National Geographic History- AIRSLA

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA From the May/June 2026 edition of National Geographic History magazine. "Charlemagne: Portrait of an Emperor", by Julia Pavon Benito. Thanks to a biography by a member of Charlemagne's court, much more is known about the king's private life  He was responsible for the restoration of the Roman Empire after three plus centuries of decline: organizing the j...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA From the May/June 2026 edition of National Geographic History magazine. Title: "Apollo of Cyrene: Emblem of an Ancient City", by Ruben Montoya Gonzalez. Cyrene, a city in Northeast Syria, an important urban center in ancient times, was devastated by a huge earthquake in 262 AD and another, estimated at 8.0-8.5 magnitude, in 365 AD. In 1861, two British e...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA March/April 2026 edition of National Geographic History magazine. "Mary Stuart, The Tragic Queen", by Pedro Garcia Martin. Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was born into clan rivalries. The subject of an opera, a play, and countless films and biographies, she was considered by some a martyr, by others a heretic. Accused of plotting her husband's death, she w...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA March/April 2026 edition of National Geographic History magazine. Title: "War-torn Village Keeps Christ's Language Alive", by Ryan Biller. The village of Maaloula is nestled in a cleft in the rugged limestone hills of the Qalamoun Mountains in southwestern Syria. It's the last sizeable settlement where Western Aramaic, the language used by Jesus, is stil...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA "Prohibition" by Isabel Ravenna. During Prohibition the U.S .government added toxins to industrial alcohol, knowing it could kill. The result? A chemical war that targeted the poor and reshaped public trust. By the end of Prohibition in 1933, more than 100,000 died from imbibing tainted booze. The public however, knew what the government was doing. AIRSL...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA Nov/Dec 2021 edition of National Geographic History magazine. Title - "The Birth of Jesus", by Antonio Pinero. The Christmas story inspires wonder. Famous Renaissance artists depicted scenes from gospel writers Matthew and Luke's birth accounts. Interestingly, gospel writers Mark and John do not mention Jesus' birth at all. Historians are delving into th...

Show Notes for NG History-AIRSLA Nov/Dec edition of National Geographic History magazine.. The title is, "Why the Vietnam War Lasted Decades", by Erin Blakemore. A decades long war pitted the opposing systems of capitalism and communism. The U.S. called it the Vietnam War, Vietnam called it the American War. It left a legacy of millions of deaths ( military and civilian), veterans and ci...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA National Geographic History magazine "Pancho Villa: From Bandit to Revolutionary Hero", by Isabel Bueno The Mexican Revolution changed cattle rustler Pancho Villa into a brilliant commander. No one could capture him, not even U.S. General John J. Pershing. Villa stood out for his courage and charisma and was known as the Mexican Robin Hood. AIRSLA This p...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA July /August edition of National Geographic History magazine "The Fall of the Roman Empire", by Jorge Pisa Sanchez. The  "why" of the collapse of the Roman Empire has long intrigued historians. Historian Alexander Demandt offered more the 200 factors. But recent study points to climate and epidemics as notable factors contributing to the "...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA From the May/June 2025 edition of National Geographic History magazine. Liberia: Colony of Liberty With a Dark History", by Enrique Vaquerizo. After free Black Americans settled in Liberia in 1822, it became the world's second black republic. Radical differences between Indigenous Liberians and settlers (Americo-Liberians) later erupted into years of civil wa...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA National Geographic History magazine The Hello Girls: Unsung Heroines of World War I, by Erin Blakemore. Often working within range of German artillery in France in World War I, uniformed American women of the Signal Corps maintained and provided communications essential to Allied victory. They transmitted coded messages, directed supplies, connected commanding of...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA "Eridu: First City of the Earliest Known Civilization", by Antonio Rossi. Sumer, present day Iraq, is the site of Eridu, a foundational city in Sumerian culture, the earliest known civilization. It's "King List", inscribed in cuneiform, lists cities and royal dynasties that can be verified from historical records. Levels of human occupation unc...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA National Geographic History magazine - March/April 2025 edition Title: "Paul of Tarsus the Traveling Apostle", by Angel Narro  Description: A vision on the road to Damascus turned this zealous persecutor of Christians into an apostle who did more than anyone, making four missionary journeys , to spread the new religion throughout the Roman Empire. AIRSLA...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA Jan/Feb 2025 National Geographic History magazine. Title - "Pajamas: From Street Wear to Sleepwear", by Ana Velasco. Description - Nowadays pajamas are worn for comfort while sleeping and lounging. But, the British adopted the loose pants they saw men in India wearing as outerwear. Changing social trends made pajamas acceptable as unisex sleepwear and mo...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA "Triumphal Arches - Rome Commemorates its Victories", by Ivan Fumado Ortega. Arches were built to commemorate general's military victories as well as to honor civic achievements. Features included reliefs showing battle scenes, weapons, and one depicts prisoners that stand 10 feet tall. Emperor Augustus later declared that arches could be built only for...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA January/February 2025 edition of National Geographic History magazine "Jean-Henri Dunant: Peacemaker and Activist" by Ainhoa Campos. In 1859, Swiss businessman Jean-Henri Dunant was on his way to northern Italy to meet French officials to discuss a problem with land he owned in Algeria. On his arrival day, he witnessed the battle of Solfernio. Casualties...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA Notes go here AIRSLA This podcast is produced by Audio Internet Reading Service of Los Angeles (AIRSLA). These recordings are provided solely for the use of the blind and print impaired. Materials or items read on AIRSLA are the copyright property of the original authors and publishers. No unauthorized use or duplication is permitted. Contact Information website:...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA Dandan-Oilik, the Lost Oasis Town on the Silk Road", by Angel Carlos Aguayo. The ruins of an abandoned Chinese desert oasis town on the Silk Road were discovered in 1896. The area had been visited by Marco Polo in 1274. Difficult excavating in shifting sands uncovered Buddhist temples, poplar tree poles up to ten feet tall, pottery fragments, Indo-Persian-sty...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA From the July/August edition of National Geographic History magazine. The title is, " Cabeza de Vaca: Explorer, Survivor, Historian", by Jose Garrido Palacios. After serving as a soldier for his native Spain, Alvar Nunez de Vaca looked for opportunity in the unfolding colonization of the Americas. His expeditions included being shipwrecked and enslaved....

