Searching in History: 2014

Henry Heinz: Man Behind the Famous Ketchup

Henry Heinz

Condiments help us to enjoy our food more. It allows us to personalize our food, suiting our snacks to our personal taste. Mayonnaise, mustard, and Ketchup, give color and presentation. Ketchup is the most popular. One company made a name for this product, Heinz. But who was behind this very established company?

Olmec Civilization

The Mesoamerican region was home to numerous civilizations. The famous Aztecs and the Mayans filled history books of flourishing cities and gruesome human sacrifices. But before the huge Aztecs pyramids and the amazing stone structures of the Mayans, an older civilization flourished mysteriously in the area. Well known for their giant head statues, the Olmecs showed the characters that later Mesoamerican civilizations also showed.

The Persian Empire was one of the largest empire that the ancient world saw. Its territories spanned through three continents. Under its rule were various groups of people and identity as well as different terrains and environment. To connect such a massive empire resulted to the creation of one of the best known road networks in history. Roads had been a way to connect lands, kingdoms, and empires. It brought great benefits to civilizations that created such networks. And one of the first well-known civilizations to use roads in a massive scale was the Persian Empire.

King Chulalongkorn

Previously, Chulalongkorn ascended to the throne and continued the legacy of his father. At stake was his kingdom’s independence from the threats of western imperialism. However, modernization didn't came without threats. After the slow process of abolition of slavery, nobles and those within the royal family plotted against the king. Also, much were needed to be done for the people to experience the benefits of the modernization.

Hakkapeliittas in a 1940 Finnish Stamp

The early 17th century became a period of war and religious divide. Central and Eastern Europe became the battlefield of two sides of Christianity. A bold and innovative Swedish King joined the fight and showed his Kingdom’s new military capability. With new tactics, he amazed the world. His soldiers also became fabled. Among his warriors were cavalrymen from the icy terrains of Finland. They were known as the Hakkapeliittas.

Stockholm Bloodbath and the desecration of Sten Sture's grave

The Kalmar Union began in the 14th century with the idea of one King for the three kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, but each retaining its own laws and Council of Realm. However, from a series of autocratic kings and failed campaigns against the powerful Hanseatic League, fracture began to appear within the Union. Most especially, Sweden became critical about its part within the Union. Sweden resented the idea that their King ruled them from a foreign and distant city of Copenhagen. They also hated the economic crisis brought by the anti-Hanseatic League stand of the Kalmar Union Kings. Ever since, Sweden always became a focal point of rebellion and a problem for the King of the Union.

Mauryan Empire

The Indian Sub-Continent hosted numerous kingdoms and empires. It lands became fertile thanks to the flow of numerous rivers and estuaries, including the well-known rivers of Indus and Ganges. One of the first and largest empire in Ancient India was the Mauryan Empire. The laws of its ruler Ashoka made Maurya well-known. But the strength of its rulers equaled the strength of its prosperous economy.

Example of a papyrus (source: Wikimedia, public domain)

Paper had been and has been an essential part of mankind. It allows improvement it recording, writing, and communication. Many civilization tried to create a form of medium for writing, from Americas to China. But the Egyptians were among the first, if not the first, to develop a material that would lead to creation of paper. From the stems of a plant, the Egyptian created the papyrus.

Rape of the Sabine Women by Pietro da Cortona

Rome forged one of the greatest Empires that the world had ever seen. Covering the whole Mediterranean and most of Europe, it became a standard of many empire in the future. Its civilization became the envy of many civilization. Its beginnings, however, was shrouded with legends. The famous story of the twins Romulus and Remus was about the foundation of Rome. It was a story of murder. But the legendary story of growth of Rome was equally heinous and barbaric. The legend of the Rape of the Sabine Women was a story of deception, abduction, and off course, rape.

Almohad Caliphate

10th and 11th century, Spain fell under the control of two Muslim Empires. The Almoravids became a powerful Beber Empire in the middle of the 11th century. However, just a hundred years after their rise, the Almoravids saw another contender for their position as a powerful Berber state. In the mountains of the Atlas, from an Islamic preacher and theologian, a new Caliphate would be born - the Almohad Caliphate.

Eli Whitney

He is better known as one of the greatest inventors of the United States of America. His invention change the economy of an entire nation. He brought the rise of cotton industry as an engine of economic growth in the Southern States. He began to practice a concept which was ahead of his time. The idea which would change the manufacturing sector of the United States and the world. He is best remembered as an inventor rather than a tycoon. He was Eli Whitney, the man who invented the cotton gin and thought of the idea of interchangeable parts.

