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Texas Revolution - The State that Became a Country that Became a State
The Texas Revolution (Texas War of Independence, 1835 to 1836) was a conflict between the Anglo and Tejano residents of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas (Texas) and the Mexican government over state and individual rights. The rebellion...
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Razia Sultan - The First Female Muslim Ruler of India
Sultan Razia (Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, r. 1236-1240) was one of the few women rulers in the Indian subcontinent and the first and only female Sultan of Delhi. Despite facing Herculean challenges in a patriarchal society, Razia distinguished...
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Penny Black - The World's First Postage Stamp
People have been sending letters to each other ever since paper and pen were invented, but it was not until 1840 that a new idea was introduced where people could prepay the cost of delivering their letter to their chosen destination using...
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Charles VI of France - The Mad King
Charles VI (lived 1368-1422) reigned as King of France from 1380 to 1422, during an important phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against England. Known as the 'Mad King' due to his frequent bouts with psychosis, Charles often had...
Definition
Grattage - The Surrealist Artistic Technique
Grattage is a 20th-century painting technique closely associated with the Surrealist movement. The term derives from the French verb gratter, meaning “to scrape” or “to scratch,” and refers to a method in which paint applied to a surface...
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Transatlantic Slave Trade - The Shame of Nations
The transatlantic slave trade (also given as the Atlantic slave trade, circa 1492 to 1860) was the practice of enslaving the citizens of African states and transporting them across the Atlantic Ocean to the "New World" of the Americas. Although...
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Frederick Douglass - American Visionary
Frederick Douglass (circa 1818-1895) was an abolitionist orator, minister, writer, editor, reformer, and statesman, who had been born a slave in Maryland, escaped to New York at around the age of 20, and became a talented orator and writer...
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Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were a cluster of British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Founded for a variety of reasons – economic, political, and religious – the colonies emerged with their own distinct governments...
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Creole Mutiny - The Most Successful Slave Revolt in US History
The Creole Mutiny/Creole Rebellion (1841) was an insurrection aboard the brig Creole on 7 November 1841 during which 19 enslaved men (of the 135 men, women, and children held as slaves on board), led by Madison Washington, took the ship by...
Definition
Bolshevik Revolution - When Russia Became a Socialist State in 1917
The Bolshevik Revolution occurred on 7 November 1917 (old calendar 25 October) and established a new republic: Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks were radical socialists led by Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), whose goal was a fairer society where...