A Day In History

From 16031854, Japan was a closed country. No one could leave the country, and foreigners were limited to a small port near Hiroshima. So when the American naval officer Matthew C. Perry forced Japan to open to trade and diplomacy with the outside world, the country was two hundred years behind the rest of the world economically, technologically, and militarily. Over the next forty to fifty years, however, Japan transformed itself from a feudal society governed by an outdated warrior class to a regional power.In 1896, the Japanese defeated China in the First SinoJapanese War over influence in Korea. Japan also won the island of Taiwan and several other concessions in Chinese cities, which essentially put the Japanese in control of small parts of China. However, Japan was not alone in this: by 1900, China was a weak, corrupt and divided power, and along with the English, French, Germans, Russians, and Americans, all had areas of China that were, if not under their direct control, were heavily influenced by them.In 19041905, Japan won a stunning victory over the Russian Empire. This war, too, was over influence in Korea, which also bordered Russia. With this victory, Japan gained control of Korea and took over Russian interests in northern China.In the 1920s and 30s, many internal and external factors led to the Japanese military's increased power over its civilian government. Moreover, by the second half of the 1930s, the Japanese military government had established almost total control over the government, the economy, and Japanese society. Added to that was the idea that the Japanese culture and people were superior to all others, especially to China and the Chinese, with which Japan had a lovehate relationship for centuries.In 1931, the Japanese army provoked an “incident” in Manchuria, today a part of China, but then a sort of an autonomous territory governed by Chinese military “warlords.” This was what we now call a “false flag” operation which ostensibly gave the Japanese an excuse to invade and take over resourcerich Manchuria.#nanking #ww2 #history #nankingjapan #japanww2 #japanhistory #g2aDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people today remember the Ottoman Empire as the „Sick Man of Europe”, an epithet the collapsing empire earned during the 19th and early parts of the 20th century. The description was no doubt correct during the period it was invented, however, it is also misleading, as throughout most of its existence, the Ottomans were a formidable power, whose strength was feared in Europe and the Middle East. The strength of the Ottoman Empire was built on multiple pillars, and each of these was able to strike fear into the hearts of the enemies of the Sultan. Stick around to find out what these pillars were, and please like and subscribe to the channel to see more videos like this. Ottoman fratricide Medieval and early modern Europe was mostly ruled by dynastic states. In this regard, the Christian Habsburg Empire differed little from the Ottoman Empire. A great difference between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans, however, was the method of succession. Throughout most of Christian Europe, the eldest son of a ruler stood to inherit his position and the power that came with it. When the eldest son predeceased the ruler, it could be the male descendants of the eldest son( if there were any), the other sons( if there were), brothers or even uncles of the ruler who could claim the throne.Successions were often messy and contested, but generally, there was a clear candidate whose claim was backed by the laws of the country.  Ottoman successions differed greatly from the successions of Christian Europe. Succeeding the Sultan in the female line was inhibited, but other than this rule, there seemingly were no other rules. All the sons of the Sultan were potential heirs, and even the youngest could ascend the throne, provided he was able to defeat his brothers.The lack of clear rules leads to many succession crises in the Ottoman Empire. The sons of Bayazid I fought each other for 11 years( 14021413) after their father died, while the early reign of Bayazid’s grandson, Murad II, was also plagued by civil war when he had to fight his uncle and his younger brother to solidify his grip on power.#history #ottomanempire #ottoman#historydocumentary #ottomansDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Jewish people have often been the target of persecution. There are several reasons for this, thoughmany of them do not make sense when looked at rationally. Later in this video, we will tell you howirrational fears and the misreading of history contributed to the hatred of the Jews, known as "antiSemitism." Before we do that, we'll tell you about two times the Jews were persecuted for moreunderstandable reasons. Their slavery in Egypt and the "Babylonian Captivity," took place many yearsbefore the existence of the Roman Empire.This video may contain disturbing or offensive content. Viewer discretion is advised. The creatorsof this video do not condone the actions of the subjects featured.EGYPT AND BABYLONIn the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, the Jews were slaves of Egypt. Egypt had conquered theIsraelites. At the time and throughout history, people at war took one another as slaves. Jews were nothated simply for being Jews – they had lost a war. Though historians are unsure of the dates of theirslavery's beginning and end, many people believe it happened during the time of Pharaohs Seti I andhis son Ramses II of Egypt. This would mean that the events surrounding the Israelite's slavery andtheir deliverance as described in the Bible happened around 13001250 BC.Five or six hundred years later, the Jewish kingdom of Judah found itself a tributary state of Babylon,which lay in most of presentday Iraq. Unfortunately for the Jews, their king had decided that he wouldno longer pay tribute to the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II. Bad idea. Nebuchadnezzar and theJews fought two wars, which ended in "The Babylonian Captivity ."In other words, many, if not most,Jews found themselves exiled and taken as slaves to Babylon. This ended 70 years later when thePersians defeated Babylon, and their ruler, Cyrus the Great, allowed the Jews to go home. Like theirancestors in Egypt, the Jews of the Babylonian Exile ,“had been enslaved”.ROME and the origins of antiSemitismIn the New Testament and other documents, such as the writings of the RomanJewish historianJosephus, we're told that the influential Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, were concerned thatJesus might cause disorder or even cause their overthrow. Because the death penalty was forbidden,they took their case to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. As a result, Jesus was executed by theRomans, for he announced himself the "King of the Jews." Pilate believed Jesus was putting himselfahead of Caesar, a big nono to the Romans, and ordered his death. But there was a "catch" that hashaunted the Jewish people in Europe ever since. Because these events took place during the Jewishholiday of Passover, Pilate offered the Jewish crowd gathered by the Pharisees a choice. Should he killJesus or the antiRoman killer named Barabbas?#history #jewspersecution #jewishhistory #jewsDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the year 395, the Roman Empire split into two parts: the Western Roman Empire, which included Rome, and the Eastern Roman Empire, sometimes called “The Byzantine Empire” after its capitol at Byzantium, and which became Constantinople during the reign of Emperor Constantine. The split of the most powerful empire in Western history happened for a number of reasons. One, it would be easier to administer a smaller area, considering the means of communication at the time. Two, the borders of the empire were threatened by many hostile people and it was believed that dividing command and control would make defending the empire easier. Three, it was believed that having two equal emperors would lessen the number of power struggles that had been taking place within the Roman Empire for decades. One thing didn't change with the division of the empire, however – the use of torture and bizarre punishments to keep the people and rivals in line.Another Byzantine favorite was "rhinotomy"the removal of the nose. If you've seen the movie "The Northman" (2022), you know that you can live without a nose. But, you couldn't be a Byzantine emperor, for laws forbade the most powerful and exalted figure in the land from being a person who had been disfigured. Political enemies at the highest levels would sometimes cut off the nose of rivals if they had the opportunity to prevent them from taking the throne. Emperors overthrown and not killed outright often had their noses cut off. Even with a leather or cloth mask to prevent foreign bodies from entering the space where the nose used to be, everyone knew what lay underneath. Of course, laws are only as strong as the paper or parchment they're written on and there were exceptions. The emperor Justinian II was involved in a power struggle with two rivals, one of which who had replaced Justinian on the throne after having cut Justinian's nose off. Undaunted, Justinian covered his nose with a shield made from pure gold, and being powerful, retook the throne. Shortly thereafter, his two rivals,former emperors Leontios and Tiberius III, had their noses cut off before being killed. Justice belonged to Justinian in 705AD.By the way, Justinian's nickname was “Rhinometos,” or “slitnosed.” It seems that among the ruling classes, golden noses were a trend in the Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine general Tatikios, who led the armies of the empire on the First Crusade also had a golden nose.#byzantineempire #punishments #history #byzantinehistoryDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved. Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For about ten years between 871881, a revolt in today’s southern Iraq destabilized an entire empire. The death toll resulting from this revolt may have been as “low” as 100,000 and as high as a million and a half; historians are not exactly sure and might never be. Some people today believe that “The Zanj Rebellion” was a revolt of enslaved African people against their Arab masters in a bid for freedom, but the truth behind this brutal period is a bit more complicated.Like the other great religions of the world, Islam is divided into different sects. Many, but not all, of the differences involve the line of succession following the death of the Prophet Muhammad.The Abbasid Caliphate took its name from the uncle of the Prophet, Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib (566653). The Abbasid Caliphate began in 750. However, over the next 100 years, it went from an empire that stretched from Arabia to modern Iraq to Spain, most of which had been conquered by Muslim armies by the late 700s. By the time of the Zanj Rebellion, the Abbasid Caliphate was still quite large but only a fraction of its former size. The caliphate ended in 1517, though it had taken a very confusing and winding path, both in territories and rulers, to get there.Revolt and rebellion were nothing new to the Abbasids, for the loss of its territory and its replacement by other dynasties or branches of the family of Muhammad were common. It ended in 1517, but it took various forms and moved from Arabia, to Iraq, to Egypt. Not all, but most of the rebellions that took place with the Abbasid period involved struggles for control, not for freedom. Which kind was the Zanj Rebellion. Depends on who you talk to, what you read or what you watch. #zanjrebellion #slavery #history #ottomanslavery #blackslavery Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Our” pope, John XII, ruled over Western Christendom from 955963 some six hundred years