Video ERP Alexander the Great vs Ivan The Terrible

Ivan The Terrible was the first tzar of Russia. When he was eight years old, his mother was poisoned and died. His mother's killers humiliate him multiple times until he was thirteen, when he ordered the death of a prince, throwing him to the dogs. As tzar, he started losing his mind and when asked to leave Russia to his sons, he left leaving only a letter. The Russians read the letter and decided to followed him, so he returned. 

Finally, he hit his oldest son, killing him, after which he said "I've overpass all the sinners. I've corrupted mi soul."

Daddy Porfirio

Porfirio Díaz was a Mexican president, famous because of his period in power, lasting 35 years without interruption. Despised in Mexican history for this, Porfirio wasn't the terrible president we usually believed he was. He fought in the Battle of Puebla and made a lot of progress with railways and changes in economy as president. However, he did had some weird aspects, like changing the celebration of independence from September 16 to a day before, so it would be the same day as his birthday, September 15. 
Leaving Mexico, in 1911, he said "Madero has unleashed the tiger, let's see if he can handle it".

Finally, he lived his last years in France by his own decision, realizing he couldn't continue being president.  He visited Napoleon's grave and a french general, Gustav Leon Niox let Porfirio to hold Napoleon's, he said he didn't diserve, to which Niox answered "it has never been in better hands". 

He died in Paris, in 1915, and his body remains in France. 

Love him or hate him, a controversial figure but a good president. 

Pablo Escobar's Vet

Pablo Escobar is the most famous Colombian drug lord, born in 1949 and killed by the Colombian police in 1993. His time as the leader of Colombian drug cartels is one of the worst periods for Colombia.

He was married but had several lovers. One of them was Wendy Chavarriaga, a model. She managed to be one of Pablo's favorites, but she had to much ambition and decided to get pregnant, which was forbidden.  For him, it was inconceivable to have a child out of the wedlock. Knowing that she did it on purpose, he sent her to a veterinarian to have an abortion.

Wendy was furious, planning her revenge. She started dating Pablo's hit man, Jhon Jairo,  known as Popeye. Pablo warned Popeye but he didn't listen and years later they discovered that Wendy was in contact with the Colombian police, telling information about Pablo. Pablo demanded Popeye to killed her, which he did. 

Video Historical Myths by Matthew Santoro

Many myths are believed without any question, but history must be question always, because most of historians have different opinions and interpretations. One is very common, we all know that Napoleon wasn't that short, right? But you will be surprised by a famous U.S. celebration.

Video The School Of Life

History does not only allow us to know where we came from but also, following the meaning of the video, makes us feel better. History makes us acknowledge that people over centuries have suffered and experience similar situations because, at the end, history tends to repeat itself. 
And hey, years ago, I would be in jail for expressing my point of view as a woman!

Episode One: Comandante Fidel Castro

Catherines of Russia Weren't Russians!

Catherine I of Russia was the wife of Peter the Great. She was born a polish and married to a swedish dragoon. When the king Peter saw her knew he had to marry her, so he killed his previous wife and married Catherine. When Peter died, she became the Empress thanks to her popularity. She was born a poor polish woman and became the first empress ruling Russia.

Catherine II, more famous than the first Catherine, was a princess but of the Kingdom of Prussia. Many people disliked her union with the future tzar, Peter III, so she wrote in her memoirs that she would do whatever was necessary, and to profess to believe whatever was required of her, to become qualified to wear the crown. However, her marriage was a huge disaster; she never liked her husband. With the support of the army, she had Peter arrested and forced him to abdicate. She was crowned in Moscow on the 22 September 1762 and her period is considered one of the greatest of Russia, often named The Golden Age of the russian empire. 

 Lesson of the day: you don't have to be Russian to be the best ruler in Russia.

Stalin's Son

Yákov Dzhugashvili was the first son of USSR leader Iósif Stalin. During the World War II, he enlisted in the red army, serving as a lieutenant. However, he was arrested by the germans at the begining of the war. Stalin always said that there were not russian prisioners, but only traitors. So, when the germans asked to negociate with the nazi general Von Paulus in exchange to Yákov, Stalin answered that he would never "trade a general for a simple lieutenant". 

Yákov died few months later, supposedly by suicide. And you thought you had issues with your daddy!

Antonio López de Santa Anna's Leg

Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón was a mexican politician and general. Born in 179, he served Mexico for over 40 years participating in wars and 22 as president. He has been blamed by many of losing the Texas territory to the U.S.

