A Few Intriguing Facts about Britain

18 more Intriguing Facts about Britain

History of Cricket

The origins of cricket are obscure, and there are several theories on how it started. One is that shepherds used to play it - one would stand in front of the wicket gate to the sheep fold, and another would bowl a stone or something at him, and he would have to hit it with his crook, which was known as a cricket. Other theories are that it derives from a game called club-ball, or a game played in churchyards...

The first reference to cricket being played is thought to be in 1300, between Prince Edward and his friend Piers Gaveston and the first recorded match took place at Coxheath in Kent in 1646. The first match between counties on 29th June 1709, when Surrey played Kent at Dartford Brent.

The earliest known cricket photographs were taken in 1857, by Roger Fenton at the Artillery Ground, when the Royal Artillery played Hunsdonbury.

As well as shepherds' crooks, early bats were clubs and sticks. These gave way to long, thin battes, which looked a bit like straightened-out hockey sticks, because the ball was bowled under-arm, and the batters swung their bats like clubs!!

By the 18th century, the bat had developed into a longer, heavier, curved version of the one we know now, carved out of a single piece of wood.

Today's bat was invented around 1853, with the blade made of willow, and a cane handle, which is layered with strips of rubber, tied with twine, and covered with rubber to make a grip. The 'V' shaped extension of the handle into the blade is the splice. The early balls were stones and other missiles. Rather dangerous really, and not surprising that someone came up with an alternative! They're now made of cork, and covered with hand-stitched leather quarters dyed red.

The wicket - the stumps are the three posts. Originally there were two, and at one point, four. The size has varied too - in the 17th century, were up to two metres wide!! The bails are the two bits of wood on the top, and if they fall off, it's all over!!

Top 10 Countries That Disappeared In The 20th Century

New nations seem to pop up with alarming regularity. At the start of the 20th century, there were only a few dozen independent sovereign states on the planet; today, there are nearly 200! Once a nation is established, they tend to stick around for awhile, so a nation disappearing is quite uncommon. It’s only occurred a handful of times in the last century. But when they do, they completely vanish off the face of the globe: government, flag, and all. Here then, in no particular order, are the top ten countries that had their moment in the sun but are, alas, no more.

10. East Germany, 1949-1990

Created from the Soviet controlled sector of Germany after the Second World War, East Germany was probably best known for its Wall and its tendency to shoot people who attempted to cross over it. Now, it’s one (over-reactionary) thing to shoot foreigners who are trying to enter your country illegally, but these were its own people!

Basically little more than a Soviet satellite state, the collapse of the notorious Wall and, with it, the demise of the old Soviet Union brought an end to this failed experiment in Communism, and it was integrated back into the rest of Germany in 1990. Because East Germany was so far behind the rest of Germany economically, however, its reintegration with the west almost bankrupted Germany. Today, however, things are swimming along nicely, thank you.

09. Czechoslovakia, 1918-1992

Forged from the remnants of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, during its brief existence it was one of the few bright spots in Europe, managing to maintain one of the continent’s few working democracies prior to the Second World War. Betrayed by England and France in 1938 at Munich, by March of 1939 it had been completely occupied by Germany, and vanished off the map. Later it was occupied by the Soviets, who turned it into another vassal state of the old Soviet Union until that nation’s collapse in 1991. At that time, it finally reestablished itself as a vibrant democracy.

That should have been the end of the story, and probably would have been, had not the ethnic Slavs in the eastern half of the country demanded their own independent state, breaking Czechoslovakia in two in 1992. Today, it exists as the Czech Republic in the west, and the nation of Slovakia in the east, making Czechoslovakia no more. Though considering that the Czech Republic maintains one of the more vibrant economies in Europe, the far-less-well-off Slovakia maybe should have reconsidered.

08. Yugoslavia, 1918-1992

Like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia was a by-product of the breakup of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire in the aftermath of WWI. Basically made up of parts of Hungary and the original state of Serbia, it unfortunately did not follow Czechoslovakia’s more enlightened example. Instead, it maintained a somewhat-autocratic monarchy until the Nazis invaded the country in 1941, after which it became a German possession. With the collapse of the Nazis in 1945, Yugoslavia somehow managed to avoid Soviet occupation but not Communism, coming under the socialist dictatorship of Marshal Josip Tito, the leader of the partisan Army during WWII. It remained a nonaligned authoritarian socialist republic until 1992, when internal tensions and rival nationalism resulted in civil war. The country then split into six smaller nations (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro,) making it a textbook example of what happens when cultural, ethnic, and religious assimilation fails.

07. Austro-Hungary, 1867-1918

While all of the countries that found themselves on the losing side after the First World War suffered economically, and geographically to some degree, none lost more than the once-powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire, which found itself carved up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey in a homeless shelter. Out of the dissolution of the once-massive empire came the modern countries of Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, with parts of it going to Italy, Poland, and Romania.

