Indholdsfortegnelse for No. 138 i All About History

We all have our history obsessions. Whether it’s a particular period or historical figure, some key event or remarkable invention, I certainly have a few that do laps around my head with some frequency. The subject of this issue’s lead feature has been more of a collective preoccupation for the All About History team over recent years. Frida Kahlo is one of those icons of the past who is instantly recognisable, but not necessarily easily summarised. Both her face and her artistic style can be spotted with ease, but what do you know about her story? What motivated her artwork? How involved was she in the tumultuous politics of her time in Mexico? When you begin to dig, and we have done for some time, you realise that the full…

The Golden Age of Hollywood saw some of the most iconic films ever produced, from Gone With The Wind (1939) to Citizen Kane (1941). Between 1930 and 1945, Tinseltown was dominated by a method of production known as the ‘Studio System’, which saw even distribution and screening of films under the control of major studios such as 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. During this period directors, writers, set designers and even stars were all under contract to specific studios. Each studio owned vast areas of land used for production, from huge backlots to gigantic soundstages. Sound stages, as their name suggests, developed more readily following the advent of ‘talkies’ in the 1920s and 1930s. They were designed primarily to allow audio to be recorded at the same time as…

FRANCES MARION AMERICAN, 1888 – 1973 Having arrived in Hollywood in the silent era when a script could be little more than a handful of scenarios to play out, Marion helped to define the screenwriter role. She started as an actress, but quickly transitioned behind the camera, writing in both the silent and talkie eras for some of the biggest performers of the time. She was a star writer for MGM, credited with some of its great success, eventually making over 300 movies in her career. Marilyn Monroe American, 1926 – 1962 There were plenty of Hollywood ‘stars’ before Marilyn Monroe, but few who could be argued to have been bigger after her. Making her name in the 1950s, Monroe upended traditional images of femininity at the time, becoming a…

Frida Kahlo was one of the most important artists of the 20th century, and her popularity continues to grow. She is the subject of blockbuster exhibitions across the world, her work sells at record-breaking prices, and in almost every museum shop you are likely to find an item of merchandise with her striking face on it. Her raw, intimate and fearless artworks and her life story, marked by disability and a dramatic love life, keep resonating with new audiences. A rebel of her time, she transgressed normative rules about gender, sexuality and artistic genius. Today she is a role model for the feminist movement, LGBTQ+ community, the Chicano Movement, among others. MAKING OF AN ARTIST Kahlo was born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderon in 1907 to a Hungarian-German Jewish…

At the time of writing, the Ukraine War still rages. While the major invasion happened in 2022, it should be remembered that the Crimea was illegally annexed by Putin and the Wagner Group in 2014. For eight years before the war, Crimea had been torn from Ukraine. The key goal is the reclamation of Crimea for Kyiv but retention of the same land for Moscow. In September of 2023, Ukraine’s President Zelensky increased the temperature by replacing his then Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov with Rustem Umerov, an ethnic Crimean Tatar, a sign of intent by Ukraine to recapture the Crimea.…

The disastrous retreat from Moscow following the invasion of 1812 would have broken most military commanders, as well as the war-fighting spirit of most nations, but Napoleon Bonaparte had proved to have superhuman resilience, raising a new army in 1813. He continued to find success on the battlefields of Germany, but his army was too inexperienced to deliver the kind of decisive victories that might have shaped events in his favour. At the same time, Wellington’s masterful campaign in the Iberian Peninsula, coupled with savage guerrilla warfare (the so-called ‘Spanish Ulcer’) was draining French manpower and resolve. At Leipzig, in October 1813, Napoleon was defeated by the massed ranks of his enemies, losing around 60,000 men and bringing his total losses for that year to half a million. It was…

The ‘Underground Railroad’ (UGRR) was the name given to routes of escape for enslaved people labouring in the southern United States. Operating during the 19th century, ‘conductors’ guided the escapees and hid them in buildings owned by sympathetic abolitionists. But if the Underground Railroad never formed, would it have had a wider impact on the abolitionist movement? Perhaps even on the civil rights movement of the 20th century? What was the Underground Railroad? The Underground Railroad was an unofficial, unorganised (largely) movement of abolitionists and of people generally who were opposed to slavery and who came to the assistance of those who were escaping from slavery. They did this by providing food, safe havens and doing their best to ensure that the enslaved people got to whichever of the various…

In the latest collaboration with the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait, a new publication from Thames & Hudson spectacularly highlights the glory and grandeur of historic Indian jewellery and other bejewelled objects. Salam Kaoukji, an author and curator, guides us through a world of beauty and extravagance in a selection of over 300 precious objects from the 16th and 17th centuries. All were made during the Mughal empire and Deccan sultanates and showcase a wide range of craftsmanship and techniques. As Kaoukji points out in the introduction to Adornment And Splendour: Jewels Of The Indian Courts (Thames & Hudson, 2023), the collection on display is “widely recognised as the most significant in the world.” The collection itself was brought together by Sheikh Nasser and Sheikha Hussa al-Sabah in order to demonstrate…

14 January 1954 MARILYN MONROE MARRIES JOE DIMAGGIO In a ceremony at San Francisco City Hall, film star Marilyn Monroe married retired American baseball player Joe DiMaggio. The celebrity couple had been dating since 1952, and their high-profile relationship garnered plenty of media attention. Their marriage ended after only nine months, with Monroe citing “mental cruelty” as the reason for their divorce. However, the pair eventually reconciled and were still friends upon Monroe’s tragic death in 1962. 16 January 2006 ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF SWORN IN AS LIBERIAN PRESIDENT At an inauguration ceremony held in Monrovia, politician Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as the next President of Liberia. The occasion marked the first time a woman had been elected as president, not just in Liberia, but in any African country.…

Does Cleopatra act as a pivot between old and new Hollywood? I think it does. I mean, it’s a terrible film, but the backstory is fantastic, which is what really appealed to me. I think Paramount did a drama series about the making of The Godfather, and I think they could do one about the making of Cleopatra because just the scale of it, even now, it’s unbelievable. Did it really do so much damage that it brought the Hollywood epics of the age to an end? It’s not the one film that sank the studios, but it’s certainly one of the first nails in the coffin. Cinema was fighting a rearguard action in the 1950s with television. Why pay to go out when you can stay at home and…

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as Casa Azul, is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Kahlo. It was here where Kahlo grew up, lived occasionally with her husband and later died, and has since been made a public museum welcoming about 25,000 visitors monthly, making it one of the most popular museums in Mexico. Originally built in 1904, the strikingly cobalt blue corner house is built around a central garden courtyard and located in the area of Colonia del Carmen, which became popular among intellectuals and bohemians in the 1920s. Walking through the different rooms of the museum is a rich journey through Kahlo’s life. The Artist’s Bedroom is a particularly intimate room: here you find Kahlo’s bed with the mirror that Kahlo’s mother installed when…

Sometimes, when you look at a map showing populations, there are groups that don’t seem to belong. The Crimean Tatars are an example of this. If the average person knows anything about them, they might link them correctly to Attila the Hun/Genghis Khan and incorrectly to Steak Tartare. This group is a proud remnant from an amazing period in world history, but it is also the victim of slanderous, sometimes murderous, fabrication. So, how did the nomadic Tatars end up in Crimea? The Eurasian Steppe is a gigantic part of the world’s land mass. Starting on the Pacific coast of China, it stretches across all of Asia and on into Europe, embracing the Crimean Peninsula along the way and ending, some 8,000km later, at the Danube River in modern-day Hungary.…

Elagabalus was never supposed to rule. As a minor member of the Severan dynasty, there were others who were more likely to sit on the throne; he was just a first cousin once removed of Emperor Caracalla. In fact, if Caracalla hadn’t been assassinated, Elagabalus would have been just another footnote in history. Instead, we are left with one of Ancient Rome’s most infamous leaders. Born Varius Avitus Bassianus in 203 or 204 CE in Syria, the future emperor’s name came from his position as high priest to the sun god Elagabal. It was Caracalla’s assassination that led him to becoming emperor at the age of 14 in 218. Elagabalus’ grandmother started the rumour that he was Caracalla’s illegitimate son and the Senate believed it. Machinations like this were part…

In the annals of alchemy and occultism, only a handful of practitioners remain legendary today. Names such as Fulcanelli, St Germain and, one of the most notorious of them all, Count Alessandro Cagliostro (pronounced ‘Cali-Ostro’). Infamous even centuries after his passing, he was once described in Baroness D’Oberkirch’s memoirs as being “possessed of a demonic power” and having a charisma that “enthralled the mind, paralysed the will.” Throughout the latter half of the 18th century, this ‘nobleman’ travelled throughout Europe earning a reputation as both a blasphemer and a conman. Much of Cagliostro’s life is shrouded in mystery, the facts submerged under a wealth of fiction created by either the Count himself or by others. But what is the truth of Cagliostro’s legend? Was he a true believer in the…

After being approached by Goalhanger Podcasts to start a history podcast during the COVID-19 lockdown, renowned historian Tom Holland decided to recruit his good friend and fellow historian Dominic Sandbrook to the project. Since their first episode was made available at the end of 2020, The Rest Is History podcast has gone from strength to strength, garnering a huge fan base across the world. Now, the hosts have released a book exemplifying the best of the podcast. We sat down to chat with the pair about their podcasting success and their love of history. How did the podcast first come about? TH: I went to meet [Tony Pastor at Goalhanger] and we had a long discussion about what exactly the format should be. My background is in ancient history, so…

NAPOLEON An exciting, eccentric take on the French military legend’s life Cert: 15 Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim Released: Out now Ridley Scott is one of cinema’s supreme visual stylists and a director adept at tackling most genres of film. If his legacy resides specifically in two hugely influential sci-fi movies, 1979’s Alien and 1982’s Blade Runner, his fondness for continuing Hollywood’s historical epic tradition has often also yielded thrilling results. It should be noted too that his latest harks back somewhat to his debut. 1977’s The Duellists, about the rivalry between two aristocrats, took place in France during the Napoleonic Wars. Now, 46 years later, Scott has finally turned his attention to the big man himself. Joaquin Phoenix stars – and reunites – with…

MISMATCH This pair of slippers is not a true pair. The shape of the throats, the internal lining and the markings are different, showing that many different pairs were used during the film’s production. WEAR AND TEAR Marked ‘#1 Judy Garland’ this slipper appears to have been worn more due to the wear and tear. This example of production wear and tear was not repaired due to the conservation team believing it would damage the slipper’s authenticity. RED BEADS The bows found on the slippers are handmade, and they contain numerous beads and rhinestones that have been stuck on or sewn into the bow. Some of these beads are translucent red, others are clear beads painted red to complete the look. ICONIC FOOTWEAR The ruby slippers that are on display…

1 PARAMOUNT PICTURES STUDIO TOUR MELROSE AVENUE, HOLLYWOOD Having been founded in 1912, Paramount Pictures Studio is the longest operating major studio in Hollywood. It was here that classics such as King Kong, Sunset Boulevard and Breakfast At Tiffany’s were filmed, as well as later successes like The Godfather and Star Trek. Films and TV series are still being produced on-site, allowing you to get close to the classics while also learning about how the modern production process works. In the foyer you’ll find an array of costumes created by Edith Head, one of Hollywood’s most famous designers who won eight Academy Awards for her work. When she became chief designer at Paramount in 1938, she was the first woman ever to lead a design department at a major studio,…

Raw steak mixed with raw egg is a hugely popular dish in France, but it is not a Tatar delicacy. An idea that the Tatars didn’t have time to cook, so they cut strips of raw beef and placed them under the saddle to soften it, is entirely made up. It was first mentioned by Joinville, a medieval chronicler who went on the Seventh Crusade. He never met a Tatar and it’s thought that he invented the story to show how barbaric the Eurasian Steppe nomads were.…

While we know that the vast majority of it is untrue, the Historia Augusta can make very entertaining reading. Here are some of the highlights when it comes to Elagabalus. When proclaimed consul, it was customary to throw coins and sweets into the crowds. Elagabalus apparently opted for large livestock like cattle, camels, donkeys and deer instead. Why? Because it was the “imperial thing to do”. On one occasion, his chariot was pulled by naked women. Claims have also been made that it was pulled by dogs, lions and tigers. It was even said that he once used elephants, which destroyed tombs on the Vatican Hill. The Historia suggests Elagabalus liked to serve dinner guests food made of wax, stone, wood or ivory while he was given real food. He…

SPARTACUS Director: Stanley Kubrick Starring: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Tony Curtis Country: Italy Year: 1960 Does this tale of rebel gladiators hold up in the arena of historical records? 01 Spartacus claims to be the descendant of a long line of slaves, going back to his grandfather. This is not based on any historical record. In fact, while he was from Thrace, it’s thought that he was a Roman soldier and then imprisoned and enslaved. 02 Although trained as a gladiator at Capua, which was a well-known school, Spartacus never actually fights in an arena, which is accurate. The uprising of the slaves beginning in the school’s kitchen also tracks with the historical record of events in 73 BCE. 03 Spartacus did lead his men to a stunning victory over…

Mole derives from the Aztec word 'mulli', which translates simply as mix or sauce. There are a great many varieties of mole from across Mexico, all deriving from this original concept. It's a mix of cocoa and chilli peppers, with regional produce being the differentiating factor. A passion for food is clear enough to see in the artistic works of Frida Kahlo, but she was also known among friends and family for her dinner parties. In 1994, Kahlo's step-daughter Guadalupe Rivera and author Marie-Pierre Colle published Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes And Reminiscences Of Life With Frida Kahlo, which celebrated some of the favourite recipes of the renowned Mexican icon. And, naturally, mole plays a key role. Among the many recipes in the book is one for black mole sauce, usually served…