The Tragedy of Princess Diana

     Princess Diana is one of the most iconic and influential people in the last century. She has made many contributions to our society that have lasted through present day even after her death. people all over the world looked up to her and idolized her because of her beauty, class, and willingness to be different.
     My first source used in the making of this project was a biography I found on The Biography Channel's website. This website was, I found, to be a very credible source since it came from a highly thought of group that would benefit greatly from restating true facts. From his source I discovered that Diana was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk into an aristocratic family and had royalty in her blood. She was the youngest of five children (one died hours after birth). Her parents, Edward John Spencer and Frances Spencer divorced when Diana was eight years old and remained along with her siblings under the custody of their father. Edward Spencer later married to Raine Cartland whom the kids nicknamed "Acid Rain" because they didn't like her.
     One thing i found that was rather interesting was found on the same source described in the previous paragraph. I discovered that Diana was not interested in school very much at the boarding schools she attended. Her first was an all girls school called Riddlesworth Hall Prepatratory School in Norfolk and was later moved to West Heath Girl's School in Kent where she failed her O-level exams. At sixteen she left school and went through jobs as a dance teacher, kindergarten teacher, housekeeper, and nanny. 

Diana and Charles after their wedding

     Diana met Charles when she dropped out of school because he was at the time dating her older sister but then met again later in 1980. The couple was engaged the next year in February and married a few months later on July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. She had two sons William (June 21, 1982) and Harry (September 15, 1984). 
     Their marriage was successful in the beginning but started falling apart when Charles began and affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles which also led to Diana moving into a different apartment. They were officially announced as divorced on July 15, 1996.
     Over the course of the next few years, both Charles and Diana each experienced their share of humilation and exposed scandals caused by the media. Charles' recorded conversations with Camilla were released as well as Diana's affair with James Hewitt (man in the military). Diana also told the press about her struggle to overcome bulimia, depression, and an attempted suicide. 
     Diana went through many "flings" with may men but she said she was only in love with a heart surgeon named Dr. Hasnat Khan. They didn't stay together for very long because he was Muslim and couldn't marry her despite her efforts. Not too long after that, she was seen with another Muslim, Dodi Al-Fayed (son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of Harrod's). 
   During a trip in Paris, the two were involved in a car accident that killed two of the four people in the car. Dodi and the driver, Henri Paul, were instantly killed while Diana and her bodyguard were barely alive. because Diana had a heart attack while in the car, the ambulance could not drive fast enough to the hospital and died at four a.m. 

The car crash

     At this point in my research, I had not come to a point where a was searching for a specific thing about Diana since i knew most of her life. I did, however, decided to try and search for a different format of sources which led me to the wonderful website known as YouTube. The first couple videos that popped up with her name were all pieces of a history channel documentary about the many controversies about what really happened the night of her death. Many believed there were conspiracies to kill her. The royal family had reasons for wanting her death, but the alleged culprits were the government surrounding the family. She didn't appear a threat for the position of the crown, but seemed more as annoying that stood in the way of the governments advancement in the political world. She overall just caused them bad publicity and made them look like the bad guys. In one interview with BBC, Diana openly admitted to believing that Charles was not fit to be be king. Also, her boyfriend at the time, Dodi Fayed, was Muslim and if she were to marry him then her son William would have a Muslim stepfather. This would not sit very well with the government. The British are coming, the British are coming! The following video  over to the right is the first of five videos in the documentary used for this project. 

     After seeing these documentaries, I was very curious to know what onlookers of the accident thought about what had happened. I figured the closest I would come to finding those answers were other people during this time that were not quite there but were definately there for the aftermath of it through the media. This led me to my next two sources: my parents. My mom and my dad were both alive during the last part of Diana's life. They both think she was an idolized person because of obvious reasons: she was the princess and everyone wanted to live her "fairy-tale" life. Also, she was very different from other princesses (especially ones married into the royal family) because of all her charity work and her willingness to explore outsider her bubble in the palace. She appealed to men, according to my father, because she seemed a very classy and beautiful woman. He described her to me as "all of the Kardashian's put into one, but with class". To girls and women, she taught them to speak out for what you believe even if it has negative consequences. Just as long as you were being truthful to yourself. One example of her showing this would be during an interview with BBC where she openly admitted to believing her ex-husband Charles was not ready to be King. All this information I also found on a website that explained all of her many accomplishments and her legacy. 

Flowers left for Diana after her death.

Diana, William (right), and Henry (left)

Research Topic!

My research topic for this project is going to be Princess Diana. These are the links to the project instructions and the research contract.

The Great Depression!

Political Poster, 345 East Sixty-first Street

This photograph of this poster can tell us a lot about the Great Depression. The poster looks old and neglected. This shows us that people during this era didn't care enough about their local government and hated the government because they believed it was a cause of the depression. It can also be interpreted as a way to show us that people had bigger things to worry about than electing a mayor. The paint on the wall behind the poster also looks like it has peeled off some. The country did not have enough money to keep up the cleanliness of cities. The wall has not been tended to in a while due to lack of money that could be better spent elsewhere.

Sacco and Vanzetti!!

     Last week, we were told about a post WWI research project we were going to do. My assignment was to research and learn about Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. My first source I used was a book handed to me by Mrs. Lawson called The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti written by Rick Geary. This book showed me a chronology of the events that took place in the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti starting on April 15, 1920 right up until their unjustly execution on August 23, 1927.

Digital War Archive

The most interesting thing I thing i discovered while searching through the archive, was an interview with Thomas McIndoe on the problem of rats while living in the trenches. The rats would carry away the soldiers' belongings within the trenches. They would take candles or sticks the soldiers used to hang up the coats that were sticking out of the walls or in the ground. The rats would also feed on the dead that lay on the ground and the iron rations given to the soldiers for food.

http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/1793?CISOBOX=1&REC=2

Great White Fleet Research!

     So far in my research, I have learned that the fleet was composed of more than two dozen ships with sixteen battleship's as it's center. Two of the battleships (the USS Nebraska and Alabama) were later replaced with USS Nebraska and Wisconsin due to breakdowns in the first two. The ships later split into smaller groups to make their impact greater
     Another fact i learned was that while on the voyage, the crew celebrated Christmas and decorated the ships with palm trees and streamers.

This is my only source so far but i am looking for many more!
http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?vid=4&hid=15&sid=efa09ea5-08a9-43c2-b529-39db4f7fa24b%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=khh&AN=27523189
 

Research Project: Crime in 1880s-1920s!

Crime didn't develop in the United States until the 1900's. When Crime eventually did develop, the rates were much, much lower than today. While crime was a terrible act, it also aided in the development of our economy. With it’s rise, came the need for medical services, police and fire service, and etc. The main style's of crime seen throughout this period were bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and eventually murder. 

We usually associate gambling with the mafia (which was active in this time period as well). However, gambling was used everywhere: the horse track, sports, card games, etc. The mafia is just one of the many types of people groups that practice gambling. One of the most famous mob bosses was Alphonse “Al” Capone, who got his fame and fortune by “bootlegging”. Bootlegging was a practice that occurred in the Prohibition era in which the distribution of alcohol was banned. 



Botleggers making wine



Bootleggers were foreign immigrants that illegally brought liquor into the U.S. and sold it to Americans (these immigrants were usually Italians). He was one of the many bootlegging mafia leaders that became millionaires. 

 

Alphonse "Al" Capone

                                                              


                                                               

During the Prohibition period, district attorneys spent more than 50% of their time dealing with illegal alcohol use that went against the Prohibiton act. These violations were often seen in underground bars and in the mafia. After this era ended in December of 1931, crime soared and was much higher than it was before the period. 

Prohibition Protesters

                                                                                                 

Prostitution was one of the earliest forms of crime. This was seen even before the 1800’s. Prostitution is the main factor that gave Chicago is reputation of being a corrupted city. Back then, it was not seen as much of a crime as it is today but it was still very much looked down upon. 

Murder had happened before 1880 but not quite in the same context as it was in the early 1900‘s. Killing was more of an act of justice before, but with the advancement of cities and industry, came the corruption and need for power and superiority. 

The first serial killer was named Henry H. Holmes. He moved from New Hampshire to Chicago, IL in 1886 where he worked at a pharmacy and soon managed it since the previous owner disappeared without a trace. He had a three story house, later nicknamed “murder castle”, constructed with a maze of hallways with chutes and secret hallways all leading down to his basement where he tortured and killed his victims. He would clean their skeletons and sell them to local hospitals and medical centers to make a profit. . During the World Fair in Chicago, he would offer guests (usually wealthy middle-aged to elderly people) a room in his house and would lock them in their guest room where he would often turn a gas pipe on that would kill them. He later went on to killing many more visitors along with his wives, work associates, and their family.                                  



Henry H. Holmes



"murder castle"

                                                                                                                                                                                  
These are links and citations to my sources used in the making of this project:

     http://www.biography.com/people/h-h-holmes-307622

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=video&cd=2

http://www.vintageperiods.com/prohibition.php                          

  http://www.umich.edu/~eng217/student_projects/nkazmers/organizedcrime1.html                                   

Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File, 2001. Print.