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On the eve of the assassination’s centennial, find out how a teenage Serbian nationalist provided the spark for World War I The start of World War I, the so-called "Great War" of 1914 to 1918, was triggered when a teenage Serbian revolutionary shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie on their visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Deeply in love, Ferdinand chose to marry Sophie Chotek in 1900 despite the opposition of his uncle, the sitting Emperor Franz Josef, who refused to attend their wedding. Though not exactly a commoner, Sophie...

In 1621, the city of Chocim in today's western Ukraine witnessed a mighty battle between the Polish-Lithuanian Empire and an invading Ottoman army. Chocim is rightly remembered by Poland as a victory, although the conflict ended in a political draw. But this stalemate was fought by only about 50,000 men against three times as many Turks and Mongols. After the death of the Polish commander-in-chief, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, it was Stanisław Lubomirski (1583–1649), not yet forty years old, who turned the tide in favor of Warsaw. Chocim was not the first battle in this war against Muslim aggression. Already in...

A 500-year-old secret code used in letters between one of Spain's most famous monarchs and a military commander has been cracked. Ferdinand of Aragon's letters have tantalised historians for centuries. Constructed using more than 200 special characters, they were deciphered by the country's intelligence agency. He was behind the final recapture - Reconquista - of Spain from the Moors in 1492 and Columbus's journeys to the Americas. The letters between Ferdinand and Gonzalo de Córdoba include instructions on strategy during military campaigns in Italy in the early 16th Century. They were written using secret code in case they fell into...

Anti-Israel boycott movement’s ‘victory’ in Valencia music festival casts pall on historic citizenship law The Spanish government passed a headline-grabbing law on June 11 bestowing Spanish citizenship upon descendants of Sephardic Jews. The high-profile effort, lauded as a historic measure “correcting” sins from a 500-year past, is set to be implemented by October and is expected to potentially draw some 90,000 applicants. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! But the law stands in stark contrast to a proliferation of anti-Semitism in the country in which anti-Israel efforts are...

ANDRIĆGRAD -- Plans for the start of World War I existed 13 months before the Sarajevo assassination and 14 months before Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.The Serbian Kingdom soldiers are seen during the Battle of Kolubara (Wikipedia) This can be inferred from a copy of the letter that Director of the Archives of Serbia Miroslav Perišić presented in Andrićgrad, in the RS, Bosnia. Governor of Bosnia-Herzegovina Oskar Potiorek sent this letter to the then Minister of Austria-Hungary Bilinski on May 28, 1913, and its copy was made public at the history department of Kamengrad (Andrićgrad) on Sunday. Perišić noted that...

The real story goes something like this: In 1511, messy political squabbling forced Ponce to surrender the governorship of Puerto Rico, an appointment he had held since 1509. As a consolation prize, King Ferdinand offered him Bimini, assuming the stalwart conquistador could finance an expedition and actually find it. J. Michael Francis, a historian at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg who has spent decades studying the Spanish colonies in the Americas , says no mention of a Fountain of Youth occurs in any known documents from Ponce’s lifetime, including contracts and other official correspondence with the Crown. In...

Boise prosecutor will move forward with misdemeanor charge against David Ferdinand. The first trial in August ended with a hung jury. Canyon County Commission Chairman David Ferdinand, who was stopped at the Boise Airport Feb. 28 with a gun in his carry-on luggage, faces a second trial on the misdemeanor charge. But the juror who reportedly triggered a mistrial in Ferdinand's case two weeks ago says she believes the charge never should have gone to court. A court-imposed gag order "to stop prejudicial extrajudicial statements to press" prevents the prosecution and defense from publicly discussing the case. Boise City Attorney...

This is a double article post: First article from this morning - Judge won’t throw out Ferdinand gun charge A district judge on Thursday denied a motion to acquit Canyon County Commissioner David Ferdinand on a charge of carrying a gun in his backpack while trying to board an aircraft at the Boise Airport in February. Ferdinand has pleaded not guilty to the charge. His attorney said the allegation states that Ferdinand “knowingly” had the gun with him when he tried to board a flight for Washington, D.C., last winter. Ferdinand and his attorney insist he did not know the...

I was shopping at Goodwill (don't ask) and found a painting (watercolor) that was very nicely framed and matted. I needed a new painting for my wall but didn't want some cheap print - so I examined it to see if there were 'dots' from the printing process and there were none. I was confident this was a hand-crafted work. As I was examining it a woman approached me - she had been looking at it and wondered whether it was original as well. I told her what I knew and she then informed me there was a second painting...

Applicants for permanent residence must understand Bulgarian, Parliament rulesParliament has made two moves in the past week strongly affecting the lives of foreigners in Bulgaria: on the one hand, giving the go-ahead for constitutional amendments to allow certain categories of foreigners to buy land, but on the other hand introducing knowledge of Bulgarian as a qualification for permanent residence.The approval at second reading of the amendments to the Foreigners Act regarding conditions of granting permanent residence introduced the mandatory knowledge of Bulgarian, and for those seeking permanent residence on the basis of investment, raising the minimum stake to $500 000....

Queen Isabella: Evangelizer of the New World by Cardinal Luis Aponte MartinezThe 500th anniversary of Queen isalbella's death this month prompts a Puerto Rican prelate to examine her faithful service In this article: A True Follower of Jesus A Reformer of Church and State Devotion to Jesus and Mary Bold, Decisive, Faith-Filled Action Detail from 1596 painting “King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle of Spain Bidding Farewell to Christopher Columbus." Imagine that you have before your eyes a map of the world. Looking at the map from heaven's perspective, imagine that the places strong in the Catholic faith shine with special...

Ignoble End for Derby Champ It was recently learned that Ferdinand, who won Kentucky Derby in 1986, died last year in Japan slaughterhouse after failed stud career. By Bill Christine Times Staff Writer July 23, 2003 DEL MAR — Perhaps no one in U.S. horse racing was more saddened to hear about Ferdinand's ignoble death than Bill Shoemaker. "It's terrible," said Shoemaker, who was 54 when he won the Kentucky Derby with Ferdinand in 1986. "It's hard to believe that the horse couldn't have been brought here to live out the rest of his life." Ferdinand, who was 20, died...

Sun Dec 29, 7:48 AM ET Filipinos walk past a damaged bust of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos after it was blown up by unidentified person before dawn on a hillside in Tuba, Benguet, about 124 miles north of Manila, Dec. 29, 2002. Police said no one was hurt by the blast. (Stringer/Afghanistan (news - web sites)/Reuters)