Historical story

• The Netherlands at a glance

  From the air you see more patterns in the landscape than when you stand with your feet in the clay. This is evident from the new Bosatlas Nederland van Boven, which gives a good overview of what is currently happening in our country. The atlas is a nice combination of aerial photos and informative m

• Underwater archeology uncovers ancient trade routes

  Around 1635 a large ship was wrecked near Texel. The wreck would not be discovered by accident until 1984, and underwater archaeologists turned it up in the following years. The research only stalled due to lack of capacity and the finds were gathering dust on the shelf. Until now. Underwater archa

• Roman River Gods

  History student Stefan Penders of Leiden University delved into a special subject for his graduation thesis this year. He researched the enormous popularity of river gods on coins and in statues in the Roman Empire. His research shows that control over water was an important legitimacy for imperial

• Mysterious prehistoric human DNA

  Scientists have clarified the DNA of a hominin that died 400,000 years ago in Spain. Strangely enough, it resembles that of the much younger Denisovan from Siberia. Thirty meters underground and half a kilometer from the nearest exit, in the Atapuerca Mountains in northern Spain, is the Sima de los

• Cool, clear canal water

  The Amsterdam canal water has never been so clean. Reason for water manager Waternet to stop flushing the canals a few years ago. But the quality can be further improved. Surface water has been used as a garbage dump since time immemorial. Before the days of sewage and garbage collection, pollution

• Secret Practices:The World of Espionage

  How does a spy actually work? And what happens behind the closed doors of Dutch secret services? Thanks to his research into Dutch intelligence services in the twentieth century, Constant Hijzen manages to lift a corner of the veil. One of the most famous figures in the world of espionage is certai

• New generation also enjoys war museums

  Almost seventy years after the end of the Second World War, the 1940-45 period is more popular than ever. This is apparent from doctoral research by historian Erik Somers. There are more and more war museums and they attract more and more visitors. But for a new generation, war museums have to reinv

• Sailors' wives describe the news

  During the many wars that the Republic fought, the enemy sometimes hijacked Dutch ships. The seized mail was kept as legitimate evidence that it was an enemy ship. Centuries later, this hijacked mail is being studied. The letters turn out to be a unique glimpse into the lives of ordinary men and wom

• Geopark thanks to dolmens and ice ages

  It is no coincidence that the first Dutch geopark is located in Drenthe. After all, that province is rich in archaeological and geological phenomena, such as the dolmens and a landscape formed by the last ice ages. The initiators want to tell the story of De Hondsrug more clearly. Not only with an e

• The printing press is the most important invention ever

  According to Kennislink visitors, no invention is as valuable as the printing press. And with that it trumps the transistor (number 2) and the penicillin pill (number 3) in the election for the most important invention ever. In recent months, Kennislink has been dominated by inventions because of th

• Seeds for the Syrian Civil War (Part 1)

  Violence has escalated rapidly since the Syrian population rose up against President Assads regime in early 2011. Who is fighting whom and why exactly is getting more and more complicated. The best way to understand it is to delve into the countrys history, as the conflict has ancient roots. Damasc

• About doeku and roti:the Dutch in Suriname

  Until now, hardly anything was known about the development of Dutch in Suriname from the seventeenth century. The recently published Dictionary of Dutch in Suriname from 1667 to 1876 changes that. The words were collected by the late biologist Jan van Donselaar. Nicoline van der Sijs put the finishi

• Medieval copy mistakes were deliberate

  Medieval copyists—professional writers who copied texts by copying them—often had more in mind than just making a meticulous copy. Especially for texts that were intended to be read aloud, both copyists and users adapted the content to the wishes of their audience. No two medieval copies of the sam

• Wasp nest Syria

  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad recently warned that a Western military attack on his country will set the entire Middle East ablaze. The Syrian civil war has long since ceased to be limited to just Syria. Behind the scenes, two countries play a leading role:Iran and Saudi Arabia. How exactly is th

• Prehistoric European was a gourmet

  Plant remains in old cooking pots provide a glimpse into the prehistoric cuisine of Northern Europe. They show that 6100 years ago, people used the garlic-without-garlic plant to flavor their meat and fish. Seasoning food with herbs is therefore an even older habit than previously thought. Agricult

• CIA reveals secret history of spy plane

  The US secret service CIA has released documents after appealing to public disclosure laws that reveal what the military was up to in a closed-off stretch of desert known as Area-51. Among other things, the U-2 spy plane was tested there. This top-secret aircraft was indispensable during the Cold Wa

• Beads from space

  Scientists have examined 5,000-year-old beads from Egypt. Using X-rays and neutron activation, they conclusively established that the material comes from space. They also saw how the material – iron meteorite – had been processed. The ancient Egyptians used techniques that were far ahead of the Iron

• No place for Dutch people

  Sukarno proclaimed the Republic of Indonesia on August 17, 1945, two days after the capitulation of Japan. Independence had been the dream of many for years and now it was finally here. Down with the Dutch! But is this image correct? Historian Remco Raben gives his vision. Before the Second World W

• If you look closer there is always more

  This year, Dutch scholar Frits van Oostrom published Wereld in Words, about the flourishing Dutch literature in the fourteenth century ravaged by disaster. Did plague, floods and climate change have a positive effect on the nascent writing culture? And how does such a large-scale study of medieval l

• caligula

  A mentally ill emperor was no exception in ancient Rome. For the Week of the Classics Kennislink gives the floor to Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, biographer of twelve Roman emperors. It is not surprising that his creamy stories have been selling like hot cakes since the second century. “My name is G