A Brief History On April 28, 1192, the Hashshashin (Assassins) assassinated Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, just two days after his title to the throne was confirmed by election. The incident was one of many bizarre and violent episodes to occur during the Crusades. These wars rank among the longest religious conflicts in human history. This article presents a timeline of some of the most bizarre incidents to occur in the roughly two hundred years long conflict between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land. Digging Deeper In late April 637, Jerusalem was…
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A Brief History On April 27, 1945, Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini was captured by Italian partisans and shot the next day, his body hung up in public and pelted with stones, spat upon, and generally scorned, an inglorious end to a strutting peacock of an egomaniac. Many other leaders of countries have met humiliating and gory ends, sometimes deserved and sometimes not. Here are 10 examples of how far the mighty can fall when bloodthirsty enemies can get a hold of them. Digging Deeper 10. Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia (1967). Holt disappeared while swimming in the ocean and…
A Brief History On April 26, 1933, the Nazi secret police force known as the Gestapo was founded. No strangers to torturing and executing people, firing squads, hanging by piano wire, and death by torture were Gestapo favorites. We continue what we started on April 25 when we told you about 10 ways people have been executed with no regard for humanity, intentional or unintentional. Here are 10 more ways people have executed other people and were not so nice about it. Digging Deeper 10. Poison Gas. Used today and recently for individual executions, the condemned have been known to…
A Brief History On April 25, 1792, the guillotine was served its first victim. Meant to be a humane form of capital punishment, other modern forms have also attempted to achieve a quick and painless death for the condemned. Other methods have been purposely designed to cause pain and terror, both to the condemned and to potential violators. H ere are 10 methods of execution that are not very humane, even if they were intended to be. Obviously, there are many more interesting methods of execution, so stay tuned for a sequel list on this website. 10. Smashing the Head.…
A Brief History The French Revolution was easily one of the most significant political revolutions in history and Napoleon was one of the greatest military leaders of all time. Their era in history is not surprisingly full of bizarre moments as captured in the following timeline. Prologue On September 29, 1758 (New Style Calendar), one of the greatest naval heroes of all time was born, Horatio Nelson, the man that would become Vice Admiral and 1st Viscount Nelson, the hero of Trafalgar. On August 15, 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born. He would later go on to be known for many things,…