The earliest accounts of Hastings don't mention an arrow. An early Norman poem has William and three knights cut Harold down, and the arrow only appears in writing decades later. Martin Foys has argued the tapestry's arrow was stitched in during 19th-century repairs, since copies from the 1700s show that figure holding a spear. Where do people here land on it?

(I found a 47-second short on this, if useful: https://youtu.be/A3V_y-NmRRc.)

Most people have heard the story: in the summer of 1518, people in Strasbourg started dancing in the streets and couldn’t stop, and some danced themselves to death. It’s one of history’s strangest episodes. But when you go back to what the city actually wrote down at the time, the story gets stranger and quieter at once.

What the video covers:

I put together an 11-minute breakdown, told through Sebastian Brant, the author of The Ship of Fools (1494), who was one of Strasbourg’s top officials in 1518. It covers:

• The cure that made it worse: The city’s physicians called it “a natural disease, which comes from overheated blood.” According to a later chronicle, the council cleared out guild halls, built wooden stages in the horse and grain markets, and hired musicians to keep the dancers moving. Historian John Waller’s verdict: “The policy was a disaster.”
• The ban on drums: When that failed, the city banned public dancing. Brant recorded one exception: respectable people could still dance at weddings, but only to stringed instruments. No tambourines, no drums.
• Red shoes and Saint Vitus: The dancers were sent to a shrine of Saint Vitus near Saverne, where they were given small crosses and red shoes marked with holy oil.
• Legend vs. records: The famous “400 dancers” comes from a single family chronicle, and the “15 deaths a day” from a single later chronicle. Brant, writing at the time, counted about 50 dancers. The city council’s own orders and letters from 1518 don’t mention a single death. The only dancers we can still identify are five, known because their families asked the city for financial help.

Watch the full breakdown here:
https://youtu.be/vdDb7OUg_II

Sources include Waller’s article in The Lancet (2009), Midelfort’s A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany, and comments from Élisabeth Clementz of the Institute of the History of Alsace.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you think it was mass psychogenic illness, ergot poisoning, or something else?

When looking at the cost and pace of mansion construction in New York, the Cornelius Vanderbilt II House on Fifth Avenue is a useful benchmark. The mansion took roughly six years to complete and cost about $7 million in 1890s dollars. It rose six stories and eventually occupied an entire city block. The Vanderbilts were among the wealthiest families of the Gilded Age and had access to the most skilled craftsmen and unlimited resources. Yet even with that level of funding and talent, their mansion required years to finish. This raises an interesting question: how could a full World’s Fair—featuring dozens of buildings, some even larger than the Vanderbilt residence—be constructed in only a few months?

Baldwin IV ascended the throne of Jerusalem in 1174 AD, inheriting a vulnerable Crusader kingdom with limited military resources and deep political divisions. His challenges were about to grow even greater. Saladin was consolidating Muslim territories under his authority, building a formidable power base in Egypt and Syria and preparing to challenge the Crusader states.

Despite the odds stacked against him and a progressively debilitating illness, Baldwin managed to resist Saladin's expansion for much of his reign. Through military leadership, strategic defensive campaigns and political manoeuvring, he repeatedly prevented Saladin from turning his growing strength into the immediate conquest of Jerusalem.

Baldwin's leprosy gradually undermined his physical abilities, yet he continued to exercise royal authority and participate in the kingdom's defence. His victory at the Battle of Montgisard in 1177 AD became one of the most remarkable Crusader successes against Saladin, demonstrating how timing and battlefield decisions could overcome a numerical disadvantage.

But Baldwin's reign was not a story of uninterrupted victories. He also suffered setbacks, including the defeat at Marj Ayyun and the loss of the fortress at Jacob's Ford. His greatest achievement may have been less about winning individual battles and more about keeping a vulnerable kingdom alive against a powerful and determined opponent.

What made Baldwin IV such an effective ruler and military leader? How did he manage to resist Saladin for so long, and why did Jerusalem eventually fall to Saladin after Baldwin's death?

