Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 157 i All About History

There’s plenty of talk these days about the jobs that could be at risk thanks to the development of Artificial Intelligence technologies. There are all sorts of professions that could be streamlined or eliminated entirely by these new developments. History offers plenty of examples of professions that saw technology or changing tastes make them obsolete, but perhaps some of these long-lost roles are ripe for a comeback. Could one of these forgotten jobs from the past be revived as a lucrative form of employment today? ALEWIFE 5TH-18TH CENTURY DUTIES: BREWING ALE Being an alewife was a pretty straightforward profession as it involved the brewing of beer. This role for married women emerged among working families in the Anglo-Saxon period, then spread to specialist alewives being employed as brewers for nobles.…

Of the 5,000 or so pirates who terrorised the Atlantic and Caribbean during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, few names have entered the history books. Alongside notorious figures such as Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard (c.1680 – 1718), and Anne Boney, one of the most recognised is Henry Morgan – best known today for having inspired a popular brand of spiced rum. Yet Morgan was not a pirate in the traditional sense at all, but a ‘privateer’, meaning that the raids he carried out were upon special commission by the governor of Jamaica. Throughout the centuries so much has been said of Morgan’s deeds that much of the truth has been lost beneath waves of myth and legend. The mystery of Morgan Morgan’s early years are shrouded…

THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS Director: John Gilling Starring: Peter Cushing, June Laverick, Donald Pleasence Country: Britain Year: 1960 This film tells the gruesome tale of Burke and Hare, but does it sacrifice facts for blood and gore? VERDICT: Despite drawing largely on the folklore of the murders, the film is more accurate than other retellings. 01 The movie follows William Hare (Donald Pleasence) and William Burke (George Rose) as they commit murders in Edinburgh. They sell the bodies to Dr Knox (Peter Cushing) for dissection. The film portrays five killings but Burke and Hare murdered at least 16. 02 Cushing’s Knox has a damaged eye. This is factual, with Knox scarred by smallpox. Cushing said Knox “closed his one good eye to the way in which Burke and Hare…

28 June 1919 TREATY OF VERSAILLES SIGNED The Armistice of November 1918 silenced the guns of WWI, and after months of discussions at the Paris Peace Conference the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919 to formally end the conflict between Germany and the Allies. The treaty, named after the Palace of Versailles where it was signed, laid out a number of conditions that Germany had to agree to, including paying reparations and giving up territory. 7 July 2005 TERRORISTS BOMB LONDON’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM During the morning rush hour on 7 July 2005, four Islamist terrorists attacked London’s transport system when they set off four bombs: three on Underground trains and the fourth on a bus. Fifty-two people (not including the suicide bombers) died and over 780 were injured.…

Cuba, 1957 Visitors to Fulgencio Batista’s former presidential palace in Havana will find a curious object among the plush surroundings: a golden telephone. Despite its now aged and battered appearance, this phone has a fascinating history and is an icon of the corruption at the heart of Batista’s authoritarian regime. Gifted to the dictator in 1957, the phone was a thank-you present after Batista granted a controversial rate increase of 20 percent to the Cuban Telephone Company. Despite its name, the company was actually a subsidiary of International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT), a US-owned corporation. The rate increase outraged the Cuban public but Batista, whose regime disregarded the needs of its people in order to aid the USA and increase the dictator’s personal fortune, gave its permission to ITT and the…

1 THE SIERRA MAESTRA GRANMA, SANTIAGO DE CUBA PROVINCES The largest mountain range in Cuba, the Sierra Maestra is where Fidel Castro and his fellow revolutionaries did battle with the forces of Fulgencio Batista using guerrilla tactics. In 1958 Batista launched Operation Verano, in which his men ventured into the mountains in an attempt to eradicate the rebels. The operation failed and Castro was able to launch his own offensive shortly afterwards. The Comandancia de la Plata, the original base from which Castro’s rebel forces operated, can still be seen in the mountains. The 16 cabins and huts include a kitchen, a radio shack and ‘Casa de Fidel’ – where Castro himself stayed while hiding in the mountains. Due to its remote, mountainous location, the Comandancia de la Plata can…

