Cascalore
@cascalore.bsky.social
YouTuber who makes video essays on history, geopolitics, archaeology, and any other intriguing stories I think are worth sharing. You can find my channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@Cascalore
After 2000 years of Christianity and then secularism spreading in Europe, it's kind of remarkable that we still use names for the days of the week from all the way back in Pagan times. What's behind this linguistic streak three millennia strong?
youtube.com/shorts/qm9AQ...
youtube.com/shorts/qm9AQ...
Why Do We Still Use Pagan Names for the Days of the Week? #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:03 AM
After 2000 years of Christianity and then secularism spreading in Europe, it's kind of remarkable that we still use names for the days of the week from all the way back in Pagan times. What's behind this linguistic streak three millennia strong?
youtube.com/shorts/qm9AQ...
youtube.com/shorts/qm9AQ...
A Roman column stands in a quiet corner of Istanbul's Gülhane Park. While the column itself is around 1,800 years old, it's what happened on that spot 800 years earlier that defined the history of the region ever since.
youtube.com/shorts/oJXhc...
youtube.com/shorts/oJXhc...
Column of the Goths: Where One of the World's Greatest Cities Got Its Start #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
September 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
A Roman column stands in a quiet corner of Istanbul's Gülhane Park. While the column itself is around 1,800 years old, it's what happened on that spot 800 years earlier that defined the history of the region ever since.
youtube.com/shorts/oJXhc...
youtube.com/shorts/oJXhc...
If anyone is looking for some supplementary watching for Chief of War and the life of Kamehameha I, check out this video on his attempted takeovers of Kauai and the strange role the world's powers played, and the resistance efforts of Kauai's leader, Kaumualii.
youtu.be/ywN0Y5hrhhg
youtu.be/ywN0Y5hrhhg
The Schäffer Affair: One Mad Lad's Attempt to Seize Hawaii for Russia
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
August 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
If anyone is looking for some supplementary watching for Chief of War and the life of Kamehameha I, check out this video on his attempted takeovers of Kauai and the strange role the world's powers played, and the resistance efforts of Kauai's leader, Kaumualii.
youtu.be/ywN0Y5hrhhg
youtu.be/ywN0Y5hrhhg
Back when I worked on Syria stuff, one of my coworkers told me about an all-LGBT anarchist foreign fighter unit active in Raqqa. It never seemed to resurface though, so I just did a deep dive. Who and what was TQILA? youtu.be/ul33SN66XGI
TQILA: The Lost Story of Syria's Anarcho-Gay Faction
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
August 15, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Back when I worked on Syria stuff, one of my coworkers told me about an all-LGBT anarchist foreign fighter unit active in Raqqa. It never seemed to resurface though, so I just did a deep dive. Who and what was TQILA? youtu.be/ul33SN66XGI
New short history video: For many months of her time as Ike's ambassador to Italy, Clare Booth Luce was suffering from the effects of what seemed to be regular poisonings. Who or what was the culprit?
youtube.com/shorts/57YN-...
youtube.com/shorts/57YN-...
The Poisoning of Clare Booth Luce, US Ambassador to Italy #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
July 21, 2025 at 11:24 PM
New short history video: For many months of her time as Ike's ambassador to Italy, Clare Booth Luce was suffering from the effects of what seemed to be regular poisonings. Who or what was the culprit?
youtube.com/shorts/57YN-...
youtube.com/shorts/57YN-...
Reposted by Cascalore
I have a Greek ex. Her dad was a democracy activist in the 1970s. He was arrested and tortured by the junta in 1972. In European history, 1974 stands out as the year democracy returned to Spain, Portugal, and Greece. I always felt that, in particular, the Greek story was underappreciated.
June 9, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I have a Greek ex. Her dad was a democracy activist in the 1970s. He was arrested and tortured by the junta in 1972. In European history, 1974 stands out as the year democracy returned to Spain, Portugal, and Greece. I always felt that, in particular, the Greek story was underappreciated.
Reposted by Cascalore
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30.
Harvard thought it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta. It turned out to be extremely rare
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30.
bit.ly
May 15, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30.
New short video: Did you know one of Europe's deadliest tornado outbreaks hit Ivanovo and Yaroslavl in the USSR in 1984? It didn't help that the Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko was ill to the point of needing to spend months at a time at a spa in the Caucasus.
youtube.com/shorts/w2DvB...
youtube.com/shorts/w2DvB...