So why did it break apart when its neighbor, Germany did not? Because it lacked a common identity and language, and was instead home to various ethnic and religious groups, most of whom had little to do with each other…to put it mildly. In effect, it suffered a large-scale version of what Yugoslavia suffered, when it saw itself similarly torn apart by nationalistic fervor. The difference was that Austro-Hungary was carved up by the victors in WWI, whereas Yugoslavia’s dissolution was internal and spontaneous.

06. Tibet, 1913-1951

While the land known as Tibet has been around for over a thousand years, it wasn’t until 1913 that it managed become an independent country. Under the peaceful tutelage of a chain of Dalai Lamas, it finally ran afoul of Communist China in 1951 and was occupied by Mao’s forces, thus ending its brief foray as a sovereign nation. China occupied an increasingly-tense Tibet throughout the ’50s until the country finally rebelled in 1959, which resulted in China’s annexation of the region and the dissolution of the Tibetan government. This finished the nation for good and turned it into a “region,” rather than a country. Today it remains a big tourist attraction for the Chinese government, though it still has issues with Beijing, by insisting it be granted its independence once again.

05. South Vietnam, 1955-1975

Created from the forceful expulsion of the French from Indo-China in 1954, someone decided it would be a good idea to split Vietnam in two, roughly at the 17th parallel, leaving a Communist north and a pseudo-democratic south. As with Korea before, it didn’t work any better in Vietnam, resulting in intermittent warfare between the two halves that ultimately dragged the United States into a conflict (again with the Korea comparisons,) that was to result in one of the most draining and costly wars in American history. Finally hounded out of the country by dissent at home, America left South Vietnam to fend for itself in 1973, which it did for only two more years, before the Soviet-backed North finally rolled over the country, bringing an end to South Vietnam and renaming Saigon—its capitol—Ho Chi Minh City. It’s been a socialist utopia ever since.

04. United Arab Republic, 1958-1971

In yet another ill-fated attempt to bring unity to the Arab world, Egypt’s fiery socialist president, Gamel Abdel Nasser, thought it would be a splendid idea to unite with his distant neighbor, Syria, in an alliance that would effectively surround their sworn enemy, Israel, and make them a regional superpower. Thus was created the short-lived U.A.R., an experiment that was doomed to failure almost from the start. Being several hundred miles apart made creating a central government almost impossible, while Syria and Egypt never could quite agree on what constituted national priorities.

The problem might have been rectified had Syria and Egypt managed to link their halves together by destroying Israel, but that nasty Six Days War came along in 1967, dashing their plans for a common border, and handing both halves of the U.A.R. a defeat of biblical proportions. After that the merger’s days were numbered, and finally came to an anti-climactic end with the death of Nasser in 1970. Without the charismatic Egyptian President around to hold the fragile alliance together, the U.A.R. quickly dissolved, restoring the nations of Egypt and Syria once again.

03. Ottoman Empire, 1299-1922

One of the great empires in history, the Ottoman Empire finally came to an end in November of 1922, after a pretty respectable run of over six hundred years. Once extending from Morocco to the Persian Gulf, and from Sudan to as far north as Hungary, its demise was a slow process of dissolution over many centuries until, by the dawn of the 20th century, it was but a shadow of its former self.

But even then, it was still the main power broker in the Middle East and North Africa, and might still be that way today had it not chosen to ally itself with the losing side in World War I. It saw itself dismantled in the aftermath, with the biggest chunk of it (Egypt, Sudan, and Palestine) going to England. By 1922 it had outlived its usefulness, and finally died when the Turks won their war of independence in 1922 and abolished the Sultanate, creating the modern-day nation of Turkey in the process. Still, you’ve got to give it credit for making such an impressive run before giving up the ghost.

02. Sikkim, 8th century CE-1975

What? You’ve never heard of the place? What rock have you been hiding under? Seriously, it’s not likely you would have heard of tiny, land-locked Sikkim, nestled securely in the Himalayan Mountains between India and Tibet…er, China. About the size of a hot dog stand, it was basically one of those little-known, and largely forgotten, little monarchies that managed to hold on into the twentieth century before it finally realized it had no particularly good reason for being independent, and decided to merge with modern India in 1975.

Its coolest claim to fame? Though just a little bigger than Rhode Island, it has no fewer than eleven official languages, which must play havoc with traffic signs—assuming, that is, that they have any roads.

01. Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Union), 1922-1991

What would the 20th century have been without the good ‘ol USSR to stir things up? One of the truly scary counties on the planet until its anticlimactic collapse in 1991, for seven decades it stood as the bulwark of Marxist Stalinism, with all the misfortune that brought with it. It was created in the chaotic aftermath of the breakup of Imperial Russia after WWI, and both survived and thrived despite inept economic policies and brutal leadership. The USSR actually managed to beat the Nazis when no one thought that Hitler could be stopped, enslaved eastern Europe for over forty years, instigated the Korean War in 1950, and very nearly got into a shooting war with the United States over Cuba in 1962, making its tenor on the world stage nothing if not eventful.

