Martin Luther King, Jr. - "I Have A Dream!"

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born at Atlanta, Georgia on the 15 January 1929. Son to a Baptist minister, Martin Senior and a schoolteacher, Alberta Williams King.

In 1943, at the age of 14, King was forced to give up his bus seat for a white passenger on his ride home. This humiliating event in his life spurred him to confront the injustice of inequality.

In 1948, at the age of 15, King attended Morehouse College. Here he discovered the writings of Henry Thoreau and he became fascinated by his ideas of non-violent resistance. He was then inspired by father and college president, Benjamin Mays, a Baptist minister and advocate of racial equality. King was later ordained as a minister.

After he graduated college, King continued training at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and received his doctorate from Boston University School of Theology in 1995. King married Coretta Scott, a student at Boston on the 18 June 1953. Over the 10 years the couple had four children.

In December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery for refusing to move from her seat on a bus so a white man could sit. King lead an African-American bus boycott that lasted 381 days. In 1956, the US Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery's bus policy was unconstitutional. 

Working with Bayard Rustin, a civil rights campaigner, King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). King and the SCLC hoped to gain success in Montgomery by expanding the bus boycotts across the South. However, in some places, the African-American population was too small to make it effective. In other places, they quickly gave in on the demands of the boycott. Although elsewhere they simply allowed their bus services to go bankrupt, rather than give in to the boycotts.

In 1959, King traveled to India to learn more about Gandhi's non-violent protest movement. On his five week tour of India he met Gandhi's family and Prime Minister Nehru. He returned home determined to use non-violence in his protests. However, his non-violent protest in Albany, Georgia in 1961-1962 was unsuccessful as the police didn't confront the protesters and defused the situation by starving the cause of publicity.

In 1963, King staged a massive program of boycotting, marches and sit-ins at Birmingham, Alabama. As a result King was arrested on the 12 April. Although, at Albany, the authorities used violence to break-up protesters, using high-powered hoses and dogs. The coverage of the events won public support for King's case.

King was later released and was invited to the White House, where President Kennedy showed his support for the cause.

King made his iconic 'I Have A Dream' speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on the 28 August 1963. There was a crowd of about 200,000 people at Lincoln Memorial and millions watching at home, as King shared his vision of the day of freedom and equality for all.

'I have a dream!'

On the 15 September 1963 a Supremacists bombed a Birmingham church and killed four girls. The was a huge public outcry at the news. At their funerals King addressed about 8,000 mourners. In the summer of 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, ending segregation in public. 

At 35, King received the Noble Peace Prize in 1964. Making him the youngest person to be awarded it.

In 1965, King started to campaign for voting rights in Selma, Alabama. After the state troops clashed with protesters at Edmund Pettus Bridge, activists around the country took part in a five day march from Selma to Montgomery. King led the group of 2,000 on the march. As they marched the grouped increased to 30,000. That August, the Voting Rights Act was passed, which removed the barriers for African-Americans to vote.

In 1966, King and his family moved to Chicago's west side black ghetto. He was trying to help the urban poor in North America. He found it hard to get the support behind his cause. Also the local authorities agreed to promote fair housing and then they went back on the promise. After this his message of using non-violence was losing support. Within many civil rights movements there was a growing support for violence. Which saw the rise of the Black Panther group. 

After his defeat in Chicago, King continued to involve himself in US economic, social and foreign affairs. On the 4 August 1967, he made a speech in New York at a march against the Vietnam War. He spoke against  the US's neglect of the poor and the waste of money on war.

In 1968, King started the Poor People's Campaign working to end economic inequality.

While in Memphis for a march, King was shot on his motel balcony by a white supremacist, James Ray, on the 4 August 1968. On hearing the news of his death, riots broke out across the country. President Johnson called for a national day of mourning.

Even though Martin Luther King, Jr. never saw his dream of peace and social equality in America, he is remembered for his beliefs, principles for non-violence, and views for freedom and equality. Today he is the only African-American to have a national holiday.  

I Love That Minifigure! Book REVIEW!

I Love That Minifigure by DK.

With this small Lego book you receive a exclusive minifigure, a Zombie Skateboarder which is a recreation of the first Lego Skateboarder from the Minifigure Series 1. A great minifigure. Many people simply got this book just for the minifigure alone but the book is equally as good as well.

It is very similar to the Lego Minifigure Year by Year book although it looks at a smaller selection of minifigures, shows more detailed information and shows how exclusive and rare each of them are. It rates the minifigures rarity, on how many were made and how many sets had it in. Funny enough it also describes the exclusive minifigure that even comes with the book.   

Exclusive Minifigure,
Zombie Skateboarder.

Now if you aren't a huge Lego fan then I wouldn't suggest reading this, as this book is more for a Lego enthusiast and collector as it isn't a book for a light read. This book would be extremely useful for anyone who collects minifigures and wants to know information about their collection or to see which ones they might not have. 

Lego Minifigure Year by Year - A Visual History Book REVIEW!

Lego Minifigure Year by Year
by DK

With this very large book, official Lego book by DK, you receive three exclusive minifigures, a plain Townsperson, Stormtrooper and a Robber. The minifigures aren't really that special, I wouldn't advice anyone getting the book just for the minifigures alone. They wouldn't be worth it. Although the book is, as long as you have a huge interest in Lego minifigure. 

You can learn the history of the Lego minifig, how they are made and how they have evolved to the little yellow figures we know and love today. As it shows in the name of the book it goes through each minifigure year by year. Telling you different information about each one. It even touches on the elements that makes up each minifig, such as, the different hats and hairpieces they may use.

Exclusive Minifigures, 
Townsperson, Stormtrooper 
& Robber     

Now if you aren't a huge Lego fan then I wouldn't suggest reading this, as this book is more for a Lego enthusiast and collector as it isn't a book for a light read. This book would be extremely useful for anyone who collects minifigs and wants to know information about their collection or to see which ones they might not have. 

Is Emperor Palpatine the NEW Julius Caesar?

Rise to power.

In light of new Star Wars film being released this year we thought we should do a post based on both the sci-fi film and history. So we are looking at a comparison of two characters, Julius Caesar and Emperor Palpatine. Please do put you opinions on the matter in the comments below. 

Emperor Palpatine, maybe a fictional character in one of the most famous sci-fi films of all time, Star War; but is there a real truth behind the fiction? As many people know that a lot of story writers take true stories and change them to make up their own fictional storylines. Now what I would like to do, is to see if this is the case for Palpatine and histories most famous figure, Julius Caesar. 

They both lived in a Republic which was started after the fall of a powerful dynasty, Roman Kings/Sith Lords. They both worked within the Senate of the Republic and both climbed the ladder of political ambition. With Caesar, he became Senator, then Quaestor in 69, Aedile in 65 and Praetor in 62. Then in 61-60 BCE he served as the governor of Spain and the Consulship in 59 BCE. And with Palpatine, he became Senator and them Supreme Chancellor. Both gaining the highest position in the Republic they served in and needing room to grow farther in power.

Both were clever enough to manipulate the situation they were in, for their own gain. With Caesar, he used the civil war that erupted between him and Pompey in 54 to be giving position of consul and dictator (at this time it was a elected position) of Roman in the time of crisis. After he defeated his enemy he refused to give up his power, and then forced the senate to give him the dictatorship for life in 44. 

With Palpatine, he was given 'emergency powers' in time of war with the Trade Federation and the Sith Lord, Count Dooku. After the Trade Federation and all the known Sith Lord were defeated, he refused to give up his powers when the Jedi Council requested him to do so. In doing so he revealed he was Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. Both gained powers bestowed upon them by the Senate in time of crisis and both refused to give up that power after the threats were eliminated and no longer a problem.

The assassination.

In 44 BCE, after alienating the Roman senate, Caesar was assassinated in the Theatre of Pompey by many of the members of the senate, including his close friend Brutus. With Palpatine, he was killed by his padawan, Darth Vader. Both seem to have been killed by their friends because of one reason or another.

So it seems to be quite easy to say that the story of the Emperor Palpatine is very similar to that of Julius Caesar's. Through life and death, they seem to share the same path and plot. In conclusion, essentially the Star Wars character Emperor Palpatine is Caesar in more places than some. 

Michelangelo - 'The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.'

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on 6th March 1475 in Caprese, Italy. A few weeks after his birth his family moved to Florence.

In 1488 he became an apprentice to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. He then lived in the household of Lorenzo de' Medici, the leading patron of the arts and ruler of Florence. In 1496, the Medici were expelled from Florence, Michelangelo then travelled to Bologna and then Rome.In 1497, he was able to make a name for himself after his 'Pieta'. He then returned to Florence. Here produced one of his most famous pieces, 'David' 1501-1504.

He was recalled to Rome in 1505 by Pope Julius II to design Julius' tomb. However, the project was never completed because of quarrels between Julius and Michelangelo, and other projects he had going on at the sametime. Michelangelo was later commissioned to do the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (1508-1512).

The new Pope, Leo X, commissioned Michelangelo to rebuild the facade of the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. However, it was later abandoned, but it was the beginning of Michelangelo's activities as a architect. Michelangelo also designed monuments to Giuliano and Lorenzo de Medici in the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo. 

Michelangelo making
'David' 1501-1504

In 1534, Michelangelo returned to Rome, he was then commissioned to paint 'The Last Judgement' on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel (1537-1541). In 1546 he worked on the great church of St. Peter's.

He the died in Rome on 18th February 1564.