Category: A Brief Moment of History
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A Brief Moment of History: Humanity’s Worst Year Ever?
Ask anyone on the street when they think the worst year in human history was, and I’m sure there’d be quite a variety of answers offered. Years during the World Wars; when the Black Death swept Europe; or even more recent events like during the Covid pandemic. War and disease are probably the most significant…
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A Brief Moment of History: When Napoleon Took on Rabbits
If you are familiar with my “brief moment of history” series, then you may have read about the time the Australian army fought a war against emus (and lost). When looking at history, it seems that great military men losing fights against animals is not so unique. This brings us to Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte is…
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A Brief Moment of History: Was Queen Elizabeth I Secretly a Man?
There are many historical conspiracy theories that abound (often involving aliens…) but one of my favourite is the peculiar theory that Tudor Queen Elizabeth I was, in fact, a man. Let us explore! The theory was first written down back in the nineteenth century by Dracula author, Bram Stoker. Bram had visited the village of…
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A Brief Moment of History: The WWII Submarine Reindeer
If you were asked to think of the year 1941 in European history, you would probably be picturing the midst of the Second World War, with images of the Blitz, the front line, and soldiers. What you are most likely not picturing is a reindeer living on a submarine. But this was in fact the…
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The Tale Of Alice Tankerville And The Theft Of The 366 Golden Crowns
Today we have a special guest post written by Adam LC (Grey)! Adam is the creator of the treasure hunting site Areas Grey where he writes about treasure legends around the world and his wild adventures in search of them. With a passion for travel and a keen eye for solving puzzles, combined with experience…
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A Brief History of Chess
Being a year into the Coronavirus pandemic, I started thinking about how for many of us who have spent most of the time in a form of lockdown, different Netflix series have categorised different parts of lockdown. First Tiger King was all the rage, then we had various crime documentaries, Bridgerton, and The Queen’s Gambit.…
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A Brief Moment of History: The Teleported Soldier?
Some tales from history are intriguing to say the least, and though many are sceptical of stories of ghosts and aliens, a certain Mexican folk legend certainly raises questions. Today, we explore the story of a sixteenth-century soldier who supposedly teleported over 8,000 miles… According to legend, in late October 1593 a soldier (named in…
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A Brief History of Oktoberfest
210 years ago on the 12th October 1810 the very first Oktoberfest was held. Known across the world today as a German beer-drinking holiday, many do not know how old the festival is. So where did it originate from? In 1810, Bavaria, within modern-day Germany, was ruled by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. Maximilian had…
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A Brief Moment of History: When Australia Lost A War Against Emus
Countless wars have been fought throughout the course of human history. Some have lasted for just minutes, such as the Anglo-Zanzibar War which lasted no more than 45 minutes, and others have officially lasted for hundreds of years. Perhaps one of the most bizarre wars, however, is one that Australia waged in 1932 against emus.…
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A Brief Moment of History: When People Posted Babies
Even in our digital age, people still send post. We’ll send cards at Christmas, birthday presents to distant relatives, or maybe love letters to our sweetheart in an attempt to relive a simpler age. But around 100 years ago, it wasn’t unheard of to receive something a little different in the post: children. You heard…
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