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The Entente Cordiale was a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations.<br/><br/>

Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a hundred years of intermittent conflict between the two states and their predecessors, and replaced the modus vivendi that had existed since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 with a more formal agreement.
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: <i>Malleus Scotorum</i>), was King of England from 1272 to 1307.
Edward Bangs Drew  (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377) was King of England from 25 January 1327 until his death; he is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous and unorthodox reign of his father, Edward II. Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe.<br/><br/>

His long reign of fifty years was the second longest in medieval England and saw vital developments in legislation and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament—as well as the ravages of the Black Death.
Nuwa, sometimes also known as Nugua, is an ancient Chinese goddess who is most famous for the creation of mankind and repairing the pillar of heaven. She is often depicted as either a woman with a serpentine lower body or even just a woman's head on a serpent's body, earning her the name 'Snake Goddess'. Nuwa and her brother/husband Fuxi forged humanity out of clay, breathing life into them.<br/><br/>

After a fight between the fire god Zhurong and the sea monster Gong Gong caused the latter to smash into Buzhou Mountain, one of the pillars holding up the sky, which resulted in calamity. Great floods and much suffering affected the people, and Nuwa is said to have cut the legs off the giant turtle Ao, using them in place of the fallen pillar to end the disaster. However, she was not able to fully correct the tilted sky and earth, thus explaining why Chinese rivers generally flow to the southeast while the sun, moon and stars move towards the northwest.<br/><br/>

Nuwa also plays an important role in the Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'. After King Zhou of Shang Dynasty insulted the goddess by lusting after her and writing an obscene poem on the wall of her temple. In vengeance, she sent three spirits to bewitch King Zhou, eventually causing the downfall of the Shang Dynasty.
Edward the Confessor(1003 – 5 January 1066), also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066.<br/><br/>

Between 1042 and 1052 Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peter's Abbey in London to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the Romanesque style. The building was not completed until around 1090 but was consecrated on 28 December 1065.<br/><br/>

The only extant depiction of Edward's abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is found in the Bayeux Tapestry.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
'Doughboy' was an informal term for a member of the United States Army or Marine Corps, especially used to refer to members of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, but initially used in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48.
Edward Bangs Drew  (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Teller immigrated to the United States in the 1930s, and was an early member of the Manhattan Project charged with developing the first atomic bombs. During this time he made a serious push to develop the first fusion-based weapons as well, but these were deferred until after World War II.<br/><br/>

After his controversial testimony in the security clearance hearing of his former Los Alamos colleague J. Robert Oppenheimer, Teller was ostracized by much of the scientific community. He continued to find support from the U.S. government and military research establishment, particularly for his advocacy for nuclear energy development, a strong nuclear arsenal, and a vigorous nuclear testing program.<br/><br/>

He was a co-founder of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and was both its director and associate director for many years.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Gibbon (8 May 1737 – 16 January 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire', was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788.<br/><br/>

The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open criticism of organised religion.
Edward the Confessor(1003 – 5 January 1066), also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, was among the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066.<br/><br/>

Between 1042 and 1052 Edward the Confessor began rebuilding St Peter's Abbey in London to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was the first church in England built in the Romanesque style. The building was not completed until around 1090 but was consecrated on 28 December 1065.<br/><br/>

The only extant depiction of Edward's abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is found in the Bayeux Tapestry.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
The Inupiat are an Alaskan Native people, whose traditional territory spans Norton Sound on the Bering Sea to the Canada–United States border. Their current communities include seven Alaskan villages in the North Slope Borough, affiliated with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; eleven villages in Northwest Arctic Borough; and sixteen villages affiliated with the Bering Straits Regional Corporation.<br/><br/>

Culturally, Inupiat are divided into two regional hunter-gatherer groups: the Tagiugmiut ('sea people'), living on or near the north Alaska coast, and the Nunamiut ('land people'), living in interior Alaska.
Edward Bangs Drew  (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
A Tower of Silence or Dakhma is a circular, raised structure used by Zoroastrians for exposure of the dead. There is no standard technical name for such a construction. The common <i>dakhma</i> or <i>dokhma</i> (from Middle Persian <i>dakhmag</i>) originally denoted any place for the dead. Similarly, in the medieval texts of Zoroastrian tradition, the word astodan appears, but today denotes an ossuary.<br/><br/>

