Category: Articles of the key ‘dark’ historical events across the world

By Tim Lambert Ivan the Terrible is remembered as a cruel tyrant although he also strengthened Russia. (When Ivan was born Russia was much smaller than it is now and much less powerful). Ivan was born on 25 August 1530. His father was Grand Prince Vasily III of Moscow. However, the Grand Prince died in… Continue reading A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE

By Tim Lambert Auschwitz is perhaps the most notorious concentration camp where more than a million innocent people were murdered. During the First World War, a camp for immigrant workers was built by the Polish town of Oswiecim, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the war it Oswiecim became part of the… Continue reading A HISTORY OF AUSCHWITZ

By Tim Lambert The idea of robbing people while they travel along roads is a very old one. In the Middle Ages, there were plenty of outlaws ready to rob travelers. However, the ‘golden age’ of highwaymen was the 17th century and 18th century. At that time trade and commerce were increasing and there were… Continue reading A HISTORY OF HIGHWAYMEN

By Tim Lambert A pirate is a person who robs ships. The idea is not new! There have been pirates since ancient times. After 800 BC a people called the Phoenicians from what is now Lebanon had many merchant ships carrying valuable cargoes across the Mediterranean. As they sailed near the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea… Continue reading A History of Pirates

THE BACKGROUND OF THE CIVIL WAR The civil war was not caused just by the question of slavery. North and south were also divided over tariffs. The northern states began to industrialize in the early 19th century. By the middle of the century, the north was becoming an industrial, urban society. Northerners wanted tariffs to… Continue reading A History of the American Civil War

Pol Pot was one of the worst tyrants of the 20th century. Pol Pot was born in Cambodia in 1925. His family were not poor. Instead his father was a well off farmer. However Pol Pot became a Marxist. Marxism was the creation of Karl Marx (1818-1883). According to him society went through an inevitable… Continue reading A short biography of Pol Pot

By Tim Lambert Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia was the victim of an unsolved murder that took place in 1947. She was just 22. Her body was found on the morning of Wednesday 15 January 1947 on a vacant building plot in the Leimert Park district of Los Angeles in California. Her naked… Continue reading ELIZABETH SHORT, THE BLACK DAHLIA

By Tim Lambert In 1666 London was devastated by a terrible fire. The Great Fire of London destroyed a great deal of property but fortunately only a small number of people were killed. In the 17th century fire was a constant danger in towns when many houses were made of wood and streets were narrow.… Continue reading GREAT FIRE OF LONDON 1666

By Tim Lambert Mussolini Seizes Power When the First World War began a Socialist called Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), who was editor of the newspaper Avanti! opposed Italy joining the war. However, he soon changed his mind. By October 1914 Mussolini decided Italy should join. He resigned from Avanti! and founded his own newspaper called Popo… Continue reading Mussolini and Fascist Italy

By Tim Lambert THE RISE OF THE NAZIS The depression of the early 1930s was a disaster for Germany. While unemployment was 1.4 million in 1928 it rose to 4.8 million in 1931. By 1932 it was 6 million. About one man in three was out of work. One effect of the depression was that… Continue reading Nazi Germany