James Blake Wiener is a world historian, Co-Founder of World History Encyclopedia, writer, and PR specialist, who has taught as a professor in Europe and North America.
James Blake Wiener21.06.2024In the Battle of Murten on 22 June 1476, the Swiss Confederate army defeated that of Charles the Bold of Burgundy. The battle marked the beginning of the end of Burgundy as a major European power and became a cornerstone of national pride in traditional Swiss historiography.
James Blake Wiener30.05.2024The exquisite death mask of Joan of France (1464-1505) mirrors the grace, courage, and moral convictions of a long-suffering disabled woman who was briefly queen of France and later canonized as a saint.
James Blake Wiener06.05.2024The sinking of the British passenger ship RMS "Lusitania" on 7 May 1915 by a German submarine is one of the worst maritime disasters in recent history. 1193 men, women and children lost their lives off the Irish coast. The stories of the "Lusitania's" Swiss voyagers afford unique perspectives into the Edwardian Age as it came to a conclusion.
James Blake Wiener15.04.2024Over a century after her dramatic demise, the Titanic lingers omnipresent in the human imagination. The stories of the Titanic’s Swiss staff and passengers are a rich kaleidoscope of a maritime disaster and an era on the precipice of tremendous change.
James Blake Wiener06.02.2024It’s often forgotten that Locarno was a hotspot of confessional strife. The Locarnese Protestants and their subsequent expulsion in 1555 precipitated significant comment and a high degree of interconfessional distrust among the Swiss Confederates.
James Blake Wiener11.01.2024The life of Henry Hotze is largely unknown in Switzerland. Born in Zürich, Hotze emigrated to the United States. Later, he became the Confederacy's chief propagandist in Europe during the U.S. Civil War.
James Blake Wiener12.12.2023In August 1854, Giovanni Antonio Palla from Cevio and Tommaso Pozzi from Coglio returned to Ticino after becoming wealthy through mining in the Australian state of Victoria. News of their arrival spread like a wildfire. Though few of the 2000 Ticinese in the Australian Gold Rush of the 1850s would be that lucky, they left a unique imprint upon the country.
James Blake Wiener14.11.2023James Joyce’s impact upon world literature is profound and he wrote a sizable portion of Ulysses in Zürich – a city that he enjoyed immensely and called home several times during his tumultuous life.