A historic photo of Martha Jane Cannary, better known as Calamity Jane, mugging at the grave of James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok in Mt. Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, South Dakota, ca. 1903. This photo by J. A. Kumpf, is believed to be from 1903 which would have been shortly before her death. (Library of Congress)
Hickok was shot and killed by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876 while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as the dead man’s hand: two pairs; black aces and eights.
The Greek Herald has a great article about The Charioteer of Delphi:
The Charioteer of Delphi, also known as Iniohos (in Greek meaning the rein-holder), is one of the most known remaining sculptures from Ancient Greece and is recognized as one of the best examples of an ancient bronze sculpture. The chariot driver’s statue was discovered in 1896 at the Delphis sanctuary of Apollo and it was found by French archeologists. The statue is now displayed at the Delphi Archeological Museum.
Delphi’s charioteer is one of ancient Greece’s most important sculptures, mainly because it beautifully demonstrates the transition from Archaic to Classical standards; a combination of the rigid, almost tight postures of Archaic sculptures but with the action of classical. It perfectly illustrates the balance between stylized geometric representation and idealized realism.
The Greek name of the statue is Iniohos (he who holds the reins), was part of a complex of statues that included his four horses, the chariot on which he rode and two stable boys. The sculpture dates back between 478-474 B.C, and Apart from missing his left arm, the bronze statue is in outstanding condition. Inhiohos is an impressively to scale model, with a height of 1.8m.The scale is possibly chosen to specifically highlight the importance of the drivers physique, because just like in modern equestrian sports, athletes of chariot racing were chosen for their high height and light weight.
What makes the statue unique for its time period is that it was created with bronze, a material that was expensive at that time, and only the elite could afford it. Most known wealthy Greek families were from Sicily, a settlement of the Greek cities that was significantly wealthier than most of mainland Greece, hence why bronze the statue was in Sicily. However, it is unlikely the statue was actually created in Sicily because the statue’s style has more Athenian similarities. The driver of the Chariot is believed to be Polyzalos of Gela, a Sicilian Tyrant who also paid for this sculpture to be built and offered as a devotion to Apollo. The statue commemorates Gelas own victory at a Pythian Game chariot race. The Pythian games were taking place every four years to honour Pythian Apollo. As well as being made from bronze the statues details also make it unique. The inlaid eyes are one of the most intriguing features, which are created from glass. Another important detail of the statue is the drivers bare feet, which are so intricately designed that they even show his veins. Possibly the most interesting and unanswered question the statue raises is who was the sculptor? There are many speculations for who could create that art piece, but no definite answer. The most known sculptors that historians suggest is Pythagoras from Samos or Calamis, but there are also many similarities with the Pireus Apollo, ánother famous statues that was sculpted in Athens.
The Chariot of Delphi is an impressive and rare sculpture that encapsulates Greek culture, depicts its vast history and showcases Greek ingenuity, this is why Inhiohos is one of the most known and important statues of Greece.
I’ve been a huge fan of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II since I was a child and that fascination with her has never waived. I find her to be the epitome of duty and honour. She has been on the throne for 69 years. She was 25 years old when her father, King George VI, passed away in 1952. For 69 years she has been in service to her country and the Commonwealth. Whatever you may think of the monarchy, it is Elizabeth who stands head and shoulders above them all.
I’m hoping she lives beyond 100 years of age so she can send herself a telegram on her 100th birthday!
Here are some glorious photos of young Princess Elizabeth during the 1940s (where she served in the UK Armed Forces and learned how to fix an engine or two).
March 25 is Greek Independence Day when the Greeks decided they had enough of Ottomon Rule and rose up to start the Greek revolution. Normally when Greeks think of Independence Day, they think of General Theodoros Kolokotronis, Petros Mavromichalis and Georgios Karaiskakis. Heroes of the Revolution but people forget the heroines of the revolution. These women helped shape the course of Greece’s fight for freedom in 1821.
Laskarina Bouboulina has been a heroine of mine. Here is her story.
Laskarina Bouboulina:
Laskarina was born in a Constantinople prison on May 11, 1771. She was the daughter of Stavrianos Pinotsis, a captain from Hydra island, and his wife Skevo. The Ottomans had imprisoned her father for his part in the failed Orlof Revolution of 1769–1770 against the Ottoman rule. During one of her mother’s visits, she was born. Her father died soon afterward and the mother and child returned to Hydra. They moved to the island of Spetses four years later when her mother married Dimitrios Lazarou-Orlof. Bouboulina had eight half-siblings.
It is said that Bouboulina joined the Filiki Etaireia, an underground organization that was preparing Greece for revolution against Ottoman rule. She would have been one of a few women, but she is not named in historical members lists.
