Almost one year ago a dagger was found at an archaeological site in Germany. It looked like a long brown rock. It was so encrusted with mud and dirt that to call it a dagger at all seemed like a generous leap. Yet the dagger was later dated to 2,000 years old, so it is difficult to expect it to be in pristine condition. The dagger was discovered at a Roman burial ground in a location where the German town Haltern am See is now found. One of the largest known military camps was once found here and it was home to a large number of incredible battles between Romans and Germans.

The dagger was an incredible find as despite its worn state it appeared to be fully intact. It was taken to a fiber restorer to see what could be done to return it to its original state without impacting the original material. After months of work, the result produced is incredible. Today the dagger does look slightly worn, the metals a little faded but there is no rust, no mud, no breakages, nothing. If you came across this dagger in a store, based on the condition alone, you would assume it was less than 100 years old. The condition is pristine.

What once looked like a large lump of clay, that was still amazing, is now so much more. The dagger was found in its sheath and also a belt attached. When looking at the refurbished dagger you can immediately see that this was not a dagger for an ordinary soldier, it is cleary an incredibly special custom piece. The dagger blade starts wide but curves to become thin before widening again and finally finishing in a sharp point. The metals for the blade were found a variety of different steels that had been forged together. 

The handle fo the dagger is thin and intricately detailed with carvings and small spheres of red glass. This matches the sheath that holds the blade. The sheath is incredibly detailed with patterns of crescent moons, diamonds, and a laurel wreath. The sheath itself is made of metal and red enamel and glass. To think that the dagger was pulled from its blade to discover more about it. Who knows what the reason was that it was last pulled from its sheath and what stories that blade could tell.

The belt is leather but coated in silver to give the impression of an expensive metal belt. Whether this reveals that the belt was not owned by someone extremely wealthy or if a leather belt was just more practical, is unknown. Why this belt ended up outside a burial mound is the greatest mystery. The most likely theory is that it was left outside the burial ground of a fallen soldier or general in honor of their work. Perhaps with more discoveries from this site, the story will become a little clearer.

Scotland’s depopulation and mass migration

These evictions came to be known as Highland Clearances, as about 5,000 residents in Northern Scotland were forced out of the region to find new homes. Some historians cite that nearly half of Scotland’s population was displaced over the next century. The land became taken over by slave owners who bought over one million acres to build an agricultural empire.

New historical insights

Researchers from Coventry University (Iain MacKinnon) and University of Glasgow (Andrew Mackillop) recently published their historical analysis of these evictions and migration in the nonprofit publication Community Land Scotland. Their research was further recently covered on the BBC current-affairs program Eòrpa. The study focused on the north part of the western Highlands, along with islands such as Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

McKinnon and Mackillop found that some British plantation owners profited directly from slave labor. About a third of land in the western Highlands and islands region was controlled by these owners, who bought at least 63 estate purchases during the clearances. The researchers, however, were only able to find prices for about two-thirds of these transactions, as the estimated value of these properties was £120 million ($158 million USD) at the time. Due to the missing data, it’s possible that the value was much higher.

Most of these purchases occurred between 1790 and 1855. British slave trade was officially outlawed in 1833, which led to Parliament awarding about £120 million to slave owners to cover financial losses. Today that amount would command a value of $2.6 billion USD. Colonel John Gordon of Cluny, considered widely unpopular in Scotland, was given £2.9 million to compensate for his loss of 1,300 slave workers on his Caribbean plantations. He used the funds to purchase the Scottish islands of Benbecula, South Uist and Barra, which led to 3,000 more evictions.

Roots of systemic racism

The study on Highlander clearances has opened the door for deeper discussions on the history of slavery in Scotland. Mackillop hopes the findings will encourage debate on Scotland’s involvement in slavery to create a better understanding of how systemic racism developed. MacKinnon says slavery had a huge impact on ecological damage in the region. Scottish merchants particularly benefited from the labor of their slaves, who typically came from West Africa and the West Indies.

Uncovering this historical information contrasts with long-held notions that Scots were champions of the movement to abolish slavery. Scottish elites particularly exploited South African nation Guyana. The research points to a broader conclusion that wealth during the industrial revolution was derived from slave labor.

