Dr Livingstone I presume?
Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and one of the greatest European explorers of Africa, whose opening up the interior of the continent contributed to the 'Scramble for Africa'.
David Livingstone was born at Blantyre, south of Glasgow on 19 March 1813. At 10 he began working in the local cotton mill, with school lessons in the evenings. In 1836, he began studying medicine and theology in Glasgow and decided to become a missionary doctor. In 1841, he was posted to the edge of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. In 1845, he married Mary Moffat, daughter of a fellow missionary.
Livingstone became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in the interior of Africa and introduce them to Christianity, as well as freeing them from slavery. It was this which inspired his explorations. In 1849 and 1851, he travelled across the Kalahari, on the second trip sighting the upper Zambezi River. In 1852, he began a four year expedition to find a route from the upper Zambezi to the coast. This filled huge gaps in western knowledge of central and southern Africa. In 1855, Livingstone discovered a spectacular waterfall which he named 'Victoria Falls'. He reached the mouth of the Zambezi on the Indian Ocean in May 1856, becoming the first European to cross the width of southern Africa.
Returning to Britain, where he was now a national hero, Livingstone did many speaking tours and published his best-selling 'Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa' (1857). He left for Africa again in 1858, and for the next five years carried out official explorations of eastern and central Africa for the British government. His wife died of malaria in 1862, a bitter blow and in 1864 he was ordered home by a government unimpressed with the results of his travels.
At home, Livingstone publicised the horrors of the slave trade, securing private support for another expedition to central Africa, searching for the Nile's source and reporting further on slavery. This expedition lasted from 1866 until Livingstone's death in 1873. After nothing was heard from him for many months, Henry Stanley, an explorer and journalist, set out to find Livingstone. This resulted in their meeting near Lake Tanganyika in October 1871 during which Stanley uttered the famous phrase: 'Dr Livingstone I presume?' With new supplies from Stanley, Livingstone continued his efforts to find the source of the Nile. His health had been poor for many years and he died on 1 May 1873. His body was taken back to England and buried in Westminster Abbey.
Is there anyone from Spanish history that you admire?
Comments
You know that there are and there were a lot of explorers in Spain in the last centuries and there were a lot of missionaries as well. But the space exploration is the most interesting thing at this moment and, in my opinion, Pedro Duque is one of the greatest European astronaut. Pedro Francisco Duque Duque was born at Madrid, on 14 March 1963. He’s an aeronautic engineer from the E.T.S.I. Aeronautic of Technical College University of Madrid. He’s married and he has three children.
In 1986, he began working in the business Spanish group GMV and he was destined to Darmstadt (Germany) and he was working in the European Space Agency (ESA). In 1992, he was chosen to participate in the Department of Astronaut of ESA. In 1996 was member of the Kind of Specialist of Mission, in the Center Spatial Johnson of NASA, in Houston. He went to space on 29 October 1998 by the Space Shuttle Discovery as Engineer of Flight number 3. He was for 9 days. In 2003, he flew by the ship Soyuz, as Engineer of Flight and he arrived to the International Space Station. He was for 10 days for working to Cervantes Mission. In summary, he has made four space flights.
See you.
Clara Campoamor and the women’s right to vote
In these days it has been released the film, ‘Suffragette’, about the fight of the women’s movement to get the right to vote.
In Spain, the most relevant person in this claim was Clara Campoamor who defended the suffrage to women on the Second Republic (1931-1939).
She had to deal with a strong opposition including her own comrades of party. Many people of the left’s parties thought that the Spanish women were very influenced by the Catholic Church and then their votes would be near of the conservative position.
However, Clara Campoamor believed that it was a question of justice and it was necessary to reach an equality society.
In 1931, it was discussed this item in the republican parliament. In that time, it had just three congresswomen (because the women could be elected but not elect) and only Clara Campoamor supported the universal vote. Victoria Kent and Margarita Nelken didn´t support it because they thought it would be positive to the right forces.
