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Japan: 'Actor Ichikawa Danjuro VIII (1823-1854) in a Loin-Cloth', woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), 1857. Ichikawa Danjūrō was a Japanese kabuki actor of the prestigious Ichikawa Danjūrō line.<br/><br/>

Utagawa Kunisada, also as known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular and prolific designer of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints during 19th-century Japan. His reputation and financial success far exceeded those of his fellow contemporaries.
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) served as the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices.<br/><br/>

Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for re-election by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft chief justice, a position in which he served until a month before his death.
James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857–61), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives and later the Senate, then served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson.<br/><br/>

He was named Secretary of State under President James K. Polk, and as of 2016 is the last former Secretary of State to serve as President of the United States. After Buchanan turned down an offer to sit on the Supreme Court, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Ambassador to the United Kingdom, in which capacity he helped draft the Ostend Manifesto.
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869) was the 14th President of the United States (1853–57). Pierce was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation.<br/><br/>

His polarizing actions in championing and signing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act failed to stem intersectional conflict, setting the stage for Southern secession.
James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States (1857–61), serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives and later the Senate, then served as Minister to Russia under President Andrew Jackson.<br/><br/>

He was named Secretary of State under President James K. Polk, and as of 2016 is the last former Secretary of State to serve as President of the United States. After Buchanan turned down an offer to sit on the Supreme Court, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Ambassador to the United Kingdom, in which capacity he helped draft the Ostend Manifesto.
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) served as the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices.<br/><br/>

Taft was elected president in 1908, the chosen successor of Theodore Roosevelt, but was defeated for re-election by Woodrow Wilson in 1912 after Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as a third-party candidate. In 1921, President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft chief justice, a position in which he served until a month before his death.
Clara Zetkin (nee Eissner; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, activist, and advocate for women's rights. In 1911, she organized the first International Women's Day.<br/><br/>

Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany, then she joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) and its far-left wing, the Spartacist League; this later became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which she represented in the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1933.<br/><br/>

Rosa Luxemburg (also Rozalia Luxenburg; Polish: Róża Luksemburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and revolutionary socialist of Polish-Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen. She was, successively, a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857), better known as Auguste Comte, was a French philosopher. He was a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism. He is sometimes regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term.<br/><br/>

Comte's social theories culminated in the 'Religion of Humanity', which influenced the development of religious humanist and secular humanist organizations in the 19th century.
Doumer was born in Aurillac, in the Cantal département, in France on 22 March 1857. He was Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. After returning from French Indochina, Doumer served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1902 to 1905.<br/><br/>

He was elected President of the French Republic on 13 May 1931, defeating the better known Aristide Briand, and replacing Gaston Doumergue. On 6 May 1932, he was shot in Paris at the opening of a book fair by Paul Gorguloff, a mentally unstable Russian émigré. He died at 04:37 a.m. on 7 May.<br/><br/>

The Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi was built during his term as Governor-General and was named for him. It became a well-known landmark and target for US pilots during the Second Indochina War.
The Afridi is a Karlani Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, inhabiting about 1,000 square miles (3,000 km²) of rough hilly area in the eastern Spin Ghar range west of Peshawar, covering most of Khyber Agency, FR Peshawar and FR Kohat.<br/><br/>

The Afridis are historically known for the strategic location they inhabit, and for belligerence against outside forces; battling the Mughal dynasty's armies throughout Mughal rule. Their later clashes against British expeditions comprised the most savage fighting of the Anglo-Afghan Wars. After independence, Afridi tribesmen also helped attack Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947. Today, Afridis make use of their dominant social position in FATA and areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by controlling transport and various businesses, including trade in arms, munitions, and other goods.
Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869) was the 14th President of the United States (1853–57). Pierce was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation.<br/><br/>

His polarizing actions in championing and signing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act failed to stem intersectional conflict, setting the stage for Southern secession.
Charlemagne (2 April 742 – 28 January 814 CE), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus or Karolus Magnus, French: Charles Le Grand or Charlemagne, German: Karl der Grosse, Italian: Carlo Magno or Carlomagno) or Charles I, was King of the Franks who united most of Western Europe during the Middle Ages and laid the foundations for modern France and Germany. He took the Frankish throne from 768 and became King of Italy from 774. From 800 he became the first Holy Roman Emperor - the first recognized Roman emperor in Western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state he founded is called the Carolingian Empire.<br/><br/>

