Weapon

A weapon is any implement used for attack and defence. Man has been constantly developing newer and better weapons ever since he picked up the first rock; from simple clubs and bows and arrows in prehistoric times to machine guns and nuclear bombs in modern times.

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Saint Barbara (d235) of Nicomedia, Turkey, spent her youth on her own in a tower, especially built for her by her father to protect her from the world. She converted to Christianity, against the will of her father and rejected an offer of marriage that she received through him. After attempts to un-convert proved unsuccessful, Barbara's father struck off her head. Immediately he was struck by lightning and his body was consumed. As a result Barbara was made the patron saint of artillery. Her Feast Day is December 4th.

The Macuahuitl was an ancient weapon used by Mesoamerican peoples (Aztecs/Mayans) - The weapon looked similar to a cricket bat but had sides covered in obsidian stone blades. It was described as being sharp enough to decapitate a man.

Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon developed by the Byzantines in the 7th century. Used on both land and sea, it was deployed on ships, and in handheld tubes, operating similar to a flamethrower. Water didn’t extinguish it. The formula of Greek Fire was a jealously guarded secret passed from Emperor to Emperor until the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and its precise chemical composition is still unknown.

The first great revolution in warfare came with the invention of gunpowder by the Chinese in the 11th century. At first they used it in fireworks and rockets rather than weapons.

Explosives were first used at the The Battle of Caishi a major naval engagement of the Jin–Song Wars of China that took place on November 26–27, 1161. During the battle, the paddle-wheel warships of the Song fleet, equipped with trebuchets that launched incendiary bombs made of gunpowder and lime, decisively defeated the light ships of the Jin navy.

Ancient Chinese cannon displayed in the Tower of London. Wikipedia

During the Middle Ages in England, there were laws in place that required freemen to own weapons and armor based on their wealth. The exact requirements varied over time and by region, but in general, the laws were intended to ensure that the population was prepared to defend the realm in times of war or other emergencies.

One such law was the Assize of Arms, which was enacted in 1181 during the reign of King Henry II. This law required all freemen who possessed property worth more than 16 marks to be armed with a hauberk (mail shirt), a helmet, a shield, and a lance. Those with less wealth were required to have other types of armor, such as a padded jacket (gambeson) or a leather jerkin, and a sword or other weapon.

Around 1300 guns were invented by the Arabs, with bamboo muzzles reinforced with iron.

The Europeans began using gunpowder to make guns and cannons in the 14th century. The Siege of Algeciras (1342–44) was one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used. The siege was undertaken during the reconquest of Spain by the Castillian forces of Alfonso XI. When the Castilians used trebuchets to launch heavy stone balls against Algeciras, the main Moor-held city on the north side of the Bay of Gibraltar, the city’s defenders returned fire using bombards, or early cannon,

British Army officer Henry Shrapnel (June 3, 1761 – March 13, 1842)) invented the explosive shell that gave shrapnel its name in the 1780s. He first demonstrated his invention of what he called "spherical case" ammunition: a hollow cannonball which exploded in the air, spewing out lead shot in 1787. After his invention's success in battle at Fort New Amsterdam, Suriname, on April 30, 1804,  Shrapnel was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Henry Shrapnel's surname is now synonymous with fragmentation from, or caused by, artillery.

Empty fired shrapnel shells at Sanctuary Wood, Belgium By Flickr user amandabhslater

In 1841 during a naval battle between Argentina and Uruguay, the Uruguayan vessel ran out of cannonballs. The captain ordered his men to shove the hard balls of cheese they had onboard into the cannons and to fire those. The cheese tore holes in the Argentine ship's sails and killed two sailors.

TNT was discovered by German chemist Julius Wilbrand in 1863. It was originally used as a yellow dye and its explosive properties were not discovered until 1891. The German armed forces adopted it as a filling for artillery shells in 1902.

The Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel demonstrated dynamite for the first time, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England in 1867. The first batch of dynamite was made in a factory set up at a desolate site far from houses in Ardeer, Ayrshire, Scotland six years later.

London-based American inventor Hiram Maxim invented the world's first portable fully automatic machine gun, which could shoot many bullets very fast in 1884. Maxim's brutally efficient guns and its successors inflicted horrific casualties. They worked so well - providing continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasted. - that some believed the weapon would end war altogether.