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA March/April 2024 edition of National Geographic History magazine. "The Magnificent Roman Mosaics of Carranque", by Ruben Montoya. In 1983, Samuel Lopez, a teenager in rural Spain, was herding cows on his family's farmland when he unearthed a treasure trove of Hispano Roman history. Further excavations uncovered stone ruins and elaborate mosaics , the rem...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA From the March/April 2024 edition of National Geographic History magazine: "Epidemics,: A Constant Plague to Rome", by Alejandro Valino. "From its founding to its Imperial heyday, Rome's politics, religion and eventual decline were shaped by the ravages of disease". The leaders of Rome, feared disease as much as civil war or natural disaster. A...

Show Notes for NG History - AIRSLA Salomon August Andree, a Swedish mechanical engineer, was born when Arctic exploration was all the rage. Failed attempts to reach the pole by others did not deter Andree. Many thought him crazy for attempting it in a balloon but funding for it came from none other than Alfred Nobel. Unfortunately, he and his two travel companions' harrowing journey met the same f...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA This is from the November/December  2023 edition of National Geographic History magazine, the title is, "Big Claim for a Small Brain: H..naledi Buried it's Dead", by Braden Phillips and Julius Purcell. The discovery of a hominin, later named Homo naledi, in South Africa,has aroused excitement and skepticism They may have created cave art and buried their...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA Ancient artworks have been discovered near Mosul, Iraq, ( ancient Nineveh), that date to the time of Assyrian king Sennacherib, of biblical mention. The artwork survived both the sack of Nineveh in 612 B.C. and ISIS' razing in recent years. Carved reliefs found are better than earlier ones found in the British Museum. Some relief panels were found behind a door th...

Show Notes for NG Traveler-AIRSLA .// The trireme was a 5th century BC Greek warship. The oar-driven ship was fast, maneuverable, and armed with a bronze battering ram in excess of 1000 pounds. Greece's massive fleet of triremes secured its place as the Mediterranean's strongest naval power of the times.// I hope all is well. I haven't forgotten submitting my bio. It will be sent soon. Sorry for t...