afterPope Damasus. Damasus had been appointed by the Emperor Theodosius, but by the time of John XII,popes were elected by the people of Rome. Well, that's kind of misleading, for while the people of thecity did vote for the pope, the vast majority of those votes were bought by powerful families who eitherhad a son or other family member “running” for the position. Essentially, the position of pope went tothe highest bidder. What's more the candidates for the position were oftentimes not exactly “paragonsof virtue.” As a matter of fact, some of them, like John XII did not know or care much about religion atall. What many popes and their backers cared about was POWER, and in the Middle Ages, the popewas considered infallible. In other words, he could make no mistakes, at least as far as it concernedmost the people.Kings and emperors were another matter, and at many times in history, the popes were tools of thosewho held military power. The pope, however, held the balance, for winning the pope over to your sidewas costly. In return for his support, rulers often had to pay bribes, give up land and at least to somedegree, listen to what the pope “suggested”, for the pope had the ultimate weapon – excommunication.Being “excommunicated” meant that a person was no longer able to take part in Church rites. Thepractices, such as Holy Communion, confession, and attending Mass. Without these rites and practices,a person could NOT ever ascend to Heaven, and could not, at least in theory, associate with any Christian, and all of the Christians in Western Europe at the time were Catholic. The pope hadtremendous power.John XIIBefore he took his “papal name” of John, he was known as “Octavianus.” His father, the powerful rulerof Rome, Duke Alberic II, named him after the first Roman emperor, Octavian – also known asAugustus, for Alberic wanted his son to follow him not only as the political leader of Rome, but aspope. Alberic's family, the Tusculum clan, had ruled the area for decades. They were rich, powerful andrespected, and Alberic himself was wellloved. After his death in 954, the rich and powerful in Romemade certain that Octavianus was elected pope, and the 18 year old became one of the most powerfuland richest men in the world as “John XII.”#popejohnxii #history #vatican #pope #holyromanempireCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Serial killers. Nations become glued to their televisions or news feeds when just the suspicion of a serial killer roams in their midst. The term serial killer has only been used since the late 1800s, and the term was used to describe the infamous and still unknown “Jack the Ripper” of Victorian England. Imagine a time when none of that existed, and where the upper class did not only live better, more luxurious lives, in many places, and at many times, they could kill with impunity. The ancient serial killers we have more knowledge about are those in the very upper and/or ruling classes.Today in this video we shall uncover some of the most notorious serial killers of the medieval age, people like Liu Pengli, Gilles de Rais, Vlad the Impaler, etc.#serialkillers #history #medieval #weirdhistory Scriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVideo Editor & Motion Graphics: Naman MeeraVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, folks! Today we are going to dive into a disturbing topic that is rarely discussed and mostly left out of history books: Human Zoos. Most of you probably had no idea such a thing existed, and you cannot be blamed for it. It is certainly easier to forget than to remember and to face the shame of this abhorrent practice.One of the first people to host a human exhibition was a man called P.T. Barnum. Back on August 11th, 1835 in New York City, he displayed a woman, named Joyce Heth. He presented her as “the 161yearold woman” and claimed she was the former slave of Augustine Washington, George Washington’s father. She was said to have raised and taken care of the future president George Washington. None of these claims were true, but regardless, the exhibition was a huge success and attracted the attention of thousands of people.Thousands of people from Asia and Africa were put on ships and brought to Europe and the United States to be displayed in human zoos.Some of the people to be displayed were enslaved, while others were deceived with false promises to board the ships. Needless to say, those promises were underdelivered or were a complete scam.Once they came to the New World, what awaited them was a recreation of their ‘natural environment’, in which they were made to display their customs and way of life.The poor living and weather conditions made many of them sick and weak. If one of them died, the body was buried in the zoo’s garden, without the proper ceremony being observed.Sounds horrible? You haven’t yet heard even half of it.#humanzoos #history #weirdhistory #slavery #ptbarnum #historychannelVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Napoleon Bonaparte, born in then Italian Corsica in 1769, was the dominant personality of his time. He died in exile on the lonely British South Atlantic island of St. Helena in 1821. But though he was a shell of his former self living in isolation in the middle of nowhere, his life cast a long shadow, and his influence continued for decades after his death. His military philosophy and tactics are still taught throughout the world, for though the weapons of today are much different than those used by his armies, the tactics he used on the battlefield are timeless: speed, audacity, and surprise being foremost among them.Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most fascinating men in history. If this introduction to the darker side of Napoleon interests you, please “like” and subscribe to our channel! Vive' l'France!Napoleon became Emperor of France in 1804, though he had been the country's de facto ruler since 1799. For anyone to become emperor after the French Revolution of 1789 and the years immediately after had been unthinkable. The Revolution took place to rid France of a king and a system of privilege and oppression. That revolution cost a lot of blood and treasure and caused years of struggle and chaos in France. When Napoleon was ready to take power, the French were tired of political violence and upheaval, high prices, food shortages, and corrupt government. Napoleon, like Caesar more than 1800 years before him, promised law, order, and economic stability.For the first years of his reign, Napoleon managed to do just that, bring a sense of stability. He also brought France military glory. He rose to fame in the 1790s through his prowess on the battlefield. He helped to bring the ideals of the French Revolution to many parts of Europe. Unfortunately for France and Napoleon, his "eyes were bigger than his stomach," and he "bit off more than he could chew," making enemies of Great Britain and Russia.#napoleon #frenchhistory #history #napoleonbonaparte #franceTimecode:00:00 Intro02:56 You don't become emperor without cracking some heads.05:54 Some "revolutionary"07:20 "The Infernal Machine"Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We hope you read more about Timur after you watch this video. There's so much more to learn. One of those things is easy: Timur is just one version of the name of the last great Mongol conqueror. His real name was "Tīmūr bin Taraghay Barlas," or "Timur, son of Taraghay of the Barlas Clan," but he is most often known in English as "Tamerlane," which is just a corruption of "Timurlenk," or "Timur the Lame." Timur actually was "lame" as people used to those with skeletal disabilities: he had a form of tuberculosis that infected the bones, which paralyzed his right leg and shoulder. In his younger years, he had been shot through the right hand with an arrow, losing two fingers, and limiting its use. Timur, in a word, was likely in constant pain throughout most of his life. Perhaps this affected his temper – because Timur's temper was bad. REALLY, REALLY BAD. But, unlike another supposedly disabled leader, the Viking “Ivar the Boneless”, Timur grew up to rule a gigantic empire, and killed millions, not hundreds or thousands. Ivar was an amateur compared to “Timur the Lame.”Timur's ancestors were from a powerful Mongolian clan who had emigrated from Mongolia to the area that geographers still know as "Transoxania"the "Land beyond the Oxus River." We know the area better as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. These were lands inhabited by Turkic peoples who the Mongols had subjugated under Genghis Khan and his sons in the 1200s. By the time of Timur (13361405), the Mongol Empire had fractured into several different kingdoms. The ruling Mongols assimilated to some degree with the native Turkic people and culture, creating a new culture called the "TurkoMongolian."#tamerlane #timur #history #genghiskhan #mongols Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When we think about the Vikings, love, and marriage are usually not the first things that come to mind. However, we might occasionally think about the Vikings and sex when watching one of the many shows and movies about the Vikings in recent years. From TV and movies, you'd almost believe that all Vikings were attractive, always washed, and odorfree. However, it does seem that the Vikings did take relatively good care of their hair. Combs are one of the most common items found in Viking graves and other archaeological sites – but it's hard to believe that these Scandinavian warriors (perhaps of both sexes) weren't more often "combing things out" than they were getting ready for a party.It's not talked about much and definitely not shown (at least not often), but many Vikings were not exclusively heterosexual. Homosexual activity among Vikings was unusual until you know more about it. Like most societies in the Middle Ages, Viking society was dominated by men. Today, sociologists might call Viking society "hypermale"a culture in which the traditionally masculine qualities of aggression, physical prowess, and constant evaluation of one's power relationship to one another was always in the forefront of the mind. One way to show physical dominance was to use another man for pleasure. Viking society did not punish a man for being the "dominant" participant in homosexual acts. However, those who were "submissive" were viewed as worthy of less respect than women. Though it's improbable that there were no Viking men who preferred the more "passive" role, being caught in the act might involve being socially mocked, ostracized, and sometimes killed. The same went for any man, straight or gay, caught wearing women's clothing. That being said, the passive "partner" in Viking homosexual acts was usually not a willing one. Many times the victim was a slave. #vikings #history #marriage #ivartheboneless #vikingshistoryCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most tragic stories of WWII is that of the "comfort women", a polite name for the forced kidnapping or coercion of women and girls by the Japanese Army to "comfort" their soldiers.As in many war crimes cases, "comfort" is a euphemism, for this was just a polite term for "sexual slavery" on a mass scale.Though records exist in Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, they are partial and only tell part of the story that Japan, to this day, is reluctant to talk about openly. However, it should be said that over the last two decades, they have made a greater effort to both admit their armies' guilt, apologize and make some restitution – though many of the surviving comfort women believe it was not enough.Time has gone by, and most of the victims of this atrocity have passed on, but their memory remains in the national identity of countries occupied by Japan during WWII.It's not just that the children of the comfort women are well into their old age now as well; it's that very few