History, anything goes, including pictures

3 March 1585 – The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza, Italy.

The trompe-l’œil onstage scenery, designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, to give the appearance of long streets receding to a distant horizon, was installed in 1585 for the very first performance held in the theatre. Despite bombings and other misfortunes, the stage sets have miraculously survived into modern times.

The Teatro Olimpico contains the oldest surviving stage set still in existence.

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3 March 1861 – Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs.

By this edict more than 23 million people received their liberty.

Serfs gained the full rights of free citizens, including rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a business. The Manifesto prescribed that peasants would be able to buy the land from the landlords. Household serfs were the least affected: they gained only their freedom and no land.

A 1907 painting by Boris Kustodiev depicting Russian serfs listening to the proclamation of the Emancipation Manifesto in 1861. Inset: Central Bank of Russia coin commemorating the 150th anniversary of the emancipation reform in 2011.

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3 March 1882 – Charles Ponzi, Italian businessman is born.

Ponzi became known in the early 1920s as a swindler in North America for his money-making scheme. He promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days. In reality, Ponzi was paying earlier investors using the investments of later investors. While this type of fraudulent investment scheme was not originally invented by Ponzi, it became so identified with him that it now is referred to as a Ponzi scheme.

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Currently in Australia, the bizarre and suspicious death of Ponzi conwoman Melissa Caddick is headline news after remains of her foot were found washed up on a beach 450 km from home months after her disappearance. Melissa Caddick was not heard from again following a raid on her home by financial authorities.

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Today: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03...-melissa-caddick-dover-heights-water/13210394
 

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“Wait For Me Daddy,” by Claude P. Dettloff, October 1, 1940: A line of soldiers march in British Columbia on their way to a waiting train as five-year-old Whitey Bernard tugs away from his mother’s hand to reach out for his father​

 
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4 March 1238 – Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus’.

After the Mongols sacked his capital city of Vladimir, Prince Yuri fled across the Volga northward, to Yaroslavl, where he hastily mustered an army. Yuri sent out a force of 3,000 men under Dorozh to scout out where the Mongols were; whereupon Dorozh returned saying that Yuri and his force was already surrounded. As Yuri tried to muster his forces, he was attacked by the Mongol force under Burundai and fled. Prince Yuri was overtaken on the Sit River and died there along with his nephew, Prince Vsevolod of Yaroslavl.

Bishop Cyril finds headless body of Grand Prince Yuri II on the field of battle of the Sit River. Battle of the Sit River, miniature from a Lithuanian manuscript. Monument commemorating the battle of the Sit River.

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The battle marked the end of unified resistance to the Mongols and inaugurated two centuries of the Mongol domination of modern day-Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
 
4 March 1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.

John Flamsteed FRS (1646–1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. He catalogued over 3000 stars. On 4 March 1675 Flamsteed was appointed by royal warrant “The King’s Astronomical Observator”, the first English Astronomer Royal, with an allowance of £100 a year. The warrant stated his task as “rectifieing the Tables of the motions of the Heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired Longitude of places for Perfecteing the Art of Navigation”. In June 1675, another royal warrant provided for the founding of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and Flamsteed laid the foundation stone on 10 August 1675.

The Royal Greenwich Observatory was completed in the summer of 1676. The building was often called “Flamsteed House”, in reference to its first occupant. Painting: Flamsteed House by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, 1824.

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4 March 1804 – The Castle Hill rebellion started near Sydney; 200 convicts rebelled, 51 were later punished and nine hanged.

On 4 March 1804, according to the official accounts, 233 convicts led by Philip Cunningham, a veteran of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, as well as a mutiny on the convict transport ship Anne, escaped from a prison farm intent on “capturing ships to sail to Ireland”. In response, martial law was quickly declared in the Colony of New South Wales.

An 1804 watercolour depicting the Castle Hill rebellion by an unknown artist, National Museum of Australia.

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The Site of the Salem Witch Trial Hangings Finally Has a Memorial

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Eight years ago, when they bought their house overlooking a wooded ledge in Salem, Massachusetts, Erin O’Connor and her husband, Darren Benedict, had no idea why that parcel stood empty. The scrubby lot lay tucked between houses on Pope Street, within sight of a large Walgreen’s—nothing much to look at. So when people began to stop by and take pictures of the empty site last winter, they wondered why.

If they’d been there in 1692, they would have known. That’s when the rocky ledge on the parcel next door turned into a site of mass execution—and when the bodies of people hanged as witches were dumped into a low spot beneath the ledge known as “the crevice.” In the night, when the hangings were over, locals heard the sounds of grieving families who snuck over to gather up their dead and secretly bury them elsewhere…….

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/site-salem-witch-trial-hangings-finally-has-memorial-180964049/
 

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March 5​

Joseph Stalin dies​

Why Famous: Came to prominence after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924, leading the Communist state till his death in 1953.

Instituted policies of collective agriculture and rapid industrialization lead to rapid growth in the Soviet economy but at a huge cost to Soviet citizens.

Halted the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, helping defeat the axis powers and establishing the Eastern Bloc of communist countries.

Born: 18 December 1878
Birthplace: Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire
Died: 5 March 1953 (aged 74)
Cause of Death: Stroke
 
Forgotten Last Supper painting by Titian

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......Now, reports Dalya Alberge for the Telegraph, experts have revealed that the seemingly unassuming image was actually created in the workshop of Titian, one of the most prominent artists of the 16th century.

“I could see it was a bit special, but I didn’t know how special,” the scholar tells the Telegraph. “It’s about ten feet off the ground, so you can’t see it unless you stand on a ladder.”

After studying the work for some 11,000 hours, writes Lianne Kolirin for CNN, Moore and researcher Patricia Kenny found a number of telling clues, including Titian’s signature, a virtuosic underdrawing of the artist himself and a 1775 letter penned by collector John Skippe that references his purchase of a Titian painting. One of Skippe’s descendants donated the Last Supper scene to the Ledbury church in 1909............
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...scovered-painting-titians-workshop-180977137/

Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio, known in English as Titian, was a Venetian painter during the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. During his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, 'from Cadore', taken from his native region.
 
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mellowyellow said:

View attachment 153168​

March 5​

Joseph Stalin dies​

Why Famous: Came to prominence after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924, leading the Communist state till his death in 1953.

Instituted policies of collective agriculture and rapid industrialization lead to rapid growth in the Soviet economy but at a huge cost to Soviet citizens.

Halted the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, helping defeat the axis powers and establishing the Eastern Bloc of communist countries.

Born: 18 December 1878
Birthplace: Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire
Died: 5 March 1953 (aged 74)
Cause of Death: Stroke
Click to expand...
Mmmm ... the death of Stalin on this day in 1953 ... the anniversary of ...

5 March 1940 – Katyn massacre: Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs.

A mass grave at Katyn, 1943.

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The Katyn massacre was a series of mass executions of Polish nationals carried out by the NKVD (“People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs”, the Soviet secret police) in April and May 1940. Though the killings took place at several places, the massacre is named after the Katyn Forest, where some of the mass graves were first discovered.

The number of victims is estimated at about 22,000. The victims were executed in the Katyn Forest in Russia, the Kalinin and Kharkiv prisons, and elsewhere. Of the total killed, about 8,000 were officers imprisoned during the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland, another 6,000 were police officers, and the rest were Polish intelligentsia that the Soviets deemed to be “intelligence agents, gendarmes, landowners, saboteurs, factory owners, lawyers, officials, and priests”.
 
mellowyellow said:
The Site of the Salem Witch Trial Hangings Finally Has a Memorial

View attachment 153157

Eight years ago, when they bought their house overlooking a wooded ledge in Salem, Massachusetts, Erin O’Connor and her husband, Darren Benedict, had no idea why that parcel stood empty. The scrubby lot lay tucked between houses on Pope Street, within sight of a large Walgreen’s—nothing much to look at. So when people began to stop by and take pictures of the empty site last winter, they wondered why.

If they’d been there in 1692, they would have known. That’s when the rocky ledge on the parcel next door turned into a site of mass execution—and when the bodies of people hanged as witches were dumped into a low spot beneath the ledge known as “the crevice.” In the night, when the hangings were over, locals heard the sounds of grieving families who snuck over to gather up their dead and secretly bury them elsewhere…….

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/site-salem-witch-trial-hangings-finally-has-memorial-180964049/
Click to expand...

I toured Salem back in 2001. My understanding was no one really knew where any of the victim's Graves were? Memorial/cenotaph headstones, yes, but not this picture. Next to the Pirate Museum I think it was?

