MORE of Brian on "Suite 101" - the Eruption of "Krakatoa" in 1883!

“There came an explosion so loud, so violent, and with such far-reaching effects, that it made all that had gone before seem as child’s play in comparison, and made all other explosions known to earth in historic times dwindle into insignificance.” - Local Historian, Aug. 27, 1883

As these two eyewitness accounts make clear, the eruption of the Volcanic Island of Krakatoa on August 27, in the year 1883 was no small affair. In fact, even though it had been giving off warning blasts of no small intensity for some days prior, as the second account makes clear, the blast which finally occurred on the 27’th of August was far beyond anything previously seen or recorded by man. And like the volcanic blasts now occurring in southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull, it shot volcanic ash high into the air which proved to be a menace to navigation. But this ash also produced strange effects around the world for months after.

What happened on the Indonesian Island of "Krakatoa" in 1883? Why is it important in understanding the consequences of the Icelandic Volcano whose name - "Eyjafjallajokull", nobody can REALLY pronounce. And WHAT in heaven's name has all of this got to do with "THE SCREAM"??? Click onto Brian's article on "Suite 101" and find out!!



Read more at Suite101: The 1883 Eruption of the Volcano "Krakatoa"! http://oceanic-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-1883-eruption-of-the-volcano-krakatoa#ixzz0lTkc1PN3

Brian is on "Suite 101.com" again. This time, it is the Coal Mine Disaster in Monongah, West Virginia in 1907.

The recent terrible tragedy which took place in Montcoal, West Virginia brings to mind a similar, but even greater tragedy which shook the mining community to it's foundations in 1907 --

“I was out on the loaded track and was looking toward the mouth of number 8 and the first thing I knew I saw timbers and everything flying through the air…. followed by black smoke. It seemed to me the smoke was afire. It seemed to me it was a short distance in the air, maybe fifty or sixty feet.”

This was the memory of Carl Meredith, a Foreman on the the Fairmont Mine in West Virginia of the worst mining disaster in American history which happened at Monongah, West Virginia on December 6, 1907. Around 10:30 in the morning after a full contingent of 380 workers, both men and boys had begun their shift, mines no. 6 and 8 of the Fairmont Consolidated Coal Mine were blasted by the force of an underground explosion. A miner had been operating a trainload of coal cars up the shaft of the processing plant when a coupling broke lose, and sent the coal cars crashing back down the sloping mine. The lose cars crashed into a wall, cutting electrical cables which then ignited the dust cloud which had been raised by the crash, it was firmly asserted, and this resulted in an explosion so vast and so powerful that it ruptured almost every ceiling and wall in the mine, instantly killing the miners working below.

What exactly was it that caused such a huge loss of life on that tragic day little more than a century ago? Click on the website below and read all about it.



Read more at Suite101: The 1907 Monongah, West Virginia Mine Disaster. http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-1907-monongah-west-virginia-mine-disaster#ixzz0lNihUScs

Brian Reviews "All Quiet on the Western Front" on Suite 101!

OK "Today in History" readers (again I stipulate: to the hitherto unknown extent that you actually exist) - this is the last of these "Go and read me somewhere ELSE"
postings for awhile. "Suite 101" requires one to write 10 articles every 3 months. Well it was getting down to the end of my initial three month enlistment to that group, and I needed to get in my 8th, 9th and 10th articles fast! So I went back to three book reviews which I had written for Dr. Arnold Schreier's European History course when I attended the University of Cincinnati waaaaaaaay back in the early
1980's, and for which the good doctor had given me high marks. And I slightly recycled them for Suite 101. Rest assured, they were all essays written by ME, for books which I did indeed READ. But they were available, and required less work RIGHT NOW than I would have had to do for three original articles.
SO - without further adieu :

Book Review: "All Quiet on the Western Front".
Erich Maria Remarque's Harrowing Story of Trench Warfare.
Jan 27, 2010 Brian T. Bolten

The young private, Paul Baumer must endure the hardships, privations and the daily terror of combat during the age of trench warfare. We look at his story of survival.