Finally coming apart in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, and the subsequent collapse of Communism in eastern Europe, it broke into no fewer than fifteen sovereign countries, creating the largest new block of countries since the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. What followed was the pseudo-democratic Republic of Russia, though it still retains much of the autocratic air it has always been famous for.

Jeff Danelek is a Denver, Colorado author who writes on many subjects having to do with history, politics, the paranormal, spirituality and religion. Via — Link

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Iran in 1960s

When the people of the West today hear the word "Iran", they come to mind veiled women, burning American flags and angry crowd shouted nationalist slogans. But those who kept the memories of Tehran, 1960-70s, painted a completely different picture. 

01. Aerial view of Vali-Asr Square in 1971 Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh 

Before the Islamic revolution in 1979 the capital of Iran was one of the most culturally advanced in the world. The newspaper The New York Times wrote: "Before the revolution, Iran was the most cultural and multi-ethnic country in the region. It quickly developed art, literature, film and television industry. " Education may receive, both men and women, and residents went on holiday to the ski resorts are located in the mountains of Mount Elbrus. Kaveh Farrokh (Kaveh Farrokh), author of the photos presented below, is now living in Canada, but remembers his youth spent in Iran, when it was possible to watch American films in movie theaters and upscale to roam the airport, stuffed with advanced technology of the time. However, the sweet life was not for all Iranians. Social and economic inequalities caused by the policies of the government of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, led to the poverty of some and the incredible wealth of others. Such contrasts led to the downfall of the government of the Shah and the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the consequences of which still define the course of the country. 

02. Students in the Park of Tehran University in 1971. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh 

 Women were first admitted to study at the university in 1934, long before the same thing happened in the U.S.. After the revolution, women still have the right to receive higher education, but now they are learning to separate from men. On the mini-skirts, no one even remembers. But even despite this openness, in 1977 only 35% of women were educated in Tehran. 

03. Gateway to the Tehran University in 1971. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

 After the Revolution, the university courtyard is used for mass Friday prayers. 

04. Students at Tehran University. In 1970. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh 

 Although religion was a popular subject, and lectures on mathematics, astronomy, medicine and literature are also popular. Today in Tehran university has about 35,000 students on full-time and part-time full-time and correspondence forms of training. 

05. Students of the University of Tehran Medical Branch. Courtesy of  Kaveh Farrokh 

Now the university has a library of 17,000 volumes of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic and Turkish. 

06. Operating a hospital in Tehran in 1971. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

By the end of the reign of the Shah, Iran's 34 million inhabitants lechilo of 15,000 doctors. There were problems with the medicine, especially outside the major centers such as Tehran. 

07. Vali-Asr Street, formerly known as Pahlavi street in honor of the ruling dynasty in 1960. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

This street, surrounded by trees, is one of the busiest in Tehran. 

08. Hilton Hotel in Tehran, 1961. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

 Now it is called Esteghlal International Hotel. Farrokh says that in the 1960s in the vicinity of the hotel is often the townspeople walking, but when he was in town in 2001, he discovered that the building is surrounded by a variety of industrial buildings. 

09. Mehrabad International Airport in 1971. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

Mehrabad had become one of the busiest and most modern airports in western Asia, but the revolution has significantly reduced the influx of tourists. In the 1960s, when air travel was still a novelty for people fascinated by airports and their uniqueness, located at Mehrabad popular jazz cafe. Currently, most international flights take International Airport named after Imam Khomeini. 

10. Photo streets Istanbul in 1965. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

 Trendy American cars were not uncommon on the streets of Tehran. Visit the capital of Iran at that time was considered as prestigious as a trip to New York or Paris. 

11. The tower of memory of the kings in Tehran (in 1979 was renamed the Freedom Tower, or Tower of Azadi) during construction in 1966. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

 Later, a monument was tightly associated with the city, and Farrokh calls it "the Eiffel Tower Tehran." 

12. Miss Iran 1967 Shahla Vahabzhadi. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

 Beauty contest held in the Hilton Hotel, where contestants battled for the title of the most beautiful girls of the country. 

13. Shemshak Ski Resort in 1971. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

14. Abali Ski Resort in 1966. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

15. Cap from Pepsi-Cola from Iran of the 1970s. Farrokh says tegerantsy always thought my Pepsi tastes better American. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

16. Iranian rock-jazz group called the Black Cats (the Black Cats). Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

17. Cinema Golden City Cinema in 1971. The poster shows the name of «Arabesque» - the movie with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

  18. Twist in Tehran? Cream of Tehran society took off shoes and dance to rock 'n' roll in the early 1960s. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

19. Mother and son in the children's department store in Tehran in 1971. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

 In a department store Kourosh, except chic clothing for men and women, on the top floor also housed a luxurious restaurant.

20. Radio Iran in the early 1970s. Courtesy of Kaveh Farrokh

State Broadcasting Company "National Radio and Television of Iran" was opened in 1971 Gotbi Rezo, a close relative of the former queen of Iran. Now Gotbi lives in the United States.

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