comfort women were able to have children after the years of sexual abuse they endured.Physically, they had been made sterile – not intentionally, but from repeated punishing abuse.Mentally, many victims could not even fathom letting a man touch them again after what they had been through.Among the many things taken from these women was the common dream of having children and grandchildren. It's estimated that nearly 500,000 women were taken from their homes to "service" Japanese troops during the war.Most of the women taken were poor and uneducated.Some were taken by force, literally right off the street.Some were girls who had not yet had their first period.A surprising number were lured into captivity with promises of a goodpaying job elsewhere – maybe in the nearest big city, maybe in Japan. #comfortwoman #history #ww2 #historydocumentary Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of Ancient China, is most famous for constructing the Great Wall that protected the Chinese realm against Mongolian incursions for millennia, and for the legions of Terracotta soldiers that guarded his tomb. Yet he was also one of their wackiest and most paranoid rulers, and a man so preoccupied with living forever that he cut his life short in the process. Let’s find out why.Qin Shi Huang, born Ying Zheng in 259 BC, was officially the son of King Zhuangxiang of the Qin and his wife Zhao Ji. According to rumor however, his mother was not of noble birth, and was in fact a concubine that Zhuangxiang became acquainted with after he was sent to the royal court of Zhao as a hostage.Zhao was one of 6 rival empires, the Han, Qi, Chu, Wei, and Yan, that the Qin dynasty battled against during the Warring States Period for mastery of China. Zhuangxiang was fairly successful, for by the time he died in 246 BC the Qin had extended their territories considerably to the East and West. When Zheng acceded to the throne after his father’s passing he was only 13 years old, and so it was decided that Lu Buwei, Zhuangxiang’s former chancellor, was to act as king’s regent until the adolescent came of age. His appointment only added more fuel to the fire surrounding the young monarch’s scandalous origins, for many whispered that he himself was Zheng’s father, and also that he had designs on the crown. Buwei proved the gossipers halfcorrect,for the deceitful chancellor quickly got to work hatching a devious plan to install one of his friends on the throne.It all began in 240, when Buwei introduced Zheng’s widowed mother, Zhao Ji, to Lao Ai, an esteemed noblemen who was supposedly famed for the size of his penis. When Zhang, renamed Qin Shi Huang, became emperor in 238, his power was immediately challenged by Lao, who hoped to place the two sons he had produced with the Queen dowager firmly in the line of succession by seizing power for himself.#qinshihuang #ancientchina #history #qindynasty #chinesehistoryCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cold War was the period of great tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, which lasted from 1945 until the fall of the Soviet Union, or "USSR," in 1991. The greatest fear of the Cold War period was that tensions between the two superpowers would become so great that the "war" between the two rival nations would turn "hot" and lead to a nuclear exchange that would end human civilization. We're about to tell you about some of the secret experiments and plans carried out by the United States during the Cold War, but before we do that, we'd like to tell you exactly how close the world came to destruction in the Cold War era. There were several instances when the USA threatened or hinted at the use of nuclear weapons, but these threats involved another world power, Communist China, and involved the Korean War and China's actions towards the government of the Nationalist Chinese (and a US ally) in the 1950s. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, US president Kennedy announced an American naval blockade around the island of Cuba to prevent the Russians from installing additional nuclear missiles there. Tensions got so high that Kennedy warned the Soviets that: "...It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union." Tensions remained high for days until the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba in return for the removal of the blockade and the nonpublicized removal of US missiles from the territory of its NATO partner, Turkey, which bordered the USSR.#coldwar #history #ussr #sovietunion #coldwardocumentaryTimecode:00:00 Intro00:42 The Nuclear War Scare06:17 MKUltra09:32 Sex and the CIA11:19 The Vanderbilt pregnancy experiments12:48 Let's not leave the Russians outMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mehmed the Conqueror was a fearsome ruler that transformed the Ottoman Empire with his ambitious war plans and inflicting terror throughout his campaigns to the east. Europeans in the west were terrified of this Ottoman ruler and subsequently celebrated his death. Stick around to learn more about this Sultan and the many ways he destroyed his enemies, in this video of a Day in History.Mehmed the Second was the Ottoman Sultan, sultan meaning a Muslim ruler, mainly from 1451 to 1481. He was born on March 30, 1432, the son of the previous Sultan Murad II. Once Mehmed’s father passed away due to illness during the winter of 14501451, Mehmed II began his ascent to the throne. Mehmed II’s reign began with the death of his baby brother. According to some sources, the new sultan had his baby brother drowned to avoid any future power struggles.Mehmed II was responsible for the sieging of Constantinople, Moldavia, Albania, and the rest of Anatolia. With his conquest of Constantinople, he viewed himself as the continuation of the Roman Empire and not a replacer of it. Although the other European bodies at the time did not view him in the same way. There has always been a struggle between Islam and Christianity within Europe and its borders. The Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II was determined to spread its influence within Europe. The European entities at the time were terrified of the idea of the Islamization of its people.#mehmed #history #ottomanempire #ottomans #vladthedracula #ottomanhistoryCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the things that often stuns people learning about the Nazis for the first time is the sheer amount of information available to us about them – authored by the Nazis. In this video, we will tell you about five infamous documents detailing the evil of the Nazi regime. One of these documents isn't on paper. Instead, it's on audio tape, recorded in October 1943 in Poznan, Poland. The recording of SSReichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler speaking to an assembled bunch of SS officers is today housed in the US National Archives. We will tell you more about the content of the speech in a few moments.The Marburg DocumentsBefore we tell you about the worst evils of the Nazi regime, let's talk first about some of the political machinations they attempted far away from the battlefields of Europe.Many scandals have rocked the British monarchy in the last four decades, and the royals continue to make headlines today: Prince Harry and Megan Markle and the renunciation of their positions and moving to the United States, and the involvement of Prince Andrew in the Jeffery Epstein scandal. But even these, and the scandal surrounding the late Princess Diana and her death, paled compared to the royal scandal, which exploded into English headlines in 1936. The story of King Edward VIII and the American divorcee' Wallis Simpson is a story in and of itself. For many Englishmen, including Edward's brother, the future George VI, and wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the scandal of the British king being married to an American woman who was divorced was almost too much to bear. The American part was not so bad. Churchill was a member of the aristocracy, and his mother was an American. However, in 1936, the divorce part was BAD. At that time, in that country, in that culture, and in that ultraupper class society – a divorced woman was seen as a "loosewoman" without morals, discipline, or religion. Adding to Mrs. Simpson's problems – she was not wellliked. She was seen as Hitler's personal secretary for the latter part of the war, Traudl Junge, survived the war and gave several interviews about Hitler's last days in the "Fuhrer bunker" before he committed suicide with his new wife Eva Braun. Her character is one of the significant personalities in the famous movie "Downfall" (2004). She was also the focus of the documentary "Blindspot" made just before her death in 2002. Traudl Junge witnessed much of what went on in Hitler's inner circle for the last part of the war and, more importantly, what took place within the bunker as the Red Army closed in.00:00 Start00:55 The Marburg Documents06:50 The Nacht und Nebel Erlass10:03 The Einsatzgruppen documents12:20 Himmler's Speech15:42 Hitler's Last Will and Testament#nazi #history #holocaust #nazisecretsCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1940, the Bolshevik revolutionary and first head of the Red Army, Leon Trotsky, was offed in Mexico City. Trotsky fled the Soviet Union in 1928 after he came out at the bottom of a power struggle with Josef Stalin, a position many people had found themselves in. The offing of real and imagined foes had a long history in Russia. Still, it was during the early Soviet era when an entire branch of the intelligence gathering and spy apparatus of the country was given its own very top secret department within the NKVD in 1936. The department was called the "Directorate of Special Tasks." The NKVD underwent many changes after WWII and became the "MGB." In the MGB, the department was known as "Spets Byuro #1" for "Special Purpose Office #1". It was also known by more sinister and 007like names such as "The Chamber" and "Lab #1".#kgb #topsecret #history #putinkgb #putinCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In February 2022, Netflix premiered the sequel to History Channel's "Vikings," called "Vikings: Valhalla." Two main characters are the famous Leif Eriksson and his sister, Freydis Eriksdotter. As you may know, Leif is reputed to have arrived in North America centuries before Christopher Columbus. Some accounts in the Norse sagas include a couple of tales of Leif's sister, Freydis – but in one of them, the close brothersister relationship depicted in the series is anything but that! We'll tell you about that in a moment.The Vikings were brutal. It was the early Middle Ages – everyone was brutal. The most powerful Christian king at the start of the Viking era was Charlemagne. Charlemagne may have been Christian and welleducated, but that didn't stop him from waging a genocidal war against the Saxons of Germany in his campaign to convert them to Christianity. Saxon children were instructed to report any pagan activity. Many pagan men and women were burned alive, and many Saxon children were taken back to Charlemagne's kingdom and raised as Christians. Pretty brutal, right?The Magyars of today's Hungary became Christian around 1000 under King, now "saint" Stephen. Stephen was brutal, too – he burned stubborn pagans at the stake, among other punishments.The only real reason the Vikings were considered especially brutal – and they were, make no mistakewas that combined with their brutality was their habit of appearing suddenly out of nowhere and killing many unsuspecting people. Then, they took the survivors as slaves and then disappeared. They did this for about 300 years before most converted to Christianity. At that point, Scandinavian raids essentially stopped, and the tales of their brutality stopped as well.