It was a strong discussion about the women’s skill and their power to decide.
Finally, the right to vote was adopted in 1931 and the first time that the women could put their right was on 1933 election. It won the conservative parties but not in 1936 when the Popular Front won. The right couldn´t bear and caught the coup. It blew up the Civil War. The fascism’s victory removed all the rights and the women can’t vote until 1977.
Clara Campoamor had to go to the exile and died in 1972 out of Spain.
I'm ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Pedro Duque. However, I do know that Neil Armstrong was the first man to take that giant step for mankind. Perhaps it's because he has Scottish roots. :-)
You know that there are and there were a lot of explorers in Spain over the centuries and there were a lot of missionaries as well. But space exploration is the most interesting thing at the momento and, in my opinion, Pedro Duque is one of the greatest European astronauts. Pedro Francisco Duque was born in Madrid, on 14 March 1963. ...
In 1986, he began working in the Spanish, business group GMV and he was sent to Darmstadt (Germany) where he worked for the European Space Agency (ESA). In 1996, he became a member of the Kind of Specialist of Mission(??, in the Center Spatial Johnson of NASA, in Houston. He went to space on 29 October 1998 on the Space Shuttle Discovery as an engineer of Flight number 3. He was there for 9 days. In 2003, he flew on the ship Soyuz, as a flight engineer and he arrived at the International Space Station. He worked at the Cervantes Mission for 10 days. In short, he has been on four space flights.
It's good to see you contributing to the blog. I hope you find it useful.
I hope you don't mind but I'll correct your comment tomorrow. I'm really tired tonight.
I know how much you like history. You should scroll down to look at the history section in the left-hand column of the blog.
Thank you so much by theses tools
I'm really tired again this evening but I am sure I will have the energy to correct your comment.
Here goes:
... I'm going to answer your question: Is there anyone from Spanish history that you admire?... I know my grammar is horrible, I await your corrections anxiously!
A new film called 'Sufragette' has just come out. It's about the fight of the women’s movement to get the right to vote.
In Spain, the most relevant person to this matter was Clara Campoamor who defended the suffrage of women in the Second Republic (1931-1939).
She had to deal with a strong opposition including comrades from her own party. Many people from parties of the left thought that Spanish women were very influenced by the Catholic Church and then their votes would be closer to the conservative position.
However, Clara Campoamor believed that it was a question of justice and it was necessary to achieve a fair society.
In 1931, this matter was discussed in the republican parliament. Then, it had just three congresswomen (because women could be elected but not elect) and only Clara Campoamor supported the universal vote. Victoria Kent and Margarita Nelken didn´t support it because they thought it would be help forces of the right.
It was a heated discussion about women’s skills and their power to decide.
Finally, the right to vote was adopted in 1931 and the first time that the women could use their right was in the 1933 election. The conservative parties won but not in 1936 when the Popular Front won. The right couldn´t bear it and started a coup. It triggered the Civil War. The victory of the fascists removed all rights and women couldn't vote until 1977.
Clara Campoamor had to go into exile and died out of Spain in 1972.
Well, I've added a bit to my poor knowledge of Spanish historical figures. :-)
Never more I will use articule with plural nouns like 'women' or possessive 's with things!
In case of use of prepositions of time 'on, in & at' I will review but if we could talk about it in class, it would be great.
Natalia
You must know, Mr. Scottish, that another Spanish astronaut is Miguel López Alegría. He was born in Madrid in 1958. He had to renounce his nationality for going to space. He was the first Spanish astronaut who went to space. He enlisted as a marine of United States and he is a navy engineer. He made three flights to space on Spatial Ferry in 1995, 2000 and 2002. He participated in the Extreme Environment Mission Operations of NASA. In 2006 he flew to ISS, International Spatial Station, from Baikonur, Kazajistán, on the ship Soyuz.