The Soviet Union's Worst Tornado Outbreak #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
May 15, 2025 at 1:30 AM
New short video: Did you know one of Europe's deadliest tornado outbreaks hit Ivanovo and Yaroslavl in the USSR in 1984? It didn't help that the Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko was ill to the point of needing to spend months at a time at a spa in the Caucasus.
youtube.com/shorts/w2DvB...
youtube.com/shorts/w2DvB...
New short for the Conclave fans out there: Is there a Catholic church presence in Afghanistan? youtube.com/shorts/3_lt8...
So, Is There a Catholic Church in Afghanistan? #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
May 13, 2025 at 7:47 PM
New short for the Conclave fans out there: Is there a Catholic church presence in Afghanistan? youtube.com/shorts/3_lt8...
New video! Exploring the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a Chilean dissident, and his co-worker Ronni Moffitt in Washington, DC in 1976
youtu.be/UQa_dYSV9e8
youtu.be/UQa_dYSV9e8
When Pinochet Struck in the US: The Letelier-Moffitt Assassination
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
May 2, 2025 at 3:13 PM
New video! Exploring the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a Chilean dissident, and his co-worker Ronni Moffitt in Washington, DC in 1976
youtu.be/UQa_dYSV9e8
youtu.be/UQa_dYSV9e8
New short! The Goths were one of the midst influential groups in late European antiquity. But what happened to them? How long did the longest Gothic communities last, and where were they? youtube.com/shorts/SsuQ-...
The Last of the Goths #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
March 19, 2025 at 10:14 PM
New short! The Goths were one of the midst influential groups in late European antiquity. But what happened to them? How long did the longest Gothic communities last, and where were they? youtube.com/shorts/SsuQ-...
America's tallest structure in the 1830s was the Phoenix Shot Tower in Baltimore, a status it (arguably) held for 18 years until the completion of Trinity Church in New York. It was only through the intervention of local activists that the tower was spared destruction.
youtube.com/shorts/piNcT...
youtube.com/shorts/piNcT...
The Phoenix Shot Tower, America’s Tallest Structure 1828-1846 #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
February 25, 2025 at 10:16 PM
America's tallest structure in the 1830s was the Phoenix Shot Tower in Baltimore, a status it (arguably) held for 18 years until the completion of Trinity Church in New York. It was only through the intervention of local activists that the tower was spared destruction.
youtube.com/shorts/piNcT...
youtube.com/shorts/piNcT...
"The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 Benin Bronzes that British troops looted from Nigeria in the late 19th Century and which ended up in a Dutch museum."
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Benin Bronzes: Netherlands to return stolen Benin statues to Nigeria
The Dutch Minister of Culture says he hopes this move will address the "historical injustice".
www.bbc.com
February 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
"The Netherlands says it will return more than 100 Benin Bronzes that British troops looted from Nigeria in the late 19th Century and which ended up in a Dutch museum."
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Hojun-maru set sail in 1832 on a routine trip up the coast of Japan. After a storm pulled their ship out to sea, the surviving crew spent decades of their lives making their way back home... the long way around.
youtu.be/DfpQUyU42aw
youtu.be/DfpQUyU42aw
The Incredible Accidental Circumnavigation of the Crew of the Hojun-maru
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
February 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The Hojun-maru set sail in 1832 on a routine trip up the coast of Japan. After a storm pulled their ship out to sea, the surviving crew spent decades of their lives making their way back home... the long way around.
youtu.be/DfpQUyU42aw
youtu.be/DfpQUyU42aw
#Santorini was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history, witnessed at the time by the Minoans, who may have been able to flee in time. However, their writing system remains undelivered. This video covers one possible breakthrough, now thought lost. youtu.be/TOLzHVEw6sk
What Happened to Crete's Lost Rosetta Stone(s)? | The Deros Inscriptions
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
February 4, 2025 at 6:23 PM
#Santorini was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history, witnessed at the time by the Minoans, who may have been able to flee in time. However, their writing system remains undelivered. This video covers one possible breakthrough, now thought lost. youtu.be/TOLzHVEw6sk
New short video! After the US cut off diplomatic relations with Iran amid the hostage crisis, Iran turned the US Embassy in Tehran into an IRGC training center and anti-American museum. Meanwhile, what happened to Iran's old embassy in Washington, DC?
youtube.com/shorts/4QCIF...
youtube.com/shorts/4QCIF...