Many British institutions are in the process of investigating history to determine how to repair relationships with groups whose ancestors were affected by the slave trade. The University of Glasgow, for example, announced in 2018 it had received about £200 million from slave trade production. The University has opened a new center that collaborates with other institutions to study the history of Scottish slavery, which can be accessed from its website.

Scottish historian David Alston says that studying 18th and 19th century Highlands history isn’t complete without focusing on slavery, which he confirms was “where the money was made.” This long-term study comes at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is raising awareness how systemic racism still exists in society, particularly in the corporate job market, financial institutions and the real estate industry.

The world of inventors is not just about creating new gadgets, as the latest innovations must also be tested. During these tests, it does not always go as well as planned since there are few instructions that explain the use of this new technology. That is why sometimes something goes wrong, resulting in fatal consequences. Here you can read more about the inventors who have made the difference through their own creations!

Frantz Reichelt – Parachute suit

At the beginning of the last century, there was a huge growth in motor-driven air traffic. However, flying was something totally new at the time and there was a very high chance of crashing and a very low chance of surviving a crash. This led to a demand for safety measures and Frantz Reichelt saw an opportunity to develop a parachute suit.

The first tests with dummies were a success, but modifications to the suit to make it wearable proved difficult. Frantz insisted that the tests were not carried out high enough and, after long insistence, received permission to perform a test from the Eiffel Tower. Instead of dummies, he insisted on testing his invention himself this time. However, the parachute did not fully open and Reichelt crashed into his death due to a fatal mistake made in his inventio

Thomas Midgley Jr. – Leaded gasoline

The inventor of leaded gasoline made good money from his creation at the very beginning. However, a lot of commotion arose after the media reported several lead-related deaths, presumably caused by the lead in the new gasoline. To prove that the gasoline was completely safe, Midgley poured the substance over his hand and smelled the bottle for at least 60 seconds. Logically, he fell ill but did not die immediately from these complications.

At a later age, he was diagnosed with polio and was forced to stay in bed. To support him in this, he designed a system of ropes and pulleys to be able to lift himself. During the use of his support, however, he gets entangled in the ropes and his air was taken away, which led to a bad end.

Horace Lawson Hunley – Submarine

During the American Civil War, Horace saw his opportunity to use his engineering skills to get hold of money and fame. The South was looking for a method to sink the boats of the North with as little manpower and costs as possible. To achieve this, the man developed a submarine that enabled the crew to drill a hole into the ships which blocked the ports of the South.

After three failed tests, Hunley decided to take the helm himself and step into the submarine for the fourth time. What exactly happened underwater is not clear. However, the submarine never surfaced again and all 8 passengers, including Hunley, drowned in his new creation.

Henry Smolinski

The worldwide adoption of the car has caused a lot of traffic jams. This made the flying car a dream of many inventors for quite some time. Avoiding the traffic jams by simply flying over it sounds like the ideal solution. Henry Smolinski had this in mind as well and built a fully working flying car from which the wings could be removed after landing. During one of his test flights, however, the right-wing let go and a crash followed which unfortunately made it impossible for the inventor to run away from.

Valerian Abakovsky

During the war between the Communists and Bolsheviks, there was a great demand for transport in the country. The young and inexperienced inventor Valerian Abokovsky was currently working as a driver for the first secret security service of the Soviet Union. Because of this, he spoke to several important and influential people from the country. During one of his journeys, he managed to convince the right person of his idea to create a train powered by an airplane engine. He was allowed to develop the train and after completing his project several VIPs decided to test his train. On the way back, however, the train derailed and six passengers died, including the inventor himself.

It’s a story that begins with the Opium Wars. For a time, Britain sold opium to China in exchange for tea. This created a tremendous opioid addiction crisis among the Chinese to which the Emperor responded with decrees banning the drug and limiting British payments strictly to silver. Britain couldn’t sustainably honor that demand and thus began bringing in opium in secret.

