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Single Episodes
| History Channel #1 | |||
I Learned it from the History Channel – 11/6/7
The Lost World of Jekyll and Hyde
History’s Mysteries: The Real Dracula
Cities of the Underground: Dracula’s Underground
Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree
The Haunted History of Halloween
History’s Mysteries: Ancient Drugs
This was an interesting program that explained the origins of the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It took a look at Edinburgh from that time and how the city itself inspired much of the novel. You see how the dark, narrow streets and separation of classes lent itself to the dark writings of a troubled man. You get to hear about the people of the day, the real life people that surely inspired some of the characters in the book.
This was a very interesting idea and I enjoyed the time and effort that went into it. I have never really been interested in reading the book, which I currently have boxed up somewhere, but I can definitely see myself doing so now.
In this special, we discover that there was a tome of work from Nostradamus that was lost to history for centuries. Apparently, he gave this volume to a Catholic priest who brought it to the Vatican where it was kept for a long time. Later, someone removed it from the Vatican and sold it to a book shop where it was only found a few years ago.
The book is similar to his other books, but the first page dates much more recently than the others, making people wonder if this was actually the work of a different author with a new page inserted to make it seem as if it was from Nostradamus. However, the special quickly glosses over this so that the Nostradamus “specialists” can try to explain the meanings in the book. Apparently, according to the book which is interpreted 13 different ways can be interpreted on a whole to say that the world will end in 2012. This time it will not be an Ice Age, but a cleansing through fire.
I think that all of this is garbage and that Nostradamus’s predictions are more vague and open to interpretation than the Bible, which as a prophecing tool makes it less than useless. These “specialists” weren’t even very good in their symbolism and I wanted to laugh in many parts.
This was the more interesting of the Nostradamus programs as it delved into his life and works. We find out that he was first a doctor who had an amazing ability to withstand the bubonic plague that was sweeping the land. He would travel from city to city trying to help people and was successful enough for people to start believing that he was a miracle worker. We find out that this was more than likely no miracle, but due to the fact that he was a clean freak and also had bodies, clothing, and furniture burned after someone died. We also find that during this time, his wife and child succumb to the plague.
It is only later, after his work as a doctor that he begins to write prophecy. He has remarried and had a son who eventually becomes a very good painter for his time and is thought to be the creator of the art in Nostradamus’s prophecies. We also discover that he maintains friends in high places due to the precarious nature of being known as a prophet. At one point, he made the prediction that the King would die during the year and he was requested to travel to the castle, where after speaking to the Queen, he was told in the middle of the night by an unknown woman to flee as the guards were coming to question him.
I think that someone who truly was able to see the future would have been able to pass along more than vagaries if he had wanted to and therefore his work as a prophet means nothing to me. However, I think that his life as a doctor during the time of the plague was much more beneficial.
I read a book in high school about the real Dracula and enjoyed the story therein, however, since reading this somewhat outdated book, many new discoveries have come to light and this was a good introduction to them.
The show chronicled the life of the odd man Vlad Draucula. He was born in a land near Transelvania in what is now Romania. At a young age, he and his brother were sent to the court of a bordering empire in order to get his father on the throne. Later, his father had been ordained to the Order of the Dragon or Dracul and this is how Vlad got his surname, Dracula or son of the Dragon. While he was still young, the upper class of their homeland revolted against his father’s rule and killed him. The also put pokers in his brother’s eyes before burying him alive.
Vlad remained safe and later attempted to rule the country himself. His rule only lasted two months before he was ousted. However, a few years later, he was able to gain control of the throne, where he ruled for 5 years. During this time, he was able to successfully push back the surging Ottoman Empire and reclaim the land that had been taken from his country. He was also able to continuously push them back to gain more land.
During this time, he also sured up his spot on the throne when invited the upper class to a grand feast, afterwich he killed the old and sickly and impaled them, while forcing the rest to work to death building a new castle. He did this partially in revenge for what they had done to his father. He later did a similar act when inviting the poor of his country to a great feast, only to lock them in the hall and burn it to the ground.
