Weekly History Quiz No.265

A series of civil wars fought between the houses of Lancaster and York in the period 1455 to 1487. It resulted in the deaths of the male lines of the two dynasties, leading to the Tudor family inheriting the Lancastrian claim.

Gage survived an accident where a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe. This reportedly affected his personality and behavior over the remaining 12 years of his life‍, to the extent that friends saw him as 'no longer Gage'.

Read more about the part played by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service played in assisting the CIA in orchestrating this coup.

Chinese philosopher Han Feizi (280–233 BCE), departed from Confucianist thought during the Qin period, creating the philosophical system of Legalism. This philosophy states that strict legal protocols and punishments are necessary to establish societal order and prevent moral chaos.

Published in 1973, Solzhenitsyn draws upon his own experiences in the Soviet labour camp system, as well as interviews, statements and legal documents to construct his griping picture of the experience in a gulag. The narrative follows the typical course of a ‘zek’ or prisoner.

The battle of Tsushima saw a Japanese fleet decisively defeat the Russian Baltic Fleet, which had sailed 33,000 km to reinforce the Russian territories in Asia. The Russo-Japanese War resulted in one of Russia’s greatest military upsets, and one of Japan’s most significant military victories.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was constructed on the island of Pharos, Egypt, in 280 BCE. It was supervised by Ptolemy II, and stood up to 300 feet tall. It served as a guiding light for ships along the coast of Alexandria until its collapse in the 13th century CE.

Immediately before the Second World War Churchill was a very unpopular British politician. His wide range of roles was in part because of this, periodically being ousted, then slowly regaining influence. Nevertheless, when he became Prime Minister, Churchill was probably more experienced than any other war leader in modern history.

Catholic jubilees generally involve a pilgrimage to a sacred site, normally the city of Rome. Pope Boniface VIII granted ’the most full, pardon of all their sins’ to those pilgrims who fulfilled certain conditions.

The Battle of Red Cliffs, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty. The battle was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi against the numerically-superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao.

The southern warlords prevailed, giving them control of the Yangtze. The battle has been called the largest naval battle in history in terms of the numbers involved, although this is far from certain given the sources available.