In the Iranian provinces of Yazd and Kerman, the technical term is <i>deme</i> or <i>dema</i>. In India, the term <i>doongerwadi</i> came into use after a tower was constructed on a hill of that name. The word <i>dagdah</i> appears in the texts of both India and Iran but, in 20th century India, signified the lowest grade of temple fire (cf. Fire temple). The term 'Tower of Silence' is a neologism attributed to one Robert Murphy, who, in 1832, was a translator of the British colonial government in India.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew  (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

During that time he collected photographs that document clothing, customs, and daily life in 19th century China, and of Drew's life and career, including family and social gatherings, public appearances, and events and ceremonies.
Edward Bangs Drew  (1843 - 1924) joined the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1864 after earning his BA degree from Harvard. In 1868, Drew was appointed a Commissioner of the Service, a position he held for decades.<br/><br/>

William Hancock (1846-1914) was born at Lurgan, Ireland, and educated at a private school in Lancaster. He attended Queen's College, Belfast, 1862-1866, where he studied Latin, German and chemistry but did not graduate. After completing his studies, he worked in the linen industry. Hancock joined the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service in 1874, and was appointed clerk at Chefoo on arriving in China in July. He was transferred to the Inspectorate-General at Peking in 1875 to study Chinese.<br/><br/>

Thereafter, he moved between postings throughout the country. During 1885-1888, he was a professor at Customs College, Peking, where he probably taught Chinese. Hancock travelled widely in his duties and while on leave, including visits to the Sandwich Islands and Venezuela. In 1906 he witnessed the San Francisco earthquake and fire. He was fascinated by botany, and contributed findings collected on his travels to Kew Gardens in London. He was a Fellow of the Linnaean and Royal Geographical Societies. Hancock resigned from the service in 1908, and died at Clifton, Bristol, on 6 August 1914.
William Buckland DD FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist, writing the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus. His work proving that Kirkdale Cave had been a prehistoric hyena den, for which he was awarded the Copley Medal, was praised as an example of how scientific analysis could reconstruct events from the distant past. He was a pioneer in the use of fossilised faeces, for which he coined the term coprolites, to reconstruct ancient ecosystems.<br/><br/>

Buckland was a proponent of the Gap Theory that interpreted the biblical account of Genesis as referring to two separate episodes of creation separated by a lengthy period; it emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a way to reconcile the scriptural account with discoveries in geology that suggested the earth was very old. Early in his career he believed that he had found geologic evidence of the biblical flood, but later became convinced that the glaciation theory of Louis Agassiz provided a better explanation, and he played an important role in promoting that theory in Great Britain.
Edward Lhuyd (1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also known by the Latinized form of his name, Eduardus Luidius.
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910), the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death.<br/><br/>

The tax records of Mughal Emperor Akbar (1584–1598) as well as the work of a 15th century Bengali poet, Bipradaas, both mention a settlement named Kalikata (thought to mean ‘Steps of Kali’ for the Hindu goddess Kali) from which the name Calcutta is believed to derive.<br/><br/>

In 1690 Job Charnock, an agent of the East India Company, founded the first modern settlement in this location. In 1698 the company purchased the three villages of Sutanuti, Kolikata and Gobindapur. In 1727 the Calcutta Municipal Corporation was formed and the city’s first mayor was appointed.<br/><br/>

In 1756 the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, seized Calcutta and renamed the city Alinagar. He lost control of the city within a year and Calcutta was transferred back to British control. In 1772 Calcutta became the capital of British India on the orders of Governor Warren Hastings.<br/><br/>

In 1912 the capital was transferred to New Delhi while Calcutta remained the capital of Bengal. Since independence and partition it has remained the capital and chief city of Indian West Bengal.
Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was an English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%.<br/><br/>

