The Hungarian Rising and Its Extraordinary Aftermath

The 'History in an Hour' website is well worth a few visits, and it records here the dramatic events of the 1956 Hungarian Rising, eventually brutally suppressed by the Soviet Union in a manner clearly much appreciated by modern day Russia's Vladimir Putin, the ex-KGB spy (albeit a low ranking one) turned Russian president and would-be Soviet resurrector.

The Soviet action in Budapest in November had a dramatic footnote at the Melbourne Olympics, in the water polo semi-final match between none other than Hungary and its oppressors, the Soviets.  According to 'History in an Hour's' Rupert Colley, Hungary were the water-polo superpowers of the time, and having been in virtual isolation at the time their fellow Hungarians were being slaughtered in the streets by Soviet tanks, the water-polo players were determined to seek their revenge on their hated opponents.  They won the vigorous match handily, although it was a young Hungarian player who eventually ended up with blood on his face, causing the match to be known as the 'blood in the water' match.  Read about it here.

Canute the Great

King Canute - or Cnut in the spelling we should probably be seeking to avoid - is still one of the most misunderstood monarchs in English history.  And yet he should be seen as one of our greatest rulers, even if he was not, of course, English himself, but the last conqueror before William.  Schools now tend to cover him too briefly as part of the monarchical timeline before the Conquest, but the British Museum Vikings exhibition may be in the process of resurrecting his reputation.  The Guardian saw fit to write a brief and positive note on one of England's greatest kings here, and perhaps it is time that he was restored to a more prominent position in school curriculums?  Here's to Canute the Great.

Re-booting with Pop History

As a short starting post for the possible re-booting of this blog, some 3 years from the last item, I have to say that this letter from Alec Guinness - tweeted by @lettersofnote on the late actor's 100th birthday - is a gem.  Referring to his then film project, something called "Star Wars", Guinness writes disparagingly of the "rubbish dialogue" that he keeps being sent, which fails to develop his character in his view.  And who could disagree with the old master himself?  Despite his distinguished acting pedigree, Guinness found himself wafting around on screen generally uttering phrases such as "Use the Force, Luke" in different and would-be mysterious intonations.  Mind you, although he seems to like fellow actor Harrison Ford, it's clear that he can't be bothered to remember his name, which is a pity given that Ford reputedly shared Guinness' view on the execrable nature of the dialogue he was meant to be speaking.  He famously shouted at director George Lucas that "you may be able to type this shit, George, but you sure as hell can't say it". 

I doubt either of them were too fussy at the financial security the film gave them though.