11 Giants from World Myth & Lore

There are a handful of creatures that appear across various cultures regardless of the early distances between them. Some of these are hard to explain (dragons are an odd one), but others make perfect sense. For our list we will be dealing with a group of the latter. Giants, though they have few set characteristics across cultures, seem to pop up everywhere from creation myths and ancient legends to folk and fairy tales. Perhaps the idea of massive, grotesque humans is just something we all innately fear. Maybe it was just the first and easiest ‘monster’ for early man to concoct? We’ll never know for sure, but what we do know is our human stories are chock full of them and I’ve decided to collect eleven to share with you today. As always, I hope you learn something and enjoy.

1.Gogmagog

Our first entry comes from Welsh and English mythology. There is an odd and eclectic group of stories that aimed to tie the British Isles to the classical worlds of Greece and Rome. In these stories, a hero, in this case a Trojan colonizer named Corineus, travels to the far-off Isles and finds the mythic land of Albion. Despite being an idyllic place for our Trojan and his men to settle, Albion is also home to a gang of giants. Early on in the settlement’s history, this gang of twenty odd giants invades, burning it to the ground and killing many of the settlers. Corineus, not one to just take something like this lying down, rallies the survivors and they retaliate, managing to kill every giant but one; Gogmagog. Now Gog was no slouch. He was said to be 12 cubits tall (just shy of twenty feet) and used an uprooted tree as a club. Instead of just duking it out, our Trojan hero challenges Gog to a wrestling match. Seemingly a good fit for a giant, Corineus uses his superior skill to throw Gog from a nearby cliff and into the sea where he drowns. As always, there are alternate versions of the story worth noting. In some tales Gog & Magog are brothers or cohorts, while in an even later story the giant is not killed, but captured as a prize for King Arthur. 

A Concise Guide to 8 Colonial Empires

One of the most important things to understand if you care to understand the world around you is colonialism. From the mid-1400s to now, certain nations, almost all European, have sought to spread their influence via turning other nations and regions into colonies. These colonies saw vast improvements to infrastructure, education and health, but at the price of independence, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and, in many cases, outright violence bordering on genocide. I have no illusions about giving you a complete overview of the various colonial empires that have spread across the globe since the middle of the fifteenth century, nor is my aim to take a moral stance on the practice (obviously it was terrible, I’m not going to beat you over the head with that fact like you don’t understand it). My goal instead is to give you a basic outline of when these empire’s started, their basic expansion and their eventual downfall. So, without further rambling, here is a concise guide to 8 colonial empires.

1. Dutch Empire

I’m going to go in a rough chronological order (rough mind you) and in my mind this means starting with the Dutch. The Dutch Republic was a small but powerful European power that used its maritime skills and resources to spread their influence out from just their small and exposed European kingdom. The original Dutch colonies came about as trade efforts. Dutch traders set-off to the east where they got an early if short-lived monopoly of the spice trade started. These early Dutch traders set up coastal forts, trading posts and ‘factories’ in an effort to create an expansive commercial empire, i.e. their goal was to control resources and trade, not land or people.

12 Far-Out Space Objects

When it comes to the sciences, I’ve always been preoccupied enough with all of the amazing stuff on Earth that I more or less ignored anything to do with space. I got the basics in, or what passes for the basics in the American education system, but I’ve always known my understanding in this arena was lacking. So, for my own benefit and hopefully yours as well, I’ve decided to tackle some of the more basic ‘space objects’, or things found in space. This term is intentionally a bit loose and, as we’ll find, so are a lot of space related terms. While I’m not planning on a deep dive into these topics, I will do my best to keep everything as accurate as possible. Here are 12 Far-Out space objects. Enjoy.

1. Planets

Easily the space object us earthlings have the most experience with, planets are probably the most exciting part of the space community (unless you’re big into stars or something). Not only do we live on one, if we want to live anywhere else, they are likely our best shot. So what is a planet? A rough definition would be that a planet is an astronomical body, or object, orbiting a star that is massive enough to have rounded itself with its own gravity, not so massive that it triggers nuclear fusion and exists as the dominant object in its area of space. This last qualification is still under some debate, but the first two are more or less set in stone. Anything smaller than a full planet may be relegated to dwarf planet or planetesimal status while those that meet these requirements but miss out on some other one are known as planetary mass objects. As of today there are thousands of known planets ranging in size from just larger than our Earth’s moon up to twice the size of Jupiter. While the planets in our solar system are still being studied, modern focus has shifted to planets outside our system, otherwise known as Exoplanets. If we want to leave our solar system behind, these far off bodies will need to be fully understood and explored. 