The Vickers was the successor to the Maxim gun

The use of toxic chemicals as weapons dates back thousands of years, but the first large scale use of chemical weapons was during World War I. The most frequently used chemicals were tear-inducing irritants rather than fatal or disabling poison. The first killing agent was chlorine gas, which was released by the Germans in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.

Tanks were used for the first time by the British at Cambrai in 1917 when they proved their unmistakable value in clearing the battleground for the infantry following behind them.

In 1939 Albert Einstein sent a letter to Franklin D Roosevelt suggesting America start researching the atom bomb with war looking imminent in order to prevent Germany making it first. Roosevelt agreed to set up the project to build the bomb under American theoretical physicist and professor of physics J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The first intercontinental weapon was not a missile, but rather a Japanese balloon. During World War II, the Japanese military devised a plan known as the "Fu-Go" or "Fire Balloon" campaign. The objective was to launch large hydrogen-filled balloons equipped with incendiary devices across the Pacific Ocean to reach the United States.

Between 1944 and 1945, the Japanese launched over 9,000 balloons towards North America, with around 300 reaching their intended targets. The balloons traveled great distances, some as far as the western United States and even reaching as far east as Michigan. While the campaign did not cause significant damage or casualties, it was a unique and innovative attempt by the Japanese military to carry out intercontinental attacks. 

The first test explosion of an atom bomb took place in 1945 when Oppenheimer tested his new weapon deep in the New Mexico desert. The bomb exploded with force equivalent to 18,000 tons of TNT. Describing the scene, Oppenheimer said he was not reminded of a line from the Bhagavad-Gita, an ancient Hindu scripture. "I am become death: the destroyer of worlds."

The Japanese city of Hiroshima became the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it on August 6, 1945, near the end of the Second World War.

The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945

For the first time in military history, a civilian population was targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht in 1987.

Nearly all Japanese school staff are trained to use a weapon called the Sasumata. It is a two pronged people catcher based off a medieval weapon of war that is used to immobilize intruders.

While other animals use weapons, in most cases they are attached to the animal (teeth, tusks, claws, etc.). However, chimpanzees are capable of making spears to hunt other primates. They have been seen using the weapons (which were on average about 75 cms) to stab bushbabies sleeping in their nests in tree hollows for meat,

Here is a list of songs with weapons in the title.

Waco siege

The Branch Davidian cult is a controversial offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church based in Waco, Texas. They originated in 1955 from a schism in Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) following the death of the Shepherd's Rod founder Victor Houteff.

Both the Shepherd's Rod and Branch Davidians believed themselves to be living in a time when Biblical prophecies of a final divine judgment were coming to pass as a prelude to Christ's Second Coming.

In the late 1980s, David Koresh, and his followers abandoned many Branch Davidian teachings. Koresh became the group's self-proclaimed final prophet.

David Koresh in a 1987 mug shot

The Branch Davidians were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Axtell, Texas, 13 miles (21 kms) east-northeast of Waco. On February 27, 1993, the Waco Tribune-Herald began publishing "The Sinful Messiah", a series of articles, which reported allegations that David Koresh had physically abused children in the compound and had committed statutory rape by taking multiple underage brides.

When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) laid siege to their headquarters the following day, they were fired on by cult members and four militiamen were killed.

The Branch Davidian compound during the siege

Upon the ATF's failure to raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, a siege was initiated by the FBI, during which they used sleep deprivation to try to force the suspects out. This included around the clock broadcasts of jet planes, screams from rabbits being slaughtered and repeated blasts of the song "These Boots Were Made for Walking".

On the 51st day of the siege on April 19, 1993 as FBI agents mounted a final assault, the compound broke out in flames, killing 86 people inside. It was claimed that David Koresh had the compound booby-trapped so that it would go up in a fireball.

A modern incarnation of the Branch Davidians exists under the leadership of Charles Pace, a follower of Ben and Lois Roden, who was a member of the Branch Davidians since the mid-1970s. Like the Branch Davidians under Koresh, this incarnation is waiting for the end times.

Trial by ordeal

During the early Middle Ages, Christian countries in early medieval Europe carried out the practice of trial by ordeal on the premise that God would help the innocent by performing a miracle on their behalf.

There was ordeal by fire where the accused had to walk through flames. If the accused managed to come through without major injury then they were judged innocent. However if the flames devoured them then they were guilty.

There was ordeal by water where they were judged by the water. If guilty they rose up to the surface (rejected by the water), if they were innocent they were accepted by the water and sunk. Hopefully they were then fished out in time.

