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Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero was the only son of Agrippina the Younger, who would later marry his great-uncle Emperor Claudius. Claudius adopted Nero and was made heir and successor alongside Claudius' own son Brittanicus. Nero acceded to the throne after Claudius' death in 54 CE, possibly poisoned at the hands of Nero's mother.<br/><br/> Nero's reign is infamous for his corruption, tyranny and extravagance, as well as his many executions, including that of his mother and the poisoning of his stepbrother Britannicus soon after the start of his rule. His most infamous mark on history however, is his presumed starting of the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE, which caused widespread destruction and was intentionally done to clear space for Nero's planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea.<br/><br/> In 68 CE, Nero was driven from the throne by rebellion, and he committed suicide that same year. With his death came the the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, leading to the tumultuous period known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
A painting on paper in color and gold leaf from al-Jazari's <i>Kitab fi marifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya</i> (The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices).<br/><br/> Abū al-'Iz Ibn Ismā'īl ibn al-Razāz al-Jazarī (1136–1206) was a polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, craftsman, artist, mathematician and astronomer from Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia, who worked in service of the Artuqid dynasty in Diyarbakır, Asia Minor. He is best known for writing the <i>Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya</i> (Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices) in 1206, where he described fifty mechanical devices along with instructions on how to construct them.
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, regarded by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Most of his works, such as Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle), are filled with the themes and archetypes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflict, characters on a terrifying quest, labyrinths of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations.<br/><br/> Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In his lifetime, most of the population of Prague spoke Czech, and the division between Czech- and German-speaking people was a tangible reality, as both groups were strengthening their national identity. The Jewish community often found itself in between the two sentiments, naturally raising questions about a place to which one belongs. Kafka himself was fluent in both languages, considering German his mother tongue.
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, regarded by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Most of his works, such as Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle), are filled with the themes and archetypes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflict, characters on a terrifying quest, labyrinths of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations.<br/><br/> Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In his lifetime, most of the population of Prague spoke Czech, and the division between Czech- and German-speaking people was a tangible reality, as both groups were strengthening their national identity. The Jewish community often found itself in between the two sentiments, naturally raising questions about a place to which one belongs. Kafka himself was fluent in both languages, considering German his mother tongue.
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, regarded by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Most of his works, such as Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle), are filled with the themes and archetypes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflict, characters on a terrifying quest, labyrinths of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations.<br/><br/> Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In his lifetime, most of the population of Prague spoke Czech, and the division between Czech- and German-speaking people was a tangible reality, as both groups were strengthening their national identity. The Jewish community often found itself in between the two sentiments, naturally raising questions about a place to which one belongs. Kafka himself was fluent in both languages, considering German his mother tongue.
Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū, Japan. Kato Kiyomasa, a contemporary of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was made daimyo of half of the (old) administrative region of Higo in 1588. After that, Kiyomasa built Kumamoto Castle. Due to its many innovative defensive designs, Kumamoto Castle was considered impregnable, and Kiyomasa enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest castle-builders in Japanese history. Today the donjon (central keep) is a concrete reconstruction built in the 1970s, but several ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (February 2, 1536 or March 26, 1537 – September 18, 1598) was a daimyo in the Sengoku period who unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. Hideyoshi is regarded as Japan's second 'great unifier'.
Lahaj, Lahij or Lahej (Arabic: لحج Laḥij) is a city and an area located between Ta'izz and Aden in Yemen. From the 18th to the 20th century, its rulers were of the Al-Abdali family who with Al-Sallami, Al-Ramada, Al-Sindi and al-Aqrabi, claims relation to Ahl al-Bayt (the family of the Prophet Muhammad). <br/><br/> Lahij was the capital city of Sultanate of Lahej, a protectorate of the British Empire until 1967, when the sultan was expelled and the city became a part of People's Republic of South Yemen.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (February 23, 1646-February 19, 1709) was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He is known for instituting animal protection laws, particularly for dogs. This earned him the nickname of 'dog shogun'.<br/><br/> In 1691, Engelbert Kaempfer visited Edo as part of the annual Dutch embassy from Dejima in Nagasaki. He journeyed from Nagasaki to Osaka, to Kyoto, and there to Edo. Kaempfer gives us information on Japan during the early reign of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. As the Dutch embassy entered Edo in 1692, they asked to have an audience with Shogun Tsunayoshi. While they were waiting for approval, a fire destroyed six hundred houses in Edo, and the audience was postponed.<br/><br/> Tsunayoshi and several of the ladies of the court sat behind reed screens, while the Dutch embassy sat in front of them. Tsunayoshi took an interest in Western matters, and apparently asked them to talk and sing with one another for him to see how Westerners behaved. Tsunayoshi later put on a <i>No</i> drama for them.