My Science School

You might have never heard the name Neville Francis Fitzgerald Chamberlain. But it is through Chamberlain that the origins of snooker, a cue sport has an Indian connection.

Stationed in Jabalpur in 1875 as part of the British Indian Army, 19-year-old Chamberlain invented the game of snooker by experimenting with an existing game-a form of billiards - and adding more colour to it. In 1885, John Roberts, the then British Billiards Champion, visited India and met with Chamberlain during a dinner with the Maharajah of Cooch Behar. After enquiring about the rules of snooker, Roberts decided he would introduce the game back in England. Although it took many years before the game became widely played, by the end of the 19th century the manufacturers of billiards equipment had realised the commercial potential of snooker.

Snooker started growing in popularity from the 1880s and rose to prominence in the next half a century or so. While Chamberlain was busy working his way to become Sir Chamberlain, speculation regarding the game's origins increased.

On March 19, 1938, The Field carried a letter from 82-year-old Chamberlain staking his claim to inventing snooker. It helped Chamberlain that he had the backing of author Compton Mackenzie, who supported Chamberlain's claim in a letter to The Billiard Player in 1939. Chamberlain's claim as the inventor of snooker hasn't been disputed since then, forever cementing a link between the sport and our country.

Credit : Sky history

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Red Fort has always been of place of attention, interest, and curiosity for anyone born in this nation India. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift his capital from Agra Delhi Originally red and white, its design is credited to architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori, who also constructed the Taj Mahal. As per the Archaeological Survey of India, parts of the building were made of limestone which is usually white in colour. It was only after the white stone started chipping off that the building was painted fully red by the British. The Red Fort is famous for its massive enclosing walls. The fort's construction was completed over a span of ten years, between 1638 and 1648.

Red Fort was not always known by its current name? It was originally known as “Qila-e-Mubarak”. This name simplifies to “The Blessed Fort”. The interesting fact is this Fort was not initially known as ‘Lal Qila’ but ‘Qila -e -Mubarak’ which means the ‘Blessed Fort’. It was also said that the Kohinoor diamond was part of the Shah Jahan’s throne, known as the famous name; Peacock Throne, which was later abducted by Nadir Shah during the Persian Invasion in 1738.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, the final Mughal Emperor, became a symbol of the 1857 insurrection against the British dominion. The British tried him for treason in his own house, the Red Fort. The trial was held at Diwan-i-Khas, surrounded by the British court, and the emperor was judged guilty, and his title was removed from him. He was afterwards banished to Rangoon (now called Myanmar).

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Lasting between 38 and 45 minutes, the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 was recorded as the shortest war in history. It was an armed conflict between the U.K. and the Zanzibar Sultanate. The island of Zanzibar was a British protectorate. Following the unexpected death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on August 25, 1896, his cousin Khalid bin Barghash ascended the throne without the consent of the British Angered, the British served an ultimatum on Khalid to leave the palace. As Khalid refused to obey, the conflict broke out on August 27 at about 9.02 a.m. and within minutes, the palace was bombarded. Over 500 Zanzibari soldiers died. Khalid escaped. One British soldier was wounded. The same day, the pro-British Hamud bin Mohammed was named Sultan.

At exactly 09:00, General Lloyd Mathews ordered the British ships to commence the bombardment. At 09:02 Her Majesty's Ships Racoon, Thrush and Sparrow opened fire at the palace simultaneously. Thrush's first shot immediately dismounted an Arab 12-pounder cannon. Three thousand defenders, servants and slaves were present in the largely wooden palace, and even with barricades of crates, bales and rubber, there were many casualties from the high explosive shells. Despite initial reports that he had been captured and was to be exiled to India, Sultan Khalid escaped from the palace. A Reuters news correspondent reported that the sultan had "fled at the first shot with all the leading Arabs, who left their slaves and followers to carry on the fighting", but other sources state that he remained in the palace for longer. The shelling ceased at around 09:40, by which time the palace and attached harem had caught fire, the Sultan's artillery had been silenced and his flag cut down.

During the bombardment a small naval engagement occurred when, at 09:05, the obsolete Glasgow fired upon the St George using her armament of 7 nine-pounder guns and a Gatling gun, which had been a present from Queen Victoria to the sultan. The return fire caused Glasgow to sink, though the shallow harbour meant that her masts remained out of the water. Glasgow's crew hoisted a British flag as a token of their surrender, and they were all rescued by British sailors in launches. Thrush also sank two steam launches whose Zanzibari crews shot at her with rifles. Some land fighting occurred when Khalid's men fired on Raikes' askaris, with little effect, as they approached the palace. The fighting ceased with the end of the shelling. The British controlled the town and the palace, and by the afternoon Hamoud bin Muhammed, an Arab favourable to the British, had been installed as sultan with much reduced powers. The British ships and crews had fired around 500 shells, 4,100 machine gun rounds and 1,000 rifle rounds during the engagement.