Water-ordeal. Miniature from the chronicle.

The ordeal of hot water required the accused to dip his hand in a kettle or pot of boiling water (sometimes oil or lead was used instead) and retrieve a stone. If innocent, God would stop them burning. The priests who administered this would secretly cool the water beforehand if they thought the defendant was innocent.

Fire was the element typically used to test noble defendants, while water was more commonly used by lesser folk.

One person who had to go through this trial by ordeal was Emma of Normandy, the mother of Edward the Confessor who was accused of adultery with Bishop Ælfwine of Winchester. Her test was to walk on nine red-hot ploughshares without injury. She miraculously managed to walk over the blades completely unscathed and was thus declared innocent. She expressed her thanks to God by giving nine manors to the Church of Westminster.

Priestly cooperation in trials by fire and water was forbidden by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. It was replaced by compurgation, an ancient type of defense where an accused person could call a number of people, who swore to their belief in his or her innocence. The English plea rolls contain no cases of trial by ordeal after 1219, when Henry III of England recognized its abolition.

Ordeal by Fire by Dierec Bouts the Older

Trials by ordeal became rarer over the Late Middle Ages, often replaced by confessions extracted under torture. However, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries some kinds of ordeals were once again used in witch-hunts.

Treason

Treason is an act of betrayal, generally used only of acts against the sovereign or the state to which a perpetrator owes allegiance.

Treason broadside, 1859

The Roman senator Boethius wrote his influential work The Consolation of Philosophy in AD 523 while imprisoned on suspicion of treason by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. Boethius apparently found himself on the wrong side in the succession dispute following the untimely death of Eutharic, Theodoric's announced heir. He was eventually found guilty and executed. 

In England the Treason Act 1351 defined the principal treasons of being:
1. Compassing the wounding, imprisonment or death of the sovereign. 
2. Seducing the King's wife or oldest daughter or the wife of the heir. 
3. Levying war against the Sovereign in his realm. 
4. Being adherent to the sovereigns enemies within the realm, giving them aid or comfort in the realm or elsewhere. 

The punishment on conviction of treason is death.

The Treason Act of 1351 is still in force today in the United Kingdom and some former British colonies, including New South Wales, even though the law is written in Norman French and it concerns such things as violating the King's eldest daughter or killing Wardens of the Forest.

When Anne Boleyn only produced a daughter, Elizabeth, and no sons for Henry VIII, the English king blamed her for treason and had her beheaded by a French swordsman.

Charges read to Anne Boleyn

In 1589 The Roman Catholic cardinal Philip Howard was accused of treason having reputedly prayed for the success of the Spanish Armada. Despite the obvious fabrication of the story he was found guilty, though his life was spared as the courts decided that a prayer cannot be construed as treason.

During the American Revolution, Billy an enslaved man from Virginia, was charged with treason and sentenced to hang. He argued that as a slave, he was not a citizen and could not commit treason against a government to which he owed no allegiance. Billy was subsequently pardoned.

William Blake was involved in a physical altercation with a soldier, John Schofield, in August 1803. Schofield claimed that Blake had exclaimed "Damn the king. The soldiers are all slaves." As a result, the poet was charged not only with assault, but with treason against the king. Blake was later cleared of the charge. 

While Master of the Royal Mint, Sir Isaac Newton personally went undercover in bars and taverns to root out rampant counterfeiting, which was legally high treason. He successfully prosecuted 28 counterfeiters in 18 months.

In English law, high treason was punishable by being hanged, drawn and quartered (men) or burnt at the stake (women). Those penalties were abolished in 1814 and 1790 respectively. 

Engraving depicting the execution of Sir Thomas Armstrong in 1684, who was hanged, drawn and quartered.

American abolitionist John Brown advocated the use of armed insurrection to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. He was the first person convicted and hanged for treason in the United States after attempting to lead a slave rebellion in 1859. 

William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw, was the last civilian in Britain to be hanged for treason. His "Jairmany Calling" broadcasts delivered in an upper-class drawl had been part of the very fabric of the Home Front during World War II. Nearly as many people listened to his broadcasts as to the BBC. Even the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, used to tune in. 

Joyce was captured on the Danish-German border on May 29, 1945. Passing two British Army officers who were gathering sticks in a wood near the German border, Joyce remarked that he too often collected firewood there. One officer said: "You're William Joyce — I'd know your voice anywhere." He became the last civilian in Britain to be hanged for treason when he was killed on January 3, 1946.