#vikings #history #vikingshistory #ivartheboneless #ragnarlothbrok #norsehistory #rollo DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grab Atlas VPN for just $1.99/mo before the deal expires: https://get.atlasvpn.com/DayHistoryHave you ever asked your school teacher for permission to get married? No? Well, if you'd beenan Aztec, this would be just one of many things you'd have to do if you wanted to settle down!And did you know the saying Tying the Knot originates in a literal Aztec wedding tradition?Welcome to A Day in History, where we will be deepdiving into the astounding traditions of theAztec people, from wedding preparations to married life and childbirth. In this video, you'll learnabout the rich worlds of deities and crazy religious rituals that provided order to daytoday Azteclife.Aztec society was clearly defined, with a complex, rigid social structure similar to a Castesystem. Families would arrange their children's marriages to determine prestige andconnections, and to strengthen their dynasty.With so many factors to consider, it's no surprise that Aztec marriages were an incrediblycomplicated logistical nightmare to organise. A boy's parents would begin the process of findinga lucrative match by consulting with a female matchmaker. Or “ah atanzah” (aruh artansah) inthe Aztec language of Nahuatl. After securing a match, the groom's parents would need tonegotiate with the 'House of Youth'a school that was part of the sophisticated, mandatoryeducation system for Aztec Boys. This would include inviting their sons' Headmaster andteachers to a special evening. Where they would give grand speeches and ply the school staffwith food and alcohol.Sometimes, a young man in school might realise he was ready to marry before his parentsdecided. In these cases, it was really down to the groomtobe himself to grovel for teachers'permissiona process that included donating twelve large blankets to teachers.The best information we have about weddings come from surviving illustrated Aztec manuscripts known as Codices. From these we know that weddings lasted a whole five days. They'd beginwith guests arriving from midday for a lengthy feast and drinking session.#aztecs #history #azteccivilization #aztecwarrior #aztecreligion Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Brutal Things Russian Tsars Did During Their ReignBefore Putin, the Soviet Union, Stalin, and Lenin, Russia was governed by the Tsars, an eccentric bunch of emperors and empresses who ruled the Slavic realm with an iron grip for nearly 400 years. As figureheads with unlimited power, and whose every word was tinged with absolute authority, it comes as no surprise that Russian kings and queens had a tendency to abuse their position, often in spectacularly gruesome ways.Today we're going to talk about tsars like Peter the Great, Nicolas II, Ivan the Terrible and Anna Ivanova . No other sovereigns in history left in their wake such misery as the Russian Tsars, who showcased the very worst of humanity. It’s amazing to think that their gory and often imaginative atrocities, like something you might see in a Saw movie, were actually reallife events. We should count ourselves lucky then, that we live in relative comfort, and that we aren’t confined to a Tsarist jail cell preparing ourselves for a bizarre, and probably slow, execution at the hands of a bloodthirsty dictator. What is for certain however, is that if Peter, Nicolas, Ivan, or Anna somehow timetravelled back to the present day they would definitely take inspiration from this channel. Why not join them by pressing that subscribe and like button!#russiantsars #history #russianhistory #ivantheterrible #ussr #sovietunion #russianempire #historydocumentaryCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli...” are the beginning lines from the United States Marine Corps Hymn, and the “Tripoli” that's mentioned is the largest city in today's Libya. The hymn was written sometime after 1867, and these lines commemorate two of the Marine Corps' most famous battles “the halls of Montezuma referring to the MexicanAmerican War of 184648, and “the shores of Tripoli” refers to the battles the Marine Corps, along with the US Navy, fought with the infamous “Barbary Pirates” who terrorized the coast of North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea and indeed, a large part of Europe for at three centuries. Slavery had existed in the Mediterranean Basin since before the time of Rome. During the Roman expansion, people from all corners of the empire were enslaved: Franks, Germans, Slavs, Greeks, various people from the Balkans, Africans traded to Rome by Egypt, Jews from Israel and more. Some of the richest people in Rome and the Gothic and Arab empires which followed it were slave traders. Many Viking raiders grew rich and powerful from the treasure they hoarded trading slaves. Slavery was common in Europe, the north coast of Africa, and the Middle East until relatively recent times. The Barbary StatesIn the 1500s, the Ottoman Turks expanded along the North African coast. Due to distance and the fiercely independent nature of the Berbers and others, however, Ottoman control of the Barbary Coast was nominal. As long as the people there recognized the Ottoman Sultan as their overlord and gave help when it was asked, the Turks left the people of the coast alone. One of the many interesting things about the Barbary Pirates is that, as time went on, many of them were not from the region. Many were Europeans, acting much like today's mercenaries, looking for adventure and a quick buck. Unfortunately, what they were mainly looking for were other human being to sell into slavery.#barbaryslavetrade #ottomanslavetrade #history #barbarypirates #whiteslaves Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Augustus, the first ever emperor of Rome, is most famous for his countless military successes during his long and tyrannical tenure. Yet, in 21 BC, at the height of his power, he was completely embarrassed by the most unlikely of leaders.Amanirenas of the Kush was not only a woman of colour but also disabled, possessing only one working eye. Thanks to her efforts, Augustus, the selfproclaimed ‘son of God, was forced to surrender and accept every one of her demands. Here is the story of how an African queen dominated the most powerful man in the world. Between 40 BC and 10 BC, the mysterious African kingdom of Kush, located in modernday Sudan, was ruled over by the legendary Queen Amanirenas. She was a woman of remarkable stature, towering over her men and sporting three battlescars on her face. Her conflict with Rome would further disfigure her, leading to the loss of one of her eyes. Governing alongside her husband King Teritequas, her domain was rich beyond imagination, possessing vast quantities of gold, iron, and ivory. The wealth of this obscure realm, located at the fringes of the known world, was something that Augustus was very aware of following his triumph against Cleopatra and archrival Marc Anthony in 30 BC in neighbouring Egypt.The Romans were no doubt curious to see, and to pillage, the fabled palace of Queen Amanirenas, which reportedly had brickvaulted rooms adorned with enormous blocks of pure gold and ivory. In fact, it would take only a year for the new overlords of Egypt to extend their campaigns south towards the Kush.Gaius Cornelius Gallus, the first governor of Augustan Egypt, would make the first Roman incursions into the shadowy northern Kushite frontier. After subduing a revolt in the south of Egypt, he audaciously crossed the border to lay claim to the Kushite island of Philae, situated in Lower Nubia. With Queen Amanirenas too weak to mount a counterattack, she was forced to concede her territory and to accept the authority of the local lord who had been chosen to look after Roman interests in the region.But the Queen’s capitulation was also an astute political move, giving her enough time to prepare a relief force that could overcome the Mediterranean conquerors at a later date. #africanqueen #queenamirenas #history #romanempire #africanqueen #africanhistory #augustusceaserScriptwriter: Jake LeighHowarthVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China is an ancient civilization that has existed for nearly 4000 years, responsible for some of the most important inventions ever conceived, such as the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. Yet China is also the place where some of the most wicked emperors to ever rule were able to order and perform acts so brutal and savage they defy belief. Here are some of the worst examples.Gao Yang was an infamous alcoholic who sat on the throne of the Northern Qi from 529 to 559.Yang wasn’t always a terrible drunk, starting his reign off fairly successfully by strengthening the Qi’s military capabilities and reducing taxes. In fact, within a short space of time, the Northern Qi had become the top dog in China, commanding admiration from all.With his kingdom flourishing, Yang began to indulge more and more in his favorite pastime to celebrate the stability he had brought to the land. In the later stage of his life, excessive drinking transformed Yang from a respected statesman into a mad crackpot whose depraved acts became a regular feature of court life. Toghon Temur ascended to the Chinese throne in 1333 when he was only 13 years old, becoming the longest reigning Yuan monarch. Given his young age, it was only natural that Temur would grow up with a wacky sense of entitlement. He was perhaps influenced by his equally outlandish chancellor, Bayan, who suggested that all Chinese with the 5 most popular names should be executed, around 90% of the population!Sun Hao, who governed ancient China from 242 to 284, was not only an incompetent king but also a vindictive maniac.At first Sun Hao took his new position as emperor seriously, impressing the populace by lessening taxes, regulating the behavior of many of his corrupt officials, and releasing many concubines. However he soon grew bored of his duties, preferring to fill his days with wine, women, and execution orders. #chineseemperors #history #chinesehistory #imperialchina #ancientchina #chinaScriptwriter: Jake LeighHowarthVoiceover Artist: Stephan VoxMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commodus had ruled Rome from 177. For the first three years of his reign, he was actually "coEmperor" with his illustrious father, Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius is wellknown today for the collection of his writings entitled "The Reflections of Marcus Aurelius," a virtual handbook for those who wish to live a calm, stoic life of moderation. Marcus Aurelius was a revered figure in his time, and in the time since, he has been dubbed one of the "Five Good Emperors" for his accomplishments: expanding the borders of the empire and increasing the prosperity of Rome. Commodus, whose birth name was "Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus," may have suffered from an inferiority complex, knowing or believing that he could not and would not achieve his father's fame. He may also have been one of the countless spoiled princes throughout history, never being forbidden anything, especially since his stoic father was often absent governing the empire. He might also have been seriously ill mentally – he may have been all three. We will never know for sure. We know that Commodus committed many crimes – not crimes to him perhaps, but to us? Without doubt. Commodus is sometimes compared to the earlier Roman emperor Nero (37AD 68 AD). Nero is still remembered as one of the cruellest emperors, and his life ended when he ordered his slave to kill him – he had just been pronounced a "public enemy" by the Senate for his harsh rile. Commodus was also cruel, and he was finally strangled by a champion wrestler, the killing arranged by his advisers. Both emperors fancied themselves artists. Nero was famed for dressing as a woman and putting on public concerts – he was reputedly terrible, but no one dared not applaud the performances. Commodus also loved