Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time. This is also the reason why the EYE film museum is honoring the influential filmmaker this year with a special program in which his best films are shown. More than 34 years after his death, Hitchcock is still know
The editors of Kennislink regularly receive questions from readers. For example, a reader wondered when man lost his tail, and what the last humanoids were that still had a tail. Humans, unlike most other vertebrates, do not have a tail. This has not always been the case. Our ancestors, the ape-lik
Previously highly classified documents show that between 1957 and 1963, the US military investigated in the utmost secrecy and with the utmost seriousness the consequences of a nuclear war with both the Soviet Union and China. Until 1962, despite the enormous mutual destruction, the US would emerge
According to official Islamic teachings, the Quran was written around 650. However, some Western Islamologists are skeptical about this early date and assume a gradual inscription, only from the 9th century. Recent research into ancient Koran fragments on parchment and papyrus, however, dates this m
Many European languages derive from one common ancestor, the so-called Proto-Indo-European. Because of their common origin, they have certain characteristics in common. But because they have grown apart, there are also many differences. One of those differences is the way languages express movem
Historian Rienk Vermij wrote the book The genie out of the bottle. In it he does not discuss the Enlightenment as a philosophical movement, but as a purely historical phenomenon. What preceded the Enlightenment, and why did Enlightenment ideas become so important precisely around the year 1700? “Cer
In Oegstgeest a unique silver-and-gold bowl was found dating from 600 AD. According to Leiden archaeologist Jasper de Bruin, the find shows that an international trading settlement was located near Oegstgeest. The originally silver bowl can be dated around 400 AD and comes from Eastern Europe (or e
Salt damage is one of the most important threats to monuments worldwide, including in the Netherlands. Climate change will increase the risk of salt damage, according to Timo Nijland, natural stone specialist at TNO. Nijland is a geologist by origin and involved in various restoration projects as a
The story about a disappeared army of 50,000 men in the Egyptian desert sounded improbable, but now it turns out to be so. The Persians were simply defeated in the sixth century BC. This enormous loss was concealed so as not to further fuel the rebellion of the Egyptians. Last January, archaeologis
The slavery past is still part of the daily life of many Dutch people. That is one of the conclusions of Markus Balkenhols research, for which he obtained his doctorate cum laude last month at the VU University. The PhD student lived in two Afro-Surinamese households in the Bijlmer for almost a year
June 28, 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His death meant a fuse in a European powder keg. Within a little over a month, a devastating world war would break out. How could it come to this? Part II o
June 28, 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His death ignited the European powder keg and would lead to a devastating world war in just over a month. How could it come to this? A diptych about how the
Since 2006, 27 January, the liberation day of Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945, has been officially declared by the UN as a day of remembrance for the persecution of the Jews in the Second World War. But in many countries, that day passes quietly. In the Netherlands this is mainly because we are
A secretary is a woman, the word says it all. The term conjures up a whole arsenal of cliché images, all of them feminine in meaning. The modern secretary wants to get rid of that. She wants to be taken seriously as an employee, regardless of her gender. Around 1900, however, it was precisely thanks
The number of permanent employment contracts in the Netherlands, but also in the rest of Western Europe, is declining. There are more and more self-employed people, temporary contracts and on-call contracts. As a result, Western European industrial relations are starting to resemble what is customar
For her PhD research, Maaike Feitsma looks at what exactly is Dutch in Dutch fashion over the past fifty years. This appears to change over time. In the fifties we copied the Parisian fashion in the Netherlands and the idea of a completely unique Dutch fashion did not yet exist. This started to c
Everyone has to, but in historical sources there is little to be found about the logistics behind this. Archaeologist and historian Roos van Oosten was curious about the waste problem behind our faeces – where did the poop go and did it change over time – and devoted her thesis to the cesspool:the p
The Eastern European states that were members of the Warsaw Pact, NATOs communist counterpart of the Cold War, had quite a bit to say. They could even enforce decisions in mighty Moscow. In this way they had a major influence on the course of the Cold War. This is apparent from the doctoral research
The role of popular culture in shaping our historical awareness is greater than we think, says Kees Ribbens in an interview with History Magazine. This year he has been appointed professor by special appointment of Popular Historical Culture and War. Films, websites and re-enactments are increasingl
Astronomers keep coming up with explanations for what the star of Bethlehem might have been. But for most historians it is very questionable whether there really was a special heavenly sign to be seen. Scientific knowledge is too fragmented and nobody really wants to tackle that, argues Jona Lenderi
Authorities all over the world are struggling with this small bush. The substance isolated from it is one of the most addictive drugs, but the leaves from which it is made do not cause addiction among the indigenous people of South America. Here are 5 interesting facts about coca. Coca is a natu
With the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria plunged into the mourning that she endured for the rest of her life. She came to be called the Widow of Windsor, for she was the perfect example of a wife suffering from the loss of her husband. Her pain inspired the mourning practices that spread acro
A few days ago in Walking through history we addressed a story about the Third Crusade, which ended with the confrontation of two of the most important knights of the Middle Ages, Saladin and Richard the Lionheart. The article that we present to you today could well be a continuation of that story.
Freud was looking for its source somewhere near the Oedipus complex and the subconscious castration anxiety. Wrong, because the myth of a vagina just waiting to bite off this and that is as old as the world. In addition, unlike the tales of witches and ghosts, it cannot be completely put into fairy