In the North, Thayer was credited with helping to make Kansas a slave-free state. He was also called a villain by others for having caused the bloodshed and violence that followed sending immigrants to Kansas. In the South, the Company was often called "Eli Thayer & Co.," and a price was placed on Thayer's head in more than one place. In Missouri and the South, Thayer was charged with the "crime" of making Kansas a free state. In 1887, Thayer wrote a book "A History of the Kansas Crusade: Its Friends and Its Foes" where he claimed a good deal of the credit for Kansas becoming free of slavery.
Gündlischwand
Gündlischwand is a municipality in the administrative district of Interlaken-Oberhasli in the canton of Berne in Switzerland.
Breggia, Switzerland
Breggia is a new municipality of the district Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It was created on 25 October 2009 when the former municipalities of Bruzella, Cabbio, Caneggio, Morbio Superiore, Muggio and Sagno merged to form the new municipality of Breggia.
Cugnasco-Gerra
Cugnasco-Gerra is a municipality of the district Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
On 1 January 2008 the former municipalities of Cugnasco and Gerra (Verzasca) merged into the new municipality of Cugnasco-Gerra.
The Sweet Escape (song)
"The Sweet Escape" is a song by American singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani from her second studio album of the same name (2006). It was written by Stefani, Akon, and Giorgio Tuinfort. Akon was featured on the song and also produced and created the songs beat. As both Stefani and Akon wrote the song, Stefani was surprised how the song ended up as it was a doo-wop song and not a hip hop song.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of "The Sweet Escape".
Masada
Masada (in Hebrew: מצדה - metsada means: fortress) is an archaeological site, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Masada is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel. It is on top of an isolated rock plateau, like a mesa. The rock is on the east of the Judaean Desert, and overlooks the Dead Sea.
Herod the Great fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BC, and built palaces for himself on the mountain.
According to Josephus, the Sicarii, a splinter group of the Hebrew Zealots, held out against a Roman legion here. This was the Siege of Masada at the end of the First Jewish–Roman War. The seige ended in the mass suicide of 960 people – the rebels and their families.
The hill is 63 meters above the sea level and 450 above the dead sea level near Mount Elazar.
Cave of the Patriarchs
The Cave of the Patriarchs, also called the Cave of Machpelah (Hebrew: מערת המכפלה, " ", trans. "cave of the double tombs") and known by Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham or the Ibrahimi Mosque (, "") is an archaeological site in Hebron, Israel. According to the Jewish tradition it is the site of the graves of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. These graves have been buried under a church built in the Byzantine Period in Israel, and which is now used as a mosque.
Dongio
Dongio is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.
In 2004 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Castro, Corzoneso, Largario, Leontica, Lottigna, Marolta, Ponto Valentino and Prugiasco to form a new and larger municipality Acquarossa.
Leontica
Leontica is a village and municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.
In 2004 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Castro, Corzoneso, Dongio, Largario, Lottigna, Marolta, Ponto Valentino and Prugiasco to form a new and larger municipality of Acquarossa.
Fusio
Fusio is a village and former municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.
In 2004 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Broglio, Brontallo, Menzonio, Peccia and Prato-Sornico to form a new and larger municipality of Lavizzara.
Pottawatomie massacre
The Pottawatomie massacre happened on the night of May 24, 1856. John Brown and a number of volunteer Free-Staters attacked and murdered five men in a small settlement on the Pottawatomie Creek near Manhattan, Kansas. The killings were particularly brutal. One by one, settlers were dragged from their homes and hacked to death with broadswords and shot. The victims were pro-slavery, but were not slave owners themselves. The murders were in response to pro-slavery Missouri Border Ruffians who burned and looted Lawrence, Kansas three days earlier. It happened just two days after the Caning of Charles Sumner, the Senator from Massachusetts on the floor of the United States Senate. The Pottawatomie massacre was one of the many bloody episodes in Kansas preceding the American Civil War. It marked the beginning of the period called Bleeding Kansas.
In 1854, the Missouri Compromise, which had restricted the expansion of Slavery in the United States, was done away with by the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Based on the doctrine of popular sovereignty, the federal government allowed the issue of slavery to be decided by those settling the Kansas Territory. By popular vote the people who lived there would decide whether Kansas would become a "slave-state" or be a "free-state" (free of slavery). Pro-slavery Missourians, Free-Staters and abolitionists all poured into Kansas. Soon, the different sides held their own elections and set up two opposing territorial governments. In May 1856, a drunken mob of pro-slavers sacked the town of Lawrence. Brown was enraged at this and wanted vengeance.
Brown was a deeply religious man who spoke his mind. As an abolitionist he found slavery in any form to be immoral. He fathered 20 children and with his wife moved to Kansas Territory to wage a war against slavery. He arrived on October 7, 1855, to help several of his sons who were already there to set up land claims. Along the way he got funds from other abolitionists and bought a large number of guns and swords for the fight he was sure would come. He had spoken out before against the Southern plantations and had called for the execution of slave catchers. Kansas, he thought, would be the perfect place to put his words into action.
When the town of Lawrence was sacked, Brown became extremely angry. He could not understand why the people of Lawrence had not decided to fight. He decided he and his followers would avenge the sack of Lawrence.
On the night of May 24th, 1856, Brown set out with seven others to the pro-slavery town of Pottawatomie Creek. They were armed with swords and rifles. One by one the victims were dragged out their beds and murdered by Brown and his followers. They attacked three different farm houses.
James Doyle and two sons were dragged outside their house and hacked to death. Mrs. Doyle, her daughter and a 14-year old son were not killed. They next went to Alan Wilkinson's farm where he was taken "prisoner". His sick wife and two children begged Brown not to kill him. Brown's men took his rifle and two saddles, but let Wilkinson live. James Harris owned the third house Brown visited that night. Haris, his wife and young child plus three other men were living there. Brown's men killed one man, William Sherman, then took their weapons, a saddle and one horse. Brown's followers included four of his sons who all later claimed that Brown himself did not actually murder anyone. But he was the leader and he made all the decisions of who would live and who would die. They washed the blood from their hands and their swords in the creek, then went home. None of the killers were ever prosecuted for the crime.