Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 134 i All About History

Q&A ALL ABOUT COMPUTERS What are some of the earliest examples of women in computing? Have they been there since the beginning? Even in what might be viewed as the beginnings of computing, women are involved. One of the earliest was NicoleReine Étable de la Brière (1723-1788), born in France, an expert in astronomy and advanced mathematics. For her amazing achievements, the asteroid 7720 Lepaute and the lunar crater Lepaute are named in her honour. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was the first person to see the enormous potential of Charles Babbage’s device, sensing that his Analytical Engine had the capacity to be programmed rather than simply perform basic operations. Her name is honoured in the Lovelace Medal, awarded since 1998 by the British Computer Society, and since 2008 in an annual competition…

According to the Book Of The Dead, at the end of time, chaos will overturn balance in the cosmos. All that exists will vanish, to be replaced by the infinite waters of Nun – the universal flood that surrounds creation. Atum, the oldest manifestation of the sun god, will decide when this happens. Yet, even in this bleak time, when all life is extinguished, hope remains. When creation has been upturned, there will be two snakes in the endless ocean. One will be Osiris, who represents the force of regeneration, and the other will be Atum, a god that holds all physical creation within himself. The ingredients for a new beginning will continue to exist. To the ancient Egyptians, in chaos, there was always the potential for order, and because…

The Nun's Lover John V of Portugal, 1689 - 1750 It might be fair to say that European royals of history are more notable when they didn’t have a plethora of mistresses and affairs, but few can claim to have such a distinctive preference in paramours to earn the nickname the nun’s lover. So it was for John V who had a series of affairs with nuns, one lasting around a decade. It doesn’t seem as if he was too fussy though as other affairs were also chronicled. The Elbow-High Władysław I Łokietek, King Of Poland, c.1260 - 1333 It should be fairly obvious where Władysław I, a celebrated king who managed to consolidate provinces into the single Polish nation, got his name from… he was short. Or we thought…

The quiet rural area of Wiltshire was once home to a rampant smuggling trade for gin and brandy. The smugglers would travel down to the South Coast where they would obtain the barrels of contraband. One folk tale describes how, upon returning to their village, a group of smugglers either by accident or intent hid the barrels in a small pond. One night they headed out with rakes in an attempt to retrieve the barrels. However, they hadn’t counted on the roaming excisemen. Questioned and forced to think quickly, one of the smugglers pointed to the moon’s reflection, exclaiming that he believed it to be a great cheese that had rolled into the lake and they were attempting to retrieve it. In the centuries since, as a result of this…

The Greek poet and author Homer is traditionally depicted as having been blind. He is famous as the creator of The Odyssey and The Iliad, although it is likely that the sagas, which were peppered with blind characters, were actually the product of a collection of different poets. It is unclear whether Homer actually was blind, but this notion has nevertheless become ingrained in the historical narrative of the poet’s life. In Life Unseen, Mills considers the debate that historians have had for centuries with regard to Homer’s ability to see, and questions why it matters. Ancient recorders like Thucydides, Herodotus and Aristotle talked of Homer’s blindness, drawing a connection between his lack of sight and his talent as a poet. However, more modern and recent studies into Homer’s sight…

1660 THE RESTORATION Following Richard’s disastrous rule he was forced to flee. Parliament would eventually choose to restore the monarchy and Charles II was invited back to once again rule over his former kingdoms. In a ceremony on 23 April 1661 he was crowned, the delay partly being due to the fact that a new crown had to be made as the previous one had been melted during the years of the republic. His reign was a troubled one, thanks to outbreaks of plague, the disaster of the Great Fire of London and defeat in the Second AngloDutch War. 1660 - 1710 RESTORATION COMEDY By order of Parliament, on 6 September 1642, London’s theatres were closed and would remain so for the next 18 years. Under Cromwell, this form of…