Joyce shortly after capture, 1945

In the USA season is defined in article III section 3 of the constitution. "Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason."

The punishment for treason in the United States is death or at least five years in prison, and at least a $10,000 fine. In addition, traitors cannot hold any office in the United States.

Source Hutchinson Encyclopedia

Traffic light

Traffic lights (or traffic signals) are signalling devices used to control the movement of traffic. They are placed at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations and the different colors of lights tell drivers what to do.

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Traffic lights are called robots in South Africa and much of the rest of the African continent. 

HISTORY

The world's first traffic light system was invented by the British railroad signal engineer JP Knight. These first traffic lights consisted of revolving red and green lanterns, illuminated by gas. The system was installed on December 10, 1868 at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets in front of the House of Commons in London to control the flow of horse buggies and pedestrians. 

This traffic light system was manually operated by a police officer. Semaphore arms were used by day, gas lights by night. 

After less than a month's use, the gas lantern that illuminated them exploded, seriously injuring the police officer who was operating them. Traffic lights did not return to the UK until the mid 1920s. 

In the first two decades of the 20th century, semaphore traffic were in use all over the United States with each state having its own design of the device. They were controlled by a traffic officer who would blow a whistle before changing the commands on this signal to help alert travelers of the change. 

The first electric traffic lights were officially unveiled in Cleveland, Ohio at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in 1914. There was no amber light, only red and green.

The first Electric Traffic Light in Bucharest c1924.

After witnessing a serious accident between a motor vehicle and a horse-drawn carriage at an intersection, African American inventor, Garrett Morgan set out to come up with a three-position traffic signal. What he came up with was a T-shaped pole unit that featured Stop, Go and an all-directional stop position. This "third position" halted traffic in all directions to allow pedestrians to cross streets more safely. The patent was granted on November 20, 1923. 

Patent drawing of Morgan's signal

Garrett Morgan's hand-cranked semaphore traffic management device was in use throughout North America until all manual traffic signals were replaced by the automatic red, yellow, and green-light traffic signals currently used around the world. 

Morgan sold the rights to his traffic signal to the General Electric Corporation for $40,000.

Morgan's system was not the first with a warning, a three light system having being invented in 1920 by a police officer William Potts, and previous systems having audible warnings.

The use of red for stop, green for go and amber for caution originated with railway signals.

The first three-color signals in Britain were installed at Threadneedle Street, London in 1925. They were operated by policemen and each change of aspect was marked by the ringing of an electric bell. Complaints from locals soon silenced that.

The first fully automatic set of traffic lights in Britain were installed at the junction of Lichfield Street and Princess Street in Wolverhampton in 1927. In reality they were a signal box, suspended from a cable. 

In 1928, American engineer Charles Adler Jr invented traffic lights that were activated by drivers sounding their car horns. They were quickly abandoned when residents complained about the excessive honking noise.

Six years after Garrett A. Morgan invented traffic lights, cars were flooding New York City's streets and numerous complaints were received from drivers concerning pedestrians straying into their paths. The city fathers decided it might be a good idea to install some of the newfangled contraptions. After studying traffic plans in other cities they rejected the wide use of yellow lights being used to slow motorists down before they came to a red light. According to The New York Times the yellow caution light was abandoned in the city because it was a "temptation to motorists to rush through intersections."

In 1929 the first red and green signal lights were placed at Manhattan street corners. These two-light traffic signal were topped by statues of Mercury and lasted until 1964. 

Hungarian-American physicist Leó Szilárd conceived of the idea of the nuclear chain reaction in 1933 while waiting for a traffic light in Bloomsbury, London.

On May 17, 1996 New Hampshire became the first US state to install a green LED traffic light. New Hampshire was selected because it was the first state to install the red and yellow variety statewide.

LED traffic lights in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden Wikipedia

In 2013, Los Angeles became the first city to install traffic lights that make automatic adjustments based on car flow, reducing travel time. Nearly 4,400 lights across 469 miles receive real-time updates about traffic flow to make second-by-second adjustments. The system limits congestion by up to 16% while also dramatically reducing idling time.

FUN TRAFFIC LIGHT FACTS

In France the stop signs say "STOP" but the upstarts over in Quebec use "ARRET."

Japan has a very blue shade of green traffic lights in some areas because historically the Japanese used the same word for green and blue. They are green enough to satisfy international regulations. 