Darius the Great

The Persian Empire is the greatest and biggest empire that the ancient world could offer before the time of Alexander the Great. Its lands cover three continents. In Europe, it had a foothold in the Balkans and controlled the Anatolian Plateau. In Africa, it occupied the lands of Egypt and its neighboring lands. And in Asia, Persia dominated the whole Middle East along with Iran. Ruling such large territory was difficult. But during the reign of Darius the Great, a solution to rule was found in the form of Satrapies.

King Darius the Great

Administering an empire is cumbersome. A centralized government won’t work effectively if it did not manage well its local administration. Furthermore, communication and other economic aspects must be taken into consideration to manage vast extent of lands. This had been the problem of ancient Empires: how to manage a vast lands? This question or challenge was taken on by one of the ancient world’s largest empire – Persia. Under the rule of Darius the Great, Persia would undergo administrative reforms, among them would be the famous satrapies, and would enable it to maintain its positions as a power for more than a century.

King Rama V

As the nation mourned the death of their beloved King Rama IV or King Mongkut, Siam was in the middle of its modernization in a quest to preserve its sovereignty as a free country. As cries flowed for the dead King, the court prepared to crown a new king to continue the legacy of his predecessor. Prince Chulalongkorn ascended to the throne as King Rama V. He presided over the continuity of Siam’s change towards the modern age and the change of its long time traditions as well.

Empire of Ghana

West Africa saw the rise of powerful and very wealthy kingdoms and even empire. Various terrain and environment existed within the African continent. But rivers provided fertile lands capable of supporting the rise of civilization. Already, during the time of the ancient, the Nile River permitted the rise of the Egyptian civilization in the Saharan desert of Africa. And in West Africa, the rivers of Senegal and Niger gave rise to several kingdoms as well. One of the first kingdoms that rose prominently in the region was the Ghana Empire.

Frederick the Great

Germany, today, is one of the most powerful countries in Europe, not to mention that it dominates the affairs of the European Union. Because of its great immense wealth and influence, one can be curious enough to study its history. In the course of studying its history, besides Otto von Bismark and off course, Hitler, another personality that would also be notable is the 18th century Prussian King, Frederick II the Great.

Persian Immortals depicted during the 2,500 year celebration of the Persia.

The Persian Empire – the largest empire of Asia in the ancient world. It spanned through three continents. In Asia, Mesopotamia and Iran fell to their control. In Africa, Egypt and its peripheries were under Persian rule. And in Europe, the Anatolian plateau and parts of the Balkans were annexed by Persia. Behind this success was the Persian Army and its elite standing force, the celebrated and renowned – Ten Thousand Immortals.

Gabriel de Clieu

The largest coffee producers in the war is located in the Americas. Brazil produced about 2 million tons of coffee. Coffee originated from Ethiopia and later spread to neighboring Arabian Peninsula. It became a hit throughout the Islamic world. It was through diplomacy and trade that coffee spread in Europe. But how did coffee arrived to Americas had a lot of stories. Among of these stories was filled with adventure, patience, and hardships. The story of Gabriel de Clieu became well-known for its “impact” and the toils he experience to bring coffee to the other side of the Atlantic.

Depiction of the Boston Tea Party

During the late 1760’s the Thirteen Colonies and the English Parliament in London became embroiled in tax dispute. The previous Sugar, Stamp and Townshend Acts became infamous and faced strong opposition. Radical colonial began to show their anger in form of boycotts and protests. The thirteen Colonies began to unite in their fight against what they perceive as unjust taxation of the English Parliament. In 1770, the Townshend Act failed. But there remained a part of the tax maintained. Taxes on tea was left intact. And tea would become the next target of anger for the colonials which would bring colonies towards revolution.

Cyrus McCormick

When a country becomes industrialized, there is a tendency that the population will grow. That happened to many countries. The United States, during the Gilded Age, underwent rapid industrialization. High population is not much of a problem as long as food production could keep up. The US managed to do it with the mechanization of agriculture. Among the forerunners in mechanization Cyrus McCormick.

King Mongkut (Rama IV)

The 19th century saw a new era of colonization and imperialism. Europeans scramble to take many lands as possible. The British and the French were the most active and powerful. India had bowed to the British. China had been dismembered by the western powers. In Southeast Asia, one kingdom survived the onslaught- the Kingdom of Siam. Much of its freedom was credited to its wise king – King Rama IV or better known as King Mongkut.