Regardless, I did tour Witch trial Magistrate Johnathan Corwin's home on Essex street (The Witch House). Some of the preliminary trials were held there. The only building still standing directly related to the trials. Very interesting.
 
ohioboy said:
I had to re-check, they were not really headstones like at a real grave, just cenotaph type markers.

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2648383/famous-memorials?page=1#sr-8290
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That's really interesting thanks ohioboy, I found this one example in your attachment -

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Born sometime between 1632 and 1637. Bishop married three times. Her third and final marriage, after the deaths of her first two husbands, was to Edward Bishop, who was employed as a lumber worker. She had one daughter with her second husband Thomas Oliver. Bridget often kept the gossip mill busy with stories of her publicly fighting with her various husbands, entertaining guests in home until late in the night, drinking and playing the forbidden game of shovel board, and being the mistress of two thriving taverns in town. Some even went so far as to say that Bishop's "dubious moral character" and shameful conduct caused, "discord to arise in other families, and young people were in danger of corruption." Bishop's blatant disregard for the respected standards of puritan society made her a prime target for accusations of witchcraft. In April, 1692, a warrant was issued for Bridget's arrest on charges of performing witchcraft and consorting with the devil himself. When she entered the courthouse, a number of the "afflicted" girls, including Mercy Lewis and Ann Putnam, howled that she was causing them pain. Bridget denied any wrongdoing, swearing that she was "innocent as the child unborn," according to Mary Norton's In the Devil's Snare. With a whole town against her, Bridget was charged, tried, and executed within eight days. On June 10, as crowds gathered to watch, she was taken to Gallows Hill and executed by the sheriff, George Corwin. She displayed no remorse and professed her innocence at her execution. After her hanging, eighteen others were executed for the crime of witchcraft, and one man was pressed to death. Several others died in prison. Within months of Bridget Bishop's death, her husband remarried. Bridget's descendants through Christian Oliver still live in New England today, and her tavern, the Bishop House, still stands.
 
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March 6
1899 "Aspirin" (acetylsalicylic acid) patented by Felix Hoffmann at German company Bayer

If not for Felix Hoffmann modern medicine might be without one of its most well-known over the counter drugs, Aspirin. But without Hoffman, society would also be without heroin, one of its most dangerous illegal drugs.
 
mellowyellow said:
View attachment 153396

March 6
1899 "Aspirin" (acetylsalicylic acid) patented by Felix Hoffmann at German company Bayer

If not for Felix Hoffmann modern medicine might be without one of its most well-known over the counter drugs, Aspirin. But without Hoffman, society would also be without heroin, one of its most dangerous illegal drugs.
Click to expand...
Aspirin is one of the most widely used medications globally, with an estimated 40,000 tonnes or 50 to 120 billion pills consumed each year. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Vintage aspirin pics.

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6 March 1806 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English-Italian poet and translator is born.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabeth Barrett wrote poetry from about the age of six. At 15 she became ill, suffering intense head and spinal pain for the rest of her life. Later in life she also developed lung problems, possibly tuberculosis. She took laudanum for the pain from an early age, which is likely to have contributed to her frail health.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, Thomas Buchanan Read 1852. Elizabeth Barrett Browning with Pen, photographed in 1860 by Rome’s celebrated Fratelli d’Alessandri.

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Her first adult collection of poems was published in 1838 and she wrote prolifically between 1841 and 1844, producing poetry, translation and prose. Elizabeth’s volume Poems of 1844 brought her great success, attracting the admiration of the writer Robert Browning. Their correspondence, courtship and marriage were carried out in secret, for fear of her father’s disapproval. Following the wedding she was indeed disinherited by her father. The couple moved to Italy in 1846, where she would live for the rest of her life. They had one son, Robert Barrett Browning, whom they called Pen. Elizabeth died in Florence in 1861. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband shortly after her death.
 
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New York City Blackout, July 13, 1977

The 25 hour outage began around 9:30 p.m. on July 13th, after a bolt of lightning struck an electrical substation in Westchester. Not long after, another lightning strike took out two more power lines, and when the Ravenswood 3 power plant in Queens went down, the city fell dark.

The darkness triggered a night of mayhem and looting in many parts of the city, from the Bronx to East Harlem to Bushwick to Coney Island, culminating in 3,700 arrests—the largest mass arrest in city history—and estimated damages exceeding $300 million.
 

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