singing and dancing and fancied himself a comedian, though his crudity made his aristocratic peers uncomfortable. He also believed himself to be a great gladiator and fought with trained slaves or gladiators, but never in public. Pity the slave or gladiator that didn't let the emperor win, though it is said that Commodus was quite skilled. #rome #commodus #history #ancientrome #nero #romanempire #emperorcommodus #romanemperorScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Timecode:00:00 Start02:20 Commodus' father, the great Marcus Aurelius 04:13 How it began06:03 Commodus and his sister07:28 The killing of senators08:49 The emperor's “entertainment” 11:13 Renaming Rome13:10 Commodus' ReputationDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just under half a million women served in the Soviet Red Army in WWII, or as it is known in the former Soviet countries, "The Great Patriotic War".The most famous of them were snipers, but as far as we can tell from what Soviet records were made public after the fall of the USSR, only about 2,000 of them served as snipers on the front line, or at least, those were the women who received formal training. But consider this. Even if we limit ourselves to 2,000, the arguably five most wellknown were responsible for the deaths of close to 700 Axis troops!The most famous Soviet woman sniper was Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a.k.a "Lady Death", her nickname during the war. Lyudmila's tally of Nazis was 309 – an entire company's worth of Nazi invaders, all killed by one person! Lyudmila was born near Kyiv in today's Ukraine, in 1916. She became interested in shooting while she was involved in a sports club as a teenager. One of the boys in the club lorded his skill with a rifle over all the other students, and Lyudmila, who had done some shooting with her father, was determined to shut the young man's mouth. She continued to practice in private and when she realized she was much better than that boy would ever be, she challenged him to a round of target shooting. We remember Lyudmila's name – who the boy was is lost to history. #sovietunion #history #LyudmilaPavlichenko #sovietsnipers #ussr #worldwar2 #majorannanikulinaLets look at some other woman soldiers as we dive deep in soviet territoryScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Stephen VoxMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ancient engagements in Ancient Greece were not really for romantic reasons, rather to create reciprocal relationships between the two families. Marriage transactions were often arranged by a woman’s male kin or kyrios and involved a series of property and dowry payment exchanges. They even had a name for it δoδωµι, a verb used to describe the process of giving brides to their new husband. This was also reflected in the marriage ceremony itself.According to Rebecca Hague, special wedding vases, the lebes gamikos and loutrophoros, often depicted scenes of the wedding ceremony for which they were created. Surviving examples reveal that the ceremonies commenced with sacrifices and dedications to the gods to protect the bride and groom. The happy couple would bathe and cleanse in ritual waters, and both would dress elaborately in robes. Brides would adorn themselves with a crown and girdle as a mark of virginity. After the wedding couple were dressed, the festivities began with a delicious feast for both families and their friends. At the end of the feast, the bride would travel by cart to her new home . One of the most bizarre explanations for romantic love originates in a philosophical text written by Plato, the Symposium. Symposia were hosted and attended by notable men of the classical and Hellenistic periods to eat, drink and be merry with music and scantily clad entertainers, or hetaerae. At this fictional event, the comic playwright Aristophanes offers a speech in praise of Eros, god of love and desire. He tells a strange story that all humans were conjoined in the mists of time, until Zeus decided this was too threatening and cut people in two! Love is human’s inherent desire to find their ‘other half’ in order to become a whole person on earth. Lets go back in time and check out the lovemaking and marriage traditions of Ancient Greece!#ancientgreece #history #marriage #rome #plato #greekhistoryScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Kanishka MudaliyarVoiceover Artist: Jake FloryMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marriages in ancient Egypt were often arranged to strengthen connections between families or for financial advancement. All the same, romantic love was still important to Egyptians and celebrated in poetry from the age.The Chester Beatty Papyri date from 1200 BC and show a speaker praising the beauty of his lover, which demonstrates the idealised form of beauty at the time: “She radiates perfection and glows with health. The glance of her eye is gorgeous. Her lips speak sweetly, and not one word too many. Longnecked and milky breasted she is, her hair the colour of pure lapis.” The speaker refers to this woman as his “sister” – this does not mean that they were related but rather was a term of respect and esteem for women! In fact, marrying one’s family members was frowned upon for most of the population with the exception of the royal family, to preserve bloodlines and royal lineage. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “sisterly love”. One of the most famous Pharaohs from Egyptian dynasties was also renowned for his romantic love match. The young Tutankhamun, who ruled from 1332 – 1323 BC, was married to his halfsister Ankhesenamun. Images from ancient art reveal their devotion to each other; she is frequently depicted by his side hunting and offering him flowers, and their hand gestures and facial expressions show genuine love for each other. Tragically, their love was cut short upon his death at the tender age of 18. Marriage Ceremonies: An Eternal Bond Egyptian marriage ceremonies were somewhat casual in comparison to today’s lavish parties. They were often arranged between parents with reciprocal gifts between households and set up for the purpose of setting up connections and having children. Both the groom and bride’s father would draw up marriage settlements which were signed before witnesses, at which point the woman would join her husband’s home. #ancientegypt #history #marriage #cleopatraScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Voiceover Artist: Stephen LewisMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China is a unique nation and has been the most populous planet for the last few centuries. Considering ethnic Chinese living in other countries, it's estimated that about 1in5 people on the planet are Chinese. Twentypercent. The population of China in 2020 was 1.44 billion people. Recently it's been announced that India, whose population in 2020 was 1.38 billion people, will soon be the most populated country on Earth. Premier Xi Xinping has become increasingly totalitarian in his political thinking and seems to be growing a bit paranoid, for the Chinese economy is showing signs of real trouble underneath the veneer of success. Like Chairman Mao before him, Xi's political writings and actions have almost been codified as "Xi Xinping Thought." Suppose you're in the top ranks of the Communist Party. In that case, you will be monitored closely not only for your affinity for Xi Xinping Thought but monitored for hostility to it and the potential for rebellion. From the late 1950s until about 1960, China, which Chairman Mao Zedong ruled, undertook to move from the ranks of economically backward nations into the 20th century. This program was called "The Great Leap Forward."Though the events of the Great Cultural Revolution, which followed the Great Leap Forward in the later 1960s, got more attention from many historians, the Great Leap Forward was a mass movement of unreal scale which involved hundreds of millions of people. Some of the goals of the Great Leap were: to improve food production, increase steel production, spend more money on and develop modern armed forces, construct new water management systems like dams and irrigation, and more. Lets dive into today's video as we uncover some of the most bizarre events in the history of Chinese communism.Timecode:00:00 Introduction01:29 The Social Credit System10:27 The Great Leap Forward13:28 Bizarre Event Of Homemade Steel Production16:00 The Hundred Flowers Movement17:38 Red Light means "GO!" #history #communist #chinesehistory #maozedong #thegreapleapforward #communistchina #communismScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Jake FloryMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Roman Empire fell in the 5th century AD, prey to internal corruption, disputes, and many enemies on and within its borders. Despite being just a memory for over fifteen hundred years, the ancient Romans, whose territory included almost the entire coast of the Mediterranean even before an emperor ruled them, have cast a long shadow. The politics of many nations today are based upon many ancient Roman principles. So are laws and modern Western architecturejust three things descended from ancient Rome. First, the language of Rome, Latin, is one of the two main building blocks of many modern European languages, along with Greek. Second, English words coming directly from Latin are "convivial" and "conviviality," relating to a pleasant but not overly raucous good time with good company. "The party was quite convivial, and all the guests enjoyed the spirit of conviviality encouraged by the party's hosts." Third, the Romans called some of their parties "convivium," a relatively sedate private banquet whose Latin definition means "living together." A successfully convivial convivium could last for many hours or even days.Today we shall talk about the nasty private parties of roman emperiors like Caligula, Nero, and Augustus, etc.Upperclass Romans, just like the members of the upperclasses worldwide today, had access to the most exotic and expensive foods of the day. Usually, a Roman banquet would include three meals, the gustatio, today's “hors d'oeuvres”. Incidentally the English word “gustation”, is a direct link to ancient Rome, and means “the act of tasting”. The main course was called “Mensa primae” or “the main table”, and dessert, “Mensa secundae”, or “secondary table”.