Voodoo

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We are in a village somewhere in southern Africa a few hundred years ago. All the villagers, men, women and children, stand in a long line, facing forwards with their tongues out. Along the line of thousands comes the witch-doctor with a red hot spear to touch the offered tongue. At this very high temperature, the spear head, glowing orange, will bounce off a wet tongue but stick, to terrible effect, to a dry one. Whoever has a dry tongue and mouth must be very afraid and so, obviously, guilty. At least, that is the common wisdom at this time and in this place. Those whose tongues burn are immediately put to death by two strong men who break their necks as soon as the chief, sitting on his throne, nods his agreement. He almost always does.

The Price & Pleasure of Chocolate

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In the early 1500s, when the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, landed in Mexico and began to push inland with a few dozen horsemen and a couple of hundred foot soldiers, the news soon reached the Mexican capital at Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, and the Aztec King, Moctezuma. At first, the king and his advisers did not know how to react. The Aztecs were brave, even cruel, warriors but they had no metal and these newcomers had swords and armour made of good steel. They also came on horses, unknown before then in Central America and bigger than any of the local animals. These uninvited guests swept all resistance aside as they approached the capital.

The End of the Ninja

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Between 1467 and 1598, Japan was a very dangerous place to live. Different areas of the country were always fighting with others and powerful leaders often used the poor as soldiers. Many, many died because nobody cared about their lives or their families. They were poor; they had no land; and they were powerless. But there was one group of poor people, the ninja (also called yamabushi), who were not ready to die like animals. They usually lived in the mountains where it was difficult for their enemies to follow them. These areas were called Iga and Koga.

The 47 Ronin

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At the start of the eighteenth century in Japan, the Emperor sent a great lord – his name was Kira Yoshinaka - to teach two young chiefs, Asano and Kamei. Kira was often bad-tempered and also dishonest. He was angry with the young men because they did not give him – their teacher - enough presents. Actually, he was often rude to them too.

Nat Turner – Murderer of Innocents or Freedom Fighter?

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Nat Turner was born in 1800 in Virginia in America. He was a slave and so we do not know his family name. ‘Turner’ was the name of the man who owned him.

How George Washington Got Involved in the American Revolution

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In 1753, at the age of twenty-one, George Washington was sent to negotiate with the French and the American Indians on behalf of the British government. The next year, Washington, in charge of a party of men on their way to build a British fort at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, attacked a group of French soldiers, killing their officer, although the British and French were not at war at the time. This act was widely regarded as an important factor in the outbreak of The Seven Years’ War between American Indians and the French on the one hand, and the British on the other. For the first five years of that war, Washington was an important player on the British side. In fact, he tried hard to become a regular officer in the British Army, although without success. When he resigned, his commanding officer was surprised and disappointed, but praised young Washington as an excellent officer who had the deepest trust in the British.

Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis

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In 1902, the neuroscientist, Dr. Sigmund Freud, began inviting a group of interested health care professionals and academics to visit his home in Vienna, capital of Austria, every Wednesday afternoon to talk about treatingtroubled patients with a new therapy: talking. There were black coffee, cake and a great deal of tobacco to make their discussions move along more smoothly.

Saving our Wildlife and Protecting our Planet

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We eat them; we wear their skins; we ride them in races; and we hunt them for sport or food. They work for us in the fields; and they carry us where we want to go. We watch them in circuses and in zoos. Sometimes, we keep them as pets in our homes. Of course, I am talking about animals.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall

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It was November 9th, 1989, in Berlin, Germany. It was cold and dark and Harald Jaeger was at work, walking to the canteen to get a sandwich. He lived in a city divided into two by a 150 km wall of concrete and barbed wire. Harald helped build this wall in 1961 and had worked there ever since. He was there that night.