History Archives - Page 41 of 73

Metalworks episode 3 – The Blacksmith’s Tale

Art, History / 3 minutes of reading / February 15, 2022 / By HDclump

Metalworks episode 3 – The Blacksmith’s Tale: In a story where progress meets creative invention, this film looks at how the blacksmith created items in wrought and cast iron that both served and embellished society. From the earliest ornate hinges and doors to magnificent baroque gates and mass-produced street furniture, it reveals the mastery of metalworkers such as Jean Tijou, Robert Bakewell and John Tresilian, the designs of Robert Adam and George Gilbert Scott, and the mass marketers of the Victorian age such as the Saracen foundry. Treasures are drawn from all corners of the UK in a […]

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Metalworks episode 2 – The Knight’s Tale

History, Art / 2 minutes of reading / February 14, 2022 / By HDclump

Metalworks episode 2 – The Knight’s Tale: Art historian and curator Tobias Capwell celebrates the great age of armour. Referencing the unstoppable rise of the Royal Almain Armoury at Greenwich, he tells the forgotten story of how Henry VIII fused German high technology with Renaissance artistry in the pursuit of one aim – to become the very image of the perfect knight. Using the talents of foreign craftsmen and his court artist Hans Holbein, Henry transformed himself into a living metal sculpture. His daughter Elizabeth I further exploited that image, making her courtiers parade before her in the most innovative

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Metalworks episode 1 – The Golden Age of Silver

Art, History / 2 minutes of reading / February 13, 2022 / By HDclump

Metalworks episode 1 – The Golden Age of Silver: Dan Cruickshank visits Britain’s finest country houses, museums and factories as he uncovers the 18th- and 19th-century fascination with silver. Delving into an unsurpassed era of shimmering opulence, heady indulgence and conspicuous consumption, Dan discovers the Georgian and Victorian obsession with this tantalising precious metal which represented status, wealth and excellent taste. He gives us a glimpse of some of the most extensive collections and exquisite pieces of silverware to have ever been made on British shores. Series looking at aspects of British metalworking over the centuries, including the

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The Biblical Plagues episode 3 – Flight from Egypt

History / 2 minutes of reading / February 11, 2022 / By HDclump

The Biblical Plagues episode 3 – Flight from Egypt: With a graphic account of the tenth and worst punishment, the chain of Plagues in the Book of Exodus comes to an end. Scientists, archeologists and historians look at contemporary evidence to find some explanations for the final plague and any record of the subsequent migration of the freed people. The three-part documentary brings to life a Biblical story that has always struck fear into the hearts of mankind: the story of the Ten Plagues, a catastrophic series of natural and environmental disasters. Using the Scriptures as a historical

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Civilisation episode 6 – Protest and Communication

Art, History / 2 minutes of reading / February 11, 2022 / By HDclump

Civilisation episode 6 – Protest and Communication: Kenneth Clark investigates the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe. He looks at Holbein, Thomas Moore, Erasmus, the printing press and Durer. Kenneth Clark’s classic 1969 series tracing the history of Western art and philosophy. Civilisation episode 6 – Protest and Communication Albrecht Dürer sometimes spelt in English as Durer or Duerer, without umlaut, was a painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was still in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was

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The Biblical Plagues episode 2 – Darkness Over Egypt

History / 2 minutes of reading / February 10, 2022 / By HDclump

The Biblical Plagues episode 2 – Darkness Over Egypt: In 2003, a unique find gave new impetus to the investigation into the causes of the Biblical Plagues. Can the plagues be linked to the eruption of a huge volcano at around the same time period, and the subsequent disruption of weather and atmospheric conditions? The three-part documentary brings to life a Biblical story that has always struck fear into the hearts of mankind: the story of the Ten Plagues, a catastrophic series of natural and environmental disasters. Using the Scriptures as a historical source, scientists, historians and theologians

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The Biblical Plagues episode 1 – Duel On The Nile

History / 2 minutes of reading / February 9, 2022 / By HDclump

The Biblical Plagues episode 1 – Duel On The Nile: In the first episode, scholars and scientists deal with six disasters that comprised some of the 10 Biblical plagues. Scientists discover deadly microorganisms causing fish to die and stressors upsetting the frog population. Were the plagues due to huge changes in the ecology of the Nile? Alternative stream The three-part documentary brings to life a Biblical story that has always struck fear into the hearts of mankind: the story of the Ten Plagues, a catastrophic series of natural and environmental disasters. Using the Scriptures as a historical source,

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Citizen Hearst

History / 3 minutes of reading / February 6, 2022 / By HDclump

Citizen Hearst: Documentary about US media magnate William Randolph Hearst, the man who inspired Orson Welles‘ classic movie Citizen Kane. After taking control of the San Francisco Examiner in 1887, Hearst was eager to try his luck in New York. Hearst began producing newsreels and serialised dramas, and he reigned over Hollywood society. One of his films starred a young actress named Marion Davies, and he was instantly smitten. In the 1930s, William Randolph Hearst’s media empire included 28 newspapers, a movie studio, a syndicated wire service, radio stations and 13 magazines. Nearly one in four American families

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Ancient Maya Metropolis

History / 3 minutes of reading / February 3, 2022 / By HDclump

Ancient Maya Metropolis: Explore ancient Maya cities and learn why their inhabitants abandoned them. The ancient ancestors of today’s Maya people thrived in large sophisticated cities across Central America for centuries. Why, around 750 CE, did they begin to abandon many of their major cities? Archaeologists investigate dramatic new evidence of the catastrophic droughts and instability that pushed cities beyond their limits. The evidence also testifies to the survival and resilience of the Maya people, whose traditions and creativity continue to enrich the world today. More than a thousand years ago, the ancient ancestors of today’s Maya people

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KGB: The Sword and the Shield episode 3

History / 3 minutes of reading / February 2, 2022 / By HDclump

KGB: The Sword and the Shield episode 3: Although the end of the Soviet Union also meant the end of the KGB, it did not mean the end of secret service activities. FSB and the foreign intelligence service SVR took over the tasks. Under the secret service officer Vladimir Putin, who has long been Russia’s president, the tasks of the secret service were redefined, and digital age with the Internet brought new possibilities for internal and external espionage and for the manipulation of public opinion. Coup d’etats, assassinations, sex scandals, radioactive poisoning….it’s the stuff of a Bond movie.

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KGB: The Sword and the Shield episode 2

History / 3 minutes of reading / February 1, 2022 / By HDclump

KGB: The Sword and the Shield episode 2: By August 1949, at least five years earlier than expected, the USSR became the world’s second superpower, thanks to its spies who had stolen America’s atomic secrets. But by March 1953, Stalin is dead and KGB chief, Beria, is executed later the same year. Nikita Kruschev tries to reduce the power of the security service, splitting it into several sections…but it doesn’t last and, soon, the KGB is back. In 1954 the Soviet secret service got its own ministry. Domestic and foreign intelligence operated under the acronym KGB. It remains

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KGB: The Sword and the Shield episode 1

History / 2 minutes of reading / January 31, 2022 / By HDclump

KGB: The Sword and the Shield episode 1: Cheka was the predecessor organization of the KGB, the notorious secret service of the Soviet Union. Founded in 1917, the Cheka’s employees were tasked with tracking down unreliable government officials and anarchist forces. Set up as a ‘temporary’ measure by Lenin, millions of Soviet citizens would die at the hands of the secret services as internal dissent, real or imaginary, was crushed. An inglorious chapter is the spying during the “Great Terror” phase, when millions of Soviet citizens were convicted and executed in mock trials under Stalin’s rule in the 1930s.

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