Japanese bus drivers turn their vehicle off at red lights to reduce pollution.

The average person will spend about two weeks of their lives sitting at traffic lights!

In 1995, drivers in the Albanian city of Shkodra refused to pay a new traffic-light tax on the grounds that their city had no traffic lights.

Colors of traffic lights are confusing to some color blind people, as there is insufficient apparent difference between the red/amber traffic lights. In the Eastern provinces of Canada horizontally mounted traffic lights are generally differentiated by shape to facilitate identification for those with color blindness.

Tipperary Hill, New York has a traffic light with the lights upside down - the historically Irish residents kept smashing the light that had "British" red above "Irish" green, so it was changed.

Sources Unbelievable Facts Geoff Tibballs, Daily Express. 

Tower Of London

The Tower of London is a fortress on the Thames bank to the east of the city of London. The castle was founded in 1066.

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The White Tower was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 to intimidate the citizens of London. This later became part of the Tower of London. It is said that he ordered bull's blood to be mixed with the mortar symbolizing strength and a royal power that would last forever. 

An English royal collection of animals were housed in the Tower of London from the thirteenth century until 1834, when the last animals were moved to a new zoo in Regent's Park.

The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, but predominantly served as a royal residence. Below is a depiction of the imprisonment of Charles, Duke of Orléans, in the Tower of London during the Hundred Years War from a 15th-century manuscript.

Among the prisoners who were executed at the Tower of London were Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, Archbishop William Laud and The Duke of Monmouth.

The first person to be imprisoned in the Tower of London was a bishop, Ranulf Flambard, in 1100. He escaped using a rope smuggled inside a wine barrel.

Corporal Josef Jacobs was the last person to be executed at the Tower of London on August 15, 1941.  Jakobs was a German spy who was selected for a mission to parachute into Britain and gather intelligence. Jakobs landed in Kent, England, on the night of July 19, 1941 and was quickly captured by the British Home Guard. Jakobs was tried by a military court and found guilty of espionage. He was convicted of being a German spy 

Josef Jakobs's execution took place at the miniature rifle range in the grounds of the Tower of London. He was tied and blindfolded in a brown Windsor chair. Eight soldiers from the Holding battalion of the Scots Guards, armed with .303 Lee-Enfield rifles, fired a volley of shots at him. He was pronounced dead at 7:15 am.

Chair in which Jakobs sat when he was executed. By Hu Nhu 

The notorious Nazi, Rudolf Hess was the last prisoner kept in the Tower of London.

In the latter half of the 19th century, the Tower was restored to what was felt to be its medieval appearance and many post-medieval structures were cleared out. 

Today the Tower of London is a barracks, armory and museum. It is one of the United Kingdom's most popular tourist attractions. 

Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, the Tower of London is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

The Tower of London is guarded by 37 Yeoman Warders, who were originally formed in 1485 by Henry VII. Their Beefeater nickname may have derived from their meat diet.  In 1813, the daily ration for 30 men on duty was 24lb of beef, 18lb of mutton and 16lb of veal.

The Warders of the Tower of London were specifically named Yeomen Extraordinary of the Guard in the 16th century. 

Sources Daily Express, Hutchinson Encyclopedia

Torture

Torture (from Latin tortus: to twist, to torment) is the inflection of bodily pain, especially to extort evidence or confession.

Medieval tortures were usually physical, such as the thumbscrew, the boot (which crushed the foot), heavy weights (that crushed the whole body) and the iron maiden (a metal cage shaped like a human being with spikes inside to spear the occupant).

A variety of torture instruments, including the large Iron Maiden of Nuremberg By epbechthold

Many so-called "medieval torture devices" are considered to be historically inaccurate, and were likely created and popularized by hoaxers, showmen, and con artists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These devices were often used as props in traveling shows or exhibitions, and were presented as authentic historical artifacts, but many are considered to be fictional creations.

The brazen bull, a medieval torture device that cooked it's victims, was invented in Athens between 570 and 554 BC during the reign of Phalaris, tyrant of Acragas, Sicily. The first test subject was the person that built it.

A form of medieval torture was covering the victims feet in salt water and then a goat would start licking them. Sometimes the laughter and stress from the intense tickling resulted in a heart attack or a brain hemorrhage.

Torture was authorized by the Catholic Church during the Inquisition from 1252 to 1816. The methods used included the chevalet, in which an accused witch sat on a pointed metal horse with weights strung from her feet; to be forced to swallow gallons of water; and the rack (to stretch affecting joints to breaking point). The latter was the instrument of torture used most frequently.