#romanparties #history #romanslaves #caligula #nero #ancientrome #romanslaveScriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Abhishek SharmaVoiceover Artist: Stephen VoxDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected]: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The word “concubine” has several definitions and many connotations. The easiest way to define the Chinese type of concubinage, at least among the very rich and the Imperial family was that they were mistresses. Concubinage in China differed in many ways from that of other nations, though it did have similarities as well. At the very top, in the Imperial Household, there was sisterhood, rivalry, palace intrigue, and much more. This likely took place at the home of rich men too. In the Imperial China which lasted until the Communist Revolution of 1949, a man could have only one wife, but as many concubines as he could afford to house, clothe and feed. Frequently, in Chinese history (and that of other nations), a man's wealth and power were partly judged by the number of concubines he kept and how they lived. Likely the most famous system of concubinage existed within the Chinese imperial family, likely going back at least two thousand years to the Han Dynasty, which lasted from 25AD to 220AD. The law then, and going forward to 1949 was that the higher the rank of the man, the more concubines he was able to have. Since Han times and likely before, a concubine could be bought, at a slave market in the earliest times, or from a family with an attractive daughter who needed money to survive – these are just two examples. In many cases, a wife would have to approve of this “transaction”. History is full of tales of Chinese wives mistreating their husband's concubine or concubines, sometimes addressed as “little sister”, with a number attached in case of multiple women. That was a common occurrence, but likely as common was a good relationship – especially in a bad marriage: a concubine/mistress could take the attention and pressure off a wife and allow her her own time – even more so in a household with multiple concubines. #concubines #history #imperialconcubine #ancientchina #chinesehistory #qingdynasty Scriptwriter: Matthew Gaskill Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Jason Bohol Voiceover Artist: Chris Redish Music: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we shall dive deep into human evolution as we look at some of the most bizarre theories of how homo sapiens grew big brains with enhanced cognitive abilities!For the first twothirds of our evolution, homosapiens shared the same brain size of monkeys and other primates. It would take a groundbreaking discovery in 1924 at a quarry in Taung, South Africa, to first introduce this extraordinary new idea. It was there that anthropologist Raymond Dart was stunned to find the fossilized cranium and intact skeletal face of an early bipedal ape, whose remains shared amazing similarities with the human brain.Dart declared it a previously unknown ancestor of modern humans, christening it with the name Australopithecus africanus, or ‘ManApe of Africa,’ causing a mixture of skepticism and feverish enthusiasm to sweep the academic world. Dart experienced lot of pushback from scientists, who believed it was impossible that such a smallbrained specimen, with a size of 450 grams equal to that of a chimpanzee, could be a hominid. It would take decades, and several more important archaeological finds, to validate Dart’s proposal. By the 1950s, a lot of other smallbrained hominids had been excavated. One of these was the Paranthropus robustus, which first came to the attention of scientist Robert Broom in 1938 after he received an intriguing fossil in the mail. He followed this up with a dig at the mysterious origin site in Kromdraai, South Africa, finding a hominid ape with a brain size of 525 grams, similar to that of a gorilla at 500 grams.As a result, the Taung child, another name for Dart’s trailblazing fossil, and the idea that humans had once had similar brain masses to chimpanzees and gorillas, was accepted into standard evolutionary models. In the final third of our evolution, our brain size began to increase dramatically. The first notable enlargement occurred in the Homo habilis, the first type of Homosapiens that entered the evolutionary stage 1.9 million years ago. It was in the next manifestation, Homoerectus, who appeared 1.8 million years ago, that another sizable expansion happened. Their brains were now averaging a little more than 600 grams.Thanks to incremental increases like these over hundreds of thousands of years, average brain weight reached over 1000 grams by 500,000 years ago. When Homosapiens appeared 300,000 years ago, they had a similar brainsize to modern humans of 1,200 grams or more. #homosapiens #history #evolution #neanderthals #paleoanthrology #homoerectus Scriptwriter: Jake LeighHowarthVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 13th and 14 centuries, the Mongols established the largest land empire in human history. At its furthest extent, the Mongolian Empire stretched from the coast of China along the northern border of the Himalayas, encompassing much of today's Middle East from Persia to the Black Sea, much of southcentral Russia and Ukraine and Europe to the gates of Vienna. This was done on foot, wagon, and most famously, on horseback. By the time the Mongols reached the eastern borders of Ukraine in the late 1200s, some of their armies numbered 100,000, but it was not their numbers that were the Mongols' primary weapon – terror was. That policy of terror started with their first great leader, the infamous Genghis Khan. He is not infamous everywhere. “The Great Khan”, as he is also known, is still a national hero in Mongolia today.Many stories about this episode have it that Genghis' older halfbrother Behter stole a fish that Temujin killed for the night's meal, and ate it all himself, refusing to share with his family. Soon after, Temujin secretly followed Behter, waited for him to be alone, and then shot him with one of the famous Mongol recurved bows. Another version of the story adds that Behter, as the oldest brother, began to order people around, and this caused resentment on the part of Temujin and his younger fullbrother Qa'sar. There may or may not have been food involved, but in this version, Temujin simply used Behter's greed as an excuse to kill him and move to take control of the the clan himself.Genghis, whose real name was “Temujin”, which means “of iron”. #genghiskhan #history #genghis #mongolempireScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Stephan VoxMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For those of you new to this topic there were basically two types of Nazi camps: the “extermination camp”, for which the sole purpose was the mass killing of human beings. The German word for extermination camp is “Vernichtungs Lager”. The“Konzentrations Lager”, or concentration camp, was also a place of horror, but while in hundreds of thousands of cases, there was no real difference between the two types of camps, very generally speaking, there was a greater chance to survive in the camps designated “KZ” or “kah tsett”, as the letters and acronym was pronounced in German. In the extermination camps one's chances of survival were dramatically reduced.Though it is the most infamous camp, Auschwitz was actually three camps: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz IIBirkenau,and Auschwitz III – Monowitz. As you may know, “Auschwitz” is the German word for the town of Óswięcim ( pronounced “Ohss vee etch im”) in southwest Poland, where the camp was located. By the time Auschwitz IIBirkenau (“beer keh now”) was gassing its first victims in March, 1942, the name “Auschwitz” already chilled the blood, at least for those “in the know”.By the time the name filtered down to the people on the lowest rung of the hierarchy of the Nazi state, the Jews and others who made up the Nazi's victims, rumors abounded about what really lay at Auschwitz, and make no mistake, by 1943, the knowledge of what Birkenau, whose name “place among the birches” peacefully belies its function, was an open secret. Escapees and the Polish resistance disseminated the information – though most of the information went to governments and military men in the Allied countries. But, as one saw in the famous movie “Schindler's List”, the Jews, who made up 90% of the victims of the Holocaust, had heard rumors about what happened at Auschwitz, although they, like many Nazi victims, went into denial, for to believe the rumors was to lose all hope. There were six extermination camps: AuschwitzBirkenau, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, Belzec, and Treblinka. All were located in Poland. At Sobibor, Belzec, and Treblinka, fences covered with pine branches hid the main extermination areas, which, at all three camps, were gas chambers harnessing the exhaust from truck and/or tank engines.My mustread list of Holocaust books:Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account: https://amzn.to/3Sp7lsuRena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz: https://amzn.to/3Q2dBnQMaus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History: https://amzn.to/3bjlcQ8The Last Jew of Treblinka: https://amzn.to/3oIe1o0Things We Couldn't Say: https://amzn.to/3vufwtH#nazi #auschwitz #history #concentrationcamp #auschwitzbirkenau #holocaust #hitlerScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commissionDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No one knows, probably not even the Russian government, exactly how many people perished as a result of the many purges, labor camps, and other punishments that occurred during the life of the Soviet Union, which existed from 19171991. Reliable estimates have put the number over ten million, and perhaps as high as twenty million or more. Most, but certainly not all of those deaths occurred during the reign of Josef Stalin, a genius in the exercise of raw power, but otherwise, a paranoid megalomaniac with few equals in history. In today's video, we are going to tell you about some of the other terrible events that occurred during the life of the Soviet Union, or USSR.In the mid1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev, a communist reformer, became Premier of the Soviet Union. When he came to power, he understood two things almost immediately: that the Soviet economy needed to be restructured and people allowed more economic freedom, and that many people were dissatisfied with life in the USSR, but did not dare speak of it for fear of government repression. Knowing that this fear and dissatisfaction was liable, sooner rather than later, to spill over into public discontent, protest, and perhaps more, Gorbachev instituted the policy of “glasnost”, or “openness”, which allowed people more freedom to speak their minds.This also held true, to a certain extent, for members of the government and its many organs. The immediate spur to “glasnost” was the awful events that took place at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine – then a part of the USSR. Attempting to keep the radiation leak secret from their own people and the world, the Soviets finally had to admit they had a very large problem at Chernobyl, and this was partly caused by people's fear to speak up about problems there and in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster.From Soviet diplomats being kept hostage to Stalin's psychiatric hospitals, to the Chernobyl mess up! We've it all covered in our video!The Best Books On The Gulags And The Soviet Regime:*The House of the Dead: https://amzn.to/3Q7d1W1Between Shades Of Grey: https://amzn.to/3zmdhJPKolyma Tales: https://amzn.to/3OLW7eoThe Gulag Archipelago Volume 1: An Experiment in Literary Investigation: https://amzn.to/3biOGOdSakhalin Island: https://amzn.to/3Q3sUNa*#sovietunion #history #gulags #sovietgulags #sovietsecrets #classifieddocumentsScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commissionDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2014, the world came to know the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as it exploded onto the global scene with bloody conquests in Iraq and the Middle East. ISIS became legendary for its barbarism: it beheaded prisoners, forced captives into slavery, and destroyed anything that conflicted with their extremist ideology.In August 2014, the small Yazidi ethnic group would face the full force of this brutality. Today on A Day In History, we explore a tale of slavery, depravity, and mass murder in the 21st century genocide of the Yazidis of Iraq.If the topic of this video is interesting to you, consider subscribing and checking out the other videos on this channel, and leave a like to show your appreciation.Who Are the Yizidis?Not many people have heard of the Yazidis. After all, even the highest estimates place their global population at no more than 1.5 million, or as low as 700,000.The Yizidis are a small Kurdish ethnic group who have traditionally lived in small pockets of the area known informally as ‘Kurdistan’ in Iraq, although today they also have a diaspora of a few hundred thousands around the world. The history of the Yazidis mirrors that of other Kurdish peoplesrecurring persecution from the numerous states and empires who have ruled over them, but despite it all they have maintained their own communities, language, culture, and