Maugris or Maugis was one of the heroes of the <i>chansons de geste</i> and romances of chivalry and the 'Matter of France' that tell of the legendary court of King Charlemagne. Maugis was cousin to Renaud de Montauban and his brothers, son of Beuves of Aygremont and brother to Vivien de Monbranc. He was brought up by Oriande the fairy, and became a great enchanter. He won the magical horse Bayard and the sword Froberge which he later gave to Renaud.
Heinrich Barth (16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.<br/><br/>

Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and write Arabic, learning African languages, and character meant that he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. He was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and collected many. He established friendships with African rulers and scholars during his five years of travel (1850–1855).
The United States Custom House, sometimes referred to as the New York Custom House, was the place where federal customs duties on imported goods were collected in New York City.<br/><br/>

The custom house existed at several locations over the years. From 1790 to 1799, it was at South William Street, opposite Mill Lane, known as 5 Mill Street. From 1799 to 1815, it was in the Government House, roughly on the former site of Fort Amsterdam. From 1842 it was at 26 Wall Street in a new building designed by John Frazee; that building is now Federal Hall National Memorial. From 1862 it was in the Merchant's Exchange Building at 55 Wall Street. In 1907 it moved into a new building, now called the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, built on the site where Government House sat earlier, on the south side of Bowling Green. 

In 1973 it moved to 6 World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.<br/><br/>
Photograph of a Sawbwa’s wife and child at Wuntho in Burma (Myanmar) from the Elgin Collection: 'Autumn Tour 1898', taken by Felice Beato c.1891. The portrait was taken in front of a house at Wuntho, showing the wife and child of the Wuntho Sawbwa, a Shan feudal lord, seated on the ground with food baskets. Attendants are arranged around the pair in a semi-circle and two servants hold umbrellas over the group.<br/><br/>

The woman wears a striped silk <i>hta-mein</i> (wrap-around skirt), a close-fitting jacket of fine muslin or cotton known as an <i>ein-gyi</i>, and necklaces. During the Konbaung Dynasty (1752-1885), rich jewellery, fine fabrics such as silk, and garments such as her jacket were reserved for court officials and their wives by sumptuary laws. After the fall of the Burmese monarchy they were worn by the wealthy.<br/><br/>

Wuntho or Waing Hso was a native state of Upper Burma when Burma (Myanmar), was under British control. It had an area of around 6,200 square kilometres (2,400 sq mi) with 150,000 inhabitants and lay midway between the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers.
The Jezail (sometimes Jezzail from the Pashto language) was a simple, cost-efficient and often handmade muzzle-loading long arm commonly used in British India, Central Asia and parts of the Middle East in the past.
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857 Berdichev, Ukraine – 3 August 1924) was a Polish novelist who wrote in English, after settling in England.<br/><br/>

Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and then always with a marked Polish accent). He wrote stories and novels, predominantly with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit by the demands of duty and honour. Conrad was a master prose stylist who brought a distinctly non-English tragic sensibility into English literature. While some of his works have a strain of romanticism, he is viewed as a precursor of modernist literature. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced many authors.<br/><br/>

Films have been adapted from or inspired by Conrad's Victory, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rover, The Shadow Line, The Duel, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Almayer's Folly.<br/><br/>

Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew upon his experiences in the French and later the British Merchant Navy to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a worldwide empire while also plumbing the depths of the human soul.
Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myoho-Renge-Kyo in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the essential practice of the teaching.<br/><br/>

Various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings comprise Nichiren Buddhism.
The Pashtun people are an ethnic group with populations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mainly in and around the tribal areas between the two countries. The Pashtun people are generally classified as Eastern Iranian who use Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, which is a traditional set of ethics guiding individual and communal conduct.<br/><br/>

Their origin is unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called Pakthas (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BCE, who may be the early ancestors of the Pashtun people. Often characterised as a warrior and martial race, their history is mostly spread amongst various countries of South and Central Asia, centred on their traditional seat of power in medieval Afghanistan.
Utagawa Kunisada II (歌川国定)(1823–1880) was a Japanese ukiyo-e printmaker, one of three to take the name 'Utagawa Kunisada'.<br/><br/>