She bought arms and ammunition at her own expense and brought them secretly to Spetses in her ships, to fight “for the sake of my nation.” Construction of the ship Agamemnon was finished in 1820. She bribed Turkish officials to ignore the ship’s size; it later became of the largest warships in the hands of Greek rebels. She also organized her own armed troops composed of men from Spetses. She used most of her fortune to provide food and ammunition for the sailors and soldiers under her command.
On March 13, 1821 Bouboulina raised on the mast of Agamemnon her own Greek flag, based on the flag of the Komnenos dynasty of Byzantine emperors. The people of Spetses revolted on April 3, and later joined forces with ships from other Greek islands. Bouboulina sailed with eight ships to Nafplion and began a naval blockade. Later she took part in the naval blockade and capture of Monemvasia and Pylos. Her son Yiannis Yiannouzas died in May 1821, in battle at Argos against superior numbers of Ottoman troops.
She arrived at Tripolis in time to witness its fall on September 11, 1822 and to meet general Theodoros Kolokotronis. Their children Eleni Boubouli and Panos Kolokotronis later married. During the ensuing defeat of the Ottoman garrison, Bouboulina saved most of the female members of the sultan’s household.
When the opposing factions erupted into civil war in 1824, the Greek government arrested Bouboulina for her family connection with Kolokotronis; her son-in-law was killed during the events. Eventually, she was sent back to Spetses. She had exhausted her fortune for the war of independence.
Bouboulina spent most of her riches to supply ammunition and food for sailors and soldiers under her command. She would go on to participate in other naval blockages and the capture of Monemvasia and Pylos.
But in 1825, she was killed on the balcony of her house on Spetses during a family feud by an unknown assassin.
January 27 marks the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the following article was the Sydney Morning Herald. Written by By Jacqueline Maley and Rob Harris
Olga Horak is 94 and a half. She is specific about the half-year, because at her age, it matters, and all those years are a testament to her great achievement: survival. Mrs Horak is a Czech-born Jewish Holocaust survivor, or as she puts it, a “graduate of the Holocaust”.
She was interned in five camps during World War II, including Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, from which she was liberated in 1945 at the age of 18. She lost her entire family in the camps, including her mother, most tragically, on the day of their liberation. “She collapsed and was taken away – possibly taken to a pit where the bodies were taken to,” Mrs Horak said. “This was three weeks before the end of the war. This is my story.”
Mrs Horak will tell her story during a commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday, in honour of the 6 million murdered by the Nazis. The day marks the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945.
For the first time the commemoration will be held virtually and Australia-wide, with a pre-recorded message from Mrs Horak.
Other speakers include Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Senator Penny Wong and former High Court judge Michael Kirby.
To mark the day, the federal government will commit $750,000 towards the establishment of a Holocaust museum in Canberra, expanding the National Jewish Memorial Centre, which houses a small museum and an art gallery.
“Auschwitz was not conceived in heaven made by God. It was carefully planned by people for people,” Mrs Horak will tell the virtual guests on Wednesday.
“It was a place carefully designed by so-called cultured people.”
Speaking from her Dover Heights home on Tuesday, Mrs Horak mentioned the extreme heat of the day but said she didn’t mind it.
“I enjoy the beautiful summer. I am not concerned,” she said.
“There is no other place in the world like Australia, which I call paradise.”
Mrs Horak works three days a week as a volunteer guide at the Sydney Holocaust Museum but is “not worried” she will catch COVID-19.
“So far, so good. I am not sick,” she said.
She still drives and is active, although last year she had to undergo three back surgeries, a painful physical reminder of her Holocaust experience – during her time in Kurzbach, a satellite concentration camp of Auschwitz, she was forced to carry logs and dig trenches. The hard labour gave her lifelong back problems. At Auschwitz she encountered the notorious Dr Josef Mengele.
When Mrs Horak was liberated from Bergen-Belsen, she weighed only 29 kilograms and was given up for dead by the German hospital where she was taken. She sent away a priest who tried to administer last rites. She was Jewish, not Catholic, but more importantly, she was not going to die.
After liberation, Mrs Horak encountered the Australian war artist Alan Moore, who kept a record of their conversation with the “bundle of bones” Czech girl. She has since returned to visit Bergen-Belsen with her adult daughter.
“In the end, I was satisfied, I shouldn’t say happy, I was able to go. Today these places, they are museums, they are sanitised places,” Mrs Horak said.
“They don’t see what I saw when I was there. It is very difficult to tell people what happened.”
In 1948, Mrs Horak and her new husband migrated to Australia, part of the diaspora of 27,000 Holocaust survivors who migrated here following the war. She has one surviving daughter and three grandchildren.
“There are a few survivors who are still articulate and we try to pass on the message of how important it is not to hate,” she said.
“My message is not to forget. Always remember. It was the 20th century and it happened because of mass hysteria followed by a so-called intelligent culture. This is the message we have to give to young people.”
Laskarina Bouboulina:
