless drones. Heavenly angels are only one step removed from demons. The only difference is demons fell from heaven because they chose to follow Lucifer… who was an angel (angel of music and one of god’s favorites). So they are these eyeball covered animal mashed up monsters who were only created to worship for eternity (part of humanities creation was so that something would choose to love god, not just worship him because they were created to). Angels fall into a lot of new age and conspiracy beliefs too which my church believed and taught. We were taught that the supernatural realms went in the order of Heaven, Hell, then Earth. So when the angels fell from heaven with Lucifer, some fell through hell and landed on Earth. We were taught they intermarried with early humans and created giants (Goliath’s origins) and taught witch craft to women (make-up, sluttiness, etc.) Imagine learning all of that nonsense as a 5 year old kid.
HEY!! haha, this is EXACTLY the concept amy & I are messing around with in the angel project. Angels are such creepy and interesting beings when you examine the source material. We’re also playing with the fact that technically, angels have made their only moral choice, and so experience morality only in theory, which is fun
our designs for our angel characters are based on the non-humanoid or vaguely humanoid “canon” angels, which can be anything from a ball of wings covered in eyes to a huge, living wheel to animals on fireI love it when people actually know Angels are not winged bishies that sparkle and love mankind. They’re abominations, they’re alien, they’re beyond us. They’re creatures that biology as we know it does not apply to. Often they do not love mankind, they love God and God alone.
Really, Neon Genesis Evangeleon had a better idea of what Angels should really look and behave like (mindlessly subservient and driven towards their goal) than any other work of fiction I’ve seen so far. Though I’ve heard some tidbits from Supernatural at least, which has angels taking on human form but describing just what they look like when they’re not wearing their skin.
Just a little side note: the entire concept of the phrase “One-Winged Angel” (from Final Fantasy 7) was based on a phrase in the Bible concerning seraphim. It reads, “Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft.” This is much more evident in the form of Safer (?) Sephiroth, who has six white wings and one black wing, thus making him a one-winged angel. The description of angels posted above seems to match that near perfectly.
The angel that visited Mary first said “Do not be afraid”
Supposedly, somewhere in a work of text, Christ is described as a gored sheep with many heads and many horns and maybe many nimbuses/halos as well.
The Abrahamic religions were fucking metal, man.
Aren’t Archangels also supposed to be on fire all the time and have flaming swords or something? I think I once heard of something like this.
I’ve tried looking some of this stuff up, but i’ve never had much luck. I’ really love to see more info on more “accurate” angels…
Righty-o, I used to be something of a freak when it came to angelogy back in middle/high school, I guess you can chalk it up to that ol’ eighth grader syndrome but angels are split into different ranks with their appearance becoming more alien and bizzare the higher up you go. From bottom to top we have…
The Third Sphere:
Angels: Basic messengers to humankind.
Archangels: Superiors to angels. There seems to be a differentiation between archangels and “Archangels” who are senior named angels that can belong to a different rank, i.e Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, etc.
Principalities/Rulers: They wear crowns or wield scepters. They oversee groups of people and inspire things like art and science.
Second Sphere:
Powers/Authorities: Warrior angels, they oversee the distribution of power among the rulers of man.
Virtues: They oversee the movement of the cosmos.
Dominions: The angels who are Lords among angels and preside over nations. They look much like the everyday thought of angels but orbs of light above their heads.
First Sphere:
Thrones/Orphanim: Living symbols of justice and authority. They appear as a beryl-coloured wheel-within-a-wheel, their rims covered with hundreds of eyes.
Cherubim: Cherubim have four faces: one of each a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle. They have four conjoined wings covered with eyes, a lion’s body figure, and they have ox’s feet. They guard the way to the Tree of Life and God’s Throne.
Seraphim: The caretakers of God’s Throne. The name Seraphim means “the burning ones.” The Seraphim have six wings. Two wings cover their face, two cover their body, and two cover their feet.
As long as we’re talking about childhood influences and works of fiction that present a less sanitized view of the angelic choir, big ups to Madeleine L’engle for being one of the few children’s authors to level with us about how if you tangle with slutty terror angels you should probably make sure that your mitochondria is in order and that your fragile human vagina can take it.
Dude this is all really cool but I’m also confused so hopefully someone can explain it to me?
Lucifer was God’s favorite Angel. But wasn’t he also the most beautiful angel of them all? If the bible does mention he’s beautiful, I’d assume they meant beautiful in the forever changing “human standard” of beautiful instead of like “beautiful by angel standards”.
Also the whole Giants thing was the result of demons/fallen angels breeding with humans (mostly raping them OTL) rather than just…angels doing it but I guess fallen angels don’t look much different?? idk I always assumed fallen angels looked different once they fell idk why
I’ve also heard of the Sheep-like portrayal of Christ, he had like a bunch of eyes and stuff. Can’t find a picture but it was on History channel once. Personally I don’t recall it being a biblical description but rather it was an unconventional way of depicting him? at some point in history maybe somebody drew him a fursona???
ah sorry too tired to look it up sob still reblogging ‘cause this is some cool friggen commentary
(Source: necronosferatusxanctus)