Rama I

As the Siamese saw the fall of the once great kingdom of Ayudhya, a new kingdom rose from the ashes. Under a great general named Taksin, the Siamese saw the foundation of the Kingdom of Thonburi. It reunited the lands of the fallen Ayudhyan kingdom and began to expand its domains. It became a powerful kingdom to strike a blow to the power of its equally domineering neighbor – the Burmese Kingdom of Ava. However, Thonburi and Taksin won’t last for a century. Because only few decades, a new man rose to power and establish a new dynasty that would rule and symbolize the Siamese or Thai people, the Chakri Dynasty. It founder – Rama I – would continue the works of Taksin and built a powerful Kingdom of Siam.

Thonburi Kingdom

Thailand had a lot of Kings that became retrievers of independence and glory. From Ramathibodi, to King Naresuan, many Kings brought back the prestige of the Siamese Kingdoms and became respected and considered great rulers. In the 18th century, the Siamese Kingdom of Ayutthaya (Ayudhya) faced invasion and division once again. But a man born from an intermarriage rose to power and prominence to revive the unity of the Siamese people for another time and became a player to the foundation of modern Thailand.

Adolf Hitler

Nazis and its leader, Adolf Hitler, became notorious for their anti-Semitism. The Holocausts displayed their brutality driven by racism and hatred towards the Jews. Leading to the Final Solution and to the death of millions of Jews, during early years in power, they instituted new laws that made anti-Semitism systematic and legal and to protect the so-called superior Aryan race of Germany. These laws were dubbed as the Nuremberg Laws.

Proclamation of the First Republic of Brazil

The coup of 1889 aimed in abolishing the monarchy and paved the way for the establishment of the First Republic of Brazil. On November 15, 1889, the military under Field Marshall Manuel (Manoel) Deodoro da Fonseca took over the government from Brazilian Emperor Pedro II. It was a result of the declining support for the monarchy and growing calls for the establishment of a republic.

Devastation was the result of the five year American Civil War. The Union North and the Confederate South fought each other for slavery and other political motivations. The Industrial might of the North turned towards war and contributed to its eventual victory. The agricultural power of the South brought disadvantages but allowed for them to give a good fight. In 1864, a Union General would launch a campaign a terror campaign that would help to bring the Civil War to the end. The famous March to the Sea by General William T. Sherman would bring fear to the enemy.

William Henry Vanderbilt

The life of Cornelius Vanderbilt was filled with cut throat competition. A man of extraordinary energy, he build two business empires. First was a maritime transport empire. And the second was a railroad empire. Vanderbilt became recognized as a ruthless tycoon, earning the title of robber baron. However, in 1877, he passed away and left his wealth to his eldest son, William Vanderbilt. William was mostly a contradiction of his father. And his life would prove to this fact.

Burning a synagogue in Seigen, Germany (Wikimedia, Public Domain)

The horrors of the holocaust were dark chapters in the history of mankind. Millions of Jews were killed. Brutally carried out by Nazis under Adolf Hitler. Dachau and Auschwitz were just some of the concentration camps where atrocities towards the Jews were committed. But in the 1930’s there were already signs of this brutality. In 1938, the Nazis instigated the so-called Kristallnacht or the Night of the Broken Glass.

Emperor Saga

Tea is widely drink in East Asia. It traced its roots from the Chinese legendary god, Shennong. But the agent of spreading tea to the neighbors China were Buddhist monks. Japan, in particular, credited a Buddhist monk for the introduction of tea to the archipelago.

Charles Townshend

Previously, the two new tax schemes of England had brought opposition and arguments in the Thirteen Colonies in North America. The Sugar act led to widespread smuggling and arguments on the powers of the Parliament in London in enact laws in the colonies. Meanwhile, the Stamp Act brought wave of opposition on a higher scale. Numerous sectors, from intellectuals to religious groups, had voiced their anger over the new tax. The opposition was so strong that in 1766, the Stamp act was repealed. But England was not yet finish. In 1767, in order to increase their revenues, Charles Townshend, implemented a new wave of taxes that would once again engulf the Thirteen Colonies.

The backbone of the Medieval Europe’s economy was agriculture. Most of the Europeans were farmers. Feudalism was based on land as property used for farming in order to sustain the needs of the nobles and the serfs themselves. The Medieval Ages was sometimes dubbed as the Dark Ages, which was in reality not true. Innovations continued to be made during this period.