An ardent believer in British colonialism, he was the founder of the state of Rhodesia, which was named after him. In 1964, Northern Rhodesia became the independent state of Zambia and Southern Rhodesia was thereafter known simply as Rhodesia. In 1980, Rhodesia, which had been de-facto independent since 1965, became independent from Britain and was renamed Zimbabwe.<br/><br/>

Rhodes represents the high water mark of British colonialism and the 'Scramble for Africa'.
Oriental carpets more than two centuries old have rarely survived and are rarely represented in Islamic Art since Sunni Islam (and to a lesser extent Shia) eschews representational art in favour of precisely the repetetive geometric symbols and arabesques found, for example, in oriental carpets.<br/><br/>

This means that most examples of 17th century and earlier oriental carpets, mainly produced in Muslim lands, are only to be found in paintings from Christian lands where rich oriental carpets were associated with wealth, power and taste.<br/><br/>

Such carpets featured as an important decorative feature in paintings from the 14th century onwards, leading to the dichotomy that there are more depictions of oriental carpets produced before the 17th century in European paintings than there are actual oriental carpets surviving from the same period.<br/><br/>

Because of this European paintings have proved an invaluable source of reference for the study of the history of carpetmaking and carpets.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called 'the Great American Novel'.<br/><br/>

Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well-received. Twain had found his calling.<br/><br/>

He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.<br/><br/>

He lacked financial acumen, and, though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility.<br/><br/>

Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and predicted that he would 'go out with it' as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the greatest American humorist of his age', and William Faulkner called Twain 'the father of American literature'.
MILES, EDWARD THOMAS (1849-1944), merchant seaman, politician and entrepreneur, was born on 24 June 1849 at Hobart Town, Tasmania.<br/><br/>

A dapper man with a neat spade beard, Teddy Miles was quick and decisive in his business methods and not unprepared to bend the law to suit himself. His company soon absorbed its main rival, the Launceston & North-West Coast Steam Navigation Co., and in 1896 sold out at a profit to the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand. In 1898 Miles moved to Strahan to manage his considerable property investments and that year became first master warden of the Strahan Marine Board.<br/><br/>

 in Siam (Thailand) Miles gained the Tongkah Harbour Concession Agreement for working tin deposits on Phuket Island, in return for which he constructed a deep-water dock and shipping channel. In 1906 he helped to float the Tongkah Harbour Tin Dredging Co. Ltd in Hobart and was appointed general manager. A bucket dredge, constructed in Scotland to Miles's design, was assembled at Penang, Malay Peninsula, in December 1907; then Miles took command of the steamer Padang, to tow the uninsured dredge 200 miles (322 km) across open sea to the work site. The enterprise, continued by Miles's sons, laid the foundation of the modern Thai tin-mining industry.<br/><br/>

In 1909 Miles settled at Ringwood, Victoria, where he owned orchards and other property. He retired from the Tongkah Harbour Co. board in 1911 but was for many years managing director of companies operating at Ranong, Siam. An imposing monument to his tin-mining work was unveiled on Phuket Island in 1969.<br/><br/>
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
The pink granite obelisk on the right is 3,300 years old and marked the entrance to the Amon Temple. It is decorated in hieroglyphics that portray the reigns of pharaohs Ramses II and Ramses III. The 230-ton obelisk was presented to France by the viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, in 1829 and now stands at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
Dr. Edward K. Barsky (1897-1975) was a prominent physician who led a group of American medical volunteers in Spain during the Civil War.
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
The Second Battle of Chuenpee was fought between British and Chinese forces at the Bocca Tigris, China, on 7 January 1841 during the First Opium War. The British captured the forts on the islands of Chuenpee and Tycocktow.<br/><br/>

The battle led to negotiations between British Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot and Chinese Imperial Commissioner Qishan in the Convention of Chuenpee. Elliot declared, among other arrangements, the cession of Hong Kong Island to the British Empire.<br/><br/>