13 Pseudo-Canonical Angels & Demons from the Abrahamic Faiths

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When people think of angels and demons, a host of names and stories may come to mind. How many of these familiar figures would actually be considered canonical, especially the names, would probably be fairly low. The Abrahamic faiths all share certain base texts and beliefs and surprisingly the existence of certain angels and, to a lesser extent demons, is among them. For instance, the idea that God has archangels who work under him is more or less accepted. Two of these figures, among a semi-canonical seven, are bonafides; Michael and Gabriel. Besides those two, everything seems to be up for debate depending on what denomination or sect you are coming from. When it comes to demons, things get a little murkier. The Jewish faith isn’t as focused on demons, devils and the afterlife as the Christians wound up being and the Muslim faith is similarly less devoted to exploring this side of the divine order. As far as Christianity goes, the idea that hell has ‘Princes’ and ‘legions’ allowed a lot of creative, but strange, men to create and name these hosts in a phenomenon known as demonology that was popular a few hundred years ago. These demons, much like our missing archangels, allowed people of faith room to create within their own religions, and while not part of official theology in many instances, they came to become important to certain groups of believers at various times throughout history. So, without further preamble, here are 13 pseudo-canonical angels and demons from the Abrahamic faiths. Enjoy.  

1. Metatron

Despite having a name that sounds like a Transformer, Metatron has caused quite a stir in theological circles for some time. Mentioned only in the Babylonian Talmud, Kabbalistic texts and Druze cosmology. His role varies, but generally he is depicted as a high ranking angel, second only to God himself, and also as Heaven’s scribe. Early Jewish traditions had, for a time, hinted at the dual nature of God and in some circles this second nature came to mean Metatron. In some instances he was described as equal to God, but in others he was more of God’s backup, aka he handled God stuff when God was busy. Later he became associated with Enoch, a pre-Noah figure in the Torah, and some claimed Metatron was Enoch ascended to angelic form. By the time of Babylonian Talmud, seeing him as on par with YAHWEH wasn’t kosher anymore so they made the judgement call that he was simply a high ranking angel, not an aspect of, or co-ruler with, the one supreme God. The Islamic take on the figure is slightly different. He is still an archangel, but he is also known as the Angel of the Veil (death I believe) and it is said only he knows what lies beyond it. 

10 Brutal Sieges Pt. 2 (After 1500)

A long time coming, this is the second half of a list I started a long time ago. The first half covered sieges before the year 1500 AD and this list will focus on those sieges that occurred after that year. Obviously the biggest difference between these two batches of sieges is going to be the advance and increased use of firearms and artillery. These new military horrors changed not only the way sieges were conducted, but how cities were defended and how forts and fortresses were constructed. This list is by no means comprehensive; it merely means to give you a sampling of sieges from various times in history. Below are 5 of the most interesting I could find. As always, I hope you enjoy.

1. Great Siege of Malta (1565)

Besides the Alamo (which I covered in a Last Stands list instead), this was the siege that made me want to write this list. The Great Siege of Malta is one of history’s greatest underdog stories and pitted the small island of Malta and its stewards, the Knights Hospitaller, against the armies of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent for control of the Mediterranean. The Sultan and his armies had made their first attempt at Malta in 1551, but had been rebuffed by the Knights and their Christian allies. In 1560, all Knights of the Order were recalled to Malta in anticipation of a second attempt by the Ottomans. This same year the Ottomans scored a major naval victory at Djerba, ensuring a second assault on Malta was imminent. Fortunately for the Sultan, by 1564 the Knights Hospitaller gave him an excuse to attack. One of the Orders pirates (yes there were Catholic pirates) named Romegas captured a number of important Ottoman ships, a couple of which carried Ottoman governors and persons close to the Sultan. This was determined to be a suitable cause for war and the Sultan began mustering one of the largest invasion forces known to history at that time. Luckily Grandmaster de Vallette, head of the Knights and leader of the Malta defenders, got word of these plans and had time to set up defenses and send word to Don Garcia in Italy, begging him to rally reinforcements to eventually relieve Malta.

