Swiss farmer discovers Roman coin hoard

A Swiss farmer has made an amazing discovery in his Cherry Orchard, hidden inside a molehill the farmer discovered the Roman hoard of 4166 coins. The coins consist of both bronze and silver denominations and is one of the largest treasures ever discovered in Switzerland.

The regional archaeological service was brought in to excavate the coins, taking several months to remove all 15 kg of coins stretching from the reign of the Emperor Aurelian (270-275 A.D.) to the reign of Maximian (286 – 305 A.D.).

Many of the coins have been preserved in excellent condition with legible print, suggesting that they were not long in circulation before being hidden. the coins are destined for display at the Vindonissa de Brugg Museum in Aargau when the father will receive a finder’s fee according to Swiss law.

1959 – Ford announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel

The Edsel was an automobile marque that was planned, developed, and manufactured by the Ford Motor Company during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years.

With the Edsel, Ford had expected to make significant inroads into the market share of both General Motors and Chrysler and close the gap between itself and GM in the domestic American automotive market. But contrary to Ford's internal plans and projections, the Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. The Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel's development, manufacturing and marketing. The very word "Edsel" became a popular symbol for a commercial failure.

1863 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, one of the best-known in American history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on this day in 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Abraham Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, was one of the greatest and most influential statements of national purpose. In just over two minutes, Lincoln reiterated the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the Civil War as a struggle for the preservation of the Union sundered by the secession crisis, with "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens. Lincoln also redefined the Civil War as a struggle not just for the Union, but also for the principle of human equality.

1180 – Phillip II becomes king of France

Philip II, called Philip Augustus (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was a King of France from the House of Capet who reigned from 1180 to 1223.

Philip's predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France. The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adèle of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed "God-given" because he was the first son of Louis VII, born late in his father's life. Philip was given the nickname "Augustus" by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the Crown lands of France so remarkably.

1307 – According to legend, William Tell shoots an apple off his son’s head

William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th-century Swiss illustrated chronicle. It is set in the time of the original foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century.

According to the legend, Tell—an expert marksman with the crossbow—assassinated Gessler, a tyrannical reeve of Habsburg Austria positioned in Altdorf, Uri.

On this day in 1307, Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by the hat (which Gessler had placed and demanded be saluted by anyone who passed), publicly refusing to bow to it, and so was arrested. Gessler—intrigued by Tell’s famed marksmanship yet resentful of his defiance—devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow.

1969 – Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre: Journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story

12 November

The Mỹ Lai Massacre was the Vietnam War mass killing of between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam on March 16, 1968. It was committed by U.S. Army soldiers from the Company C of the 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the 23rd (Americal) Infantry Division. Victims included men, women, children, and infants. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated. Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses, but only Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, was convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given a life sentence, but served only three and a half years under house arrest.

The incident prompted global outrage when it became public knowledge in November 1969. The My Lai massacre increased to some extent domestic opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War when the scope of killing and cover-up attempts were exposed. Initially, three U.S. servicemen who had tried to halt the massacre and rescue the hiding civilians were shunned, and even denounced as traitors by several U.S. Congressmen, including Mendel Rivers, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Only after thirty years were they recognized and decorated, one posthumously, by the U.S. Army for shielding non-combatants from harm in a war zone.

1912 – The frozen bodies of Robert Scott and his men are found on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica

12 November

Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO, RN (6 June 1868 – 29 March 1912) was an English Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions. During the second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. On their return journey, Scott's party discovered plant fossils, proving Antarctica was once forested and joined to other continents. At a distance of 150 miles from their base camp and 11 miles from the next depot, Scott and his companions died from a combination of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

The bodies of Scott and his companions were discovered by a search party on 12 November 1912 and their records retrieved. Their final camp became their tomb; a high cairn of snow was erected over it, topped by a roughly fashioned cross. In January 1913, a large wooden cross was made, inscribed with the names of the lost party and Tennyson's line from his poem Ulysses: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", and was erected as a permanent memorial on Observation Hill, overlooking Hut Point.

1961 – Thirteen Italian UN peacekeepers are massacred during the Kindu atrocity in Congo

11 November

The Kindu massacre, took place on this day in 1961 in Kindu Port-Émpain, in the Belgian Congo where thirteen Italian airmen, members of the United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC), were murdered.

1880 – Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol

11 November

Kelly's attempt to derail and ambush a police train failed in June 1880. He and his gang, dressed in home-made suits of metal armour, engaged in a final violent confrontation with the Victoria Police at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880. All were killed except Kelly, who was severely wounded by police fire and captured. Despite significant support for his reprieve, Kelly was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by hanging.

1444 – Battle of Varna: Crusading forces defeated

The Battle of Varna took place on this day in 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II defeated the Hungarian-Polish and Wallachian armies commanded by Władysław III of Poland (also King of Hungary), John Hunyadi (acting as commander of the combined Christian forces) and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the Crusade of Varna.

One step closer to finding the tomb of Nefertiti

In what is possibly the best evidence yet that Nicholas Reeves’ theory that Tutankhamen is to contains additional chambers has legs. Scientists from the Ministry of antiquities, Cairo University and the Heritage Innovation and Preservation Institute in Paris conducted a scan on the inside of Tutankhamen’s tomb using Infrared thermography technology last week.

1914 – SMS Emden is sunk by HMAS Sydney in the Battle of Cocos

9 November

The Battle of Cocos was a single-ship action that occurred on this day in 1914, after the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney (under the command of John Glossop) responded to an attack on a communications station at Direction Island by the German light cruiser SMS Emden (commanded by Karl von Müller).

1888 - The Ripper's last victim?

9 November

Mary Jane Kelly on this day in 1888), also known as Marie Jeanette Kelly, “Fair Emma”, “Ginger” and “Black Mary”, is widely believed to be the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilated several women in the Whitechapel area of London from late August to early November 1888.

Iraqis to be trained in rescue archaeology

The British Museum has announced a five-year program that will train some 50 Iraqi heritage professionals to deal with the damage inflicted on heritage sites by the likes of Isis. the program has won a £3 million government grant to train local museum curators, conservation technicians and heritage protection archaeologists in methods of conservation and restoration.

Free History Bytez Magazine Issue 1 available

November 2015 Issue (68 pages)

Contents:

Linothorax Armour
Sahariano Tank
Infographic – Major Roman Battles
R.I.C 14 gold Aureus of Nerva
The battle of Megiddo
Retro recipe: Roman tuna steaks
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