Europe is playing a prominent role in the campaign for the UK parliamentary election on 7 May 2015. Prime Minister Cameron has promised renegotiations over Britains EU membership, followed by a referendum. There has been a referendum like this before:on 5 June 1975, the British were allowed to vote
At the end of 2010, the Arab Spring broke out. Meanwhile, the hope of democratization in the Middle East has been overshadowed by (civil) wars. The opposition between Sunnis and Shiites plays a major role in this, especially in Iraq and Syria. The origin of this contradiction is very old and goes ba
Hieronymus Boschs paintings and drawings feature the most startling creatures. Thanks to the latest techniques, you can even look under the top layer of paint:to discover an equally fascinating, hidden world there. Kennislink visited the new exhibition of the famous painter in Den Bosch. A devil on
He learned how to light a fire at the Boy Scouts, but his fireplace hasnt burned in 25 years. Sociologist Joop Goudsblom is in awe of fire and wrote a book about it:Fire and civilization, now a classic published in eight languages. Kennislink interviewed him on the occasion of the 2015 reissue. Wha
The Allard Pierson Museum opens its doors again for the DWDD Pop-Up Museum, part two this time. Guest curators, including theoretical physicist Robbert Dijkgraaf, dived into the depots together with museum experts. They have set up their own room with hidden treasures, the theme of the Pop-Up Museum
Trade ships have sailed in and out of the port of Kampen for centuries. In 2012, three medieval shipwrecks were found nearby, in the IJssel. The main wreck, the cog, will be salvaged February 10, 2016. Kennislink spoke to a maritime archaeologist about this so-called IJsselkogge. The cog is a medie
Following the medieval Italian trade centers in luxury products, Northern European cities also concluded a trade union:the Hanseatic League. From the twelfth century, trade provided wealth and much-needed consumer goods for the growing cities. The ship that sailed between the Hanseatic cities was th
From Syrian gays being thrown from a roof to attacks in Jakarta, Istanbul, Ouagadougou and Marseille:the Islamic State again made a strong statement last week. How did this terror group become so powerful and how can it be fought? Terrorism expert and IS expert Alex Schmid analyzes the strength and
When we think of Romans, we think of progress:paved roads, aqueducts and underfloor heating. Hygiene was also a top priority. Romans introduced public baths, toilets and hygiene laws to the rest of Europe. It is striking that these measures did not improve public health in rural areas. At least thi
Since September, full-time work has been done on the IJssel. Archaeologists, divers, skippers and technicians try to salvage a ship that sank nearly 600 years ago. But how do you get this fragile wooden colossus out of the riverbed? The recovery companies are performing a technical tour de force for
In the second half of the 19e century, chemists and other scientists were reluctant to act in the service of economic interests. This gave the chemical laboratory a central place in the colonial cultivation of cinchona, the raw material for the antimalarial drug quinine. And that in turn helped to b
A hundred years ago, life was no fun for women, and certainly not for working-class women in the city:little schooling and long days of work for next to nothing; financial and sexual exploitation in the factories. The British film Suffragette shows in a striking and moving way the wretched position
A unique song from the eighteenth century has been found in the archive of the Amsterdam orphanage. It is written in Sranantongo – originally the language of the slaves brought to Suriname from Africa – and the content is quite explicit. No other erotic text in this language is known from the eighte
Exactly one hundred years ago, Albert Einstein presented the correct version of his general theory of relativity. Evidence for that theory has piled up over the past century. From solar eclipses to flying atomic clocks, scientists took everything they could to disprove Einsteins theory. Without succ
When Suriname elected Desi Bouterse as president in 2010, there was still a criminal case against him because of the execution of fifteen opponents on December 8, 1982, the so-called December murders. At the time, this was a reason for the Netherlands to suspend the development relationship with Sur
The German archaeologist and adventurer Heinrich Schliemann discovered the Homeric city of Troy in the Ottoman Empire. The treasures he found during his first excavation campaign (1870-1874) he illegally took home. New research reveals that the Ottomans were deeply outraged by this art theft. But al
Last week there were reports in the media about the investigated sex appeal of Wehrmacht soldiers. With their masculine appearance and pockets full of condoms, they would have brought modern sexual morality to the Netherlands. In search of the nuance, Kennislink decided to ask the researcher in ques
Racist! “Go back to your own country!” Hear who is knocking there children, the coziest party of the year is just around the corner. The heated discussion about Zwarte Piet is in full swing. However, this has little to do with history or cultural identity:Piet has been subject to change throughout h
Dredging the river Vecht was a mega project. Never before had a river nearly thirty miles long been taken care of in one go. The Vecht had never been dredged before. Archaeologists have dug up two thousand years of finds:from Roman toga pins to weapons from the Second World War. 2.5 million cubic m
Arsenicum is a true radio thriller by MakersRadio about a helpful, poor woman from Leiden in the second half of the nineteenth century. Her name is Maria Catharina van der Linden-Swanenburg. Neighbors praise her helpfulness and affectionately call her Goeie Mie. But there is also a dark side in Mie…
They attracted up to 250,000 viewers at one time. They were a favorite pastime of the ancient Romans. Nero himself took part in them. I am talking about chariot racing. I am very amazed that so many thousands of adult men are overwhelmed by the childhood passion of seeing galloping horses and men
The canals in the Warsaw Uprising should not be associated only with the evacuation of encircled districts. They were also a tool of heroic resistance and allowed for a secret attack on the rear of the enemy. Its time to remind you of that! In the second week of fighting, the situation of the P
Throughout the interwar period, Germany did not want to recognize the territorial changes made after the end of World War I, calling the decisions of the Versailles Treaty the Versailles dictate. They also made no secret of the fact that their goal was to change borders and return to the pre-war sit
It is 54 years old. Claudius is dead. Nero takes over, but his stepbrother Britan also aspires to the throne. A bloody battle for the title of emperor begins. It started, as always in such situations, from a few deeper ones. Not that brawls in a neighborhood like Subura were unusual, much less the