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More from African History Extra

Stone towns on the Highveld of South Africa: an archaeological history of the Sotho-Tswana capitals (ca. 1450-1850)

The eastern plateau of South Africa, known as the Highveld, is dotted with the ruins of numerous stone towns founded at the end of the Middle Ages.

5 days ago 1 votes
The currencies and monetary systems of pre-colonial Africa

A bewildering variety of currencies circulated freely in the various states and societies of Africa during the pre-colonial period.

a week ago 1 votes
A forgotten African empire: the history of medieval Kānem (ca. 800-1472)

A century before Mansa Musa’s famous pilgrimage, the political and cultural landscape of medieval West Africa was dominated by the empire of Kānem.

2 weeks ago 13 votes
Online resources for African history: links to African collections held at 33 Western Museums

Up to 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s material cultural legacy is kept outside of the continent, according to a French government-commissioned 2018 report by Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr and French historian Bénédicte Savoy.

3 weeks ago 16 votes
What did they write about? : An intellectual history of Timbuktu ca. 1450-1900.

No single body of primary sources in the literary heritage of West Africa has attracted as much attention and attained as much celebrity as the fabled manuscripts of Timbuktu.

a month ago 15 votes

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A nation’s rebirth after Nazism

Germany’s integration miracle and other stories

20 hours ago 1 votes
How a Papal Conclave Works, and Who Might Be the Next Pope

On Tuesday, the cardinals locked themselves into the Sistine Chapel, officially beginning the conclave to elect the 267th pope. First formalized by Pope Gregory X in 1274, the conclave (a word derived from the Latin words cum clave, meaning “with a key”) follows a highly scripted process honed over the past 800 years. How the conclave […]

23 hours ago 1 votes
Details Avoid Bias

Long ago I noted:

14 hours ago 1 votes
International Graffiti Times – 1884-1994

Dedicated to New York City street art, International Graffiti Times – IGTimes (aka: Subway Sun, InterGalactic Times, GetHip International Times, Tight and IGT) announced itself with an image of the city’s Mayor Ed Koch covered in tags. After Koch, the arch enemy of “graffiti”, there were articles on artist Michael Stewart (May 9, 1958 – September … Continue reading "International Graffiti Times – 1884-1994" The post International Graffiti Times – 1884-1994 appeared first on Flashbak.

14 hours ago 1 votes
How Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton & Harold Lloyd Pulled Off Their Spectacular Stunts During Silent Film’s Golden Age

It can be tempting to view the box office’s domination by visual-effects-laden Hollywood spectacle as a recent phenomenon. And indeed, there have been periods during which that wasn’t the case: the “New Hollywood” that began in the late nineteen sixties, for instance, when the old studio system handed the reins to inventive young guns like […]

19 hours ago 1 votes