I've explored his illness, military strategy, major campaigns and political challenges in the full article. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Baldwin's leadership and his place in the history of the Crusades.

Most history buffs know about the golden age of ancient Israel under David and Solomon, but the rapid political collapse that followed is often misunderstood. Solomon built an empire of unmatched wealth, trade dominance, and architectural wonder, yet his later compromises and spiritual disobedience set the stage for a total national fracture.

​When his son Rehoboam ascended to the throne, simmering domestic grievances, harsh labor policies, and heavy taxation boiled over, permanently dividing the unified monarchy into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. This monumental historical turning point reshaped the ancient Near East and ended an era of Hebrew unity forever.

​If you want a detailed historical and textual breakdown of the political decisions, religious shifts, and ancient records behind this event, you can read the complete analysis here: https://rymbf.com/how-king-solomons-disobedience-split-kingdom-israel/

If you ever get confused by China’s "Northeast Project" (where they claim ancient Korean kingdoms were actually Chinese), just use this European history analogy. It’s pure comedy.

• China = The Roman Empire
• Goguryeo (Ancient Korea) = The Frankish Kingdom

Here is how the lore goes:

After the Frankish Kingdom falls, it splits into West Francia (Modern Korea) and East Francia (The Jurchen/Manchury).

Later, East Francia pulls a pro-gamer move, conquers Rome, and builds the Holy Roman Empire (The Qing Dynasty). Fun fact: The elite of this Holy Roman Empire literally believed they shared the same roots as West Francia (Korea).

But then, the original Romans (Han Chinese) get mad, launch a rebellion, kick out the Holy Roman elites, and take over Rome again. Plus, they somehow get to keep all the original East Francian land (Manchuria) in the process.

Logically speaking, these Romans (Chinese) are the descendants of Rome. They have absolutely ZERO genetic or cultural ties to the Frankish Kingdom (Goguryeo). Right?

BUT HERE IS THE HILARIOUS PART:

Now, the Romans are claiming they are the rightful heirs to BOTH Rome and the Frankish Kingdom. Meanwhile, they are looking at West Francia (Korea) and saying, "Bro, you aren't the real descendant of the Franks. We are." 💀

Their logic?
"Well, the guys who ruled the Holy Roman Empire were East Francian, and since we own East Francia's land now, that makes us the true kings of the Franks! So yeah, West Francia has nothing to do with the Frankish Kingdom lmao."

Imagine Italy occupying parts of Germany today and claiming that Charlemagne was actually a proud Italian, and that France has no right to French history. That is exactly what’s happening here.

Absolute cinema. 🤣🤣🤣

Most leaders are laid to rest peacefully, but the man who abolished the English monarchy faced a much different fate. Two years after his natural death, the body of Oliver Cromwell was exhumed for a trial that served as a final act of retribution for the royalists he had defeated. We break down the historical context of how this trial was orchestrated and what it signaled for the political climate of the era.

The spectacle was driven by the desire to punish those responsible for the death of King Charles I. By digging up his corpse, the new regime sought to project strength and restore order following the tumultuous period of the Protectorate. We look at the details of this event to understand the symbolic weight such a gruesome spectacle held in 17th century history.

So when are we going to have an indigenous peoples holocaust memorial? Seems a bit overdue no?

On This Day, October 18, 1963, a small black-and-white cat named Félicette became the first cat to travel into space. Félicette made history when French scientists launched her beyond Earth's atmosphere.

Long before cats became internet celebrities, this brave little feline became part of one of the most unusual chapters of the space race.

During the 1960s, the United States, the Soviet Union, and other nations were racing to understand whether living organisms could survive the extreme conditions of spaceflight.

Scientists had already sent dogs, monkeys, and other animals on missions to study how space travel affected the body.

France decided to conduct its own experiments.

A group of cats underwent training and medical monitoring before one was selected for the mission. Her original designation was C341.

On the morning of October 18, 1963, Félicette was placed inside a specially designed capsule attached to a French Véronique rocket.

The rocket launched from Hammaguir in the Algerian Sahara.

Then came the extraordinary journey.