A pupil of Utagawa Kunisada I, he signed much of his early work 'Baidō Kunimasa III'. He took the name Kunisada after marrying his master's eldest daughter in 1846. He changed his name once more following his master's death, to Toyokuni III. However, since there were three artists called Toyokuni before him, Kunisada II is confusingly often known as Toyokuni IV.<br/><br/>

Kunisada II is renowned for his prints. His favourite subjects were pleasure-houses and tea ceremonies. These themes are sometimes found together in some of his prints, as geishas usually acted as chaperones at tea-houses.
The Tōkaidō (東海道 East Sea Road) was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name.<br/><br/>

The Nakasendo, another large highway which ran through the mountainous region between Edo and Kyoto joined the Tokaido at this station to form a single highway for the remainder of the highway to Kyoto.<br/><br/>

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重, 1797 – October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重) (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige (一幽斎廣重).
The Tōkaidō (東海道 East Sea Road) was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name.<br/><br/>

The Nakasendo, another large highway which ran through the mountainous region between Edo and Kyoto joined the Tokaido at this station to form a single highway for the remainder of the highway to Kyoto.<br/><br/>

Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重, 1797 – October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重) (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige (一幽斎廣重).
The Kiso Mountains (木曽山脈 Kiso Sanmyaku) are a mountain range in Nagano and Gifu prefectures in Japan. They are also called the Central Alps (中央アルプス Chūō Arupusu) and they combine with the Hida Mountains ('Northern Alps') and the Akaishi Mountains ('Southern Alps') to form a group collectively known as the Japanese Alps.<br/><br/>

The Kiso River (木曽川 Kiso-gawa) is a river in Japan roughly 229 km long, flowing through the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu, Aichi, and Mie before emptying into Ise Bay a short distance away from the city of Nagoya.
A ninja (忍者) or shinobi (忍び) was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan who specialized in unorthodox warfare. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, and open combat in certain situations.<br/><br/>

Their covert methods of waging war contrasted the ninja with the samurai, who observed strict rules about honor and combat. The shinobi proper, a specially trained group of spies and mercenaries, appeared in the Sengoku or 'warring states' period, in the 15th century, but antecedents may have existed in the 14th century, and possibly even in the 12th century (Heian or early Kamakura era).
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857 Berdichev, Ukraine – 3 August 1924) was a Polish novelist who wrote in English, after settling in England.<br/><br/>

Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and then always with a marked Polish accent). He wrote stories and novels, predominantly with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit by the demands of duty and honour. Conrad was a master prose stylist who brought a distinctly non-English tragic sensibility into English literature. While some of his works have a strain of romanticism, he is viewed as a precursor of modernist literature. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced many authors.<br/><br/>

Films have been adapted from or inspired by Conrad's Victory, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rover, The Shadow Line, The Duel, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Almayer's Folly.<br/><br/>

Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew upon his experiences in the French and later the British Merchant Navy to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a worldwide empire while also plumbing the depths of the human soul.
Several documents known as the 'Treaty of Tien-tsin' were signed in Tianjin (Tientsin) in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved.<br/><br/>

These treaties opened more Chinese ports (see Treaty of Nanking) to the foreigners, permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allowed Christian missionary activity, and legalized the import of opium.<br/><br/>

They were ratified by the Emperor of China in the Convention of Peking in 1860, after the end of the war.
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857  Berdichev, Ukraine – 3 August 1924) was a Polish novelist who wrote in English, after settling in England.<br/><br/>

Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and then always with a marked Polish accent). He wrote stories and novels, predominantly with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit by the demands of duty and honour. Conrad was a master prose stylist who brought a distinctly non-English tragic sensibility into English literature. While some of his works have a strain of romanticism, he is viewed as a precursor of modernist literature. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced many authors.<br/><br/>

Films have been adapted from or inspired by Conrad's Victory, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rover, The Shadow Line, The Duel, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Almayer's Folly.<br/><br/>

Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew upon his experiences in the French and later the British Merchant Navy to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a worldwide empire while also plumbing the depths of the human soul.
Nana Sahib, born 1824 born as Dhondu Pant, was an Indian leader during the anti-British rising of 1857. As the adopted son of the exiled Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II, he sought to restore the Maratha confederacy and the Peshwa tradition.<br/><br/>

After the defeat of the uprising, Nana Sahib disappeared and his ultimate fate is not known.
Doumer was born in Aurillac, in the Cantal département, in France on 22 March 1857. He was Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. After returning from French Indochina, Doumer served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1902 to 1905.<br/><br/>

He was elected President of the French Republic on 13 May 1931, defeating the better known Aristide Briand, and replacing Gaston Doumergue. On 6 May 1932, he was shot in Paris at the opening of a book fair by Paul Gorguloff, a mentally unstable Russian émigré. He died at 04:37 a.m. on 7 May.<br/><br/>

The Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi was built during his term as Governor-General and was named for him. It became a well-known landmark and target for US pilots during the Second Indochina War.
Doumer was born in Aurillac, in the Cantal département, in France on 22 March 1857. He was Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. After returning from French Indochina, Doumer served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1902 to 1905.<br/><br/>

He was elected President of the French Republic on 13 May 1931, defeating the better known Aristide Briand, and replacing Gaston Doumergue. On 6 May 1932, he was shot in Paris at the opening of a book fair by Paul Gorguloff, a mentally unstable Russian émigré. He died at 04:37 a.m. on 7 May.<br/><br/>

The Long Bien Bridge in Hanoi was built during his term as Governor-General and was named for him. It became a well-known landmark and target for US pilots during the Second Indochina War.
Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, born Khaw Sim Bee, was a Thai provincial administrator. He was the youngest of the six sons of Khaw Soo Cheang, a trader from Zhangzhou in China.<br/><br/>

As a member of the na Ranong family which held the governor's post in Ranong for generations, Khaw was assigned to become governour of Trang in 1890.<br/><br/>

His most significant contribution was the introduction of the rubber tree to Thailand, which at his time was only grown in Malaysia. It has since become one of the major crops of Thailand. He also initiated the connection of Trang with Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phatthalung by road as well as the railroad connection to Nakhon Si Thammarat, one of the first railroads of Thailand.<br/><br/>

In 1902 he was assigned to become the commissioner of Monthon Phuket, where he stayed till his death in 1916. A monument commemorating him was erected in the city of Trang.
China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the name used by the United States Army for its forces operating in conjunction with British and Chinese Allied air and land forces in China, Burma, and India during World War II. Well-known US units in this theater included the Flying Tigers, transport and bomber units flying the Hump, the 1st Air Commando Group, the engineers who built Ledo Road, and the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), otherwise known as Merrill's Marauders.
Pierre Bonirote (1811-1891) was a French painter from Lyon. From 1852, he was a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon.<br/><br/>

Francois Felix Roubard (1824 - 1876) was a French sculptor born in Lyon.
Bahadur Shah II (Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم), born Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar (Urdu: ابو ظفر سِراجُ الْدین محمد بُہادر شاہ ظفر), in October 1775  – died November 7, 1862) was last of the Mughal emperors in India, and ruler of the Timurid Dynasty. He was son of Akbar Shah II and Lalbai, who was a Hindu Rajput. He became Mughal Emperor when his father died on September 28, 1837. He was widely known as Bahadur Shah Zafar.<br/><br/>

Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet, and wrote a large number of Urdu ghazals. While some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a large collection did survive, and was later compiled into the Kulliyyat-i-Zafar. The court that he maintained, although somewhat decadent and arguably pretentious for someone who was effectively a pensioner of the British East India Company, was home to several Urdu writers of high standing, including Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, and Zauq.
The plum orchard in bloom with its white blossoms and red sky is considered Hiroshige's greatest work and a masterpiece of the ‘ukiyo-e’ (floating world) artistic tradition that was popular during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shoguns from 1603 to 1868.<br/><br/>