Eventually, the Ottoman Empire had enough and began to send large armies after Vlad, who had now become commonly known as Vlad the Impaler for his gruesome habit of impaling his enemies on stakes or small sharpened tree trunks. Vlad was eventually beaten back by the Ottoman’s, but when coming upon one deserted castle, they saw thousands of Ottoman soldiers impaled on spikes in front of it. These soldiers had been captuered months before and were decaying in front of them. This shocked their leader who fled the scene with his army.
However, he later came back and this time Vlad was forced to retreat through a passage in the mountain of his fortress to the valley below. This did not save his wife, though, who refusing to be captured, leapt from the ramparts to her death far below. Vlad sought refuge in a somewhat friendly country where he was captured and jailed for his crimes. However, they knew how valuable he could be and did not kill him. He somehow survived the frigid winters for 7 years, staking mice and birds with splinters of the floor that he would pull up. Finally, he was released to unseat the new ruler of the land, which he was able to do and rule another 2 years until his death. However, his death, as many parts of his life was shrouded in mystery as some report that his head was chopped off and stuck on a pike in Istanbul, while others claim that he died and was buried in a church that he had chosen before his death to rest.
The most amazing thing about this man is that today his is a national hero. People think back with pride at this great warrior that took their country back from the invading empire, even if he killed as many of his own people as he did the enemy. In total, it is thought that Vlad killed nearly 100,000 friends and foes during his multiple reigns.
This was an interesting program that showed the former castles and rooms during Dracula’s day that played important roles in the history of the man. We see his ancient palace where he built his bedroom right over the torture room so that he could hear the screams of his captives as he rested. We see the escape tunnel that he used when beset by the Ottomans and also the dungeon where he was kept for 7 years of his life.
This was an interesting look at what things looked like in that era, how things were setup, and what they look like today. It was very informative, but I could have done without quite as much commentary from the host along the lines of, “OOO, this is scary,” or “Wow, I wouldn’t have wanted to stay here.” Really, you sure you wouldn’t want to stay in a pit in the middle of winter, I would have never guessed.
This was another interesting program, which I saw that wasn’t so much the Dracula family tree as it was another family of the time. There was a family in the area at the time of Dracula who helped overthrow and kill Vlad’s father, but later married with a member of their family, thus intermingling for a few years. The Dracula family tree dies out along the way, but this one continues on to the present day and for the past few generations, they have attempted to explain more and more of the mystery.
Two generations back, the family was able to discover what is currently the only surviving picture of the Vlad the Impaler and bring it to light. The man who did this was also able to find the church where Dracula was thought to be buried and find the place where it was said that he was laid to rest. However, upon opening the floor and casket, they found relics that would have probably been his, but animal bones in their place. They later discovered that when a new denomination had taken over the church in the years between, they had disliked the idea of Vlad being near the alter as he was originally placed and therefore moved him to the doorway where people could walk over him all day long. So, the man opened the casket and saw a brief glimpse of a man in the clothes and appearance of one who could have been Vlad Dracula before the air and light caused the ancient bones and material to crumble into ash. Before this happened, the man claims that he saw a cloth draped over the face which, they think could have meant that Vlad was scalped as the Ottaman’s were known to occasional do which would have led to the face covering.
The next generation saw few new advances in the legend or lore, however, the man along with his son and a few others attempted to climb the mountain to one of Vlad’s main castles. Along the way, while nearly at the base of the landing that the castle was built on, the man tripped and fell to his death.
The current generation has proved more rewards as the man and his son have found the headstone of their ancestor during Vlad’s time and have traveled to many of the locations where Vlad stayed and ruled. They also decided to spend the night in the ancient castle where their father had died. They were rotating one hour sleep, one hour watch shifts late into the night when one of them spotted a pinkish glow in the valley below. The light moved quickly and changed direction in odd ways, even straight upwards on occasion. As it approached, they yelled out to it and it eventually disappeared.
This was an interesting little story, but not really about the bloodline of Dracula.