9 Brilliant Inventors from the 18th Century

I plan to do three lists about inventors this year, each focusing on either the 18th, 19th or 20th centuries. Since I’m kind of a slave to chronology, I’ll start here in the 18th century (the 1700s for those of you still confused by all that). Home to a host of revolutions, both political and otherwise, the 18th century was both a time of chaos and development. While wars raged and monarchs rose and fell, men (pretty exclusively at this point unfortunately) were just beginning to delve into steam power, mechanical propulsion, mass production and other technologies that would improve efficiency and displace labor. Since I am not an engineer or scientist of any kind, these entries will focus on the inventors themselves and touch on their various inventions in layman’s terms. As always, I hope you enjoy.

1. Bartolomeo Cristofori

We begin our list in the land of the Renaissance. Bartolomeo was an Italian born inventor whose life is shrouded in mystery despite the fact that his most famous creation is known by all and beloved by many. The documents pertaining to his life and death amount to no more than his birth records, two versions of his will, some bills, a single interview (with accompanying notes) and his death records. What we do know is that Bartolomeo was a master musical instrument maker and came to be employed by the waning Medici family. While he crafted a number of conventional instruments for his Italian patrons, he also crafted one of his own design. The first recorded instance of Bartolomeo’s piano making an appearance in the Medici court can be traced to around 1700. By 1711 it is believed he may have built two more of these ‘proto-pianos’. These early models were lighter and more limited in musical range than the pianos we know today, but the invention seems to have kept Bartolomeo in the good graces of his patrons; he became custodian of the Medici musical collection in 1716. Unfortunately the fall of the Medici meant the fall of Cristofori as well. Out of the employ of the once powerful Medici’s, he spent the rest of his life perfecting his musical invention, even selling one to the King of Portugal. Eventually growing ill, he died at 75 in 1731, leaving everything to his caretakers. After his death, some came to believe that a German inventor had actually invented the piano, but later scholarship has corrected this untruth. Only three of Bartolomeo’s pianos exist today and the exact number he made during his lifetime is unknown.

9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites: West Asia & North Africa Edition

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So this will be my third UNESCO World Heritage Site as I work my way around the globe. So far I’ve only covered the Americas, though I plan to revisit them since the lists are a little small, and I decided that my next stop would be the swathe of land stretching from Morocco and Western Sahara all the way to roughly the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. This is the place where some say the earliest civilizations began and the human story as we know it began to take form. It is also one of the most volatile regions on the planet, home to many diverse peoples and ideologies in addition to harsh climates and vast wildernesses. I tried to cover a lot of ground here, but this is by no means a comprehensive list. If you want a complete rundown, visit the UNESCO Heritage site (it’s a great one). But for now, settle in for 9 amazing UNESCO heritage sites from North Africa and West Asia. I hope you enjoy.  

1. Archaeological Site of Carthage

Everyone knows the basic story of Carthage. Went to war with Rome three times and ended up losing big despite some high points (looking at you Hannibal). The old story goes that the Romans sowed salt into the fields of Carthage so the city could never rise up again. While that didn’t exactly work it out, it did end the reign of ancient Carthage as a maritime superpower. Today the only glimpse of that lost city is through the ruins that still sit in northern Tunisia. The actual site is atop a hill and includes the surrounding plains and is valuable not only as a window into the ancient Carthaginian culture, but as windows into the other numerous cultures that lived there including the Phoenicians, the Arabs and the Romans themselves (among many others). The site is also home to a number of important buildings, such as the Acropolis of Byrsa, the Punic Ports, the Sacred Palace of the God Baal, the Antonin Baths and the Malaga cisterns. In addition to these major sites, there are also numerous necropolises, amphitheaters, theaters, circuses and basilicas. The site remains mostly intact and is legally well protected and professionally maintained. Despite this, urban sprawl in the area is and will continue to be an issue in the ensuing years. Hopefully the needs of the modern inhabitants can be met without damaging the echoes of their past.