Category: Early Modern
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17th-century Dutch shipwreck discovered
March 3, 1677: The Dutch ship Huis de Kreuningen sunk in the southern Caribbean,during the Battle of Scarborough Harbour. The Dutch, who controlled the island of Tobago at the time, were attacked by the French. The battle was significant, both in terms of the number of lives lost and the damage done to both fleets.…
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Scientific proof: Ismail Ibn Sharif could easily have had 888 kids
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif (1634-1727), the Emperor of Morocco from 1672 until his death, is legendary for his impressive offspring. Contemporaries report that the Ibn Sharif, who claimed to be a descendant of Mohammed, fathered 888 kids. Researchers of University of Vienna created a model to proof that it is biologically possible to procreate that amount…
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Shipwreck might rewrite New Zealand’s history
A shipwreck found in 1982 in Kaipara Harbour, near Auckland, might rewrite the history of European settlement of New Zealand. Carbon dating of the wooden ship which was only completed recently shows that the ship was built around 1705. Since the kind of wood used for the vessel would last no longer than 50 years,…
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17th-century Puritans wrote world’s most expensive book
World’s most expensive book was sold on Tuesday for a whopping $14 million at an auction of Sotheby’s, New York.It is a translation of Biblical Psalms, printed by settlers who came to America around 1640. It is the oldest book ever printed in the USA, but the true value lies in its historical background. The…
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Creole- and Pidgin-grammar gives insight into the history of slave-trade
Modern historical research isn’t just focussed on written sources anymore. An interdisciplinary approach is the standard, while this generates a multi-facetted perception on the historical topic. A good example is the recently published “Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structure“. This study surveys the geographical development of the mixed languages of North and South America , Africa…
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America’s universities were built on slave-trade
Slavery is intertwined with human history. This is emphasized by new publication on the relationship between America’s universities and slavery. It turns out that many educational institutions are historically connected with the slavery. Popular universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia – these elite colleges all conceal a painful history. Craig Steven…