Out now! What If Book of Alternative American History What if China had discovered America first? What if the American Revolution had never happened? What if President John F Kennedy had survived his assassination? In What If… we explore the potential answers to these fascinating counterfactual questions and many more. Buy What If Book of Alternative American History in shops or online at magazinesdirect.com Price: £14.99 Out now! Luck of the Draw Author Frank Murphy Price £25 Publisher Elliott & Thompson Including a vivid description of the costly raid against manufacturing infrastructure in the city of Regensburg, Germany, on 17 August 1943, this book reveals the harrowing nature of combat in the clouds. Frank Murphy and his B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, and fellow crewmen, survived that pulse-pounding experience, but Murphy’s bomber…

The sun god took different forms as he crossed the sky. He was Khepri when young in the morning, Re at his strongest at midday, and Atum when old in the evening. At night, he travelled through the afterlife realm, where he faced challenges, but was re-energized in the middle of the night thanks to the power of Osiris. He was then reborn as a baby at dawn, ready for the cycle to begin again. It is this nightly drama that is shown in the decoration of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Despite being a fundamental part of Egyptian belief, this myth could be adapted depending on local geography. The Faiyum Oasis, for example, lies to the west of where the sun was traditionally believed to…

From the picturesque cliffs of rural Cornwall, to the quaint harbour town of Poole – the shores of 18th and early 19th century Britain were dangerous places to be. Due to import taxes, smuggling was rife across the country. Largely the work of a series of highly organised criminal gangs, they would stop at nothing, even murder, in the distribution of their illicit cargo. These smugglers used ingenious methods and their cruelty even earned some a place in popular folklore, notorious still to this day. As a result this period has become known as the ‘golden age of smuggling’. A time in which all manner of items, from alcoholic spirits and tobacco to ordinary tea, were brought illicitly into the country. A vast and rich topic, we’ve selected some of…

Becoming one of the richest women of the era, Bess of Hardwick invested in property, leaving behind two buildings that survive to this day and are incredible examples of Tudor architecture. In 1549 she bought the Chatsworth estate in Derbyshire, with her then husband Sir William Cavendish. In her subsequent marriages, Bess retained control of this estate and financed significant remodelling projects to make it what it is today. Having moved back to Chatsworth from 1584 as her fourth marriage broke up, she then decided to return to her birthplace of Hardwick in Derbyshire where her family had a modest estate. This was gradually transformed into Hardwick Hall as we know it now, starting with an enlarged manor in 1590. After her husband died, she invested her increased inheritance on…

1660 OLIVER CROMWELL - HERO? In the autumn of 1660, the bodies of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and John Bradshaw were removed from their graves at the orders of Charles II. The bodies were taken to the gallows at Tyburn where they hung from chains before being beheaded. For the next 25 years, the heads were placed on a large spike outside Westminster Hall. However, one night a storm dislodged Cromwell’s head. For centuries the head passed through various hands, even appearing in a touring ‘freak show’ before being buried at Sidney Sussex College in the 20th century. Had the republic continued it’s highly doubtful he would have received such treatment and may have been treated as a national hero. 1706 - 1707 A SCOTTISH COLONY? The Treaty of Union…

Price: £22.99 Released: Out now Book Film TV Podcast Games Other Reviews by Martyn Conterio, Catherine Curzon, Mallory James, Jonathan Gordon Children Of The House Of Cleves delves into the life of Anna – better known to most as Anne of Cleves – and her siblings, parents, and wider family. While much has been written about Anne thanks to her ill-fated marriage to Henry VIII, this is much more than a retelling of that familiar story. Instead, it is a comprehensive and well-researched account of some of the most turbulent times 16th century Europe ever witnessed, seen through the eyes of the House of Cleves. Author Heather R Darsie tells the story of the era through the children of the dynasty of Cleves. Their lives were rife with incident and…

Price: £25 Released: Out now “With so much lost under the Third Reich… a cultural chasm was waiting to be filled” This is the concluding book in a series from Michael H Kater on German culture following Weimar: From Enlightenment To The Present (2014) and Culture In Nazi Germany (2019). Having tracked cultural movements and influences from one of Germany’s most influential cities to the upheaval of Nazism, he now looks at the tumultuous post-war era, and it’s possibly the most fascinating of them all. Kater paints a picture of a nation stripped of cultural touchstones it could rely on. The Nazis had destroyed and sidelined art that it considered unworthy (at best) and degenerate (at worst). Now, in the post-war era, anything connected to the Nazis was also taboo.…

