On 9 October 1934 the first political assassination to be caught on film took place in Marseilles, France. When the smoke and crowd (who beat the assassin so severely he not only died, but he was unidentifiable other than his tattoo) cleared, Alexander I Karađorđević had been killed. The French Foreign Minister had also been …
On 10 September 1960, Abebe Bikila found that the new running shoes he had purchased in Rome were uncomfortable. Undeterred, he decided to run the marathon barefoot. He took the 1960 Rome Olympics gold medal. On 23 November 1915 the retreat from the World War I Serbian front began. Every male over the age of …
On 30 September 1915, Serbian gunner Radoje Ljutovac became the first man to shoot an aircraft from the sky. He was given an award and promoted to Corporal. The Balkans were a hotbed of firsts during WWI. In addition to the first plane that was shot down, the first real dogfight also occurred over Serbia. …
On 19 July 1956, Gamel Abdel Nasser was returning from the meeting that would lead to the creation of the Non-Aligned Nations Movement and a new Third World, when he received word that the United States and Great Britain had decided to withdraw their offers to fund the construction of the Aswan Dam. The de-funding …
Samuel Maharero was born in 1856. It was the beginning of a time of massive upheaval in South West Africa. His father, paramount chief of the Herero, had consolidated Herero rule in the area over the Nama and Orlam people by 1861. The latter stages of that struggle was marked by the usage of much …
Sometimes it feels like there was never a world without Top Gun. There was, of course. Aircraft in combat and thrilling dogfights had to originate somewhere. That place was the sky over Serbia. And the when was August 25, 1914 at the first battle of World War I – the Battle of Cer. As it …
In about 165 AD, the Roman Empire encountered a foe they could not crush – the start of the Antonine Plague. The plague swept through all levels of society; the healthy were just as likely to contract the disease and die as the infirm. And although 70% of those who contracted the disease survived, they …
Prince Eugene of Savoy was relentless. With few exceptions he swept through the Balkans and set the Ottoman Empire, formerly the terrifying ascendent power galloping relentlessly through Europe, back on its heels. And so it was on 5 August 1716 when the Prince, with significantly fewer forces than those of the Ottoman Grand Vizier, managed …
The first of Portugal’s African colonies was also the first to gain independence. It was not, unfortunately, a smooth road to freedom. Most of the trade in Portuguese Guinea was controlled by a single group – Companhia Uniao Fabril – and their subsidiary companies. One of those subsidiaries, Casa Gouveia, controlled the docks. And Casa …
On 27 July 1948, Dorothea Bleek died. Dorothea had followed in her father’s footsteps, documenting the culture, language, and thousands-of-years-old rock art of Southern Africa. And although Dorothea continued to demur to her father’s expertise throughout her life, it was her books that brought the San to the attention of more academics. Her book, A …
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