A rack in the Tower of London. By David Bjorgen 

The first reported use of official torture in England occurred in 1310 against the Templars after the Pope put pressure on England and other countries to allow the Inquisitors to use "their" methods, namely "torture", and reluctant approval was given by the King of England.

The 16th century Spanish Dominican missionary Bartolomé de las Casas campaigned on behalf of the Indians enslaved by the Spanish colonization of America. De las Casas wrote a book, A Very Short Account of the Destruction of the West Indies, in which he recounted numerous incidents of torture and genocide he'd witnessed in the New World. For instance he told how native pearl fishers were thrown into the water with stones tied around their necks so they'd sink to the very bottom where the biggest pearls were. The slaves were pushed to the limits of their endurance and in due course their lungs burst.

Tarring and feathering was a form of public torture used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier. The victim would be stripped naked, or stripped to the waist. Hot wood tar was then either poured or painted onto the person while they were immobilized. The victim then either had feathers thrown on them or was rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stuck to the tar. 

Anton Praetorius (1560 in Lippstadt –December 6, 1613) was a German Calvinist pastor, theologian and writer. In 1597 Praetorius had to witness the torture of four women accused of witchcraft. He wrote the book Thorough Report about Witchcraft and Witches to protest against torture of witches, which was published the following year. Praetorius was one of the first to protest against all means of torture, and to publicly object to the prevailing attitude in the church on the torture and burning of witches.

Medieval torture rack

Vlad the Impaler, was a ruler of Wallachia (present-day southern Romania) in the 15th century. He became notorious for the extremely cruel punishments that he dealt to his enemies, his favorite form of torture being impaling his victims, then mocking them. He is perhaps best known for being the inspiration for Dracula.

In 81 year old man called Giles Corey, accused of being a wizard in 1692, was the only man in American history to be subjected to death by pressing in an attempt to get him to submit to trial by jury. It is said that his response to the torture was to tell them to add 'more weight.'

Torture was legally abolished in England in around 1640 but was allowed in Scotland until 1708. William Carstares (1649–1715) was the last man in Britain to be given the thumbscrew. As torture was illegal in England, he had to be taken to Edinburgh.

Modern torture techniques include brainwashing, developed by the KGB and other, communist interrogators from the 1950s.

From the early 1960s a technique used in the West replaced isolation by severe sensory deprivation. For example IRA guerrillas were prevented from seeing by a hood, from feeling by being swathed in a loose fitting garment, and from hearing by continuous loud noise at about 85 decibels, while being forced to maintain themselves in a 'search' position against the wall by their fingertips.

American prisoner of war Jeremiah Denton, blinked a message in Morse code whilst on Vietnamese television, spelling the word "torture." This informed the CIA of conditions in Vietnamese captivity.

The make-up process for the 2000 movie The Grinch was so grueling, the lead Jim Carrey had to meet with an expert who trained CIA operatives to deal with torture.

Almost all countries agree that torture is a violation of human rights. On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Article 5 states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".

Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union  proclaimed on December 7, 2000 by the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission prohibits torture. 

By Trounce - Own work 

White torture is a type of psychological torture which involves putting the prisoner in a completely white, soundproof room, often leading the prisoner to madness.

Throughout British history, just 84 royal warrants for torture were ever issued. Of these, 53 were authorised by Elizabeth I. 

Amnesty International, the leading non-governmental organisation against the use of torture states on its website: "Over the last five years, Amnesty has reported torture in at least three quarters of the world - 141 countries".

Source Hutchinson Encyclopedia

Tolpuddle Martyrs

The Tolpuddle Martyrs were six farm laborers of Tolpuddle, near Dorchester, England, who in 1834 were transported to Australia for forming a trade union. After nationwide agitation they were pardoned two years later.

In 1833 a group of farm laborers from the Dorset village of Tolpuddle formed a ‘friendly society' or early trade union after their wages fell to six shillings a week – about 30p today.

Led by laborer and Methodist local preacher George Loveless, the men agreed not to accept work for less than ten shillings a week and every member swore a secret oath of allegiance.

James Frampton, the landowner, was determined to stop industrial action; he reported the group to the Home Secretary Lord Melbourne. Melbourne recommended invoking the Unlawful Oaths Act 1797, an obscure law promulgated in response to the Spithead and Nore mutinies, which prohibited the swearing of secret oaths. 