Utagawa, or Ando, Hiroshige was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and was originally a fire warden like his father. He was first inspired by the work of Katsushika Hokusai to become an ukiyo-e artist, and he was mentored by Utagawa Toyohiro, a renowned painter, as an apprentice. In 1812, Hiroshige took his teacher's name (a sign of graduation), signing his work Utagawa Hiroshige.
A rendition of The Plum Orchard was later produced by Vincent Van Gogh, though in amber and yellow hues.
Khaw Sim Bee, also known as Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, was governor of Phuket from 1902 until his death in 1916. He is believed to have been the first man to introduce the rubber tree to Thailand.<br/><br/>

Phuket, formerly known as Talang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries.<br/><br/>

Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.<br/><br/>

Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Empress Dowager Cixi (Wade–Giles: Tz'u-Hsi, 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) of the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.
Empress Dowager Cixi (Wade–Giles: Tz'u-Hsi, 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) of the Manchu Yehe Nara Clan, was a powerful and charismatic figure who became the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China for 47 years from 1861 to her death in 1908.
The Nizam of Hyderabad, was a former monarchy of Hyderabad State, now divided into the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra on a linguistic basis.<br/><br/>

From 1724, Nizam, shortened from Nizam-ul-Mulk, meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title of the native sovereigns of Hyderabad State who belonged to the Asaf Jah dynasty. The dynasty was founded by Mir Qamar-ud-Din Siddiqi, a viceroy of the Deccan under the Mughal emperors from 1713 to 1721. He intermittently ruled after Aurangzeb's death in 1707 and under the title Asaf Jah in 1724, the Mughal Empire crumbled and the viceroy in Hyderabad, the young Asaf Jah, declared himself independent. From 1798 Hyderabad was one of the princely states of India, but it retained control of its internal affairs.<br/><br/>

Seven Nizams ruled Hyderabad for two centuries until Indian independence in 1947. The Asaf Jahi rulers were great patrons of literature, art, architecture, culture, jewellery collection and rich food. The Nizams ruled until 17 September 1948 and surrendered to Indian forces in what became known as a 'Police Action' after the Indian Army's 'Operation Polo'. The Nizam's delegation to the United Nations in New York and the UK Government in London was too late to prevent the annexation of the independent Hyderabad state by India into Indian territory. Initially it was integrated into the Indian Union, and in 1956 divided on linguistic lines and merged into neighbouring Indian states.
A ‘harem’ is not a bordello, seraglio or brothel, but refers to the women’s quarters, usually in a polygynous household, which are forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and is typically associated in the Western world with the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/>

Female seclusion in Islam is emphasized to the extent that any unlawful breaking into that privacy is ḥarām ie, 'forbidden'. A Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives or odalisques, which are the concubines’ servants. The harem may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlık.
A hammam is a common bath house.
Mikhail Vasiliyevich Alekseyev (Russian: Михаил Васильевич Алексеев) (3 November 1857 – 25 September 1918) was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War.<br/><br/>

Between 1915 and 1917 he served as Tsar Nicholas II's Chief of Staff of the Stavka, and after the February Revolution, was its commander-in-chief under the Russian Provisional Government from March to May of 1917. He later played a principal role in founding the Volunteer Army in the Russian Civil War and died in 1918 of heart failure while fighting the Bolsheviks in the Volga region.
A ‘harem’ is not a bordello, seraglio or brothel, but refers to the women’s quarters, usually in a polygynous household, which are forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and is typically associated in the Western world with the Ottoman Empire.<br/><br/>

Female seclusion in Islam is emphasized to the extent that any unlawful breaking into that privacy is ḥarām ie, 'forbidden'. A Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives or odalisques, which are the concubines’ servants. The harem may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlık.
A hammam is a common bath house.
Sanjō Ōhashi (三条大橋) is a bridge in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It spans the Kamo River as part of Sanjō-dōri (三条大通り Third Avenue). It is well-known because it served as the ending location for both the Nakasendō and the Tōkaidō.<br/><br/>

It is unclear when this bridge was first built, but there are records of Toyotomi Hideyoshi orders for it to be repaired in 1590, as well as one of the original <i>giboshi</i> (擬宝珠) (onion-shaped posts that are located on bridges, shrines and temples in Japan).<br/><br/>