He was the commandant of ISS where he lived for seven months and he made 10 spatial walks. He has the record of staying in space. He said: "From space you don't see the politician borders, illness or the wars and this sight does a different dimensión of life"
See you.
I'm glad you find it useful*. Keep reading, listening and writing as much as posible.
Never again will I* use the article with plural nouns like 'women' or possessive 's with things!
And as for the use of prepositions of time* 'on, in & at' I will review them but if we could talk about it in class, it would be great.
* adjectives end in -ful: beautiful, careful, grateful, peaceful...
* Negative inversión - check out http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2015/10/negative-inversion-tweets.html
* Prepositions of time: http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2011/02/prepositions-of-time.html
You can find all sorts of things in the blog. Explore it!
I'm afraid I had never heard of this man but the quote rings a bell.
... He had to renounce his nationality to go to space / so that he could go to space. He enlisted as a United States marine and he is a navy engineer. He made three flights to space on the Spatial Ferry in 1995, 2000 and 2002. ...
He was the commander of ISS where he lived for seven months and he made 10 spatial walks. He has the record for staying in space. He said: "From space you don't see political borders, illness or wars and this sight gives a different dimension to life"
The other day José told me: "you don´t write on the blog anymore... Why don´t you write something?".
José: your whish are my command,so here I am writing something!.
-Is there anyone from Spanish history that you admire?.
-I don´t know... Maybe Salvador Dalí,or some funny crazy guy like him...
By the way,I´m attending Free English Classes again,in "The Saint Louis University of Madrid". Although It´s more like a conversation class,in a very informal way,the teachers are very young,but it´s fun!.
Great to hear from you again.
You should petition for classes at MOJ.
It seems that you are struggling to come up with a Spaniard to admire. LOL
...
José: your wish is my command,so here I am writing something!
I liked the english classes at the Ministry.
Now,the only classes at MOJ(as far as I know),are the "hidden" classes of the bosses!?.
I can´t do that,I wish to be able to do it...but I can´t!.
Maybe in the future,they started the classes again,I hope so!.
The problem with the historical figures is that you never know what it´s real,and what it´s invented...
When I was a child,I remenber the teachers talking about The Cid as a "Spanish Cristian Hero" who died in the battlefield,fighting against the Muslims,and now we know he was a kind of Mercenary who died in his bed at the age of 50(quite old to that time!).
I think ordinary people are more important in the History,than some of these "historical figures".
I’m reading the lyric of the song “Auld Lang Syne” that belongs to Scottish. I suppose you sing it with your drunks friends when you say goodbye and you go to Spain.
“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld land syne?”
Never, never, never.
“For auld lang syne, my jo (my dear), for auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’ Kindness yet, for auld lang syne”.
I cheer too.
It’s a romantic song collected from the old man by Robert Burns. It seems that Mr. Burns is the author of this song. Robert Burns is your national poet and an important Scottish writer. I like this song, although it’s bit sad. I see in Internet that there are a lot of versions in others languages, but I didn’t know it, sorry Graham.
See you.
José
I am not keen on admiring people who I don't really know.
There were Spanish people in the past who did important things and for that reason,they got to spot Spain in the world but we didn't know what they truly were like. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the good things that they did,though.
There are people around me who I would really be able to admire and who will never be in wikipedia :-)
José, I've enjoyed a lot reading your comments.
Regards
I kind of miss my MOJ classes but 8am starts killed me.
...
I can´t attend them, I wish I was able to...but I can´t!.
Maybe in the future they will start the classes again,I hope so!.
The problem with the historical figures is that you never know what it´s real,and what is invented...
When I was a child,I remember the teachers talking about El Cid as a "Spanish Cristian Hero" who died on the battlefield, fighting against the Muslims,and now we know he was a kind of Mercenary who died in his bed at the age of 50(quite old to that time!).
I think ordinary people are more important in history than some of these "historical figures".
I quite agree.
I'm surprised that you had never heard of this tune. For me it reminds me of my homeland and it is incredibly moving.
I’m reading the lyrics of the song “Auld Lang Syne” that belongs to the Scottish. I suppose you sing it with your drunk friends when you say goodbye and you go to Spain.
“Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld land syne?”
Never, never, never.
“For auld lang syne, my jo (my dear), for auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’ Kindness yet, for auld lang syne”.
I cheer too.
It’s a romantic song given to us by the old man Robert Burns. ... I see on Internet that there are a lot of versions in other languages, but I didn’t know them .
How's things?
I see your point.
Great to read you and see that the blog is still alive.
There were Spanish people in the past who did important things and for that reason,they put Spain on the map but we didn't know what they were truly like. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the good things that they did though.
There are people around me who I am really be able to admire but who will never be in wikipedia :-)
José, I've really enjoyed reading your comments.
Great to hear from you. I’m glad you participate in the blog again where you grew up in English. You remind me the English class in Ministry, on the fourth floor, with the best English teacher in the world, who arrived five minutes late, didn't you Graham? LOL
For auld lang syne (Por los viejos tiempos).
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? (Deberían olvidarse las viejas amistades y nunca recordarse?).
For auld lang syne, my jo (my dear), for auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’Kindness, yet, for auld land syne. -This is Scottish language- (Por los viejos tiempos, amigo mío, por los viejos tiempos: tomaremos una copa de cordialidad por los viejos tiempos).
I write it in honour of Graham who is far of your homeland. Montse, you’ll see the cryptic message which I announced in my last post, immediately. Roberto I didn’t know that the legend of Cid Campeador was false. I didn’t come back to study history from I was a child, but there are a lot of stories, legends, myths and tales which you don’t know if they are true. I’m afraid hardly all are false.
See you.
José, I love that song. I've listened to it every year since Graham told us about it, many years ago...
I miss the English classes at the MOJ too. We used to spend a good time as the same time as Graham insisted on we improved our English...jejeje!!!
By the way...it is going to be time to meet again, don't you think?
Concerning The Cid, tomorrow Monday at night, starts again the series 'The Ministry of the Time'on TV1. I think the first episode is about The Cid. I love this series and I recommend it to everyone!!
I hope see you soon.
You are really taken with this song. You will soon know all the words of by heart - just like "Yellow Submarine" LOL
Now I'm listening to some traditional Scottish songs with a bottle of wine (no whisky in the house) - a fatal combination. It's all your fault!!!
This is the kind of thing I've been listening to:
Auld Lang Syne-
http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2009/12/auld-lang-syne-lyrics.html
Caledonia-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP8A9rtg0iI
http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2007/11/tennent-lager-advert.html
Wild Mountain Thyme-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MagG8J--BBI
Flower of Scotland (Our National Anthem)-
http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2008/01/anthems.html
Amazing Grace (on the bagpipes)-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euWfTiYwRB0
Dark Island-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76kHRG96ciE
Loch Lomond-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feLT7Btuqpc
These are my Mountains-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwyIIVR20CI
Skye Boat Song-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjoJkb5OPY
and many more... haha
... I’m glad you are participating in the blog again where you grew up in English. You remind me of the English class in Ministry, on the fourth floor, with the best English teacher in the world, who arrived five minutes late, didn't you Graham? LOL It's not polite to arrive on time in Spain, is it?
I write it in honour of Graham who is far from his homeland. ... I haven't studied history since I was a child, but there are a lot of stories, legends, myths and tales which you don’t know if they are true. I’m afraid almost all are false / hardly any are true.
Let's try to meet before Easter but we'll leave it to José to decide on the place this time (and of course, we all have to moan about the meal afterwards).
Concerning El Cid, tomorrow Monday at night, the series 'The Ministry of the Time'on TV1 starts again. I think the first episode is about El Cid. I love this series and I recommend it to everyone!!
I hope to see you soon.