John Cabot

John Cabot 1450-1499

John Cabot was Giovanni Caboto, because he was from Genoa, Italy. He later received Venetian citizenship.

John Cabot was a skilled navigator and explorer. So much so, that on March 5, 1496, English King Henry VII equipped him with all necessary paperwork to discover unknown lands. King Henry of course expected him also to return to England with plenty of merchandise and riches.

John knew there was a decent commission in this and off he went, looking to find a new trade route to Asia, which would give him the edge in the trading of gold, gems, and spices.

John Cabot's main voyages across the North Atlantic took place in 1497 and 1498.

1497: John Cabot's First Voyage

On June 24, 1497, John saw land. It wasn't Asia, but Newfoundland, today's Canada. John Cabot stuck a British and a Venetian flag into the soil and traveled back home to announce that there was a continent missing on the map.

On August 6, 1497, an excited Cabot was back in Bristol, notifying everyone that he had been to Asia.

1498: John Cabot's Second Voyage

In 1498, John Cabot sailed with five ships, 200 men, and the goal to reach Japan. Shortly after setting sail, one of the ships of his fleet turned up in Ireland, the other four, including Cabot, were gone.

What exactly happened? Nobody knows. One possible explanation is that the fleet had been hit by a severe storm.

John Cabot's Importance in History

John Cabot's mounting of the British flag was one of the main foundations for the future British claims on the American continent.

And if Cabot's story reminds you of Christopher Columbus, you are not far off. Columbus, too, was from Genoa, Italy. He was born a year later than Cabot, in 1451, and just like Cabot, Columbus distributed foreign flags on foreign continents.

Batu Khan

Batu Khan ? - 1255

Batu was the granson of Ghenghis Khan

In 1235, Batu was promoted commander of chief of the eastern Mongol army. The assignment? The conquest of Europe.

Great task, great genes, and Batu did a great job. Five years later Moscow and Kiev were defeated. Another two years and Hungary and Poland were in the bag. Germany was next on the list.

Unfortunately for the Mongols and luckily for the rest of Europe, the great khan of the Golden Horde, who was also Batu's brother, Ogodei, died in December 1241 and Batu and his troops went back to Karakorum, then the capital of the Mongol Empire.

Aeschylus

*All of the pictures I will post for the April Blogging Challenge for 2018 are courtesy of:
Emerson Kent.com

Aeschylus 525 - 455 BC

Aeschylus was Athens' king of drama, a playwright, a tragedian, an artist. His plays revolutionized the theater experience for the Greeks. Also a soldier, Aeschylus fought for Athens in the Battles of Marathon, Artemisium, and Salamis.

Aeschylus' nickname was Father of Tragedy

Aeschylus was the first to set up more than one actor and a chorus in his plays. Thus far, it had been just one guy acting out all the roles (wearing different masks) and interacting with the chorus.

Aeschylus had many new ideas for stage settings and stage engineering. He also took the time to rehearse with his actors in both, dialogue and choreography. Aeschylus, himself an actor, was completely in the zone.

People who are able to read Aeschylus' plays in their original language tell us that its language is intense, powerful, and original. People who read Aeschylus' plays at all tell us that their plots are peppered with many twists. 

My Theme this year is "People in History"

Happy Blogging everyone!

I thought I would add this picture here. This is the work crew my hubby was a part of while we were in Pennsylvania. He worked on a Power Dam.