The current concrete bridge, which includes two lanes for driving and a walking path on either side, was built in 1950.
In 1853 Sepoys throughout India were issued with a new rifle, the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket. To load the new rifle, soldiers had to bite the cartridge open and pour the gunpowder  it contained into the rifle's muzzle, then stuff the cartridge case, which was typically paper coated with some kind of grease to make it waterproof, into the musket as wadding, before loading it with a ball. It was believed that the cartridges that were standard issue with this rifle were greased with lard (pork fat) which was regarded as unclean by Muslims, or tallow (beef fat), regarded as sacred to Hindus.
Sanjō Ōhashi (三条大橋) is a bridge in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It spans the Kamo River as part of Sanjō-dōri (三条大通り Third Avenue). It is well-known because it served as the ending location for both the Nakasendō and the Tōkaidō.<br/><br/>

It is unclear when this bridge was first built, but there are records of Toyotomi Hideyoshi orders for it to be repaired in 1590, as well as one of the original <i>giboshi</i> (擬宝珠) (onion-shaped posts that are located on bridges, shrines and temples in Japan).<br/><br/>

The current concrete bridge, which includes two lanes for driving and a walking path on either side, was built in 1950.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – January 12, 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III) was the most popular, prolific and financially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857  Berdichev, Ukraine – 3 August 1924) was a Polish novelist who wrote in English, after settling in England.<br/><br/>

Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and then always with a marked Polish accent). He wrote stories and novels, predominantly with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit by the demands of duty and honour. Conrad was a master prose stylist who brought a distinctly non-English tragic sensibility into English literature. While some of his works have a strain of romanticism, he is viewed as a precursor of modernist literature. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced many authors.<br/><br/>

Films have been adapted from or inspired by Conrad's Victory, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rover, The Shadow Line, The Duel, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Almayer's Folly.<br/><br/>

Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew upon his experiences in the French and later the British Merchant Navy to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a worldwide empire while also plumbing the depths of the human soul.
Utagawa Kunisada (also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III) was the most popular, prolific and financially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan.<br/><br/>

In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.
Khaw Sim Bee, also known as Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, was governor of Phuket from 1902 until his death in 1916. He is believed to have been the first man to introduce the rubber tree to Thailand.<br/><br/>

Phuket, formerly known as Talang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries.<br/><br/>

Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.<br/><br/>

Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Khaw Sim Bee, also known as Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, was governor of Phuket from 1902 until his death in 1916. He is believed to have been the first man to introduce the rubber tree to Thailand.<br/><br/>

Phuket, formerly known as Talang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries.<br/><br/>

Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.<br/><br/>

Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Khaw Sim Bee, also known as Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, was governor of Phuket from 1902 until his death in 1916. He is believed to have been the first man to introduce the rubber tree to Thailand.<br/><br/>

Phuket, formerly known as Talang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries.<br/><br/>

Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.<br/><br/>

Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Khaw Sim Bee, also known as Phraya Ratsadanupradit Mahison Phakdi, was governor of Phuket from 1902 until his death in 1916. He is believed to have been the first man to introduce the rubber tree to Thailand.<br/><br/>

Phuket, formerly known as Talang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon (a corruption of the Malay Tanjung Salang, i.e. 'Cape Salang'), is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Phang Nga and Krabi, but as Phuket is an island there are no land boundaries.<br/><br/>

Phuket, which is approximately the size of Singapore, is Thailand’s largest island. The island is connected to mainland Thailand by two bridges. It is situated off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea.<br/><br/>

Phuket formerly derived its wealth from tin and rubber, and enjoyed a rich and colorful history. The island was on one of the major trading routes between India and China, and was frequently mentioned in foreign ship logs of Portuguese, French, Dutch and English traders. The region now derives much of its income from tourism.
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was an American statesman who served as the 13th President of the United States from 1850 to 1853.<br/><br/>

He was the last Whig president, and the last president not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties.
Mirza Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar (Urdu: ابو ظفر سِراجُ الْدین محمد بُہادر شاہ ظفر‎), better known as Bahadur Shah Zafar (Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم‎), on 24 October 1775 – died 7 November 1862), was the last Mughal emperor and a member of the Timurid Dynasty.<br/><br/>