Henry at Canossa

A showdown between earthly and divine authority. A clash between the power of a king and a pope for the control of the clergy. In the winter of 1077, a showdown between the two most powerful men in Europe. An act to humiliate the other was committed. A clash of the titans at a castle in the Italian town of Canossa.

Mobile warfare has been with mankind ever since horses and other fast or big moving animals were utilized for battle. Horses were used for cavalry and served as shock units. In the ancient world horses were not enough to win battles. Kingdoms and empires back then needed more than just a horse in order to win battles. The chariot was an innovation that brought to the front line the efficiency of archery and deadliness of spear attacks in fast speed. Among the most well-known civilization that developed the chariot was the Hittites.

Askia Mohammad depicted in Civilization V

The Songhai people rose from the obscurity of the once mighty Mali Empire to become the newest empire in the region thanks to the efforts of its founder Sunni Ali. Sunni Ali died in 1492, leaving his son in charge of the Empire. However, it would be interrupted by the ambitions of one of Ali’s most trusted general – Mohammad Ture or better known as Askia Mohammad. This cunning and tenacious general would march the Empire into its golden age.

French depiction of King Narai

During the 17th century, the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (Ayudhya) saw an expansion of its foreign relations. At the start of the 1600’s, Ayudhya had just reclaimed its position as a major power in mainland Southeast Asia under its legendary King Naresuan. Then, about fifty years later, the Kingdom would embark in expanding its reaches and knowledge of the world. Under King Narai, Ayudhya would enter a period of connecting with other Asian and European countries.

Hittite Empire during its heights

Before 2,000 BCE, Mesopotamia was a flourishing region of human civilization. Sumerian city states, the Akkadian Empire, and finally, the Early Babylonian Empire had risen and fallen as time went by. The Early Babylonians, in particular fell in the hands of another empire. This invaders, however, did not came from Mesopotamia. But rather, its conquerors started from the plateaus of the Anatolia – the Hittite Empire.

Songhai Empire

Mali’s power had waned by the 15th century. Various regions of the empire began to assert their independence from the declining Mali. Among this regions was near the famous bend of the Niger River. It only took a ruthless ruler, named Sonni or Sunni Ali Ber to lead his people to independence and to a military campaign that would forge a new empire – the Songhai.

Hammurabi

Laws govern people. It set the conduct of every individual in a land with a government. It prevents chaos and anarchy. Law making had existed ever since man had begun to live together – in a community to be precise. But codification of law begun much later. The earliest form of law found by archaeologist was the Code of Hammurabi. The code was instituted by the great king of early Babylonian Empire, Hammurabi.

Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization and among the empires that it catered was the great Babylonian Empire. Before the Babylonian Empire, for thousands of years, the Fertile Crescent, as it was known, was home to many communities. The Sumerians group themselves into small city-states and fought each other for dominance. About 2330 BCE, a Semitic tribe led by Sargon rose to establish one of the earliest known empire - the Akkadian Empire. But after 300 years, the Akkadian Empire crumble due to its diverse population. Then a hundred years after fall of the Akkadian Empire, a new empire rose to prominence in the Mesopotamia. From the same ethnoliguistic group as the Akkadians – the Babylonians – would unite the region once more under one rule.

Sergei Witte

The 19th century saw the rise of the industrial world. New sources of energy were discovered and harnessed to power new machines. Machines that began the mechanized many processes and production of so many goods. It saw an evolution in communication and transportation, allowing once isolated areas to become connected with cities. New major cities rose and flourish as production and transportation provided the wealth for it to develop. This events were felt from the United States to Japan. But one of the late comers to the industrialize world was the biggest nation in the Earth – Russia. But in 1890, a decade before the turn of the century, it would begin to catch up with the west in a modest but rapid phase of industrialization, known to many as the Great Spurt.

Other than the Sumerians, there was another ancient civilization capable of producing and consuming beer. The Sumerians were known as beer consumers. They produced it from the barley that grew in the fertile lands of the Tigris and the Euphrates River. Women had the monopoly of the beer brewing industry with the female goddess Ninkasi as the testament to this dominance. However, the Sumerians were not just the drunkards of beer in the ancient world. Just at the southwest of region of Mesopotamia, another civilization flourish and proved to be another beer drinking civilization. The Egyptians flourish for thousands of years. Its fertile lands were fit to cultivate barley which was used to produce beer or what they called heneket or booza.

