Eli Whitney Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793 to help improve the process of picking cotton. Whitney also had a lot of legal trouble in enforcing his patent. Read more here , here, and here.

Contracted Labor, particularly of the 1500s and 1600s era, notably in colonial North America. Later much of the labor was taken over by Slaves. Indentured referred to boiler plate printed contracts between Master and Servant in which the 2 copies of the same were folded together and indentured at the margins before separation of the document and retained by each party. Verification of authenticity of either could easily be made at a later time by superposition of the two. Indentured servitude was a generally a British custom and distinctive of early North America. The Master took on responsibilities to provide […]

The Axis and its allies controlled all of Europe save Iberia, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Switzerland, Sweden, and Turkey. The Axis also controlled parts of Africa, and large chunks of Asia. In 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and partitioned Poland between them. In 1940, Germany invaded Norway, the Low Countries, and France. In 1941, Germany invaded the Balkans, Greece, and the Soviet Union, seizing vast tracts of land and destroying large parts of the poorly prepared Soviet army and air force. By 1942, the Axis also controlled lands in Africa, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Large swathes […]

Many Africans were captured and sold by other Africans. The Africans that captured them would sell them to the Europeans, who would in turn bring them to the Americas to work on plantations and do other menial work. The Africans who complicity engaged in slave trading themselves did so because they received guns and goods from the Europeans, making it quite lucrative for both the African slave traders and European recipients of said slaves.

The term was often used by popes to adress sovereigns who had favoured their policies. Not only were the King and Queen of Spain referred to by the pope as “Catholiques”, but the King of France was conferred the title of “Très Chretien” (Very Christian); and Henry VIII Tudor (would you believe it) was named “Fidei Defensor” (Defender of the Faith) by pope Leo X. So was James V of Scotland after him. The practice was common. Russia was “Holy” and France “The first Daughter of the Church”. Some Sovereigns flew the attribute like a banner (Elisabeth II still claims […]