It could be said of World War One that it was the most shattering event in history. The word "shattering" would be singularly appropriate for a number of reasons. First, the world order as it was at the conflicts outset, was shattered and forever lost. Three imperial dynasties - the Hapsburgs in Austria, the Hohenzollerns in Germany, and the Romanovs in Russia were swept away from history's pages for good. The Austro-Hungarian empire itself, wherein the war had begun was wiped off the map, becoming several countries, with one - Yugoslavia - seething with ethnic resentments that were destined to spill over into the "ethnic cleansing" and mass rapes of the late 20th Century. Second is the way in which this war shattered the lives of the young men who fought in it. An entire generation of young men was lost in the totally senseless slaughter of the trenches. And those who survived were forever changed by the horrors they had witnessed. It is this human element - clearly the most far reaching in its effect - which forms the central focus of Erich Maria Remarque's novel "All Quiet on the Western Front".



Read more at Suite101: Book Review: "All Quiet on the Western Front".: Erich Maria Remarque's Harrowing Story of Trench Warfare. http://weuropeanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/book-review-all-quiet-on-the-western-front#ixzz0dqzzo8vs

Brian reviews BAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLZAC!!

"Today in History" readers (again if there are any of you out there)!!!
Brian has a review of Balzac's "Old Goriot" on Suite 101 =

http://french-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/balzacs_old_goriot

Honore de Balzac leads us on a gritty and unflinching look at the manners and morals of the caste system of 19th Century France, and pulls no punches.

"The chariot of civilization, like the chariot of Juggernaut is scarcely halted by a heart less easily crushed by others in it's path. It soon breaks this hinderence to its wheel, and continues its triumphant course."

It is with this sombre reflection that Honore de Balzac begins his heart rending tragedy "Old Goriot". The post-Napoleonic Paris in which Balzac lived still had many of the traits of the more aristocratic days before the revolution which swept away Louis XVI. To be sure, the Three Estates no longer formally existed, but there was nevertheless a very rigid caste system still in place and very much in force. Everyone had their place. And social standing was of paramount importance in this world of grand balls, and luxurious salons, and the people who moved through them were judged accordingly, the revolution notwithstanding. If one was not a dignified member of the upper class, one was quite worthless, reguardless of who one was. One's life or death, one's happiness or lack of it were of no consequence. A man like the "Old Goriot" of the novel's title can whither away, and the Chariot of Juggernaut of which Balzac speaks will move pitilessly on its way noticing very little and caring even less.

Brian Reviews Voltaire's "Candide" on Suite101!

In "Candide", Voltaire takes the reader along with the young, kind-hearted character of the novel's name, who after being unceremoniously kicked out of the Westphalian estate in which he lives, travels all around Europe and part of America in search of the lady Cunegonde, a beautiful young 17 year old who has captured his heart. While telling Candide's story in a witty, almost bantering style, Voltaire engages in a merciless assault upon the conventions of his world, but in a way that leaves the reader at once amused, shocked, and entertained.

Read more at Suite101: Voltaire's "Candide": The Philisophe Presents His View of the World of the 18th Century =

http://european-literature.suite101.com/article.cfm/voltaires_candide

"Young Victoria" & Downey's Holmes: Brian on "Suite 101"

Dear readers and followers of "Today in History" (to the extent that you are out there.... I really don't know if anyone is reading this or not!),

I have been taken up the last few days with writing articles for "Suite101.com" and I have two new ones!! You have heard of Robert Downey Jr.'s "Sherlock Holmes"? A rather modern day action-hero take on the great sleuth! Well I compare this new 2009version of Downey's with the 1970 version directed by Billy Wilder. Give it a good
Look-see!

http://action-films-thrillers.suite101.com/article.cfm/robert_downeys_private_life_of_sherlock_holmes

Also, I have an article about the new film "Young Victoria" which chronicles the early years of Victoria, and those of her reign. It is a fine movie in my (humble)
estimation, but how closely does it follow the historical record? This I discuss in considerable detail at:

http://historical-films.suite101.com/article.cfm/young_victoria_and_history

Her Most Gracious and Britannic Majesty, Victoria Regina Imperatum, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Empress of India, awaits your attendance. We are NOT amused!!

I shall return to "Today in History" soon!!!

- B. T. Bolten

HOW I'M GOING TO DO THIS....I've no time for conpsiracy theorists....