religion.This Yazidi religion is unique. They are monotheists, but not Abrahamic like Christians or Muslims, and instead their religion draws more from the ancient Persian Zoroastrian faith. This religion has been a primary motivation for their persecution. Muslim rulers have oppressed them as ‘unbelievers’ and Yazidi persecution has not been met with the same sympathy in the Christian world that fell upon people like the Armenians.Music: Epidemic music#yazidi #isis #historySources:Atika Shubert and Bharati Naik, ‘ISIS ‘forced pregnant Yazidi women to have abortions’’, CNN, 6th October 2015, https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/06/mi...David Stout, ‘Be Captured and Killed, or Risk Dying of Thirst: The Awful Choice Facing the Refugees of Sinjar’, Time, 6th August 2014, https://time.com/3085270/iraqyazidi...Elizabeth Hagedorn, ‘Rescuers scout Syria for Yazidis still trapped in enslavement’, Middle East Eye, 4th March 2020, https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/node...Lori Himmar, Maya Alleruzzo, and Balint Szlanko, ‘Islamic State Tightens Grip on Captives Held as Sex Slaves’, Associated Press, 6th July 2016, https://apnews.com/generalnews7685e...Rukmini Callimachi, ‘ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape’, New York Times, 13th August 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/wo...Rukmini Callimachi, ‘ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape’, Washington Post, 13th August 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/wo...Sefik Tagay et al, ‘The 2014 Yazidi Genocide and Its Effect on Yazidi Diaspora’, The Lancet, 390 (10106), (2017), p1946Sheren Khalel and Matthew Vickey, ‘Playing Dead: How One Man Survived an IS Massacre’, Middle East Eye, 13th February 2015, https://www.middleeasteye.net/feature...UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 6 July – 10 September 2014, , October 2014Copyright © 2023 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this short historic documentary about Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, we shall explore his final 24 hours.If you look at the reign of Joseph Stalin as the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, you get an image of Stalin as a ruthless, politically crafty, and dangerously paranoid individual. He held power in large part due to the fear he instilled. That insidious fear, not just of Stalin himself, but the mistrust he fostered between people themselves let him stay in power for 30 years. It eventually also led to Joseph Stalin lying in his own urine, the heads of state surrounding him, too afraid to lift a finger to help. Live by the sword, die by the loss of bodily functions in a narratively interesting way, as the saying goes. Joseph Stalin rose to power in the early 1920s. He already held the title of General Secretary while Lenin, his predecessor, suffered from worsening health problems. As Lenin declined Stalin solidified his power base, discredited his rivals, and positioned himself as the next de facto ruler. One of the last things Stalin and Lenin worked on was the creation of the USSR, formalizing soviet power in the surrounding countries. There is conjecture that Stalin helped speed Lenin’s declining health along with some good oldfashioned toxic substance, but no claims have been officially made.In his many years in office, Stalin was responsible for the leadership of the massive USSR, and his decisions controlled the fates of millions upon millions of people. His highlight reel, if you want to call it that, includes antisemitic witchhunts, secret police reign of terror, mass executions, WWII, the beginning of the Cold War, and the Holodomor among others. Let's look at Joseph Stalin's final 24 hours, how he passed away, and what happened to the USSR after he passed. This is a brief history of the final 24 hours of Joseph Stalin.#josephstalin #sovietunion #history #ussrScriptwriter: Marco PardoVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Henry was never meant to become king of England. His older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, had that role sewn up. Born at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich on the 28th of June 1491, Henry was brought up to be an educated and strong princetalented at Latin, French and Italian as well as hunting, dancing and sports. He picked up his fair share of titles as a boyfrom Duke of York to Warden of the Scottish Marshes and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland – all given to him by his father, Henry VII. Lets go back in history to look at the notorious life of the Tudor king Henry VIII. #henryviii #thetudors#bizarre #ancienthistoryScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Voiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Timecode:00:00 Start00:24 The Boy Who Would (Not) Be King? 02:02 Party Animal 03:45 A Lover and A Fighter07:52 Henry’s Enemies 09:34 Decline And Death Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The word cannibalism originates from the Island Carib after unearthed 17th century legends suggested that the eating of human flesh was part of their culture (although this has since been debated).Instances of human cannibalism have been documented all over the world. It’s been practiced in countries like Great Britain, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, the Amazon basin, the Congo and amongst Maoris in New Zealand.But the original cannibals weren’t actually homo sapiens. Archaeological evidence suggests that it was practiced by other early hominins, with evidence of “defleshed” bones dating back 600,000 years.And excavations of a Neanderthal site in MoulaGuercy have uncovered the parts of six Neanderthals, dating back 100,000 years and showing evidence of human cannibalism. The palaeontologists reported that it looked like the bones had been broken in such a way that they could extract marrow and brains, and tool marks showed the cutting of flesh from the bones of the thigh.Among other works and etchings on tombs and temples, historians have tentatively suggested that cannibalism was part of certain human sacrifice rituals. According to Roman historian Cassius Dio, he personally witnessed the sacrifice and eating of two Roman officers with an oath sworn over their entrails.Across Ancient Mesopotamia, it’s also speculated that cannibalism was part of the many sacrificial rituals that took place although there has been no scholarly consensus on this matter. If you want to learn more about human sacrifice in MesoAmerica, don’t forget to check out our video “A Brief History of Human Sacrifice: The Aztecs” next!As we go forward in history, from Ancient to post 1st century AD, we see more evidence of cannibalism emerging.#history #cannibalism #humansacrifice #aztecsScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Voiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.comDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As well as stinky hygiene practices, plagues and farming, the medieval era was known for some truly weird weaponry. Across the era, humans developed interesting and inventive ways of poking holes in each other, and some were more gruesome than you might expect.The medieval times had some horrific and creative weaponry that served as an inspiration for a lot of modern weapons. Lets look at today's video to find out about the weird weapons and punishments of the medieval ages.#medieval #history #weaponsScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Ravi ChauhanVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.comDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2022 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Japanese Prisoner of War camps is a particularly harrowing example of the extreme degree of inhumanity so often present in war. Allied soldiers captured by Japanese forces experienced an almost unimaginable scale of depravity. However, this story also highlights the resilience of the human spirit as they resisted the cruelty they faced, adopting various strategies to preserve not only their lives but also their dignity and selfrespect. Join us, as we journey through a remarkably intertwined tale of horror and resistance.As the Japanese believed it to be shameful to surrender in combat, they ran their camps with marked brutality. From when they entered the war in 1941, it is conservatively estimated that the Japanese held around 130,000 Allied troops as Prisoners of War who they had captured in battle and that around 35,000 of these never returned home. Bar the Nazi concentration camps, captives in Japanese Prisoner of War camps could expect to face the most brutal and dehumanizing conditions seen anywhere during World War II. The mortality rate for Allied prisoners of war held by the Japanese was around 25 to 30 percent. Lets go back in time to expand on this weird history and the dark chronicles of POW camps that according to some can be compared to the Soviet gulags.#japanesepowcamp #history #weirdhistory #worldwar2 #historydocumentaryScriptwriter: Finn Vijayakar (BA History, University of Bristol)Voiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Mughal Empire was a Muslim kingdom that spread out of the southern area of today's Uzbekistan in the early 1500s. Within a relatively short time, the Mughals, under their first emperor, Babur, had expanded to include presentday Afghanistan, Kashmir, and most of modern Pakistan, as well as the area around the Indian city of Delhi down the Ganges River to the border of what is now Bangladesh. Over the next one hundred and eighty years, the empire grew to encompass most of the Indian subcontinent except the far south, and much of modern Pakistan and Bangladesh. Its three greatest conquerors were Babur (who reigned from 152630), Akbar (from 15561605) and Aurangzeb (r. 16581707). However most people today (especially outside of India) recall only the emperor Shihab alDin Muhammad Khurram, better known as Shah Jahan (“Ruler of the World”), who reigned from 16281658, and who is best known for having built the worldfamous Taj Mahal, the elaborate tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, and which gathers an incredible sixtymillion visitors each year!So, what were the punishments during the Mughal Empire? Something quite painful, you can be assured. Lets find out more in our video. Like and subscribe to learn more about other weird history topics!