The 1910 Great Flood of Paris. | If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History

In the last week of January 1910, the Seine River flooded the city of Paris and its surrounding neighborhoods causing an estimated 400 million francs worth of damage. Fortunately, no deaths were recorded, but Parisians suffered the indignity of being stranded in the homes and or in the streets of Paris. Emergency services and the military were forced to make headway through the saturated streets in boats to rescue people from second-storey windows and to distribute relief aid. At the conclusion of the emergency crisis that gripped the city, many Parisians were left to wonder what happened?

In the weeks leading to the flood, heavy winter rainfall across northern France filled the Seine’s tributaries. When the deluge of water reached Paris on the 21st January, authorities became increasingly alarmed at the slowly rising Seine. Winter floods were a common occurrence in Paris, but when the Seine River began to rise a lot swifter than usual, panic gripped the city. Over the course of the following week, the Seine rose to an elevated height of 8.62 metres. In the city itself, the water threatened to…

Source: The 1910 Great Flood of Paris. | If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History

Albert Einstein: The genius of general relativity and the father of modern physics.

Why is it that Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist, is one of the most recognized and beloved individuals of the twentieth century? To most, it is something about his expressive face and distinctive hairstyle that warms the soul of people around the world. His formula for mass-energy equivalence E = mc² , arguably the world’s most famous equation, comes to mind often too, further embedding Einstein into our subconscious as an icon. So popular is Einstein in our culture that his name is easily synonymous with the word ‘genius’. Almost everyday I am reminded of Einstein, during my travels on my way home, when I pass by a vivid and interesting example of street art of the genius himself. I often wonder why the artist chose Albert Einstein to celebrate upon the façade of this building? Only recently I found out that the owners of the building were greatly inspired by Einstein which matched their own core values. (See below.)

His infectious qualities are celebrated by people from all walks of life; particularly those…

Source: Albert Einstein: The genius of general relativity and the father of modern physics.

Jinnah: Hero or Villain?

Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Pakistani flag.

Quite possibly, Muhammad Ali Jinnah may be one of the most historically ambiguous figures of the twentieth century. He is maligned by his opposition almost more than he is adored by his followers. In fact, in a day and age when Pakistan struggles with accusations of being ‘the terror factory of the world’ many Pakistanis themselves begin to doubt their founder. And yet, they continue to call him ‘Quaid-E-Azam’ which in literal translation means ‘The Great Leader’. The Partition was a division of India into two independent countries and resulted in a mass movement of people on a scale the world had never seen before. Indian Muslims rushed to go to a country which seemed to be the promise of a new future and Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs headed in the opposite way for India. Needless to say, it caused unprecedented violence and misery.

The question is, despite being blamed as the sole cause of the Partition massacres by many Indian historians, why does a man like Jinnah still hold a unique place in the heart of…

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Stalin’s Cult of Personality: Its Origins and Progression

The York Historian

Nikita Khrushchev’s ‘Secret Speech’ given at the Twentieth Party Congress in February 1956 denounced Josef Stalin for “[perverting] Party principles” by creating a “cult of the person of Stalin”. Though the term ‘cult of personality’ was coined in the 19^th century, it was popularised in its use as a referral to Josef Stalin’s regime. For me, ‘cult of personality’ means the veneration of one omnipotent, infallible leader – a belief ingrained in society, visually and culturally. Autocratic totalitarianism, enshrined in propaganda. This article will take us through an analysis of how Stalin established and maintained a cult of personality, touching on how successful it was.

Establishing a ‘Cult of Personality’ – the legacy of autocracy

Looking backwards from the rule of Stalin, to Lenin and the Tsarist regime, it is clear that modern Russia had a history of autocratic rule, making it easier for Stalin to establish himself as…

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