In starting this blog, I was uncertain whether I should just dive
right into it and attempt to write a new posting every single
calender day, simply adding the ones that I already had written
as those came up. But if I am to do this really well - that is
research each topic carefully, then the goal of one-posting -per-
day, however admirable as a goal, would not be practical.
Besides, I will certainly wish to duck out of the historian's role
on occasion, and make some comment on something regarding
history that may come up in the news, or just something
regarding this blog and it's arrangement. So what I am going to
do is over the next few days publish what I have already
written and then go back and try to catch up by filling in the
holes. And hopefully, by August 23, 2010, I will have a full
year's worth of postings for "Today in History", as well as an
explanation for why I started on that date.

I will center in on some topic for each day of the calender year,
and write as accurately about it as I can. That means that I will
research each topic as fully as I can, and say nothing of my own
that I cannot back up with a reference to the factual record that
I have at my disposal. I will illustrate every single topic with
some remark or observation of an eyewitness to, or a participant
in the event in discussion. There will be some instances where
I quote a historian's view (as with the death of Queen Victoria -
Jan.22) in order to illustrate the importance of the topic. But
most of the time I will use something from a contemporary (or
primary) source.

A word (or several!) about my choice of topics: the fact that I
choose a particular event is in no way an indication that I
consider that event to be THE most important event on that
day. One of the main reasons I find history so facinating is the
fact that it is so filled with fascinating stories of so many kinds!
For example on February 19, three events occurred which
would be well worth the attention of anyone interested in
history. In 1777, Benedict Arnold was passed over for promotion
to a higher rank. This was a key event in what would go on to
become a truly major historical story. In 1807, on that date
Aaron Burr was arrested for treason. This is a very important
story - the Vice President being arrested for treason and
eventually fighting a duel with and killing the former Secretary
of the Treasury - Alexander Hamilton. Imagine if you will, Dick
Cheney being arrested for treason and later killing Lloyd
Bensten in a duel! It really is a fascinating story. But on
February 19 of a much later year - 1945 to be exact - United
States Marines invaded the island of Iwo Jima. This
an event much closer to our own time, but more importantly, it
has a very personal significance for me: my father was a
participant in that operation as a member of the Fourth Marine
Division. So for that reason, I will write about Iwo Jima for that
date. Other dates - December 7 and Sepetember 11 for example,
simply demand attention for an event that outweighs all others.
But for the most part, I will be choosing events as much for the
story they tell as for their historical importance, and the closer
that I can get to the story, the better I can tell it. The web
address for this blog is afterall "historys story".

One final point on my choice of topics. As I say - history is replete
with storys - of poignance, adventure, and even romance. Further,
there is much to be written about that is mysterious - did Frank
Morris really escape from Alcatraz? What really became of Amelia
Earhardt? And there is much that can be legitimately questioned -
what DID Nixon really know and when did he know it? How much
did FDR know about Japanese plans prior to Pearl Harbor? And
there are things that are far less important but which continue to
fascinate - DID William Shakespeare really write all of those plays?
What ever became of the $500,000,000 worth of artworks which
were purloined from the Gardner Museum in the early morning
hours of the day after St. Patrick's of 1990? All of these are points
of history which can and likely will be looked into here on this site.

BUT -

I have little patience for and no tolerance of conspiracy theories
or theorists! Regardless of where they are coming from or why -
I just will not put up with them or their paranoid delusions. So on
my right, if you STILL wish to question whether Barak O'Bama
was actually born in the United States, fine, but do NOT attempt
to waste my time with such nonsense. And on my left, if you are
one of those "Bush lied", and "9/11 was an inside job" hacks, again
fine, but clutter up someone else's blog with it. I will not waste a
moment of my time with you. And there are matters that WERE
questionable, but which are becoming clearer with time's passage.
The death of JFK was a singular tragedy, of great importance. But
it has supported a veritable industry of conspiracy theories. And
with the passage of time and the development of modern methods,
it is becoming clear that their mistakes notwithstanding, the
Warren Commision got it right: one worthless, wife-beating little
punk with a chip on his shoulder because the world hadn't taken
him as seriously as he thought it should was behind it all. ALONE.
And he, in turn was done in by another loser who was acting for
the same reason. I will deal with that shortly, but I've had enough
of the Oliver Stones of the world. George F. Will has said that
Oliver Stone school of conspiratorial thought holds that the
complete and total absence of any proof of a conspiracy is itself
proof of how successful the conspiracy was. Mr. Will is right, Mr.
Stone is not, and I have no space here for Mr. Stone. So be warned.