Segovia

City walls of Segovia, Spain.

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The 88th Regiment

Officers of the 88th Regiment (Roger Fenton, 1855)

The 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (‘the Devil’s Own’) was an Irish Regiment of the British Army, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland. It saw extensive service in the Peninsular War, Crimean War and Indian Mutiny.

Cannon at Eyre Square, Galway

In the Crimean War their service was recognised by the presentation to the city of Galway (Ireland) of a pair of guns in memoriam, which until recently remained on prominent display on the city's main square, and now are displayed outside City Hall.

next episode: Segovia

Daguerreotype 9th plate

This is one of the most beautiful daguerreotypes I possess. The dag is a 9th plate, this implies a size of 2 x 2.5 inches (5 x 6 cm). The picture dates from around 1850.

This is one of my favorite Daguerreotypes. Very small though very detailed.

Matthias Withoos - Landscape with a Graveyard by Night

Matthias Withoos (Amersfoort, 1627 – Hoorn, 1703): Landscape with a Graveyard by Night. A lot of his paintings have a vanitas motif. Vanitas is the Latin word for ‘emptiness’. It corresponds to the meaninglessness of earthly life. Common symbolic motives in vanitas paintings are among others skulls and flowers; they show the passage of time.

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Gloria Swanson - The Great Moment

Movie Poster, 1921. This movie was based on a novel by the British novelist Elinor Glyn. She was among the most influence screenwriters in the 20s, shaping the careers of Clara Bow and Gloria Swanson.

next episode: graveyard

OTMA

The Tsar and his four daughters in 1914.

The photo shows the four daughters of the last Tsar of Russia. They sometimes signed their names collectively using their first initials, as OTMA (in order of birth: Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia). They were brutally murdered at July 17, 1918

Tombstones marking the burial of the Tsar and his family in the Chapel of St. Catherine the Martyr in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg (photo by RfA, 2009).

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Dromedary

Dromedary (Roger Fenton, 1855).

Dromedaries were used for military and other purposes in the Crimean War.

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The Battle of Fort Stevens in Washington D.C.

Fort Stevens was part of Washington's primary defenses, a network of 68 earthen forts with cannon batteries and rifle pits.

On July 11, 1864 the Confederate army entered the Washington D.C. city limits for the only time. They were subsequently repelled at the 2-day Battle of Fort Stevens.

The two days of fighting never went much past skirmishing among soldiers outside the fort's walls; there was never a direct assault on the fort. In the end more than 900 men were killed or wounded on both sides.

President Lincoln, watching the battle from a parapet inside the fort, was nearly killed by Confederate sharpshooters; a surgeon standing near the president was hit!

Fort Stevens has been partially restored and can still be visited.

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Union Brigadier-General Isaac Ingalls Stevens

Isaac Ingalls Stevens (North Andover, Massachusetts  1818 - Battle of Chantilly, Virginia 1862) served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. Fort Stevens in Oregon, and Fort Stevens in Washington D.C. and Stevens County in Washington were named for him.

next episode: The Battle of Fort Stevens

Pola Negri

Pola Negri

next episode: Isaac Ingalls Stevens

Königsberg & Kaliningrad

Königsberg (top) & Kaliningrad (bottom)

Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad by the Russinas in 1946 after Soviet leader Mikhail Kalinin.

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Mucha in his atelier

The famous painter Alfons Mucha in his atelier (± 1900).

Mucha (1860-1939) liked to paint scenes depicting Slavic nationalism. When the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia they considered his work ‘reactionary’. He was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo. Shortly after his release he became ill and died. Although forbidden by the Nazis 100000 people attended his funeral.

next episode: Mikhail