However, during his time as president, when he was an old man, he created a contest. He lost a leg during one of the several wars in which he fought, and many years later he said that "whoever that find his leg, would be rewarded with gold and honors".

By the time he announced this, his leg was already rotten because of the time. It was impossible to find his leg, although many gave him legs trying to earn the gold.

After some years and legs, Santa Anna choose a leg and decided to gave it a militar funeral.

What could've been... Africa

In 1885, during Berlin Conference, the European countries distribute African countries between them. They didn't care about their government or even language, forcing the Africans in their respective countries to learn their new language. It created a new era for Europe: the new imperialism. 

By 1913, all the African countries had an "owner" except Liberia and Ethiopia. 

Africa's distribution was the first cause of German's nonconformity, which eventually leaded to the First World War.

Nowadays Africa is the poorest continent in the world, with Nigeria as the poorest country in the world. The richest country in Africa, Equatorial Guinea, has two thirds of its population in extreme poverty.

 

Juche

Juche is the base of the North Korean philosophy and way of conceiving life. The president Kim Il-sung published this ideological system, and every north Korean most live with this in mind. 

 It is influenced by the communism but with some differences, such as the importance in the country's army. 

There's even a juche calendar, establishing the birth of Kim Il-sung (1912) as year number one. 

That is self esteem!  

Augusto Sandino and 29 Nicaraguans Against US

Augusto César Sandino was born in Nicaragua in 1895. He was born an illegitimate child, being very poor. He lived in Mexico, where he develop his communist thinking. When he returned to his country, a liberal stage a coup, however the U.S. government refused to recognize him and installed another president. This created a new revolution, in 1926.

Sandino joined the resistance, saying "I don't sell myself or give up. I want a free country or dead". He started the movement with only 29 men and 40 guns against the U.S. soldiers and the conservative nicaraguan party. Little by little, his army grew and he had over 6,000 men. 

In January, 1933, the U.S. army decided to leave Nicaragua. In 1934, he was betrayed and killed, by orders from the US embassy. 

Bloody Mary

I'm sure everyone knows Bloody Mary's legend. If you say in front of a mirror Bloody Mary three times, a ghost will come and kill you. However, few know the real background of this urban legend. 

Queen Mary I of England was the first daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was raised catholic because of her mother, but his father the king changed the religion of England, to the protestantism.

During her time as queen, from 1553 to 1558, she she had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions, although she killed many more, in an attempt to convert the english people into catholics again.

This is the reason of her nickname, having nothing to do with a ghost.

But we cannot say she wasn't ugly.

Henry VIII and His Leg

King Henry VIII of England is best known for the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from the pope and appointing himself the head of the Church of England.

We know more about this period of his life, his marriage with Anne Boleyn, ignoring his last years.

During his sixth and final marriage with Catherine Parr, he suffered from obesity, to the point he had to be moved about with the help of mechanical inventions. He had an injury in his leg that extended and became ulcerated. Catherine Parr helped him but nobody could stand the smell of his rotten leg. The british kings and queens sleep in different but connected rooms. Catherine, because of the smell in her room had to change to a different floor. 

After six wifes, he died alone.

World War II British Magician

Jasper Maskelyne was a british magician, who enlisted during the World War II. He was asigned to the camouflage area, in Egypt. He created an special team, and their first mission was to camouflage 200 cars.

The second mission was the city of Alexandria. The team had to create a fake city to avoid the real one to be bombared, using fireworks, mirrors and garbage. They succeded and the nazi general always wandered how could they built the city again.

The third and last one was to create an army. The germans fell into the trap and they were attacked by the real british army. This trick deceived one of Hitler's favorite general Hommel.

 So, in a way, they catch Hitler and he never found out!

Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Russian Sniper

Born in 1916, Lyudmila was a a Red Army Ukrainian Soviet sniper during World War II. She was 24 years old (1941) when she volunteer for the WWII, and she refused to be a nurse, asking to join the infantry. Fighting for two and a half months in Odessa she killed 187 Nazis. 

She then was sent to Canada and U.S., and became the first soviet to be received by a U.S. president, Roosevelt. 

During one speech in Chicago, she said "I am 25 years old and I have killed 309 fascist invaders by now. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?”. She gained popularity and support. 

She is now known as the most successful female sniper in history.