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On Saturday, October 30, 2010, the Opera Company of Philadelphia brought together over 650 choristers from 28 participating organizations to perform one of the Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" at Macy's in Center City Philadelphia. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ - the OCP Chorus and throngs of singers from the community infiltrated the store as shoppers, and burst into a pop-up rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" at 12 noon, to the delight of surprised shoppers. This event is one of 1,000 "Random Acts of Culture" to be funded by the...

Vlad the Impaler - Feeding the Real Dracula - Pheasant with Cherry Sauce | 23:47 Tasting History with Max Miller | 4.07M subscribers | 624,726 views | October 28, 2025

Europe's mysterious "Little Ice Age" has been traced back to a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia - thanks to Pink Floyd. It lasted centuries and led to the Thames Frost fairs, when the river froze over for months at a time - turning it into a skating rink. A generally warm medieval period was followed by a mostly cold spell - from the 14th to the 19th Centuries. The weather phenomenon has baffled climatologists for decades. A study - inspired by the 70s rock legends' Dark Side of the Moon - now shows it was triggered by a catastrophic eruption...

A volcano more powerful than Tambora... but no one knows where it is. Dive into a real-life scientific thriller to uncover the eruption that changed the world -- and vanished without a trace. The Lost Supervolcano: Was This the Biggest Eruption in Human History? - Full Documentary | 52:52 Easy Documentary Knowledge | 5.99K subscribers | 274,031 views | April 25, 2025

Reanimating the 1561 Celestial Phenomenon over Nuremberg | 14:05 Conspiratorial | 7.46K subscribers | 52,615 views | June 12, 202200:00 Intro 02:56 Credits 03:04 The Celestial Phenomenon Over Nuremberg Animation 04:57 Further Discussion

According to a statement released by Eötvös Loránd University, an international team of researchers led by Tamás Hajdu of Eötvös Loránd University has identified a skeleton unearthed on Budapest's Margaret Island as the remains of Duke Béla of Macsó. The thirteenth-century duke is known to have been the maternal grandson of King Béla IV of Hungary and a member of the Scandinavian Rurik dynasty, which ruled Kievan Rus, on his father's side. Austrian historical accounts attest that the duke was assassinated in November 1272, and that his body was recovered by relatives and buried in a monastery on Margaret Island....

The Straits Times reports that pieces of a wooden ship estimated to have been between 160 and 230 feet long have been unearthed on Malayasia's Pulau Melaka, or Malacca Island. Ruzairy Arbi of Malaysia's National Heritage Department said that the ship was discovered during an excavation conducted by his department and the Melaka Museum Authority. Initial study suggests that the vessel was made of saga wood, which is native to the Malay Archipelago, and dates to the thirteenth century. "At this stage, we are still assessing the available data and artifacts to piece together the ship's history," he said. "We...

The traditional Italian observation -- Se non è vero, è ben trovato (even if it isn't true, it makes a good story) -- reflects a good deal of human history.One such colorful event was the 14th-century War of the Bucket between the Italian cities of Bologna and Modena. The story is that after years of tension, a group of Modenese entered Bologna and stole the bucket from the town well.The Bolognese demanded its return, but the ruler of Modena refused, and war ensued, culminating in the Modenese victory at the Battle of Zappolino in 1325...After the collapse of the Western...

A groundbreaking new biography of Æthelstan marks 1,100 years since his coronation in 925AD, reasserts his right to be called the first king of England, explains why he isn't better known and highlights his many overlooked achievements. The book's author, Professor David Woodman, is campaigning for greater public recognition of Æthelstan's creation of England in 927AD.The Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the signing of Magna Carta in 1215 are two of the most famous years in English history. But very few people know what happened in 925 or 927AD. Professor David Woodman, the University of Cambridge-based author of The...

According to a Georgia Today report, a chainmail shirt and a helmet dated to the ninth or tenth century a.d. have been unearthed at the site of a medieval palace within Rustavi Fortress. Located in southeastern Georgia, the fortress was constructed in the fourth or fifth century A.D., and destroyed during the invasion of the Mongols in the thirteenth century. The helmet is thought to be the only combat helmet from the period to be discovered in the South Caucasus. To read about another discovery from Georgia, go to "Around the World: Georgia."

The historic Torre dei Conti in Rome, Italy, partially collapsed twice on Monday during renovations, trapping at least one worker in the rubble and critically injuring another. These videos show the moment of the second collapse and its aftermath. Medieval building partially collapses in Rome | 8:53 CBS News | 6.82M subscribers | 46,740 views | November 3, 2025

Excavation of a tomb in central Hungary has yielded an iron saber, silver belt fittings, gilded hair ornaments, earrings made of glass beads, a long knife, and arrowheads, Live Science reports. The fragile weapon was carefully removed from the tomb in a custom-made wooden cradle. Traces of decoration on its curved blade are still visible through a thick layer of rust. The burial, which had been disturbed, was discovered through an examination of satellite imagery as part of “Cemeteries from Space,” a project conducted by researchers from the Hungarian National Museum and the King Saint Stephen Museum. Dated to between...

Caedmon's Hymn in Whitby! The 7thC Englishmen who inspired Lord of the Rings | 8:01 BritMapped - Hidden Britain | 22.4K subscribers | 29,517 views | October 29, 2025

"Here Beorhtric [king of Wessex, AD 786-802] took King Offa's daughter Eadburh. And in his days there came for the first time 3 ships; and then the reeve rode there and wanted to compel them to go to the king's town, because he did not know what they were; and they killed him. Those were the first ships of the Danish men which sought out the land of the English race."Anglo-Saxon ChronicleThis is the entry for AD 789, written by the chronicler a hundred years later. Almost two centuries later still, Æthelweard, a descendant of King Alfred's brother Æthelred and...

It won’t catch any fish, but the discovery of as many as 20,000 silver coins and pieces of jewelry dates back to the early Middle Ages. Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: A fisherman digging for worms at his summer home in Sweden instead discovered over 13 pounds of buried silver treasure. The hoard comes from the early Middle Ages, and includes mostly coins (and some jewelry). The entire cache of silver was tucked inside a copper pot. A Swedish fisherman searching for gooey, juicy worms to use as bait near his summer home near Stockholm instead...

Welcome back to Saving Castles! Join us for an exclusive private tour of Château de Gizeux, one of the Loire Valley's most remarkable survival stories. When the French Revolution threatened to destroy this 600-year-old castle, one brave woman's ingenious plan saved priceless Renaissance treasures that remained hidden for over a century. 600 Year Old Castle's Secret: How Fake Walls Saved Priceless Art | Part 1 | 21:20 Saving Castles | 15.3K subscribers | 83,441 views | May 26, 2025 The incredible survival story of the François I Gallery's 400-year-old painted walls How false walls and ceilings protected Renaissance art from...

Sweden's Arkeologerna announced that archaeologists working in Viggbyholm, Täby, outside of Stockholm, unearthed a stunning 1,000-year-old Viking Age treasure trove. The site was inhabited from around a.d. 400 to 1050 and contains more than 20 houses and other buildings. Beneath the flooring of one structure, former occupants concealed an array of valuables they were never able to retrieve, for reasons that are still unknown. The collection includes eight silver neck torcs, two silver armbands, one ring, two pearls, and 12 coins that were turned into pendants. These had been carefully wrapped in a cloth purse and placed in a ceramic...

A man hunting for fishing worms near his summer house in the Stockholm area has made an amazing discovery: a large hoard of silver coins and jewelry from the early Middle Ages. The hoard, weighing around six kilograms (13 pounds), consists of thousands of silver coins mixed with rings, pendants, and beads. The finder immediately informed the Stockholm County Administrative Board, which began an archaeological excavation of the site. The hoard is described by experts as unusually large and well-preserved. The items were placed in a copper cauldron that has mostly decayed over the centuries. “This is likely one of...

Nor were written documents neglected in those days. Led by John Hunwick, R.S. O'Fahey, and others, historians increasingly tapped the many Arabic and other written documents of Islamic Africa to reconstruct the past of those societies. The Arab Literature of Africa series of catalogues, published by E. J. Brill in the Netherlands, has continued to attract attention to this formerly neglected area of the Islamic world, which has had much impact not only on other parts of Africa but even on the central Islamic lands themselves but which had been shamefully and systematically neglected in Brockelmann's monumental five volume history...

Leif Erikson Day is observed on October 9 each year. This day honors the Norse explorer Leif Erikson, who is believed to have led the first European expedition to reach North America (outside Greenland), and celebrates his legacy of exploration, courage, and the contributions of Nordic heritage.