Historical story

• The Marshall Plan is the American precursor to the Millennium Development Goals

  International development aid started with the Marshall Plan almost seventy years ago. Before that time, rich countries and private individuals already occasionally provided loans or donated goods to affected areas. Structural aid by the United States and cooperation between European countries in th

• City gate of David and Goliath found. Archaeologists Discover City Walls Biblical City of Gath.

  The central city gate of Gath, home to the Biblical giant Goliath, has been found. This Philistine city was the largest in the region in the 10e century BC. The Philistines and the Israelites were constantly at odds with each other and Gath is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. The city gat

• Lecture The night of the memory by Professor of Psychology Douwe Draaisma about memory

  In an Alzheimers patient, forgetting has the upper hand, while a soldier is eager to erase traumatic memories. Kennislink reports on the Night of Remembrance, a lecture about our memory by professor of psychology Douwe Draaisma (University of Groningen). “Tonight we will mainly talk about forgettin

• Homosexual Subculture Since 18th Century - Gay Pride 20 Years

  The gay subculture is clearly present in the Netherlands, especially in August. During the highlight of the Amsterdam Gaypride, the canal parade on August 1, everyone will once again marvel at mainly scantily clad and exuberantly dancing men. However, the Dutch gay scene has been around for a lot lo

• Soil erosion on islands

  Four centuries ago, the African island of Mauritius was still covered with tropical rainforest. That quickly changed when the Dutch settled on the island in 1638. The clearing that started then eventually led to an additional problem that islands with little vegetation inevitably face:soil erosion.

• Age-old stereotypes and media exacerbate Greek crisis

  Every day the newspapers are full of reports about the Greeks. Should Europe give even more money and cancel the enormous debt of the Greeks? Or will they be kicked out of the eurozone? The prevailing sentiment towards the Greeks is not very positive. Is this justified? Our own Dijsselbloem is the

• Podcast about the archaeological finds of Eugène Dubois and the excavations at Sobibor extermination camp by Ivar Schutte

  In MakersRadios podcast Resources to Think you will hear two stories about archaeological finds that have been extracted with great difficulty, but are met with disbelief. More than a hundred years ago, Dutch scientist Eugène Dubois was the first to discover fossil remains of homo erectus in Indone

• Water as an ally in wartime

  More than 30 percent of the floods of the past 500 years in the southwest of the Netherlands were caused deliberately. During wartime, areas of land were regularly flooded to stop or chase the enemy. This is the conclusion of researcher historical geography Adriaan de Kraker (VU University Amsterdam

• Why Nazi Doctors Did Horrible Experiments

  In German concentration camps, Nazi doctors put aside all their ethical and professional objections to perform the most horrific experiments on prisoners. It was a good way to make a career, or to achieve scientific breakthroughs. Daan de Leeuw sheds light on this lurid subject in his graduation the

• Child sacrifice and warfare

  Although the city of Carthage was destroyed several times and eventually fell into disrepair, it did not lose its reputation. A metropolis populated by devious merchants with a mighty war fleet. Feared, admired and influenced many. To African peoples from the hinterland, to the Greeks and Romans of

• Oldest engraving ever found on Javanese mussel

  Our ancestor Homo erectus was already drawing geometric patterns half a million years ago. This is shown by carvings of zigzag patterns on the shell of a fossil freshwater mussel from Java. The scratches, the largest of which most resemble the letter M, were made on the shell about 500,000 years ago

• Review:Israel Divided by Jonah Lendering

  The book Israel Divided by the idiosyncratic antiquarian Jonah Lendering is a complex, yet commendable history of the shared origins of two world religions. In any case, it becomes clear that churches believe in Preaching Jesus, and certainly not the faith of Jesus. Although the church likes to mak

• Carthage:destroyed but never forgotten

  A first. For the first time in history, the National Museum of Antiquities has been able to put together an exhibition about the ancient city of Carthage. The museum displays more than 300 objects, both from their own collection and on loans from Tunisia and well-known European museums. Kennislink i

• Book tips for the month of December

  December is the ultimate holiday month and that includes gifts and good reading in front of the fireplace. But what to give or read during the holidays? The History, Language &Culture editors of Kennislink recommend three interesting scientific books. Nice for in the pocket or under the tree! And to

• Gods and nature

  In cultures that have to survive in a harsh climate where it is difficult to get food, people believe in stricter, personal gods. This is a phenomenon that scholars of religion have known for a long time, but now it has also been confirmed by… a computer model. Throughout history, people have worsh

• Nobel Peace Prize for Fighting Oppression

  The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize goes to two people:the Pakistani Malala Yousafzai and the Indian Kailash Satyarthi. They receive the prize for their fight against the oppression of young people and for the right of all children to education. Malala Yousafzai (1997) is the youngest Nobel laureate to ever

• Mistakes and carelessness at Orlando Figes

  Revolutionary Russia by the British historian Orlando Figes could be a nice introduction to the history of the Russian Revolution. Unfortunately, Figes doesnt seem to have spent much time on his research. British Russia expert and historian Orlando Figes was up to date when he published the Dutch t

• Domela Nieuwenhuis's anti-Semitism

  The Dutch socialist leader Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis was more strongly attracted to anti-Jewish ideas than is often thought. He also used anti-Semitism as a political weapon. That is the opinion of historian and biographer of Domela Nieuwenhuis Jan Willem Stutje in the open access magazine BMGN –

• Hitler was more normal than we would like

  Adolf Hitler has long managed to hide himself as a private person from his biographers. But with the work of the German historian Volker Ullrich, the enigma of Hitler seems to be approaching its denouement. “Many biographers have fallen into the trap that Hitler set in the 1920s.” Who was Adolf Hit

• Your lips tender and red

  Porn a thing of our time? Forget it. It was lewdness in earlier times. A good example of this was published this week:the book Dirty songs from the 17th and 18th centuries. Nearly a hundred songs have been selected and provided with very interesting commentary on the sex life of our ancestors. Of c