Chain-rattling phantoms, figures draped in white sheets, skull-faced spectres – we all know what ghosts are supposed to look like, but where do our ideas about them come from? Our fascination with ghosts stretches back thousands of years, and can be found in a variety of civilisations from across the globe. Some of the earliest records of encounters with spirits come from ancient Mesopotamia, around 600 BCE. Dr Irving Finkel, curator at the British Museum and author of The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies, is an expert on the Mesopotamian belief in things that go bump in the night. Here he discusses ancient phantoms, rituals to ward off evil, and the disquieting similarities between ancient and modern accounts of spiritual encounters. What can you tell us about some of…

Born in Liverpool in 1935, April Ashley lived a vibrant but tumultuous life. She became one of the first British people to have gender-affirmation surgery, a procedure she underwent in Morocco in 1960. The following years were a stressful time for the performer and model: in 1961 she was outed in the national press, in 1963 she married a British aristocrat – the marriage broke down shortly afterwards – and in 1969 her gender and identity were dissected by the British courts during her high-profile divorce. But Ashley would not be cowed and continued to work, becoming a staunch advocate for the transgender community. Here, we speak to Ashley’s biographers Jacqueline Kent and Tom Roberts, co-authors of Bonjour, Mademoiselle! April Ashley and the Pursuit of a Lovely Life, who tell us…

Considered to be the national dish of Cuba, ropa vieja doesn’t actually originate from the Caribbean island. Its roots can be traced back to the Sephardic Jews of Spain and the wider Iberian peninsula. A prohibition in Judaism against work on the Sabbath led to the creation of this overnight stew made from beef, tomatoes and paprika. The name translates as ‘old clothes’ but don’t let that put you off! Cuban legend has it that an impoverished man shredded and cooked his own clothes to feed his family, praying all the while, only for the meal to transform into a hearty stew of meat and vegetables. The ingredients for ropa vieja are, therefore, fairly humble and cheap but offer plenty of bang for their buck. Ingredients • 900g braising beef…

The life of Margaret Beaufort epitomises the medieval concept of the Wheel of Fortune, the capricious nature of Fate, with its violent tenor of life. The Wars of the Roses (1455–85) had a disastrous effect on many an English noble, perhaps none more so than Margaret. But with her formidable and adaptable personality, along with her consummate diplomatic skills, she survived the turns of the Wheel long enough to see her son Henry Tudor ascend to the English throne and establish one of the world’s most famous royal dynasties. LANCASTER VS YORK At the foundation of the Wars of the Roses was a family conflict originating with the many children of King Edward III. It would come down to the descendants of his sons Edmund of Langley, the 1st Duke of…

Siberia offered vast opportunities to Russia’s tsars. It was rich in valuable natural resources, but at the time this was not the oil for which it would later become important but furs such as sable, black fox and beaver. This was lucrative in the mid-1500s, but obtaining access to it would not be easy. The enormous extent of the territory involved meant that there were many challenges to overcome. Siberia was a fragmented region peopled by various competing tribes who had a reputation (largely deserved) for ferocity. They would not take kindly to interlopers from the west seeking to extract tribute from them. The first steps at trying to pry away the natives’ wealth were made by adventurers who were prepared to gamble a great deal (including their lives) in…

Scotland’s King James IV was a quintessential Renaissance prince, ruling his kingdom in an era when the great works of Greece and Rome were being rediscovered and classical culture reborn across Europe. He vigorously supported the new learning, but a king’s first and foremost role in that day was that of war-leader, and James was every bit the warrior-monarch. He adopted new weapons and tactics for his army, and poured vast resources into developing a national navy for Scotland that could compare with that of young King Henry VIII in England, Scotland’s larger and more powerful neighbour to the south. There had already been much conflict between England and Scotland for hundreds of years. In 1502, an attempt was made to bring calm to long-troubled Anglo-Scottish relations with the nations…

Book Film TV Podcast Games Other DAVID FROST VS Learn about one of TV’s greatest broadcasters in this new documentary Directors: Matthew Hill, Liz Mermin, Francis Longhurst Streaming: Sky Released: Out now Sir David Frost was arguably one of the greatest television interviewers ever to grace the airwaves. In 1962, the 23-year-old Cambridge graduate hosted the satirical That Was The Week That Was, becoming a household name overnight. In 1968 he took his talent across the Atlantic when he began to host an eponymous television programme on stations in the USA. Throughout a 50-year career, Frost interviewed personalities such as John Lennon, Richard Nixon and Muhammed Ali (above, with Frost). Now, Sky TV’s new documentary series David Frost Vs tells the story of the TV giant through some of his…