Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

Saturday, 27 June 2020

Dark origins of popular nursery rhymes

People often recall nursery rhymes from their childhood. These are often lively limericks that tell of a simple tale using fantastic elements and scenarios. What preschool teachers don’t tell children are the dark origins of these nursery rhymes. A lot of traditional nursery rhymes were written in times of great strife and were told with the sole purpose of instilling lessons to children. Here are some dark origins of popular nursery rhymes. John Eilermann St. Louis .
Image source: wikipedia.org

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Jack and Jill was about a royal beheading

Written in 1765, Jack and Jill was initially written as an account of King Charles I’s attempt at a tax on liquid measures. But 30 years later, the song takes a new meaning as the historical beheading of France’s Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette for the crime of treason. John Eilermann St. Louis.

London Bridge was built on blood

There are several theories when it comes to the rhyme London Bridge. Some of them pertain to how Viking attacks destroyed the bridge. But an even more harrowing theory claims that child sacrifices were made during the construction of the bridge to keep it upright. The belief was that the sacrificed children would help watch over the bridge and maintain its sturdiness. John Eilermann St. Louis .

Three blind mice were about a conspiracy to overthrow a monarchy

There were a lot of songs dedicated to the Queen of England Mary I, also known as Bloody Mary One limerick that survived came to be Three Blind Mice. Experts believe the song alluded to protestant bishops Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Radley, and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. They attempted to overthrow the queen and were burned at the stake for heresy. Critics claim that they were blinded by their titles and led them to believe that they could remove the queen from her throne. John Eilermann St. Louis .

Friday, 15 March 2019

Five most significant battles in World War II

Like most wars in the past, World War II was composed of numerous bouts between the Axis and the Allied forces. Some battles are more noteworthy than others because of their significance in the outcome, number of casualties, as well as serving as milestones in the campaign. WWII enthusiast John Eilermann believes that there are some battles that aren’t in text books which deserve to be known. Here are five of the most significant battles in WWII.

Image source: historyextra.com

D Day, Normandy 1944 

 D Day, June 6, 1994, marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from German occupation. The battle would last for six weeks. Strategically, the Germans had the advantage as it was a great opportunity to repel the Allies from holding further grounds in Western Europe. But in late July, Hitler and the tired German forces retreated to Germany.

 France, 1940

 Through the Germans’ unique mastery of mobile warfare, Germany was able to expand their territories through the Low Countries and northern France. Through this campaign, the Germans shattered the French Army, giving Hitler full control of Western Europe.

  Pearl Harbor, 1941

 A crippling blow was dealt to the Americans by the Japanese in this surprise attack in Hawaii. Japan deployed six aircraft carriers carrying over 400 planes to attack the naval base. This resulted to the nuclear option as retaliation for the attack.

 Bagration, 1944

 According to John Eilermann, Operation Bagration was more significant than D Day. This soviet offensive in Belorussia destroyed a large portion of the German army and liberated most of the soviet territories.

  Moscow, 1941

 The Red Army’s attack in front of Moscow took the Germans by surprise as it would prove that Hitler’s Blitzkreig strategy had failed. In the end, the Reich would lose in the battle of attrition in Soviet soil.
Image source: historyextra.com


  Chicago localJohn Eilermann is an expert when it comes to WWII facts and memorabilia. For more reads on this topic, visit this website.