History from the world

A 106-year-old Armenian woman sits in front of her home guarding it with a rifle, in Degh village, near the city of Goris in southern Armenia. Armed conflicts took place in and around nearby Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory in Azerbaijan also claimed by Armenia. The Nagorno-Karabakh War displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. This is a tough elderly Armenian woman here. At around age 10 she likely lived through the Hamidian massacres of 1894-1896.  Then, around age 30, her people went through the second round of Armenian massacres at the hands of the Ottoman government (1915-1923). Only a few short years later, Armenia was invaded by the Turks and the war ended with Armenia being incorporated into the ever so pleasant Soviet Union. Once that period ended and she was an old lady ready to pass away after a long life full of hardships and violence, Armenia became involved in a very bloody war with her next-door neighbors the Azerbaijanis. It puts all of our “proble...

When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of a marathon race was conceived by Michel Bréal based on the legend of Pheidippides.  This Athenian soldier first completed a two-day run to seek Spartan help against the invading Persians in the Battle of Marathon, and then ran from the town of Marathon to Athens days later to announce the victory, dying as a result of his heroic efforts.  The race started in Marathon, and ran for 40 kilometers over dusty roads to Athens. The early leader of the race, which led over dusty dirt roads along which throngs of Greeks had gathered to watch, was the Frenchman Albin Lermusiaux, who had earlier placed third in the 1500 meters.  In the town of Pikermi, Louis made a stop at a local inn to drink a glass of wine. (Louis’ grandson, also Spiridon Louis, said that this is incorrect; that his grandfather’s girlfriend gave hi...

The fall of communism in Albania taking place in the early 1990s gave way to a major economic collapse (with severe food shortages) amid widespread political and social unrest in the country.  This incited many Albanians to try to leave the previously secluded nation. People felt overwhelmed by hopelessness and although their knowledge of other countries was based solely on what they had heard, or seen on Italian television, they long for the opportunity to start a new life abroad.  A good part of emigrants aimed for Italy, less than a hundred miles away from Albanian ports across the Strait of Otranto, partly attracted to the (erroneous) portrayals of wealth on Italian television adverts they were able to watch in Albania.  The cargo ship Vlora (pictured above) had returned from Cuba with a load of sugar, its main motor was out of use and it docked in Durrës to unload its cargo and go through repairs.