Credit : Wikipedia 

PictureCredit : Google 

It may sound repulsive but English kings those days had male servants to attend to their toileting needs. It was King Henry VII who created the position in the early 16th Century. These servants were called "Grooms of the Stool", who helped the king undress, provided the needed items for his toilet visits and also monitored the king's diet and meal times to ensure he had no difficulty with regard to his bowel movements. Here the term "stool" refers to the portable commode that would have been carried around at all times for the king's use. However, there are no records to suggest that the servants cleaned the king's bottom after he used the toilet. Wondering how anybody would have opted for the job? Apparently, it was a coveted position in the king's privy chamber!

Surely it is one of the most repulsive jobs in history. Perhaps surprisingly, it was the sons of noblemen or members of the gentry that were usually awarded the job. Over time, they came to act more as personal secretaries to the king and were rewarded with high pay and some great benefits such as the right to lodgings in every palace, the Sovereign’s old clothes, and the option to have any used bedchamber furnishings. Of course, one might hope to be reimbursed handsomely for such a role, especially if the Groom actually cleansed the royal posterior himself. In all fairness though, there are no historical records to suggest that the Groom went to these extremes, although he would have almost certainly helped the monarch undress for each occasion.

Quite amazingly, the role of Groom of the Stool carried on all the way until 1901 when King Edward VII decided to abolish it.

Credit : Historic-UK

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The Great War (World War I) ended at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. At 5 a.m., Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. WWI left 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded. At least 5 million civilians died from disease, starvation or exposure.

Berlin calls for talks

On October 3, Germany’s Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, appoints as chancellor Prince Max of Baden who has long advocated a negotiated peace with Britain, France and the United States. The very next day the new chancellor telegraphs U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to call for talks. The Allies demand Germany’s unconditional surrender and the Kaiser’s abdication. Pressure builds on Berlin. German forces, their spring offensive long exhausted, are beating a disorderly retreat. On November 3, German ally Austria-Hungary capitulates and signs an armistice.

German negotiators enter France

Tensions mount in Germany as naval forces mutiny at Kiel and a general strike is called on November 5. French officers, meanwhile, receive the order to allow safe passage of top German diplomats into Allied territory. On November 7, at 8.30 p.m., a ceasefire is sounded at La Capelle in northern France, near the Belgium border. It is the first in more than 50 months of war and allows the German delegation, led by Minister of State Matthias Erzberger, to cross into an Allied zone. The diplomats take a train to a secluded forest clearing near Compiegne to meet Allied forces commander General Ferdinand Foch.

Armistice signed

Night has fallen on the forest clearing when the messenger returns, on November 10, with the commander’s permission. Negotiations resume. For three more hours the Germans argue, clause by clause. Eventually there is a final version: by 5.20 a.m. on November 11, the armistice ending a war started four years earlier is signed in a train carriage in the woods. The news reaches the troops quickly, and is received with disbelief. Some commanders decide to continue fighting to the bitter end; others will not risk any further lives. On the stroke of 11 a.m. the ceasefire agreed just hours earlier is sounded by bugles and clarions along the hundreds of kilometres of front line that stretch across Europe. Soldiers gradually emerge from the trenches, stunned.

War is over

Celebrations erupt in the capitals of the Allied victors. Civilians pour into the streets, thronging the Place de la Concorde in Paris, Piccadilly Circus in London, New York’s Fifth Avenue, the Piazza Venezia in Rome. Church bells ring out at full peal and people dance in the streets.

Credit : The Hindu 

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Scientists have found the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's famous ship "Endurance" in the Antarctic, 107 years after it sank during his ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole.

A team of marine archaeologists and technicians located the wreck at a depth of 3,008 metres in the Weddell Sea, east of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The ship, crushed by sea ice, sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an incredible escape on foot and in small boats.

The project to find the lost ship was mounted by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust (FMHT), using a South African icebreaker, Agulhas II, equipped with remotely operated submersibles.

"We have made polar history with the discovery of Endurance, and successfully completed the world's most challenging shipwreck search," said Dr John Shears, the mission's leader.

"The discovery of the wreck is an incredible achievement," he added.

The ship looks much the same as when photographed last time by Shackleton's filmmaker, Frank Hurley, in 1915. The masts are down, the rigging is tangled, and the hull is broadly coherent. Some damage is evident at the bow, presumably where the descending ship hit the seabed, and the anchors are present.

As the ship became damaged, the crew set up camp on the ice and lived there until it broke up five months after the ship sank.

Picture Credit : Google