The Week of August 3

"The past is never dead. It's not even past" – William Faulkner

The Bar Kokhba Revolt: The Fall of Betar, 135 CE - The 9th of Av

The fall of the Betar fortress symbolized the tragic end of the Bar Kokhba Revolt against the Roman Empire. The event, which according to tradition occurred on the ninth of Av, led to a mass slaughter and the renaming of the province of Judea to "Syria Palaestina."

Image: The Land of Israel in the first century CE

Thought: In fact, this is the origin of the name Palestine, with all its uses and evolutions across different languages. The Roman Emperor Hadrian wanted to erase any historical connection to Judea, as he was utterly fed up with this people and their rebellions. Beyond exiling the Jews and forbidding them from even approaching Jerusalem, and beyond renaming Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and rebuilding it as a Greek city with its various temples, and other prohibitions and decrees, he also changed the name of the region/province: no longer Judea, not even a name that recalls the connection. He knew that the Jewish holy books and other writings mentioned the Philistines, who once lived there. That was enough for him; from now on, the place was called: Provincia Syria Palaestina. From then until today: Palestine, Palestinians, a Palestinian state, etc., etc.—this is the origin of the name.

For further reading: Bar Kokhba revolt

Columbus's First Voyage, August 3, 1492

Christopher Columbus set sail from the port of Palos in Spain with three ships (the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Niña) on a westward journey, attempting to find a new sea route to India. This voyage, which ended with the discovery of the American continent, changed the course of world history.

Image: Christopher Columbus, painting from 1518

Thought: It's a bit sad that with all our technology, satellites, etc., there are no new places left to discover.

For further reading: Christopher Columbus

Jesse Owens's Fourth Gold Medal, August 9, 1936

At the Berlin Olympics, held under the watchful eye of the Nazi regime, African-American athlete Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay. His victories were a powerful athletic rebuke to the Nazi racial ideology.

Image: Owens salutes the United States flag after winning the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Behind him is German Lutz Long, the silver medalist, giving the Nazi salute.

Thought: The significance of major historical events lies in the ability to look back at them even after many years, to relate to them, to form an opinion about them, to use them as iconic events commonly recognized by vast portions of humanity, and the ability for all those billions of people to relate to the very same event.

For further reading: Jesse Owens

The War of Attrition Ceasefire, August 7, 1970

After nearly a year and a half of bloody fighting along the Suez Canal, a ceasefire between Israel and Egypt came into effect. The war, intended to "wear down" Israel, ended without a decisive military victory but exacted a heavy price from both sides.

Image: Map of the main battle zone, the Suez Canal

Thought: How terrible and cruel wars are.

For further reading: War of Attrition

The Birth of the World Wide Web (WWW), August 6, 1991

British scientist Tim Berners-Lee published a summary of his World Wide Web project on an internet newsgroup for the first time. This publication is considered the moment the web became public and available to all, laying the foundation for the digital revolution that would change our lives.

Image: The workstation used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, which served as the first web server.

Thought: The internet, the World Wide Web, which we cannot imagine our lives without, is only 34 years old! The pace of revolutions that have changed the course of history is accelerating. From revolutions like the linguistic revolution 60,000 years ago and the agricultural revolution 12,000 years ago, to changes that now alter humanity almost every decade, and nearly every year: electricity, trains, steamships, the telegraph, plastic, private cars, the internet, Google, artificial intelligence.

For further reading: World Wide Web

The 6th IPCC Climate Report, August 2021

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a severe report described as a "code red for humanity." The report stated unequivocally that global warming is the result of human activity and that the world is close to a point of no return.

Image: Variation of the global annual mean global temperature (1850–2019) relative to the 1850–1900 average (blue line)

Data was made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, see https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#SPM

Thought: There is actually optimism in the face of the mobilization of supranational institutions, representing large parts of humanity, to address the human impact on the world. There are also forces that could pull strongly in a pessimistic direction, but we will not give them that pleasure. We will continue to act, moving forward to find solutions and alternatives, and to raise global awareness of human responsibility for the environment and the future—a responsibility that begins with me, personally.