Hypatia
Hypatia was born in the year 370 AD in Alexandria, Egypt. She was the daughter of Theon, a famous mathematician and astronomer. He invented many things, but his most famous invention is the astrolabe, which measures the altitude of a star or planet. Hypatia studied with her father for many years at the Museum in Alexandria, but soon became unsatisfied with his instruction because she was smarter than him. She left Egypt, and traveled to Greece and Rome to do "post-graduate" work. Her brains and beauty gave her a wonderful reputation throughout the capitols near the Mediterranean.
When she returned to her homeland, everyone wanted to be taught by her. She not only gave lectures on philosophy, but also tutored. Hypatia became good friends with Orestes, the Roman governor of Alexandria, and would later become one of his closest advisors. She also became pals with Synesius, who became bishop of Ptolmais thanks to Hypatia’s ingenuity. Much of what we know about Hypatia today is from the letters Synesius wrote to her. In one letter, Synesius wrote to his friend, "You always have power and long may you have it and make good use of that power.
The ancient encyclopedia Suda also tells us a little bit about Hypatia. It tells us that when she was 31, she became director of the museum in Alexandria. This museum was brought the top scientists from all around Europe to work and do research there. Some of these mathematicians and scientists were Euclid, Galen, and Archimedes. This museum was considered to be one of the finest and most outstanding buildings at the time. It was built by Ptolemy, the ruler of Egypt after Alexander the Great, in 300 B.C.
Next to the museum Ptolemy built a library which was considered the greatest library of the ancient world. However, the Julius Caesar’s army burned it down accidentally. Some archaeologists called this "the greatest disaster in the ancient world."
During Hypatia’s life, there was bitter rivalry between the pagans and Christians of the Mediterranean. Hypatia was a pagan herself, but taught both Christian and non-Christian students. The pagans and Christians were battling over who had more power, and in March of 415 AD, it was the Christians who had the most power. These two groups were trying to drive each other out of Alexandria.
Scholar: Under her father's teachings Hypatia was given the opportunity to an education. Hypatia knew that she was fortunate of obtaining an education, even as a woman, when the less fortunate are incapable of obtaining an education as easily. With this factor in her mind Hypatia became a teacher and the head of a philosophical circle in a school that was open to anyone willing to learn.
On August 2, 1964 reports came to Washington that the USS Maddox in the Gulf on Tonkin was under torpedo attach by the North Vietnamese. The USS Maddox was able to repel the attack and President Johnson took no action. Two days later, on August 4, 1964, more reports came in of a possible second attack. On August 7, 1964, three days after the second attack, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed and gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the power to use military force in Vietnam without the direct consent of Congress. Forty years after the fact, Professor David L. Anderson postulates that the two attacks, referred to as the Gulf of Tonkin Incidents, were used as a “pretext” to pass a resolution that allowed President Johnson the power to use military force without direct congressional consent. The main statement in the Golf of Tonkin Resolution reads, “Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” This statement grants President Johnson the responsibility to use his own “determination” in deciding how to proceed in Vietnam, basically giving him, what many refer to as, a blank check. It is known that the Constitution of the United States gives the power to declare war solely to Congress. Although the resolution doesn’t explicitly give this power to the president, it does allow him to act with war like responses (air raids, bombing, ground combat, etc.) to any conflict in Southeast Asia without the permission of Congress. This was one of the largest shifts in the balance of powers of the government branches the country had ever seen. However, the Gulf of To...
On August 2, 1964 an incident happened between the USS Maddox and a North Vietnamese torpedo ships. While the Maddox was doing a casual sweep through of the Tonkin Gulf, the North Vietnamese ships began to follow. Captain Herrick ordered his men to shoot while he radioed an aircraft carrier for assistance. After feeling threated, the North Vietnamese ships each fired one torpedo. Two missed and the third failed to launch. The Maddox was barely touched, as for the Vietnamese ships, two were in bad shape and the other had sunk. Meanwhile, over in Washington D.C., President Lyndon B. Johnson was frantic about the situation he had been informed of. At first, President Johnson had no desire to hold any reprisal against North Vietnam. He proceeded to tell Russia that he had no interest in extending the conflict. However, he did warn that there would be consequences for their action. This conflict had our stationed soldiers on high al...
This book details the discussion of government policy in the stages of the Vietnam crisis from 1961-July 1965. It examines the main characters of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara, in addition to the military, which included the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It began in the Kennedy era amidst the Bay of Pigs incident and how that led to mistrust of the military planning by advisors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It continues with Johnson and his administration making decisions over and over that continued to commit more and more involve...
On August 7th, 1964, the Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson a legal guideline for the prosecution of the war. The Constitution establishes the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but to balance and check this power the Constitution invests Congress with the power to declare war. Morse disapproved of the open ended nature of the approval and accused Congress for giving the President and the military a “blank check” which would be paid for with taxpayer’s money and citizens’ lives. All other senators, aside from Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening were in favor for the joint resolution that promised “to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia”. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution stated that “Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression.” Morse was mostly alone in his opposition to President Johnson’s Vietnam policy, as he was a senior member of the
Moise, Edwin E. Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was, and continues to be, a contentious issue around the world. Many analysts of the war attribute it to Lyndon B. Johnson, who was president of America from 1963 until 1969, because under his administration, the American Army became involved in combat in Vietnam. Although there were many facets that lead Johnson to make his decision and there were three other presidents, in power during the course of America’s involvement in Vietnam, who also played key roles, it was Johnson who made the decision to escalate US intervention in Vietnam.
When we look at the internet censorship we can see that it affects modern day politics a lot. The internet is a tool which can destroy an oppressive regime. Now I consider the three countries I am going to talk about have oppressive regimes. If we are to list them from most to least it would be, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China and Republic of Turkey. If we look at the governing regimes in these countries we can see that North Korea is governed by communism, where China is go...
Elizabeth led England during it’s greatest time of influence as a nation despite the prejudices against her gender. Many people believe that her life was like a fairy tale-“Beloved by the kingdom; dressed by servants in jewels and gold, silk and velvet; pampered and treasured by kings and married to princes”, but in reality her life did not come close to being a fairy tale. Many of her subjects hater her from the moment she was born. She experienced imprisonment, her sister threatened to kill her, and she was almost forced in marriages with men she hated. Some of her friends caused uprisings in her name. Her enemies tried to assassinate her. Her father had her mother beheaded and ignored her for most of her life. Although she had many suitors, she never loved any of them. She understood the common people and eventually gained the loyalty of those who hated her. She could also be ruthless. The city gates and London Bridge held the bodies of the people that she executed during her reign.
The government in china is very concerned with limiting the freedom of expression for it's citizens in all possible ways. Let's examine first the reason why censorship is such an important aspect for the Chinese government. According to the book “A Short History of China” by Gordon Kerr when the renaissance took place in Europe from the 14th through the 17th century it changed people's view in many different ways because it was “a period of exploration, discovery and advancement in almost every field”(Gordon Kerr 87); it was a rebirth of the ancient traditions. Mean...
Around 69 B.C, one of the most famous female rulers ever known was born, she was Cleopatra. She was the descendent of the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy XII, and she would eventually become the queen of ancient Egypt herself. She was known for being extremely intelligent and very charming, and because of this many romans feared her and viewed her as a threat. When her father died the throne of Egypt was left to her and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, and rivalry formed between the two, making her even more determined to become the sole ruler of Egypt. Cleopatra had trained all her life to be the successor of Egypt, and she hungered for power.
Born 287 BC Archimedes grew up in the thriving commercial hub of the port city of Syracuse, Sicily. His father, Phidias, was an astronomer and mathematician and it is thought his family enjoyed the life of aristocracy. Very little is known about his life, what is has been reported by the Roman writer and historian Plutarch. He studied for a short time in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was a great place of learning, and at this time Euclid studied there and undoubtedly influenced Archimedes thinking. At the end of this study, Archimedes returned to Syracuse were he spent the rest of his life actively discovering and explaining important concepts. He is one of the few geniuses in history that enjoyed his own fame in his lifetime. Both his peers, his king, and even his enemies respected him for his work.
Xu, Beina. "Media Censorship in China." Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Censorship allows governments more control of society than they already have, slowly progressing governments utilizing censorship to a dictatorship. Often times, this censorship can lead to immense rebellions. A good example of this is in China, where Google has been censored by a provider called The Great Firewall of China, which censors information that could be viewed as defamatory or insulting to Chinese government and culture. According to the article “Google turns off China censorship warning” as published by BBC News Technology, “Google has had a rocky relationship with the Chinese authorities since January 2010, when the company said it may shut down Chinese operations due to a ‘sophisticated and targeted’ cyber attack. Google said at the time that it was no longer willing to censor the Google search engine”. Many journalists have also taken a look at Egypt, which also utilizes censorship. According to “Egyptian authorities step up censorship” as published by the Committee to Protect Journalists website, the new military-run Egyptian government is censoring news outlets and keep journalists, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates. “Egyptia...
The Elizabethan age was a very important time in the history of England. The time period is named after the queen who ruled England during this time, Queen Elizabeth I (Haigh). This time was a great time for the advancement of England, as they were ushered out of the Middle Ages, and into this new era. While there were many hardships, and plague was a common occurrence, the people lived a much more comfortable life than they ever had before (Jonson). Many great accomplishments were also achieved, including Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation around the world, which was only the second time it had ever been done, and the victory of the British navy over the Spanish Armada (Haigh). Another one of the things that affected the Elizabethan age so greatly was the theater.