During the battle, the iron steam ship Nemesis fired a congreve rocket which exploded a Chinese junk. A British officer gave his account of the incident:<br/><br/>

'The very first rocket fired from the Nemesis was seen to enter the large junk ... and almost the instant afterwards it blew up with a terrific explosion, launching into eternity every soul on board, and pouring forth its blaze like the mighty rush of fire from a volcano. The instantaneous destruction of the huge body seemed appalling to both sides engaged. The smoke, and flame, and thunder of the explosion, with the broken fragments falling round, and even portions of dissevered bodies scattering as they fell, were enough to strike with awe, if not fear, the stoutest heart that looked upon it'.
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
Edward Geary Lansdale (February 6, 1908–February 23, 1987) was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services and the Central Intelligence Agency. Lansdale was a member of General John W. O'Daniel's mission to Indo-China in 1953, acting as an advisor on special counter-guerrilla operations to French forces against the Viet Minh. From 1954 to 1957 he was stationed in Saigon as an advisor to the US supported government of South Vietnam. During this period he was active in the training of the Vietnamese National Army (VNA), organizing the Caodaist militias under Trinh Minh The in an attempt to bolster the VNA, a propaganda campaign encouraging Vietnam's Catholics to move to the south as part of Operation Passage to Freedom, and spreading claims that North Vietnamese agents were making attacks in South Vietnam.
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
The First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–42), known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice.<br/><br/>

Chinese officials wished to end the spread of opium, and confiscated supplies of opium from British traders. The British government, although not officially denying China's right to control imports, objected to this seizure and used its military power to violently enforce redress.<br/><br/>

In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking—the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties—granted an indemnity to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island, thereby ending the trade monopoly of the Canton System. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–60). The war is now considered in China as the beginning of modern Chinese history.
Hemis Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery (gompa) of the Drukpa Lineage, located in Hemis, Ladakh (within the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir). Situated 45 km from Leh, the monastery was re-established in 1672 by the Ladakhi king Sengge Namgyal. The annual Hemis festival honoring Padmasambhava is held here in early June.
Edward Geary Lansdale (February 6, 1908–February 23, 1987) was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services and the Central Intelligence Agency. Lansdale was a member of General John W. O'Daniel's mission to Indo-China in 1953, acting as an advisor on special counter-guerrilla operations to French forces against the Viet Minh. From 1954 to 1957 he was stationed in Saigon as an advisor to the US supported government of South Vietnam. During this period he was active in the training of the Vietnamese National Army (VNA), organizing the Caodaist militias under Trinh Minh The in an attempt to bolster the VNA, a propaganda campaign encouraging Vietnam's Catholics to move to the south as part of Operation Passage to Freedom, and spreading claims that North Vietnamese agents were making attacks in South Vietnam.
Narcissus is a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbous perennials in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. Various common names including daffodil, narcissus, and jonquil are used to describe all or some of the genus. They are native to meadows and woods in Europe, North Africa, and West Asia, with a center of distribution in the Western Mediterranean.<br/><br/>

The number of distinct species varies widely depending on how they are classified, with the disparity due to similarity between species and hybridization between species. The number of defined species ranges from 26 to more than 60, depending on the authority.
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential at the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city. The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening Shanghai and other ports to international trade. In 1863, the British settlement, located to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and the American settlement, to the north of Suzhou creek (Hongkou district), joined in order to form the International Settlement.<br/><br/>The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and maintained its own French Concession. Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods called themselves 'Shanghailanders'. In the 1920s and 30s, some 20,000 so-called White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.
Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – 1903), American artist and Orientalist, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1849. He was a pupil of Léon Bonnat and of Jean-Léon Gérôme, at Paris. He made many voyages to the East, and was distinguished as a painter of oriental scenes.<br/><br>

 Weeks' parents were affluent spice and tea merchants from Newton, a suburb of Boston and as such they were able to accept, probably encourage, and certainly finance their son's youthful interest in painting and travelling.<br/><br>

