Alexandre Dumas recounted it in “The Vicomte of Bragelonne”, and Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed him – among others – in the movies. We’re talking about the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask, who was imprisoned in the Bastille and other French prisons for over three decades in the second half of the 17th century, and whose […]
People
Posted inMiddle Ages
Subutai, the Mongol General who Conquered More Territory than Any Other Man in History
While the main character usually gets all the fame, it was common for the so-called great conquering statesmen to have, by their side and under their command, a military genius who provided them with victories. For example, Napoleon had Davout and Suchet, among many others; Itzcóatl had Tlacaélel; Pachacútec had Vicaquirao; Philip II had the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Theagenes of Thasos, the Athlete who Became a God
The Greek island of Thasos is located in the northern part of the Aegean Sea, near the Thracian coast, and its capital, also called Thasos, is located in the northern part of the island. It was founded around 680 B.C. by settlers from the island of Paros. One of the most famous athletes of antiquity […]
Posted inModern Era
Christian Heinrich Heineken, the child prodigy who impressed Europe at just four years old
It is surprising that centuries ago, in times when access to education was practically restricted to the elites and pedagogy lacked the qualitative specialization developed today, child prodigies emerged with some frequency. In this sense, the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment, gave birth to some very famous ones, with Mozart being the archetype of […]
Posted inScience
Eugene Shoemaker, the only person whose remains rest on the Moon
Scattering the ashes of a deceased loved one into the air or throwing them into the water is a beautiful way to say goodbye and pay a posthumous tribute to him or her. However, for some time now, this has been restricted in some countries by the authorities due to the fact that some uncivilized […]
Posted inSecond World War
The World War II airmen who survived falls from thousands of feet high.
In 1972 a Serbian hostess named Vesna Vulović became famous and is registered in the Guinness Book of Records for having survived the fall of her plane from over 32,000 feet in altitude. But this is not a unique case; several more are known, one of them just a year earlier, the German teenager Juliane […]