This set off trade wars that concluded in treaties that did not work in China’s favor. Later known as the “unequal treaties,” these had terms deemed unfair including opening up previously closed ports of trade and passing Hong Kong over to the British. Chinese merchants were reasonably disappointed with their government’s quick yield to Britain’s demands, causing civil unrest among the commoners.

This is about as far as history lessons go, ending short of perhaps the most thrilling (and impactful) trade heist in history. Diplomatic relations between the two countries hit the mud and China braved what it would look back on as a “Century of Humiliation.” Cue in Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist who became pivotal to the global tea trade and the colonial West’s economic sabotage of their Asian competition.

Fortune, ironically, was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He became a botanist by practice, and not through formal study. But this wouldn’t keep him from becoming one of the most impactful people in his field. His legacy? Europe’s introduction to several plants once endemic to Asian ecosystems and the collapse of China’s economy.

Britain wanted to topple China’s tea monopoly by growing tea themselves in their nearby tropical colony, India. To do this, the East India Trading Company sent Fortune on a three-year mission to steal China’s tea plants and transport them to the colony. A risky job, the company sweetened the deal by offering to quintuple his salary from the Horticultural Society of London. It was a deal that, as history would have it, he did not refuse.

His 1847 book recounts how he had tricked port-security into thinking he was a Chinese merchant by cutting his hair the traditional male Chinese style and dressing in the local garb. His tea heist left no tea plant unplucked, bringing with him over 20,000 species and seedlings of tea plants, farming tools, tea processing tools, and even tea farmers themselves all the way to Darjeeling.

The trade theft steered the course of the global tea trade and plunged China into a steep valley in its economy and tea production. While the British and later the Dutch and Americans enjoyed the growing availability of tea and the sudden boom in their commerce, China’s tea production dipped to 41,000 tons and were left with only 9,000 tons to export.

It would not be until over a century later that China would reclaim its spot as the largest tea exporter in the world ⁠— earning $1.5 billion out of its $15 trillion GDP in 2018 alone.

Ships made with bones of humans

French soldiers that got prisoned during the Napoleonic war found an unusual hobby when they were left alone for many years at the start of the 19^th century. This unusual hobby was of fashioning ornate replicas of British ships, out of human bone and bovine. The French soldiers used any bones they came across to create these fascinating models. The rare bone ship models tend to sell for tens of thousands of dollars at auctions because collectors of these macabre historical relics go nuts.

How did prisoners of war make such accurate ship models out of such bizarre materials? French prisoners obtained beef and mutton bones from the food rations that were issued to them by their English captors. After acquiring bones for use in building replicas of ships, prisoners boiled the bones and bleached them in the sunlight to make the bones easier to shape and carve. The French prisoners of war used any bones they found, no matter what or whom they might have belonged to.

Even the pigs around the POW (prisoners of war) camp also helped to supplement the French prisoners’ bone supply by uncovering human skeletons buried in shallow graves.

Cobbling all the things together

In addition to human, cattle, and mutton bones, French prisoners of war made use of their own hair to fashion sail ringing to create sails. On some occasions, visitors to the camp from nearby villages and British officers would smuggle in pieces of turtle shells, tools, metal, and silk for the Frenchman to use.

To build the structure of the ship models, Frenchmen used the larger bones, and for smaller pieces, they used wood scraps for the finely detailed cannons of masts.

Mechanisms into models

Many of the Frenchmen artists built mechanisms into their models and replicas. There were some popular models of the ships whose mechanism attracted huge sales. The French prisoners of war attempted to make the ships at scale, but they often failed. Their craftsmanship far exceeded this shortcoming.

So this article was all about how French prisoners of war showcased their craftsmanship by building up models of ships using bones of humans. Besides humans, they also used bones that they used to come across, no matter what and who they belonged to. The models crafted by these French prisoners of war became very popular and used to get sold for huge amounts of money.

With the advancements in technology, more musical instruments were invented during the 20th century. In the 1960s and 70s, the electric guitar became a popular musical instrument and a battlefield of competition among many great guitar players. Les Paul, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Slash, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Halen, and Duane Eddy attracted many fans with their skills of playing electric guitar. There’s an endless debate in the music industry about who is the best ever electric guitar artist Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, being the top two contenders of his title.