This program delves into the beginnings of the event now called Halloween which began as an Irish day where they worshipped the dead and helped them along to their final resting place. It shows how over time the church has attempted multiple times to reign the event in under their thumb by creating All Hallows Day on November 1st and All Saints Day on November 4th. However, throughout history, people have rebelled against this notion and continued to have their holiday.
It has changed much over the years, however, as the holiday used to be predominately for adults and after WWII, it changed to being an event for children. It discussed the rumors of razor blades in apples (which were found to have only been placed by family members) and poisoned candy.
It also showed a group of present day people who celebrate the holiday much like it was in the old days.
This was a good little program showing the history of Halloween, especially during a time where we see the holiday loosing even more of its history. We now have kids trick or treating during the day on the weekend or not at all while many churches try to use it as a time to scare the children into repenting their sins.
This program started as a story of some ancient drugs from texts where we cannot to this day place their origin, but quickly changed into the drugs of today, how they were discovered, and how science was used to create many off the worst ones we have today.
It touched on tobacco and how it was brought from the Native Americans to the court of Elizabeth II. It discussed how cocaine was discovered in the ancient world of Peru as a means to work people farther and longer than normal, but was turned into a catch all drug by many due to its popularization by Sigmund Freud. Also, how it was used in Coca Cola in the beginning, which at the time would be ordered as “A Shot in the Arm.” It also discussed heroin which started as a cough suppressant, mescaline, which is used in religious ceremonies in Peru, and marijuana.
This was a good overview of some of the most famous drugs, their beginnings and popular uses over time.
This is the mysterious story of the Philosopher’s Stone made popular recently by the first Harry Potter book. It discusses the properties of this stone, which was thought not to actually be a solid stone, but by most to be a heavy red powder, but by a few to be an amber-like substance. This mixture was said to be able to turn common metal into gold and to be able to be used to create an elixir of life, which could possible make the drinker immortal. Of course, at this time, the alchemist of the day also thought that if they heated metal high enough it would clear of impurities and become gold or if they planted metal in the ground, it would eventually grow into gold.
However, for those who attempted to create this substance, the common theory was that the process would contain all processes that were known and therefore would be able to change anything into anything else. Most alchemists died in their pursuits, either from inhaling or ingesting toxic items, from explosions, or from murder plots by a local ruler or a competitor.
There are only a few times in history where it had been rumored that someone has actually found the secret to the Philosopher’s Stone. The most often reported is that of Nicholas Flamel, who readers of the Harry Potter book with recognize as being the man who along with Dumbledore discovered the stone in the story. In history, it is known that he spent years working on this and there are even dates that have been found when he supposedly was able to create silver and then a few months later gold. Many who believe these tales look at two aspects to show that he may have actually done it. One was that he was a fairly poor man who eventually was able to buy up entire streets of shops as well as make numerous large donations to the poor and to causes to assist the poor. The other thing pointed out is long after Flamel’s so-called death, he has a few more books published and is apparently noted at numerous events over the years.
The skeptics say that his second wife was twice widowed leaving her a small fortune which could explain the seeming overnight wealth of the man. Also, it wouldn’t have been difficult for frauds to have written books after Flamel’s death and had them published in his name. It would have also been easy to write his name down at events without even having to present someone who truly claimed to be him.
The show also gets into a few other people, mostly frauds who claim to have found the secret to the stone. However, most of the information from the day has been lost in time when labs were destroyed and papers burnt. Also, any man who truly discovered the secret of the stone would have to be extremely wary, for anyone who found him out would be able to either request a large sum of money from him to stay silent or kill him for the knowledge.
This was one of my favorite of these shows as I had little knowledge of this topic going in and the story of Flamel was pretty interesting.
Below, I list, in order, how I liked the shows.
1. The Real Sorcerer’s Stone
2. History’s Mysteries: The Real Dracula
3. The Lost World of Jekyll and Hyde
4. 500 Years of Nostradamus
5. The Haunted History of Halloween
6. Cities of the Underground: Dracula’s Underground
7. Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree
8. History’s Mysteries: Ancient Drugs
9. The Lost Book of Nostradamus