Mikhail Speransky

   Mikhail Speransky was one of the most powerful statesman during the reign of Alexander I of Russia.

   Remarkable for:   He was a reformist and idealist. Despite his immense power, he did not use it for personal gain. He is also credited with creating the first unified Code of Law of the Russian Empire.

Source: Wikipedia

The Nuragic Civilization

   The Nuragic Civilization was a civilization of Sardinia.

   Remarkable for:   They left behind large stone constructions. They are also believed to have some connection with the little known Sea People who invaded Egypt.

Source: Wikipedia

The Highland Potato Famine

   The Highland Potato Famine was a famine caused by potato blight that struck the Scottish Highlands in the 1840s.

   Remarkable for:   This famine is one of several such incidents in the area in the 1840s. They resulted in great hardship and in the migration of some of the population to Canada and Australia.

The Battle of Agnadello

   The Battle of Agnadello was one of the major battles of the Italian Wars.

   Remarkable for:   It was one of the more significant battles of the War of the League of Cambrai, part of the conflicts collectively known as the Italian Wars. The battle itself is remarkable for showing how disagreement between army commanders and disobeying orders can lead to disaster. The War of the League of Cambrai is also interesting, because nobody seemed to be able to make up their mind!

Manfred von Richthofen

   Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German flying ace of World War I.

   Remarkable for:   Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, was the top flying ace of the war. He was credited with 80 victories, more than any other pilot, thus becoming the most widely-known fighter pilot of all time.

Donald Cunnell

   Donald Charles Cunnell was a British flying ace of World War I .

   Remarkable for:   Donald Cunnell was credited with nine victories, one of them against the famous Red Baron.

The Battle of Jutland

   The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, during the First World War.

   Remarkable for:   The battle was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the war, with the two fleets totaling a combined force of 250 ships. By the end of the engagement 15 British and 11 German ships were sunk, with great loss of life. Both sides claimed victory.

The Nazi UFO Conspiracy Theory

   Nazi UFOs were rumored to be advanced German flying machines unlike anything anyone had seen before.

   Remarkable for:   The stories and the conspiracy theories abound on the subject, even if there is no evidence that there ever were such machines. It is safe to say that some of the stories were fueled by the obsession of the German leadership with the occult, while others were fueled by the seemingly unlimited engineering capabilities of the German scientists. Below is a documentary on the subject. It is not to be taken too seriously, yet the story is quite remarkable, nevertheless.

The Year 1950 in Science

   The year 1950 in science. If you are so inclined.

   Remarkable for:   Dutch astronomer Jan Oort postulates the existence of an orbiting cloud of planets (the Oort cloud) at the outermost edge of the Solar System. No, that's not what it is remarkable for... Yes! No. Yes! No. Hmm...

The History of Communism

   The history of communism stretches from the Paleolithic to the present day. Or so they say.

   Remarkable for:   Communism is a fascinating subject, and a good knowledge of it might help. Especially in the voting booth. Someone said to me once: "As long as people have to work for their bread, communism is impossible." Nope, nope, I just made that up.

Error

   The word Error is defined as doing something wrong.

   Remarkable for:   Apparently it means different things to different people, and there is a great deal of effort going into describing exactly what an error is. Which is kinda funny, considering how easy it is to make one. And apparently it is so hard to search for an error image and get anything other than a computer error message. Talk about a monopoly!

Battle of the Allia

   The Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Rome.

   Remarkable for:   The defeat of the Romans in the battle resulted in the first Sack of Rome. Also remarkable for Paul Jamin's painting Brennus and His Share of the Spoils. We won't lie: we were impressed.

The Pilot Leaves the Ship

   The Pilot Leaves the Ship is a political cartoon by Sir John Tenniel, published in 1890.

   Remarkable for:   The cartoon is well known in Germany and often used in history textbooks. It shows Chancellor Bismarck stepping off the ship, a direct reference to his forced resignation.

Date Masamune

   Date Masamune was a warlord in Japan during the early Edo period.

   Remarkable for:   He was a powerful leader and an excellent tactician. Also known for being in charge of building the Date Maru, the first Japanese ship to undertake an expedition to Europe and around the world, eventually.

Fire!

   Fire! is a 1901 British short silent drama film, directed by James Williamson.

William Cookworthy

   William Cookworthy was a successful Pharmacist and an innovator in several fields of technology.

   Remarkable for:   He discovered china clay in Cornwall and devised a way of making porcelain, which previously was imported from China.

The Phoney War

   The Phoney War was a phase early in World War II that was marked by a lack of major military operations by the Western Allies against the German Reich.

   Remarkable for:   After the invasion of Poland by the German Army, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, according with the diplomatic agreements in effect at the time. They were reluctant to engage in decisive military operations, however, even though only a relatively small force was defending the Siegfried Line along the french border, as the majority of the Wehrmacht was deployed in Poland. This failure of the Western Powers to fulfill their diplomatic obligations was viewed by some as a betrayal.

Johann Trommsdorff

   Johann Bartholomew Trommsdorff was a German chemist and pharmacist.

   Remarkable for:   He wrote the Systematic Handbook of the Whole of Chemistry, published in eight volumes in 1805.

Here be dragons

   Here be Dragons denotes dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of the medieval practice of putting dragons, sea serpents and other mythological creatures in uncharted areas of maps.

French Wars of Religion

   The period of the French Wars of Religion was a time of conflict between French Catholics and Protestants.