But who invented the electric guitar, and what’s the story behind it?

Electric guitar invention

We’ll start answering all these questions by debunking some of the common misconceptions. Many people believe that Les Paul was the inventor of the electric guitar, but no! He wasn’t.

The credit for the creating of electric guitar goes to Adolph Rickenbacker, an electrical engineer and George Beauchamp, a musician. They two are the people who created the first modern amplifiable electric guitar. Other musicians had attempted this before them using things like carbon button microphones attached to the guitar. But the duo of Beauchamp and Rickenbacker were the first to create a modern electric guitar with good sound quality that could be used in professional music.

The need for an electric guitar arose back when the classical guitar was too quiet and wasn’t able to contribute to the music, a band produced. This issue started back during concert hall music back in the 1880s. Later in the 1920s, the big bands got most music power and swing from the drums and brass, so the acoustic guitar became a second-tier music instrument. The acoustic guitar was producing melodies that not even the band members could hear properly. The need for innovation in the guitar was pretty obvious.

Beauchamp met Rickenbar in Los Angeles at a manufacturing faculty of Dopyera Brother, and they both agreed to work on an electric guitar project. Rickenbacker was one of the best men in his field, and he was known as the man who loved to do experiments and who dared to invent new things. He was the founder of The Rickenbacker International Corporation, a company solely dedicated to design and create electric musical instruments.

Beauchamp and Rickenbacker did a lot of experimentation, and they were finally able to invent an electric device that was able to pick up the vibrations of the guitar string with superb clarity.

In the year 1931, the first commercial prototype of an electric guitar was finally ready. In 1932, the first electric guitar was commercially launched by Ro-Pat-In Corporation (later known as Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company).

The 43 presidents came to be when there was once an idea for a presidential experience theme park in Virginia. The artist, David Adickes, created the busts and made them an amazing 20 feet high. That makes these busts as high as three Michael Jordan’s or four Danny Devito’s. The busts represent the first 43 presidents before the statues were built in 2004. They were built on-site within a dense wood that was set to be turned into an attractive experience.

However, the plans were never finalized. In the end, it was decided the proposed site would not work as it was too isolated from main roads and tourist areas. It was felt that the money required to invest in the area to turn it into an attraction would never be profited from. The plan was scrapped and the statues were left as ghosts in the forest. Later when the land was sold the statues were set to be destroyed.

Howard Hankins heard about the plans and stepped in. He said he couldn’t let the incredible statues be destroyed and said he would find a way to transport 43 of these 20-foot statues somewhere else. While it sounds like Howard was getting a good deal by getting these statues for nothing, the expense involved in transporting so many massive statues must have been huge. Yet he did it.

Hankins returned with a full team, excavators, and flatbed trucks. He drilled a hole in the top of each president’s head and used a hook to get the statues onto each truck. From there a huge convey took place (which must have been an incredible site) as some 43 trucks wheeled their way to Hankins’ farm. 

While Hankins rescued the statues they are not yet available to the public eye. Hankins says that someday they will be available to view but for right now there are no visitors welcome to his site. 

Trespassing has become a huge issue on his farm as people are desperate to see the statues and grab a picture. We would advise against that as you will likely face prosecution and if you do manage to grab a great post for Instagram it will likely be the evidence they need to prove you were there. 

If you really want to see some massive heads of presidents, why settle for 20 feet. If you are that keen you should aim for 60-foot heads. If you are able to make the journey to Mount Rushmore that is what you will get. On Mount Rushmore, there are the four famous carvings of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Roosevelt. The four presidents were chosen as they represent the United States’ birth, growth, development, and preservation. 

Originally Mount Rushmore was meant to depict the four presidents all the way to their waste but the project ran out of funding and the heads had to suffice. It appears that failed projects with the heads of presidents are common. It doesn’t seem to matter though, as the mount attracts two million visitors every year.

If Hankins can find a way to display the 43 presidents heads that he has in a clever way we have no doubt that he too can attract millions of visitors every year. It is likely that his early investment will pay off someday soon. Watch out for the former presidents if you are ever passing through Virginia.

Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon is Buzz Aldrin’s book on the subject. “I looked closer and jolted a bit,” Aldrin writes in it. On the floor lay an essential circuit breaker switch.

Maintaining his calm like any properly trained astronaut would do, Aldrin began an examination of the control panels to determine where the switch belonged. He claims he “gulped hard” when he discovered that it had been connected to the circuit breaker for the main engine arm. The part would be absolutely essential to liftoff and their safe return home to planet Earth.

Aldrin believes that one of the two pioneering astronauts likely bumped the panel while wearing one of their cumbersome backpacks or space suits. Regardless of how it happened, however, they would have to repair the situation to ignite the engines, or they would be permanently trapped on the cold, lifeless surface of the moon.

After notifying Houston, the two astronauts spent one more fitful, sleepless night in the cramped lunar module. Meanwhile, the launch team back on Earth worked feverishly through the night to try to find a solution. By the time Armstrong and Aldrin rose from their useless attempt at sleep, the ground crew had still not found a solution for their quandary.

“After examining it more closely,” Aldrin continues in his book about the experience, “I thought that if I could find something in the LM [lunar module] to push into the circuit, it might hold. I had a felt-tipped pen in the shoulder pocket of my suit that might do the job.”

So the team moved up the countdown procedure by several hours, hoping to have extra time if Aldrin’s on the fly repair did not work as hoped. The junior astronaut jammed the pen into the opening, trying to lock the circuit closed. His ingenuity paid off, as the switch held, and the engines fired up on the first try.

“To this day,” Aldrin adds, “I still have the broken circuit breaker switch and the felt-tipped pen I used to ignite our engines.”

Chief NASA historian William Barry has spoken about the incident before. While he praises Aldrin for his creativity under pressure, he also makes it clear that they were a long way from being abandoned. The ground team still had time to come up with a solution, and likely they would have. They train for it excessively, going through all kinds of potential disaster scenarios. However, he does admit that, after this event, NASA put a cover on the breaker boxes in all future missions, just to make sure this kind of accident never happened again.

1. Virtual doctor’s office

It is crucial to connect with a health specialist on an online platform. 1DocWay helps seniors to interact with a specialist and get the attention of their health conditions. Also, they do not get the attention they seek online sometimes.

2. Depression help lifeline

There are caregivers like AbilTo that help seniors who are struggling to manage their depression. Seniors can access health programs remotely through the internet or their phones. Through these, seniors do not feel alone and know that someone out there understands their condition.

3. Getting a care giving match

There are online services like Carelinx that helps families with seniors to find the right caregivers who match their budget and meet the specific skills they need.

4. Grand central of patient health records

Caretree.Me is one of the online platforms where doctors, families, and caregivers can access their patient records and know what decisions to be made about their health. It also helps them prepare for what is ahead of them in matters related to their health.

5. Being connected from a distance

An online platform like Evermind is one of the long-distance caregiver solutions that help families connect with their loved ones who are far using electronic devices. The caregivers ensure that seniors maintain their independence and peace of mind knowing that the daily activities are taking place.

6. A good health cloud

There are online cloud-based platforms like GenieMD, LLC in which their clients can manage their log daily health activities, medication and keeping track of other crucial approaching signs of ailment and other features.

7. Coordinated care through technology

LivWell Health is an online platform for seniors with family members who have their care decisions. The service has subscription services that allow screen services, an essential care coordination system, and video chatting.

8. A senior’s best friend

seniors tend to need a lot of companionships when they age. GeriJoy companion is the way to go. It acts as a talking pet and makes isolated seniors enjoy the conversation and stay updated on their family members.

9. Being alert

QMedic is one of the online service providers that help update caregivers on the daily behavior of seniors. The service has a high connectivity level that alerts the caregivers with a call button in emergency cases.

10. Providers and patients reunion

MedClimate acts as the media between the providers and patients. It eases communication between the patients and the caregiver through mobile technology. As we know, a good sense of communication leads to exceptional and quality medical care provision for better health.