Zafar was the son of Mirza Akbar Shah II and Lalbai, who was a Hindu Rajput, and became Mughal Emperor when his father died on 28 September 1837. He used Zafar, a part of his name, meaning 'victory', for his nom de plume as an Urdu poet, and he wrote many Urdu ghazals under it.<br/><br/>

After his involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British tried and then exiled him from Delhi and sent him to Rangoon (now Yangon) in British-controlled Burma (Myanmar).
'The slave party, a long line of manacled men, women, and children, came wending their way round the hill and into the valley, on the side of which the village stood.<br/><br/>

The black drivers, armed with muskets, and bedecked with various articles of finery, marched jauntily in the front, middle, and rear of the line; some of them blowing exultant notes out of long tin horns. They seemed to feel that they were doing a very noble thing, and might proudly march with an air of triumph'.
Elephant ivory has been exported from Africa and Asia for centuries with records going back to the 14th century BC. Throughout the colonisation of Africa ivory was removed, often using slaves to carry the tusks, to be used for piano keys, billiard balls and other expressions of exotic wealth.<br/><br/>

Ivory hunters were responsible for wiping out elephants in North Africa perhaps about 1,000 years ago, in much of South Africa in the 19th century and most of West Africa by the end of the 20th century. At the peak of the ivory trade, pre 20th century, during the colonisation of Africa, around 800 to 1,000 tonnes of ivory was sent to Europe alone.
John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 – 15 September 1864) was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile.
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857), better known as Auguste Comte, was a French philosopher. He was a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism. He is sometimes regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term.<br/><br/>

Comte's social theories culminated in the 'Religion of Humanity', which influenced the development of religious humanist and secular humanist organizations in the 19th century.
Clara Zetkin (nee Eissner; 5 July 1857 – 20 June 1933) was a German Marxist theorist, activist, and advocate for women's rights. In 1911, she organized the first International Women's Day.<br/><br/>

Until 1917, she was active in the Social Democratic Party of Germany, then she joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) and its far-left wing, the Spartacist League; this later became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which she represented in the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1933.<br/><br/>

When Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party took over power, the Communist Party of Germany was banned, following the Reichstag fire in 1933. Zetkin went into exile for the last time, this time to the Soviet Union. She died there, at Arkhangelskoye, near Moscow, in 1933, aged nearly 76. Her ashes were placed in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, near Red Square.
Ren Xiong (July 19; 1823 – November 23; 1857) was a Chinese painter from Xiaoshan, active during the late Qing dynasty. Ren belonged to the 'Shanghai school' in Chinese painting and is known for his bold and innovative style.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859), was a leading British civil engineer, famed for his bridges and dockyards, and especially for the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of famous steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.<br/><br/>

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his short career, Brunel achieved many engineering 'firsts', including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and the development of the SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven ocean-going iron ship, which was at the time (1843) also the largest ship ever built.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS (9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859), was a leading British civil engineer, famed for his bridges and dockyards, and especially for the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of famous steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.<br/><br/>

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his short career, Brunel achieved many engineering 'firsts', including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and the development of the SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven ocean-going iron ship, which was at the time (1843) also the largest ship ever built.
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857  Berdichev, Ukraine – 3 August 1924) was a Polish novelist who wrote in English, after settling in England.<br/><br/>

Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties (and then always with a marked Polish accent). He wrote stories and novels, predominantly with a nautical setting, that depict trials of the human spirit by the demands of duty and honour. Conrad was a master prose stylist who brought a distinctly non-English tragic sensibility into English literature. While some of his works have a strain of romanticism, he is viewed as a precursor of modernist literature. His narrative style and anti-heroic characters have influenced many authors.<br/><br/>

Films have been adapted from or inspired by Conrad's Victory, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rover, The Shadow Line, The Duel, Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Almayer's Folly.<br/><br/>

Writing in the heyday of the British Empire, Conrad drew upon his experiences in the French and later the British Merchant Navy to create short stories and novels that reflect aspects of a worldwide empire while also plumbing the depths of the human soul.
Heinrich Barth (16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.<br/><br/>

Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and write Arabic, learning African languages, and character meant that he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. He was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and collected many. He established friendships with African rulers and scholars during his five years of travel (1850–1855).