Kuwabatake Sanjuro Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday tomorrow, here is a powerful piece from the brilliant journalist Aoife Moore who's uncle was one of the 14 murdered that day. https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-40795668.html Quote IN 1972, a bullet from a rifle belonging to a man we have come to know as ‘Soldier F’ ripped through my 31-year-old uncle’s body and changed our family forever. Patrick ‘the Skelper’ Doherty was shot in the back as he attempted to crawl to safety on the darkest day in Derry’s history. You can see the belt he wore on the day in a museum in the Bogside. A perfect semi-circle blasted through the leather. A perfect shot. The belt lay in my granny’s attic for years, precious evidence for a criminal court case that would never come. My uncle Paddy’s last words were reportedly: “Don’t let me die on my own.” Which he did. Far from his six children, face down in the street, while another father of six, Bernard McGuigan, who waved a white handkerchief in an attempt to come to Paddy’s aid, was shot through the eye and killed on the spot. This intolerable cruelty, this horrific violence, which happened 19 years before I was born, has cast a shadow over my life, moulded me in its image, and made me who I am today. It inspired me to pursue the truth for a living. For as long as I can remember, Bloody Sunday and all that comes with it has been part of my life. My small hands gripped the white cross which held my uncle’s name in cold Januarys year on year when we marched the sloping hill from Creggan shops down to Free Derry Corner. Children at the front were there to remind the British government that there would be another generation after our parents who were going to fight them for the truth. I remember busy mammies organising us in a row, trying to match the youngster to their murdered relative in order to ensure you were holding the right picture if you were in the second row, or cross if you were in the first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted February 4, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted February 4, 2022 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted February 4, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted February 4, 2022 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post maqroll Posted March 9, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2022 Woah! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted March 9, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 9, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 On 04/02/2022 at 17:54, mjmooney said: Frills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 6 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said: Just read about it. They finished playing the match with corpses lined up along the touchline! Unbelievable, really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted March 9, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 9, 2022 1 hour ago, maqroll said: Just read about it. They finished playing the match with corpses lined up along the touchline! Unbelievable, really. That's the spirit. People make so much fuss these days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Berlin zoo keeper keeping a shoebill safe in her home as the Soviets approach in 1945. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 June 15th, 1215 Magna Carta and nobody ever had to pay a speeding ticket again 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted June 15, 2022 Share Posted June 15, 2022 On 09/03/2022 at 15:18, maqroll said: Woah! My brother went on an expedition hoping to find this wreck 6 years ago , they were hoping to find it on the 100th anniversary and had some of Shackletons descendants on board documenting everything . spoiler alert they didn’t find it , but he got some great pictures from diving out there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Seems researchers have been able to trace the origins of the "Black Death" ... The plague originated in Kyrgyzstan, central Asia, in the 1330s, analysis of DNA from the teeth of skeletons suggests. A team of Scottish and German scientists noticed a significant rise in burials near Lake Issyk Kul in the Tian Shan region of Kyrgyzstan from 1338 to 1339. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 The Greek town of Themiscyra was under attack by Romans. The Romans dug a tunnel under the city. The townspeople detected the tunnel and dug a shaft onto it. Then they dropped bears and beehives into the tunnel. Ouch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 4, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted July 4, 2022 (edited) As I mentioned in the Do You Read? thread, I'm currently enjoying Dan Jones' "Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages". The title and the sleeve design are a blatant nod to the "Game of Thrones" audience, and it is undeniably popular, rather than academic, history. But it's a brilliant read. Inevitably 'broad brush', as it has to gallop through a thousand years of European history, and it actually works as a real page-turner. The early ('dark ages') period, following the collapse of Rome, is particularly well handled, cutting through the confusion of all those Huns, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Byzantines and Saracens. If, like me, you're into history, but always found this era somewhat of a blind spot, I'd recommend it highly. Edited July 4, 2022 by mjmooney 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zen Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 21 minutes ago, mjmooney said: As I mentioned in the Do You Read? thread, I'm currently enjoying Dan Jones' "Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages". The title and the sleeve design are a blatant nod to the "Game of Thrones" audience, and it is undeniably popular, rather than academic, history. But it's a brilliant read. Inevitably 'broad brush', as it has to gallop through a thousand years of European history, and it actually works as a real page-turner. The early ('dark ages') period, following the collapse of Rome, is particularly well handled, cutting through the confusion of all those Huns, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Byzantines and Saracens. If, like me, you're into history, but always found this era somewhat of a blind spot, I'd recommend it highly. It’ll come as no surprise, I’m sure, that I am indeed a bit like you. Will look out for it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumerican Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 On 09/03/2022 at 18:30, maqroll said: Just read about it. They finished playing the match with corpses lined up along the touchline! Unbelievable, really. small heath still finish their games with corpses in the stands. A money laundering tactic as old as time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Bit of modern history... I find this video fascinating. It looks so recent in parts, yet so old, at the same time. Especially the cars. The tunes on the radio are decent and all recognisable today. Feels like a different era. I was 20 at this point and life seemed full of possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted July 6, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted July 6, 2022 No way can I consider 1999 as 'history'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy Lifeboats Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 3 hours ago, mjmooney said: No way can I consider 1999 as 'history'. I have outstanding repair jobs around the house that pre-date 1999 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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