As a young man Edwin Lord Weeks visited the Florida Keys to draw and also travelled to Surinam in South America. His earliest known paintings date from 1867 when Edwin Lord Weeks was eighteen years old. In 1895 he wrote and illustrated a book of travels, From the Black Sea through Persia and India.
Edward William Lane (1801-76) was a British Orientalist, translator and Arabic scholar who lived in Ottoman Cairo from 1825-28. So fascinated was he with Egypt, he dressed as an Ottoman Turk and spent much time sketching the backstreets of Cairo. Upon his return to England he translated the novel ‘Arabian Nights’ [‘1001 nights’] and ‘Selections from the Qur’an’.
The Second Battle of Canton was fought between British and Chinese forces in Canton, China, in May 1841 during the First Opium War.<br/><br/>

The First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–42), known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice.<br/><br/>

Chinese officials wished to end the spread of opium, and confiscated supplies of opium from British traders. The British government, although not officially denying China's right to control imports, objected to this seizure and used its military power to violently enforce redress.<br/><br/>

In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking—the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties—granted an indemnity to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island, thereby ending the trade monopoly of the Canton System. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–60). The war is now considered in China as the beginning of modern Chinese history.
Algeria: Bombardment of Algiers by the Anglo-Dutch fleet, (August 26-27, 1816). Oil on canvas painting by Martinus Schouman (1770 - 1848), 1823. The Bombardment of Algiers was an attempt by Britain to end the slavery practices of the Dey of Algiers. An Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Exmouth bombarded ships and the harbour defences of Algiers.<br/><br/>

Although there was a continuing campaign by various European and the American navies to suppress the piracy against Europeans by the North African Barbary states, the specific aim of this expedition was to free Christian slaves and to stop the practice of enslaving Europeans. To this end, it was partially successful as the Dey of Algiers freed around 3,000 slaves following the bombardment and signed a treaty against the slavery of Europeans. However, the cessation of slavery did not last long.
Edward Dodwell (1767 – 13 May 1832) was an Irish painter, traveller and a writer on archaeology.<br/><br/>

Dodwell travelled from 1801 to 1806 in Greece (at the time a part of the Ottoman Empire), and spent the rest of his life for the most part in Italy, at Naples, and Rome.<br/><br/>

A Dervish (from Persian درویش, DarvÄ«sh via Turkish, Somali: Daraawiish, Arabic: دولة الدراويش‎) is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or 'Tariqah', known (notionally) for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.<br/><br/>

The whirling dance or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with Dervishes is best known in the West by the practices of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sama. It is, however, also practiced by other orders. The Sama is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb, fana).<br/><br/>

The name Mevlevi comes from the Persian poet, Rumi who was a Dervish himself.
Edward Dodwell (1767 – 13 May 1832) was an Irish painter, traveller and a writer on archaeology.<br/><br/>

Dodwell travelled from 1801 to 1806 in Greece (at the time a part of the Ottoman Empire), and spent the rest of his life for the most part in Italy, at Naples, and Rome.<br/><br/>

A Dervish (from Persian درویش, DarvÄ«sh via Turkish, Somali: Daraawiish, Arabic: دولة الدراويش‎) is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or 'Tariqah', known (notionally) for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.<br/><br/>

The whirling dance or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with Dervishes is best known in the West by the practices of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, and is part of a formal ceremony known as the Sama. It is, however, also practiced by other orders. The Sama is only one of the many Sufi ceremonies performed to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb, fana).<br/><br/>

The name Mevlevi comes from the Persian poet, Rumi who was a Dervish himself.
Walter de Milemete was an English scholar who wrote a treatise on Kingship for the young prince Edward, later king Edward III of England, called 'De nobilitatibus, sapientiis, et prudentiis regum' (1326). The Treatise includes images of siege weapons and what is probably the first illustration of a firearm: a pot-de-fer ('iron pot'). One of the marginal border illustrations in the Milemete Treatise shows a soldier firing a large vase-shaped cannon, the arrow-shaped projectile is seen projecting from the canon which is pointed at a fortification.