Naresuan behind 50-Baht bill

From the works of the legendary Ramathibodi, the Kingdom of Ayudhya rose in prominence in region. It was able to expand its territories and set up itself into an organized kingdom. But after the death of King Ramathibodi, infighting among relatives caused disruptions on its prosperity. And after two centuries, it succumb to its enemies. From its defeat and fall in the hands of its adversaries, Ayudhya would once again be reborn under a new ruler, one whose life was equally honored and remembered. His name was Naresuan.

Andrew Mellon

J.P. Morgan was not alone in having a keen eye for investments. Morgan, a financier with powerful influence and enormous wealth, had made investments in scientific discoveries as well as ventures that became successful. But Morgan did not have the monopoly of having a foresight for profits. Andrew Mellon was also a financier, visionary, and, government official. Mellon would bet his money in several ventures and capitalize in new technologies. From his sound investment decision he accumulated huge wealth and influence and allowed him to be respected and trusted by the Presidents of the United States.

Rainilaiarivony

May of 1863 – King Radama II of the Malagasy Kingdom of Merina lay dead, strangled by his officials. Two leaders of the plot, Prime Minister Rainivoninahitriniony and his brother, Rainilaiarivony, looked for a new monarch. Their searched led to them to the closest royal relative of the deceased King – her widow. Unlike previous rulers, succeeding monarchs of King Radama II would not enjoy the same absolute rule that previous monarch did. Three queens of the kingdom would become puppets to their Prime Minister and husband. Ultimately, the cause of the failure of the kingdom would not be wholly due to internal strife but rather brought by foreign entities far more powerful than they were.

Possible head of Sargon the Great

In rivers, human civilization dawned. In China, the major rivers of Huang Ho and Yangtze gave birth to human settlements. In India, the Indus provided the water needed to establish the first Indian settlements. In Africa, the Nile became the vein that provided blood to the rise of the Egyptian civilization. And in the Middle East, two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, gave life to Mesopotamia and made into what it was called the Fertile Crescent. And from this Fertile Crescent gave rise to the earliest empire that the world had seen, the Akkadian Empire.

About 5000 BCE, civilization began to spring up in the Fertile Crescent. The two rivers of Euphrates and Tigris gave birth to a civilization that would last for thousands of years. The civilization of Sumer brought new developments to mankind. It developed so much that the modern had taken for granted. From writing to the wheel, the Sumerians made many progress for mankind. Including to its line of developments was the beer. Sumerians had during their time gave importance and reverence to their favorite beverage.

Tyre under Siege

In the region of Levant, which now composed of Lebanon and Syria, was once home of the wealthy mercantile and maritime people called the Phoenicians. There people expanded their sphere of influence throughout the Mediterranean and onwards. As skilled merchants, they became wealthy and envied. And as businesspeople, they had the eyes to develop their resources into the most sought after products in the ancient world. Among their most priced and treasured products was the famous Tyrian or the Phoenician dye.

News bearing the passing of the
Stamp Act

In the vast tracts of land in the west of the Atlantic, different activities were bustling. From religious, to scientific, to economic activities, the New World had become a flourishing colony of Europe. The Spaniards, the French, the Dutch, and more importantly, the British had established stakes within the new continent. The British in particular were keen in maintaining and benefiting from its holdings in the Americas. Through taxation and as a market for British goods, British Imperial Policy would bring the American colonies into revolution. A year after the passing of the Sugar Act in 1764, the British Parliament once again imposed another tax to the American colonies, the Stamp Act. This tax would engulf the colonies in fury against those in London.

Upon the end of the reign of Ramkhamhaeng, the Sukhothai Kingdom seemed to have lost its prestige. It lost of grandeur later resulted to the occupation of the Kingdom by the Khmers of Angkor. The Thai people became once again engulf in the shadows of the Khmers. But suddenly, a new Thai leader emerged. One that would found a new kingdom stronger than the Sukhothai Kingdom. A kingdom that would last for centuries - the Ayudhya Kingdom. Its founder, Ramathibodi, would be stuff of legends that would revolve around the creation of the Ayudhya Kingdom.

Charles M. Schwab

One of the most desired resources during the Industrial Revolution was steel. Most countries that wanted to become industrialized must be able to produce their own steel. And the United States, one of the most industrialized and advance countries during the late 19th century, had produced their steel. Several men managed to capitalize on the need of steel and became rich. Among these men were Andrew Carnegie. But within the mist of Carnegie, another man grew to become an iconic industrialist. His name was Charles Schwab.

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