1821 DIFFERENCE ENGINE Frustrated by the inaccuracy of printed calculation tables used in mathematics, statistics and more, Charles Babbage conceives of a mechanical calculating engine that would be infallible. This develops into the bigger concept of a general purpose Analytical Engine in 1834. Neither is actually built in his time. 1936 THE TURING MACHINE Alan Turing lays out his idea for a computing device capable of being programmed for any mathematical problem. The intention is to be able to tackle mathematics’ most complex or undecidable problems. This hypothetical machine inspires the computing designs that follow. THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM c.100 BCE Designed to display details of astronomical phenomena through a series of gears, this ancient Greek device is thought to be the earliest known example of a basic ‘computer’. A WORD IS BORN…

According to the myths, Egypt’s deities existed along with humans, ghosts and demons in the same bubble of creation that floats in the endless waters of Nun. Within this bubble, they had jobs to do, and could help, hinder, or ignore people, depending on their mood. Humanity, after all, was an accident, created from the tears of the sun god when he cried, so they were of little importance in the grand scheme of things. For humans, however, the best approach to living among such powerful beings was to keep them happy. To do this, they built temples that served as earthly palaces for the gods. In ancient Egypt, priests were known as “god’s servants”, and there were different ranks and levels of purity required to enter the most sacred…

‘Wreckers’ were individuals said to place lamps on cliffs or beaches during terrible storms in order to purposefully wreck merchant vessels. While the crew drowned, the wreckers would wait patiently for the storm to abate and for the ship’s precious cargo to wash ashore. Author Daphne Du Maurier even included wreckers in her quintessential smuggling novel, Jamaica Inn. However, the stories of these malevolent figures have been largely exaggerated and while attacks did occur, they were rare. Instead, ‘wreckers’ were individuals who scoured the beaches following a disaster for any material that might be recovered. According to the National Archives, ‘The Right of Wreck’ franchise allowed landowners to recover various items from the sea. Landowners often feuded between who was entitled to the loot from which wreck. When salvaging was…

No, that’s not a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, although she does look very similar. This fiery red hair, pale skin and haughty expression in fact belong to another of Tudor England’s most prominent women. Elizabeth Cavendish, more commonly known as Bess of Hardwick, who led a remarkable life for a woman in the 16th century, enduring tragedy and hardship with a defiant attitude that would see her become the second richest woman in England after Gloriana herself. But her success was not straightforward and many of her calculated decisions put her at odds with Queen Elizabeth, making her life precarious and, at times, dangerous. However, even before Elizabeth became queen in 1558, Bess was striving to better her life. From as young as 16 she began building her individual…

When looking at the history of blindness and those with visual impairment, it is not very common to come across writers and historians who have themselves experienced sight loss. This is something that journalist Selina Mills wants to change. Having spent ten years writing Life Unseen: A Story Of Blindness, a part memoir, part historical journey that charts blindness through the ages, Mills’ new publication aims to establish how blindness has been perceived throughout history and where our modern notions of blindness have come from. We sat down with Mills to discuss her new book, her own feelings towards discussions around sight loss, and her research into the past. Why did you decide to write Life Unseen: A Story Of Blindness, and how would you describe the book? I was…

Price: £27.99 Released: 14 September In 1643, Margaret Cavendish (then Lucas) made a dangerous and almost unthinkable journey. Accompanied by her brother, she made her way from London to Oxford – crossing a country ravaged by the Civil War – to join the court of Queen Henrietta Maria. Shy and anxious, Margaret struggled in her new surroundings. But she was committed to the Royalist cause, and would later follow the queen into exile in Europe. Over the course of war and exile, Margaret suffered multiple bereavements. Her home was also ransacked by Parliamentarian forces, and the graves of her mother and sister desecrated. They made wigs of their hair. In this new biography of Margaret, Pure Wit details the Civil War alongside her personal story. However, it also provides a…