Archive for 'This month in history'

May201217

Jonathan Gifford

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May 17th, 1838. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord, ‘The Prince of Diplomats’, Foreign Minister to Napoleon, dies.

Talleyrand is featured in Section 5 of History Lessons: Bringing People with You
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord, known to history (thankfully) as ‘Talleyrand’, is the towering figure of late-eighteenth century diplomacy. A man who forged alliances with nation states in the attempt to prevent wars or to influence their outcome, and who negotiated armistice conditions [...]

Apr201204

Jonathan Gifford

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April 2nd, 1801. ‘I see no ships’: Horatio Nelson turns a blind eye at the Battle of Copenhagen

Horatio Nelson is featured in Section 4 of History Lessons: Leading from the Front.
Horatio Nelson, who would become Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson as he was successively promoted and honoured by the Royal Navy and a grateful British nation, was a consummate leader of men. A brilliant strategist, politically well-informed and adept, he was always likely [...]

Mar201204

Jonathan Gifford

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March 4th 1193. Saladin, Islamic liberator of Jerusalem from the invading Crusaders, dies.

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub – known in the West as ‘Saladin’ – was the Islamic leader who brought together the fragmented forces of twelfth-century Syria and Mesopotamia to drive the invading Christian Crusader forces out of Palestine. The First Crusade had been launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II to help the Eastern Christians [...]

Feb201212

Jonathan Gifford

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February 12th, 1809: Abraham Lincoln is born

Abraham Lincoln, at a truly critical moment in American history, presented to a troubled and divided nation a clear and commanding vision: that the United States of America was ‘a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th 1809, in a one-room log [...]

Feb201211

Jonathan Gifford

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February 11th, 1990. Nelson Mandela walks to freedom

One of the most difficult tasks that a leader may face is to change the engrained ‘mood’ of an organisation; its very culture. South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, who, after his release and his later election as president of a country that had voted for the first time on the basis of ‘one man one vote’, [...]

Jan201213

Jonathan Gifford

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January 8th, 1976. The first Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, dies

Zhou Enlai was Premier of the People’s Republic of China from the moment the Chinese Communist Party achieved power in 1949, following their defeat of the Nationalist government, until his death in 1976. A dedicated and lifelong communist, Zhou Enlai’s political instincts were moderate and progressive. Famous for his punishing work routine, intelligence and [...]

 

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