Félicette travelled to an altitude of approximately 157 kilometres, crossing the commonly used 100-kilometre boundary of space.

During the flight, she experienced several minutes of weightlessness while scientific instruments monitored her physiological and neurological responses.

Unlike an orbital spacecraft, the rocket did not carry her around Earth. Instead, it followed a suborbital trajectory before returning toward the ground.

After the capsule descended by parachute, recovery teams located it and brought Félicette safely back to Earth.

She had survived the journey.

Her mission provided scientists with data about how a living organism responded to the conditions of spaceflight.

Yet Félicette's story also has a heartbreaking side.

About two months after her flight, she was euthanized so researchers could examine the effects of the mission on her body. Reports indicate that the hoped-for scientific insights from that examination were limited.

For decades, her name received far less attention than those of other animal space pioneers, including Laika the Soviet space dog.

But Félicette's place in history is unique.

She remains the first cat known to have travelled into space—and the only cat to have completed such a mission.

Her story reminds us that the early space race was not driven by rockets and astronauts alone. Animals were also used in experiments as scientists tried to understand the risks of leaving Earth.

She returned from space alive, but her name deserves to live on in history.

On This Day, October 18, 1931, the world lost Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor whose work helped transform how people lived, communicated, and experienced the modern world.

Edison died at his home, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey, at 3:21 a.m.

But his story had begun far from the laboratories and international fame that would define his life.

Born in Ohio in 1847, Edison received only a short period of formal schooling. Much of his early education came from his mother, and his curiosity eventually led him into the world of telegraphy and electrical technology.

Rather than simply accepting how things worked, Edison spent years experimenting, testing ideas, and trying to make existing technologies more practical.

In 1877, he became internationally famous for the phonograph—a machine capable of recording and reproducing sound.

For the first time, people could hear recorded voices and sounds played back from a device.

It was a breakthrough that earned him the nickname “The Wizard of Menlo Park.”

Then came one of the most influential chapters of his career.

In 1879, Edison and his team developed a practical incandescent lighting system. His achievements went beyond the lamp itself: he also helped develop the electrical distribution equipment needed to bring electric lighting into everyday life.

In 1882, his Pearl Street Station in New York City began supplying electricity to customers, helping demonstrate how a central power system could serve homes and businesses.

His work also contributed to the development of motion-picture technology, improved batteries, and many other inventions.

But Edison’s career was not the work of one man alone. His laboratories depended on teams of skilled workers, experimenters, and collaborators whose contributions helped turn ideas into practical technologies.

By the end of his life, Edison had received 1,093 U.S. patents.

Yet even in his eighties, he had not stopped experimenting.

One of his final major projects involved searching for a domestic source of natural rubber. He tested thousands of plants, hoping to reduce American dependence on imported rubber for products such as automobile tires.

He was still pursuing this research when his health declined.

Then, in the early hours of October 18, 1931, his remarkable life came to an end.

His death was widely mourned. In tribute, President Herbert Hoover called for Americans to observe a moment of silence, and at 10 p.m. on October 21, many people and businesses across the United States briefly turned off their lights.

It was a symbolic gesture for a man whose life's work had helped make electric lighting part of modern life.

Thomas Edison was not responsible for every invention associated with his name, and many technologies he helped popularize had been developed by others before him.

But his ability to experiment, improve existing ideas, and build systems that could reach millions of people left an extraordinary mark on history.

He spent a lifetime turning experiments into inventions—and helped change the way the modern world lived.

That guy was a mf

Hey everyone,

​I’m working on a long-term story about a soul reincarnating through different eras in history. I want to ground the world in real human detail, the small things like how people traveled, what daily life felt like, and how local politics actually worked rather than relying on fantasy tropes.

​I’m hoping to find some solid, readable history books or primary sources for a few specific periods. If you know of any good reads on any of these, I love your recommendations:

- ​Bronze Age Levant (around 1600 - 1200 BCE): Anything covering caravan travel, trade routes, mercenaries, or daily life between cities and the countryside back then.