The authorities arrested and put on trial Georger Loveless and five fellow workers George's brother James Loveless, George's brother in-law Thomas Standfield, Thomas's son John Standfield, James Brine, and James Hammett. 

On March 18, 1834 the six were convicted at crown court by a jury of farmers – the men who employed the defendants – and sentenced to seven years in an Australian penal colony for swearing an illegal oath to join their friendly society. 

The sentence caused public outrage and up to 100,000 people attended a demonstration in London. Over 800,000 signed petitions demanding their release and in 1836 the British government granted all six a full pardon. 

Only one man went back to live in Tolpuddle, the rest emigrated to Canada.

The sycamore tree where the union members met and swore their oath still stands today in Tolpuddle. 

The sycamore tree

Source Daily Mail

Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments are a set of rules or laws, God gave to the people of Israel, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity. They were given to Moses on Mount Sinai and were written with God's finger on two tablets of stone.

The Israelites received the commandments in the Sinai desert after they had left Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose. 

The commandments include instructions to worship only the one true God, to keep the Sabbath holy, to honor one's parents, as well as prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, stealing, dishonesty, and coveting. 

Pixiebay

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Hebrew Bible, in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.

The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a holy container where the Ten Commandments and other holy Israelite objects are held.

Moses and Aaron with the Ten Commandments (circa 1675 by Aron de Chavez)

Jews and Christians number the commandments differently. The reason is that "Ten Commandments" in the original Hebrew literally reads "Ten Statements." Therefore, Jews count the first statement, which is "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" as the first commandment.

There are 179 words in the Ten Commandments - as opposed to 26,253 in the European Community's rules on the sale of cabbages. 

The oldest extant copy of Ten Commandments is contained in the All Souls Deuteronomy. It is dated to the early Herodian period, between 30 and 1 BC. 

Part of the All Souls Deuteronomy, 

King Alfred the Great based the British legal system on the Ten Commandments. 

There have been two famous motion pictures called the Ten Commandments, both of  which were directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The first was a silent movie in 1923, the second film was released in 1956 and starred Charlton Heston as Moses.

In 2003 Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore was suspended after refusing to comply with a federal court order to remove a rock inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.

A 2004 survey in Britain revealed that "almost one youngster in 10 has never heard of the Ten Commandments." In addition, "nearly half of the youngsters can't recall a single one" even if they have heard the term sometime in their lives. This poll also disclosed that very few indeed understand that observing the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments.

Synagogue

The synagogue is a Greek word meaning simply a place of meeting. For the Jews it was at once the local place of worship, a court of law and a day school.

Princes Road synagogue, Liverpool

The first Temple at Jerusalem was built by Solomon c950BC. Public worship by the Jews was performed there until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586BC.

A form of worship grew up during the Jews' exile in Babylon, when it was not possible to sacrifice at the Temple, consisting of readings from the sacred Scriptures, a sermon, prayers and psalms. Instead, these services took place at the synagogue - a room and the Scrolls of the Law are all that is needed  At first a temporary solution, the synagogue proved in the long term a crucial element in the Jewish ability to worship anywhere.

From about the age of 6, Jesus Christ would have received some education from a teacher paid for by the Nazareth synagogue, using used what we now know as the Old Testament as his textbook.

The Bevis Marks synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in Britain. Built in 1701 for Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jews, it is located off Bevis Marks, in the City of London. With much carved woodwork and with galleries supported on columns, it was built in a style very similar to Christopher Wren's contemporary London churches.

Bevis Marks Synagogue. By Deror avi - 

The Congregation Shearith Israel often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was established in 1654, but it wasn't until the next century that the Congregation was able to build a synagogue of its own; It was built on Mill, now William, Street in lower Manhattan and was dedicated on April 8, 1730. 

Congregation Shearith Israel at Central Park West. By Gryffindor

The Beth Yaacov Synagogue, located in Madrid, Spain, holds historical significance as the first new synagogue to be built in the country since the Jews were expelled by Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, in 1492. It opened its doors in 1968 and has since served as a symbol of the revival of Jewish life and culture in Spain after centuries of absence.

The right to name Congregation Albert, a synagogue in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was auctioned off for $250.

The largest synagogue in the world is probably the Belz Great Synagogue, in Jerusalem, whose main sanctuary seats up to 10,000. Construction on the edifice lasted for over 15 years and the synagogue was dedicated in 2000.