#mughalempire #history #weirdhistory #ancientpunishments #historydocumentaryScriptwriter: Matthew GaskillVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.comCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traditional, or perhaps more precisely previous, hypothesis has the appearance of modern humans, Homo sapiens, at around 200,000 years ago in the eastern part of Africa, plus or minus 50,000 years. However discoveries have muddied the already stygian depths on this topic, and we might have H. Sapiens ancestors much older, and more widespread, than that. That was until specimens showed up in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco that suggested a very early form of Homo sapiens was present. We say early form of Homo sapiens but the fossils, and similar ones in Florisbad, South Africa, aren’t universally considered to be modern humans. Rather they are that halfstep away, showing some signs of full modernity, but not all. And these fossils are some 350,000 years old, which almost doubles the age of the previous oldest fossils. This hominin would have probably interbred with the archaic human species already present, whether that was Neanderthals or other species. #neanderthals #homosapiens#history#humanancestors #homoerectus #humanevolution #weirdhistory #evolution Scriptwriter: Marco PardoVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comSources: https://shrib.com/#CoquiFrancolin25pwxedMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ottoman Empire began in the 13th century with Osman the 1st. Gaining land and power the Ottomans, named after Osman via anglicization and some language hopping, would soon conquer the ancient city of Constantinople. This would bring about an influx of Greek and Roman culture that was the backbone of the Byzantines. The Ottoman Empire reached far and wide, and it was reflected everywhere in the empire, even the Imperial Harem. The harems of the Ottoman Empire. A subject that while evoking images of scantily dressed nubile young women, also deals with power, prestige, war, tradition, and ultimately the fate of an empire. Historical records from the west from the time of the Ottomans are skewed and biased, often inaccurate as few Europeans ever had firsthand experience with the Sultan’s harem. Actually, that isn’t quite true, there was any number of Europeans, Africans, and Eurasians that were very involved with the Imperial Harem, although rarely was this a willing and mutually beneficial arrangement. The Ottoman Empire was a very inclusive, yet traditional, place. #ottoman #harem#history #ottomanempire #weirdhistory #simplehistoryScriptwriter: Marco PardoVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.com Sources: https://shrib.com/#Elliott5aNWpAkDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bengal famine of 1943 serves as an example of one of the worst and most fatal atrocities in Modern History. It is also the only famine in India that is recognised to be caused by manmade factors; greed, complacency, and even racism all played a role. It claimed the lives of 24 million Bengalis. It reduced the appearance of otherwise healthy men, women, and children to skeletons. Like life, History is complicated. History merely seeks to record life, so it must be. History tells us that its celebrated figures can be capable of both immense bravery but also shocking inhumanity. The story of the Bengal famine drives this concept home, forcing us to reexamine past beliefs and arrive at more nuanced conclusions about such figures. Join us, as we uncover this extremely tragic and difficult history. #bengalfamine #history #historychannel #weirdhistory #bengalfaminechurchhill #winstonchurchill Scriptwriter: Finn Vijayakar (BA History, University of Bristol)Voiceover Artist: Chris RedishTimecode:00:00 Start01:05 The British policy of denial05:27 The Role of Churchill:07:56 Food hoarding 09:35 Is the 1945 Bengal Famine Commission a trustworthy historical source?10:19 ConclusionMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in the fourteenth century, Mansa Musa was the ruler of a West African Empire and was said to be worth more than double that: around 400 billion dollars by today’s money, accounting for inflation. Such wealth is often hard to imagine, so for context, this figure is the same as the national gross domestic product of Norway. Musa was so wealthy that his lavish gifting crashed a regional gold market for a decade, and quite literally put him and his empire on the map. Much of Musa’s early life are lost to history, but what we do know is that he was born around 1280 AD in or around the Mali Empire, and ascended the throne around 1312. Lets find out more about how his bizarre life as history's richest man! #mansamusa #history #weirdhistory #historychannel #maliempire DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] Scriptwriter: Richard Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Abhishek Sharma Voiceover Artist: Chris Redish Music: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ Back in the fourteenth century, Mansa Musa was the ruler of a West African Empire and was said to be worth more than double that: around 400 billion dollars by today’s money, accounting for inflation. Such wealth is often hard to imagine, so for context, this figure is the same as the national gross domestic product of Norway. Musa was so wealthy that his lavish gifting crashed a regional gold market for a decade, and quite literally put him and his empire on the map. Much of Musa’s early life are lost to history, but what we do know is that he was born around 1280 AD in or around the Mali Empire, and ascended the throne around 1312. Lets find out more about how his bizarre life as history's richest man! #mansamusa #history #weirdhistory #historychannel #maliempire DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] Scriptwriter: Richard Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Abhishek Sharma Voiceover Artist: Chris Redish Music: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by ⁠PodcastPayouts.com⁠ ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holodomor can be literally translated to “death by hunger”. It’s a horrifying fate that between 7 and 10 million people suffered in Ukraine between 1932 and 1933 thanks to the Soviet Union’s harsh grain quotas and Joseph Stalin’s underlying desire to totally subdue the Ukrainian population. In recent years, with further evaluation of Joseph Stalin’s methods in Ukraine that led to this mass famine, historians have been forced to reconsider and reassess what happened in 19321933, with many now renaming the Holodomor as nothing shorter than one of the worst manmade famines.Before joining the Soviet Union in 1922, Ukraine was its own, independent, thriving nation. This was in no small part due to their flourishing agriculture, with lands full of fertile soil, ripe for farming. The crops produced in Ukraine became so well known that after joining, it became known as the Soviet Union’s breadbasket. Joseph Stalin, head of the new Soviet Union, wanted to ensure he had Ukraine under his complete control. And so, he introduced a FiveYear Plan in 1928, part of which included what was called the ‘Collectivization of Agriculture’ that was meant to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding urban population. Let's talk about it more in the video.#holodomor #history #josephstalin #ukrainefamine #weirdhistory #historychannelScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Voiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.com DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by PodcastPayouts.com ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neanderthals, or Homo neanderthalensis, are possibly our most famous ancestors. They walked, talked, fought, loved, and suffered just like us. Modern humans shared so much with Neanderthals. Their homes, ranges, hunting grounds, and even their cemeteries were left, or ceded, to us over Europe, Asia, and some parts of Africa. When we discovered the Neanderthal’s disappearance from the fossil record tens of thousands of years ago we blamed climate change, the disappearance of megafauna, and competition from modern humans. The meeting between the two species was anything but short, but what actually happened when the latest branches of our family met so long ago? And what recent discoveries changed how we understand our meeting?#neanderthals #evolution #history #paleontologyScriptwriter: Marco PardoVoiceover Artist: CiaronMusic: Motionarray.com Sources: https://anotepad.com/notes/bi693aq9Timecode:00:00 Start01:36 A Multimillennia Matchup03:50 Meeting of the Minds07:19 Forgotten FarewellsDISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by PodcastPayouts.com ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The horrors and tragedy of World War II are years before most of us were born, and even though the destruction of the war and the aftermath of it set the stage for major events even now some 8 decades later, many people don’t understand how the echoes of the war haunted the world for lifetimes. The scars left by World War II, emotional and physical, took many long years to fade. Some wounds never healed, and some of those who committed acts bloody and dark never faced judgement for their crimes. Escaped, hidden by distance, time, and help from unexpected places these men were wanted for crimes of war beyond scope. When the war ended in Europe there were many members of Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers that were to be tried for their actions during and before the war. Many of those people escaped arrest or even confinement with the help of “ratlines”, a series of escape routes for Nazis and Fascists after WWII. Often these ratlines led to South America. #nazis #history #holocaust #weirdhistory #historychannel #historydocumentaries #nazi DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected]: Marco PardoVoiceover Artist: Chris RedishMusic: Motionarray.com Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.Managed by PodcastPayouts.com ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Civilizations such as the Greek, Egyptians, Romans, Vikings and Chinese dynasties amongst others had slaves who largely slotted into one of four categories: chattel, bonded, forced labour etc. As long as we have written records of humanity, we have evidence of slavery. From ancient civilizations to modernday, humans have always subjugated and enslaved one another. Whether it's because of the colour of our skin, our wealth, where we were born or simply due to who’s in charge, there have been instances of slavery across every single country and culture.Today we shall discuss a brief time line of slavery in chapter 2 of the A Brief History Of The Origins Of Slavery. In this video we shall look at how different era's and nations held and treated their slaves. We shall also look into the horrifying aspects of slavery including the transatlantic slave trade.#slavery #history #transatlanticslavetrade #ottomanslaveiceland #whiteslaves #ottomanslavetradeScriptwriter: Natasha Martellhttps://7strangethings.com/Voiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.com Timecode:00:00 Start 01:09 The Ancient World01:30 Chattel slavery02:27 Bonded slavery03:15 Forced labour04:04 One of the worst kinds of slavery05:16 The FirstEver Abolition of Slavery 06:06 Slavery In The Middle Ages And Beyond09:23 The Transatlantic Slave Trade11:22 Global Slavery AbolishmentCopyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by PodcastPayouts.com ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Americans have long been thought to be the latecomers to the habituation of modern humans. But what if that wasn’t true, and humans were in North and South America tens of thousands of years before we thought they were. What kind of lives did they lead, where did they come from, where did they go, why aren’t they still here? These are huge questions and maybe we will find some answers as we trace history back as far as we can go. About 13 thousand years ago in the fossil record, there appears a series of archaeological evidence pointing toward a culture that existed in North America, Central America, and even into South America. This culture was largely identified due to the type of spearhead point used in hunting, this specific type of spearhead became known as a Clovis Point, named for a town near the initial discovery. First found in the 1930’s, the Clovis became the prevalent contenders for the first humans to come to the Americas. It was thought that before the Clovis there were no humans, or any previous branch of our evolutionary tree, on either the North or South American continents. This theory became so popular it was thought fact, and became eventually known as the Clovisfirst hypothesis. #clovisfirst #ancienthumans #history #grahamhancock #firsthumans #iceage #clovisfirstdebunkedScriptwriter: Marco PardoVoiceover Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.comMusic: Motionarray.com Sources: https://shrib.com/#Jad7ppm4EATimecode:00:00 Intro01:04 The Clovis First Hypothesis02:16 The Clovis Conundrum 03:56 The Plausible05:46 The “Are You Sure About That?”Copyright © 2021 A Day In History. All rights reserved.DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to [email protected] by PodcastPayouts.com ------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices