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The Vikings
- Rushina Tamang - 26008, Grade ... 14 February, 2022

Vikings are known as the people who were originally from Scandinavia. In the present day, Scandinavia is in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Vikings were from the 8th to 11th century. During that time, they settled in different parts of Europe. The time period where they raided different parts of Europe is popularly known as the “Viking age”. The vikings were very fierce and their mission was to conquer as many countries in Europe as possible. They established governments in the British Isles, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, the Baltic coast, and along the Dnieper and Volga trade routes in what is now European Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, where they were also known as “Varangians”. They used to travel using huge boats. They were the first Europeans to reach North America. They even conquered foreign lands. They were known to have many slaves. The culture they followed was known as Norse culture.

The Norse culture was divided into three smaller kingdoms : Denmark, Norway and Sweden. For most of the period of their existence, they followed Norse culture but eventually became Christians. They had their own laws, art and architecture. They usually worked as farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and traders. The language they spoke was Old Norse. During the Viking age, the present day Norway, Sweden and Denmark did not exist. All viking men were required to have their own weapons and carry them at all times. However, swords were rarely used in battle, they were mostly used as decorative items. They had a unique culture and unique traditions. Some of the traditions they followed are :

Every ninth year, the vikings celebrate a festival known as Yule. During this festival, it is customary for Swedish Kings to sacrifice men. They celebrate this festival at the Temple of Uppsala. The heads of nine men will be offered to the gods and their bodies will be hanging ou
in the temple’s sacred grove. This ritual continues for nine days. So 81 men will be sacrificed in total.

A draugr is a zombie in Norse mythology. It's not any ordinary zombie. It is a big, brutal, Viking zombie who has fabulously lye-eyed locks and horrible stench who likes to murder people, kill animals and destroy proerty. Vikings used to hide twigs in clothing or the recently deceased, place a pair of scissors on their chest or poke needles through the bottom of their feet as practices to prevent this being from rising.

Viking men decorated their teeth. Two dozen remains of Vikings from the Viking era have been discovered to have grooves that were filled into the surfaces of the front teeth. They used different dyes to color those grooves.

Viking men prefered to have blonde hair. They wanted blonde hair so badly that they used harsh soaps that had high lye content to bleach their hair.

Vikings were very hygienic. Even when we think of vikings, we think of large people who looked dirty. But actually vikings were obsessed with being clean. They used to have long and groomed hair. Both men and women had long hair. 
They were known for having huge bodies. And strong muscular structure that complimented their beastiality. As they were very fierce. Even till this day, the people who had viking ancestors have huge bodies and long and huge hair. People who have viking genetics still look like their ancestors. The only difference is their style of living. 
Reference : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings
 


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दरबार हत्याकाण्ड
- Sauharda Bajracharya - 26010, ... 10 February, 2022

वि.सं २०५८ साल जेठ १९ गते  नारायणहिटी दरबारमा भोज भइरहेको बेलामा युवराज दीपेन्द्रले आफ्ना परिवारलाई मारेको भनेर भनिन्छ । कोही मान्छेले युवराजले मारेका हुन् भन्छन् भने कसैले युवराजको मास्क लगाएका मान्छेहरूले मारेका भन्छन् । यो हत्या काण्डमा राजा वीरेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह, रानी ऐश्वर्य राज्य लक्ष्मी देवी शाह, यसै गरी युवराजले आफ्नो भाइ निराजन वीर विक्रम शाह र आफ्नी बहिनी श्रुती राज्य लक्ष्मी देवी शाह लगायत अरू ५ जनाको हत्या गरे । आफ्नो परिवारको हत्या गरेपछि उनले आफूलाई गोली हाने र उनी ३ दिनसम्म बेहोस थिए । ती तीन दिनसम्म दीपेन्द्र राजा भए । त्यसपछि राजा दीपेन्द्रको पनि देहान्त भयो । यसपछि वीरेन्द्रका भाइ, ज्ञानेन्द्र शाह राजा भए ।

नेपालको राज परिवारलाई कसले हत्या गर्‍याे भनेर धेरै सिद्धान्तहरू छन् । धेरै सिद्धान्तहरूमध्ये तीन प्रसिद्ध सिद्धान्तहरू यी हुन् । पहिलो सिद्धान्तका अनुसार, युवराज दीपेन्द्र भारतकी राजकुमारी देवयानी राणासँग बिहे गर्न चाहन्थे तर देवयानी र दीपेन्द्र उस्तै वर्गका नहुनाले उनीहरूको बिहे हुन पाएन । यस कुराबाट दीपेन्द्र रिसाए र उनले आफ्नो परिवारको हत्या गरे । अर्को सिद्धान्तको अनुसार, दीपेन्द्र र देवयानीको बिहे नहोस भनेर भारतबाट पठाएका सेनाले मारेकाे प्रमाणित गर्छन् । अन्तिम सिद्धान्त अनुसार, यो सब ज्ञानेन्द्रले गरेका हुन् । हत्याकाण्डको  बेला ज्ञानेन्द्र पोखरामा थिए तर उनका परिवार दरबारमा नै थिए । यो हत्याकाण्डमा ज्ञानेन्द्रको परिवारका न त कोहीको हत्या भयो न त कसैलाई गम्भीर चोट लाग्यो ।  

हत्याकाण्डका बारेमा भएका  धेरै कुराहरू अझै पनि सुल्झेका छैनन् । दीपेन्द्र दाहिने हात भए पनि उनले आफूलाई टाउकोमा देब्रे हातले गोली हाने । अहिलेसम्म हत्या काण्ड कसले गरेका भनेर ठोस जवाफ आउन सकेकाे छैन त्यसैले याे हत्यामा ठुलाबडा मानिसकाे हात भएकाे कुरा पुष्टि हुन्छ  । 


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Why everything we know about the Black Death is Wrong
- Sakshyam Karna - 26013, Grade ... 10 February, 2022

In the last two years covid-19 has hit the world very badly. The pandemic made everything still. It shook the world's economy. Even SARS and ebola couldn't compare to the devastation done by the coronavirus. This was the biggest virus to have struck us since the so-called "Asian flu" in 1950 with over 4,000,000 deaths worldwide.

But the more we travel back in time the more we get more devastating outbreaks of such viruses. The Spanish flu in 1918 infected 500 million people which was one third of the population of the world then. It is the equivalent of corona virus infecting 2.5 billion people today. This virus killed around 50 million people. And in the sixteenth century when the Europeans discovered America they brought many new inventions and many new things like spice, cows, wheat including a deadly virus which the native were not immune to, it was called the small pox. This horrid virus killed over 90% of the native population. This is one of the main reasons why the new world was considered to be a wilderness.

And in 1346 in the Sicilian port of Messina arrived a ship that brought the biggest and the most catastrophic virus that has ever struck the human kind that we know of at least The Black Death. It affected Europe, South Africa and most of Asia. It is estimated to have killed over 200 million people. It wiped 50% of Paris's population, while it was 60% in London and a whopping  80% in Florence. This deadly virus killed 40% of Europe's population. To put that into perspective the coronavirus has killed exactly 0.001% of the US population  which was one of the most hard hit countries in the whole world.

Today we understand the corona virus and how it works and how to control it apparently and we have vaccines to prevent it from happening. But back then people had no idea how it worked. The best theory was that it is the cause of the petulance released by the alignment of two planets. I know this sounds nonsense but back then that was the best the science could offer. Bacteria wouldn't be discovered in another 300 years and viruses 200 years after that. So there was really no way for them to know what hit them. The fact that the black death was caused by the disease bubonic plague. The yersinia pestis bacteria was discovered in 1894.

Today we know that it was transferred from black rats to humans by the fleas, or at least  that's what we believe. This theory is highly debated in the scientific community. We still have 650 deaths every year from the bubonic plague but it is quite different from the reports from the 13th century. The disease was big because of its speed. Reports say that the disease travels from one town to another in just a matter of weeks. But as the disease is spread by rats it can only travel at the speed the rat travels in. And most rats only travel 100m from where they are born in their whole lifetime. But in just a couple of years this bacteria had infected the people from China to Portugal and in-between. But let's give the rats the benefit of doubt and say this happened because of the silk road and that they traveled in ships and horse ridden carts.

Still the disease should be more gradual and sporadic just like the outbreaks in the 20th century in India but even with the addition of trains the disease didn't do much. And if it isn't rats who are infected then it should be humans who have infected others. But humans are less contagious. And the only other way is through air. But in most cases the disease isn't airborne. It only happens when the pneumonic plague, the more fatal version of the bubonic plague. But a person couldn't survive more than a few hours when it has pneumonic plague as it is highly fatal and so humans can't travel in this condition. And in some of the countries like Switzerland and Norway black rats didn't even live there back then.

In addition, it is just as fatal to rats as it was to humans. So, there should have been reports of rats dropping dead by the millions in the city. But there are no such records about the dropping dead of the rats in the city.

A theory says that it is done by another ebola like virus when no traces of the yersinia pestis was found in one of the cemeteries containing bubonic plague victims. This would be very scary as it would be a virus and antibiotics won't work. But later when  tested with better equipment the traces of this bacteria was found. So this theory was ruled out pretty quick.

There is another theory that states that this could be the work of human fleas rather than rat fleas. This is a more promising theory as personal health and hygiene wasn't a big thing like it is today.  The mere idea that millions of tiny things, invisible to the naked eye, could get into our body and kill us from inside if we didn't take a bath every week would be enough to execute a person. So it could work as no other animal has ever covered so much ground in such a short time as human with the addition of intercontinental travel with the help of the silk road.So it could be that rats may be he one who started it in the first place but we are the ones who continue it and take it to the height it was in. 
In 2019 a group of scientists used an advanced computer model to stimulate the bubonic plague in 9 European cities during the black death and ran the models three times. Once with rat fleas being the main spreader, after that air being the main spreader to stimulate pneumonic plague after that human fleas being the main spreader and by far the last one was the best match. And this proves that body likes and human fleas were the main spreader of the bubonic plague. And this also proves that most of the things that are taught about the black death are wrong.

Reference: ‘Everything you know about the Black Death is wrong’ ;Washington Post;2014
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/03/31/everything-you-know-about-the-black-death-is-wrong-say-the-bones/
 


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The story of Mad Jack Churchill
- Sauharda Bajracharya - 26010, ... 09 February, 2022

There is a saying ‘Never bring a knife to a gunfight’ and well its true. You should not bring a knife to a gunfight but this didn’t stop Jack Churchill or ‘Mad Jack Churchill’ from doing so. Jack was born on 16th September, 1906 in Ceylon(Present day Srilanka). But, he spent most of his childhood in Hong Kong and England. He graduated from Royal Military College and got his first posting in 1926 in Burma(Present day Myanmar).

After 10 years of serving, he resigned and searched for another job. He worked as a newspaper editor in Kenya, worked as a model and even acted in Hollywood. In 1938, He won a prestigious bagpiping competition and won Archery World Championships in 1939. But, when Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, he was sent to France as a part of the British army. One day, he and his men were in a small village, when a lookout spotted a German army patrol heading towards them, he ordered his men to take firing positions and start firing when he gave a signal. Jack was camping in a tower in the village and waited till the last moment and then stood, raised his weapon and fired at the man leading the army hitting him on the chest, not with his gun but with a longbow. Jack’s men started firing at the Germans, meanwhile Jack threw his long bow and sprinted towards the Germans with his broadsword. The reason why Jack used a broadsword and a longbow instead of guns are unknown but he always told his soldiers, “Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.”

After the success of the ambush, Jack went to Scotland to carry out a mission called ‘Mission Archery’. The target was in Vagsoy, Norway. Jack placed himself in the very first landing craft and he was fearless. But, he always carried an odd thing when he went to fight. It was a bagpipe. He played the bagpipe and then took out his broadsword and ran into the enemy line. The Germans were defeated in just hours. He along with his corporal once captured a whole tower with 50 Germans using just a sword and a bow. The two captured a whole tower without firing a single bullet. Jack’s next attack was in Brac(Present day Croatia) and his plan was to surprise the enemies with a sudden ambush. Jack led the war playing his bagpipe, but only 6 made it up to the hill. With enemies firing from every side, the 6 started dropping like flies and Jack was the only one left. There was nothing he could do, so he took his bagpipe and played it on the top of his lungs. It was a mortar round that almost killed him, he was surrounded by German troops who were ordered to shoot him then and there. But, it was pure luck that saved him. The president of the UK at that time was Winston Churchill and the Germans thought that Jack Churchill was the British Prime Minister’s nephew. And as a result, Jack was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp but he escaped the concentration camp but was captured again and this time, he was sent to Dachau concentration camp. The war was almost over and the security at the camp was not good, so he escaped once again. He hiked along the mountains and reached Italy where he was saved by Americans.

Jack got sent back to Burma to fight with the Japanese. But by the time he arrived, Americans had exploded a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the war had officially been over. Jack lived until the age of 89 and passed away on 8th March, 1996.


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श्री कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी
- Kritanjali Odari - 27018, Gra ... 08 February, 2022

श्री कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी पर्व भाद्र कृष्ण अष्टमीकाे दिन पर्दछ। याे दिन कृष्ण भगवान जन्मिएकाे दिन हाे। हिन्दू धर्मावलम्बीहरूकाे महान् पर्व हाे । यसलाई अत्यन्तै पावन दिनकाे रूपमा मानिन्छ। याे दिन ठाउँ ठाउँमा कृष्णजीकाे पूजाआजा गरी, भजन कीर्तन गरी व्रत बसी उत्सवकाे रूपमा मनाइन्छ। श्री कृष्णकाे जन्म द्वापर युगमा यदुवंशमा भएकाे थियाे। उनी मध्यरातमा मथुराकाे जेलमा माता देउकीकाे आठाैँ सन्तानकाे रूपमा  जन्मेका हुन्। उनका पिता वसुदेव हुन्। राजा कंशले वसुदेव र देवकीलाई मथुराकाे जेलमा बन्दी बनाइएकाे थियाे। कंश दुष्ट र पापी राजा थियाे। जनताहरूलाई धेरै दु:ख दिइरहन्थ्याे । देवकी कंशकी बहिनी थिइन्। एक दिन आकाशवाणीबाट तेराे मृत्यु देवकीकाे आठाैँ सन्तानबाट हुने भन्ने,सुनियाे, त्यसैले उसले देवकी र वसुदेवलाई जेल बन्दी बनाएर राखेकाे थियाे । जति पनि सन्तान जन्मिन्छन् जन्मेकै दिन मारिदिन्थ्याे  तर भगवान श्री कृष्ण जन्मँदा ठुलाे पानी परिरहेकाे थियाे, मध्यरातकाे समय थियाे । पालेहरू सबै गहिराे निन्द्रामा परे । जेलका सबै ताला र ढाेकाहरू आफैँ खुले । यस्ताे समयमा जन्मनुभयाे । देवकी  पनि बेहाेस थिइन्, वसुदेवले श्री कृष्णलाई टाेकरीमा राखेर र यमुना नदी पार गरेर गाेकुलमा यशाेदा माताकाे घरमा लगे । यशाेदा माता पनि चिरनिन्द्रामा सुतेकी थिइन् । त्यहाँ जन्मेकीलाई लिएर मथुरा गए । श्री कष्ण भगवान् यशाेदा माता र नन्द बाबाकाेमा नै हुर्के र बढे । पछि गएर उनले कंशलाई मारेर, बुबा  आमालाई कैदबाट मुक्त गरे । पापीलाई नष्ट गरे । पृथ्वीकाे भार हरण गरे । उनले महाभारतकाे युध्दमा अर्जुनकाे सारथी भएर गीताकाे ज्ञान पनि दिए । जुन ज्ञान सम्पूर्ण मानव जातिका लागि कल्याणकारी छ । यसर्थ याे दिनलाई सम्पूर्ण हिन्दू धर्मावलम्बीहरूले अत्यन्तै महत्वपूर्ण दिनका रूपमा  मनाउँदछन् । भाेलिपल्ट कृष्ण भगवानकाे रथयात्रा  गरिन्छ । गाउँ गाउँमा, टाेलटाेलमा मठ मन्दिरमा राम्राेसँग शृङ्गार गरिन्छ । याे एउटा महान् उत्सवकाे रूपमा सबैले  लिएका छाैँ । 


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Yoshie Shiratori: The Man who broke-free from the prison 4 times
- Manaswi Sapkota - 26004, Grad ... 07 February, 2022

Escaping from prisons isn’t something easy to do. It also isn’t something you can do unless you have a thorough plan. Even with a thorough and prepared plan there’s no guarantee you’d be able to escape and not get caught.

Yoshie Shiratori, an Aomori resident, was falsely accused of robbery and murder and put in Aomori Prison. In Aomori Prison he was mistreated and beaten with no mercy whatsoever. He decided to escape from this prison after all the abuse. Shiratori studied the guards' routine for a long time. The guards’ let him out of their sight for fifteen minutes everyday to take a break. Having studied the  guards’ for so long Shiratori finally decided to put his plan into action. Shiratori had taken the metal wire that was wrapped around the bucket he was provided for bathing. By bending the wire he picked his cell’s wall and escaped through the skylight. The guards’ didn’t realize that Shiratori was gone until the next morning. Why? Well, Shiratori had placed the floorboards onto his futon which made it seem like Shiratori was asleep to the guards’. This was his first prison escape.

Shiratori was caught 3 days later trying to steal supplies from a hospital. After being recaptured he was transferred to Akita Prison in 1942. The guards here treated him so much worse than the guards at Aomori Prison.  In this prison he was kept in a cell where the ceilings were so high and the walls were way too smooth to climb.  Regardless of the wall being smooth and impossible for a normal person to climb, Shiratori managed to do it. Every night after the guards left he would climb the walls and loosen the wood that was holding the bars of the skylight window. Shiratori waited until a stormy night to escape as he knew the guards would hear his footsteps on the rooftop otherwise. This was his second prison break. Three months after escaping, Shiratori went to Guard Kobayashi’s house to ask for help against injustice in the Japanese prison system, as he was one of the only people who had shown kindness and respect to Shiratori in Akita prison. However, while Shiratori was in the bathroom, the guard called the police, and Shiratori was arrested and sent back to prison.

During the winter of 1943, Shiratori was transferred to Abashiri Prison in the northern part of Japan. He was kept in a cold cell where he couldn’t move at all due to the cold. The guards would beat him down whenever he stood up. Angry, Shiratori told the guards he would escape this prison again and broke his handcuffs in front of them. After that Shiratori was placed in a special cell where the skylight was so small his body wouldn't fit through and the food slot was also made smaller than his body. Not just that, Shiratori's handcuffs were also replaced with metal rods and he now had additional leg cuffs. These cuffs would take two hours to open by two special metalists. The cuffs were only removed when he took a bath causing Shiratori’s hands to be infested by maggots. Even though the guards thought Shiratori wouldn't be able to break free, they were surprised when Shiratori disappeared from his cell suddenly. How did Shiratori escape though? Every night when food was delivered to him, Shiratori would put aside some miso soup and drip it on his cuffs and the food slot. The saltiness of the miso soup caused the metals and the screws on his cuffs and food slot to rust and come out. After all of the screws came undone, Shiratori , who had the ability to dislocate his joints, escaped by dislocating his shoulders and going through the food slot. He lived in an abandoned mine for the next two years. However, he was captured yet again after stabbing a farmer who attacked him after he was caught stealing a tomato from his farm. Shiratori claimed it to be self-defense. After his escape from Abashiri Prison he became the first person to escape prison 3 times and above all the first person to escape Abashiri prison.

Shiratori was now sentenced to death for the farmer’s murder. He was put in Sapporo Prison. He was put in a cell where his head wouldn’t be able to fit through any of the openings like the skylight and the food slot. The guards here were so confident that they didn't even bother to handcuff Shiratori. But because they paid so close attention to the ceiling they neglected the floor. Shiratori escaped the prison once again by digging his way out through the floor using miso bowls. The guards were surprised when they saw floorboards in his futon the next morning.
After a year of freedom, Shiratori, who was in his 40s, was sitting on a bench exhausted when a police officer who didn't recognize him offered Shiratori a cigarette. Cigarettes were quite a luxury item in Japan at the time. Moved by the kindness of the officer, Shiratori confessed who he was. His case was reviewed by the court and the death of the farmer was declared as self-defense. Shiratori’s death sentence was reduced to 20 years in prison. After leaving the prison he reunited with his daughter. 
This was the story of an innocent person who escaped prison 4 times, Yoishe Shoratori.


Source: https://youtu.be/oI8trlbCbU8 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshie_Shiratori
 


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