- ​Shang Dynasty China (around 1300 - 1000 BCE): Books on everyday life, social classes, or how scholars and military figures lived.

-​ Iron Age Transjordan / Levant (around 1000 - 800 BCE): History or archaeology focusing on the Kingdom of Ammon (around Rabbah) and its neighbors.

-​ Archaic Lydia / Western Anatolia (around 700 - 600 BCE): What life, culture, or society looked like in early Lydia before Persia expanded into the region.

​Doesn't need to be super dense or dry. just well-researched books or translated records that help bring these eras to life.

​Thanks a lot for any suggestions.

On This Day, October 17, 1777, one of the most extraordinary moments of the American Revolutionary War unfolded in Saratoga, New York. A British army laid down its weapons in one of the most important turning points of the American Revolution.

After months of fighting, British General John Burgoyne and his exhausted army faced a desperate situation.

Their mission had been ambitious: advance south from Canada, capture key positions along the Hudson River, and divide the rebellious American colonies from one another.

If successful, the plan could have dealt a devastating blow to the American struggle for independence.

But things did not go as planned.

American forces resisted the British advance in two major battles near Saratoga. The first took place on September 19, 1777, and the second on October 7.

Burgoyne's army suffered heavy losses, its advance stalled, and its hopes of receiving the support it needed began to fade.

Surrounded and with no reliable escape route, the British commander found himself running out of options.

Negotiations began.

Then, on October 17, Burgoyne's army marched out and surrendered its weapons to the American forces commanded by General Horatio Gates.

Nearly 6,000 British and German troops laid down their arms in a stunning defeat for the British war effort.

For the American revolutionaries, this was far more than a battlefield victory.

It proved that their army could defeat a major British force—and gave fresh hope to a revolution that was far from guaranteed to succeed.

But the consequences reached far beyond the battlefield.

Across the Atlantic, France saw an opportunity.

The American victory helped convince the French government that the revolutionaries had a genuine chance of defeating Britain. In February 1778, France formally allied itself with the United States, providing crucial military and financial support.

The war was no longer simply a struggle between Britain and its rebellious colonies. It had become a much wider international conflict.

That support would help pave the way toward the eventual American victory at Yorktown in 1781.

In 1783, Britain formally recognized American independence.

The surrender at Saratoga did not win the revolution by itself.

But it changed the course of the war and helped transform the American fight for independence into a cause backed by a powerful international ally.

One surrender. One turning point. A different future for a nation.

On This Day, October 16, 1846, a landmark medical demonstration took place at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA, helping launch the modern era of surgical anesthesia.

Before reliable anesthesia became available, major operations were often terrifying ordeals. Patients could experience excruciating pain while surgeons worked under immense pressure to finish as quickly as possible.

Then came a dentist named William Thomas Green Morton.

Morton had been experimenting with ether, a chemical whose vapor could render patients unconscious or insensitive to pain. He believed it could transform surgery.

On that historic day, Morton administered ether to Edward Gilbert Abbott, a 20-year-old printer who had a vascular growth beneath his jaw.

The operation was performed by renowned surgeon Dr. John Collins Warren before an audience of medical professionals.

As Warren operated, Abbott showed no obvious signs of experiencing the severe pain normally associated with such a procedure.

When the operation was over, Abbott reported that he had felt no pain during the surgery.

Warren reportedly turned to the watching doctors and declared,

“Gentlemen, this is no humbug.”

Those words became forever associated with the demonstration.

News of the procedure spread rapidly, encouraging doctors around the world to investigate the use of anesthesia in surgery.

The breakthrough did not happen in isolation. Other physicians had experimented with pain relief before Morton’s demonstration, including American surgeon Crawford Long, who had used ether during operations in 1842.

Nevertheless, the public demonstration in Boston became a crucial turning point in the acceptance and development of surgical anesthesia.

Over time, anesthesia helped make longer, more complex operations possible and transformed the experience of surgery for countless patients.

Today, October 16, is commemorated as World Anaesthesia Day, honoring the medical milestone that helped change surgery forever.