Britain used slavery in their rubber plantations in Sierra Leone until 1928. When the governor of Sierra Leone attempted to outlaw slavery there, Winston Churchill, then secretary of Colonies, argued that slavery abolition will have a negative financial impact on the colony. British abolition of slavery is a well crafted myth.

It was an early example of the juxtaposition of perhaps the two most famous badges of the middle ages: the white rose of the house of York and the red rose of the house of Lancaster, the two opposing political factions in what was later to become known as the ‘Wars of the Roses’. The red rose may not, however, have been much used during the wars. It probably owes its popular usage to Henry VII quickly responding to the pre-existing Yorkist white rose in an age when signs and symbols could speak louder than words. It also allowed Henry to invent and exploit his most famous heraldic device, the Tudor rose combining the so-called ‘Lancastrian’ red rose and the white rose of York. This floral union neatly symbolised the restoration of peace and harmony and his marriage in January 1486 to Elizabeth of York. It was a brilliant piece of simple heraldic propaganda, which his successors (in whom the roses were truly combined) were to use repeatedly.

Adrian Ailes, “Heraldry in Medieval England: Symbols of Politics and Propaganda”; Heraldry, Pageantry, and Social Display in Medieval England

“In August 1964, Robert F. Kennedy took the podium at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City. Immediately, a roar of applause took the whole hall. The crowd wouldn't let him speak, they wouldn’t let go of him. He was the representation of what they had lost. If the delegates had a sense of loss, imagine what his feelings were. Every day, every hour, every minute, he felt the loss of his brother. The pandemonium went on for twenty-two long minutes. As the crowd finally grew quiet, he bared his grief, enshrining his brother in words from Romeo and Juliet. When he was finished speaking, he left the hall, sat on the fire escape, and wept.” • RFK: An American Experience

Caroline Kennedy, Willie Woo and Sterling St. Jacques dancing at Studio 54, 1977

“A peek into Cambodia, 1937”

some VERY old footage, priceless pieces of historical information.

Cathedrals in Spain :

1. Tibidabo Cathedral - Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus 

2.  Catedral de Santiago de Compostela

3. Seville Cathedral -  Catedral de Santa María de la Sede.

4.  The Сathedral of Segovia. Spain. The last Gothic cathedral built in Spain.

5. Cathedral San Sebastian

Boxer and Promoter  (1920s)

The weird 'MURICA!!1 and Greatest Generation hagiography aside, this is some fascinating footage of celebrations in Waikiki when it got word of Japan's surrender.

The weird 'MURICA!!1 and Greatest Generation hagiography aside, this is some fascinating footage of celebrations in Waikiki when it got word of Japan's surrender.

Jamila’s Mirror (1993) Arab Loutfi

Jamila’s Mirror deals with the memories of Palestinian women guerilla fighters who were involved in military operations during their teen years.

it’s a shame all that soldiering and getting swole left agrippa no time to actually learn hebrew lol

Mods are asleep post the Agrippa wacked up hebrew table

“Jack works as hard as any mortal man can,” Joseph Kennedy said. “Bobby goes a little further.”

.

Bobby and Jack in studio during preparations for the Kennedy — Nixon debates in 1960.

not to be spicy but i think we as a culture have gotten so accustomed to the stories about how anne boleyn and katheryn howard died that we are numb to how horrific and unique their executions were, that anne’s especially had no precedence, and it really does a disservice in how we treat their judicial murders.

I’m new to the Tudor fandom and have never heard of Jane Foole and William Sommers. Can you tell more about them?

Will Sommers was the King’s fool and Jane was the Queen’s fool (she actually doesn’t have a known surname so she’s often just given the surname “Foole”).

Will served Henry VIII and Jane originally served Anne Boleyn and then moved into the household of Princess Mary (future Mary I) and then eventually came to serve Kathryn Parr before disappearing from the records.

Basically, there were two types of “fools” in the Tudor period—natural fools and artificial fools (which would eventually be called jesters). Artificial fools were actors basically or the  equivalent of modern-day comedians. They would put on a show to entertain and act funny. Natural fools were people with disabilities (usually a mental or learning disability but they could also be physically disabled). A lot of people sort of have this idea that royalty would have natural fools to, sort of, make fun of them or laugh at them for their disability, but—at least in the case of the Tudor period—that’s not really true. In fact, natural fools were often revered because of their (seeming) inability to lie. People thought that having a disability like that meant that you were closer to God. So Will and Jane were actually very well taken care of and they were treated with kindness and compassion.

Will Sommers was apparently the only one who could lift Henry’s spirits after Jane Seymour’s death. Famously, after her death he holed himself up in his chambers with only Will for company and refused to see anyone else.

Jane was also treated well. Kathryn Parr gifted her some grease and apparently she (Jane) loved to heard them around like a shepherd. One of my favorite stories of Jane (that might not be true, but I like to believe that it is) is that, at Anne Boleyn’s coronation, she shouted at the crowds to show Anne more respect. And I think that shows that, clearly Anne took care of Jane and treated her well and Jane was fond of Anne otherwise she wouldn’t have shouted at people to pay their respects.

Unfortunately, there’s not really much more known about them. But Henry clearly cared enough about both of them to include them in the portrait of his family (Jane is on the far left and Will is on the far right):