Iran's Abandoned DC Embassy is a Cold War Time Capsule #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
February 1, 2025 at 2:45 PM
New short video! After the US cut off diplomatic relations with Iran amid the hostage crisis, Iran turned the US Embassy in Tehran into an IRGC training center and anti-American museum. Meanwhile, what happened to Iran's old embassy in Washington, DC?
youtube.com/shorts/4QCIF...
youtube.com/shorts/4QCIF...
New short video - Washington's largest pre-European building was Old Man House on the Kitsap Peninsula. It stood until 1870, when it was burned down by federal authorities who wanted to force the Suquamish community into single-family houses.
youtube.com/shorts/qcKhT...
youtube.com/shorts/qcKhT...
Washington's Largest Pre-European Building, Old Man House #shorts
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtube.com
January 27, 2025 at 9:56 PM
New short video - Washington's largest pre-European building was Old Man House on the Kitsap Peninsula. It stood until 1870, when it was burned down by federal authorities who wanted to force the Suquamish community into single-family houses.
youtube.com/shorts/qcKhT...
youtube.com/shorts/qcKhT...
Reposted by Cascalore
We’re happy as a clam to see this project completed!
January 24, 2025 at 1:00 AM
We’re happy as a clam to see this project completed!
New video! In 1815, the Russian-American Company hired a German doctor to negotiate their interests in Hawaii. A savvy local ruler saw this as an opportunity to defend his kingdom and conquer all Hawaii for His Imperial Majesty, Tsar Alexander I. youtu.be/ywN0Y5hrhhg
German Surgeon Tries to Seize Hawaii for Russia | The Schäffer Affair
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
January 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
New video! In 1815, the Russian-American Company hired a German doctor to negotiate their interests in Hawaii. A savvy local ruler saw this as an opportunity to defend his kingdom and conquer all Hawaii for His Imperial Majesty, Tsar Alexander I. youtu.be/ywN0Y5hrhhg
Officially one quarter done with editing my next video. I know it's about the early 19th century, but I can't help but worry it will somehow still be outdated by the time I get it up.
December 24, 2024 at 5:57 PM
Officially one quarter done with editing my next video. I know it's about the early 19th century, but I can't help but worry it will somehow still be outdated by the time I get it up.
The Assad regime collapsed in barely a week after more than 13 years of civil war. Why now? Were there any warning signs in the past few months that something like this might be coming? My reaction: youtu.be/5eF6qCh-A7Y
Syria Quick Reaction: Warnings, Why Now, What Next?
YouTube video by Cascalore
youtu.be
December 11, 2024 at 1:56 PM
The Assad regime collapsed in barely a week after more than 13 years of civil war. Why now? Were there any warning signs in the past few months that something like this might be coming? My reaction: youtu.be/5eF6qCh-A7Y
"The rare antiquities were seized at the port of entry in Blaine in 2017 after an individual traveling into Canada was refused entrance at the border... [The individual] had no legal provenance to validate if they were lawfully acquired and imported to the United States." www.ice.gov/news/release...
HSI Pacific Northwest investigation, CBP seizure result in transfer of 51 ancient coins to University of Washington for historical research
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) probe and Customs and Border Protection seizure resulted in the transfer of 51 Greek Hellenistic and early Islamic coins to the University of Washington Librar...
www.ice.gov
November 28, 2024 at 2:03 AM
"The rare antiquities were seized at the port of entry in Blaine in 2017 after an individual traveling into Canada was refused entrance at the border... [The individual] had no legal provenance to validate if they were lawfully acquired and imported to the United States." www.ice.gov/news/release...
When you were in school, what point did your local history lessons start off from? Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, all our history classes were about other places until the Lewis and Clark Expedition, even though the written history of the area goes back decades, if not centuries earlier.
November 23, 2024 at 3:15 PM
When you were in school, what point did your local history lessons start off from? Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, all our history classes were about other places until the Lewis and Clark Expedition, even though the written history of the area goes back decades, if not centuries earlier.
In the 1980s, the CIA and Pakistani intelligence had the *brilliant* idea of trying to get the war in Afghanistan to spill into Soviet Central Asia by radicalizing local Muslims to embrace violent jihad. What was the plan, and why did anyone think it was a good idea? www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtG2...
The CIA's (Alleged) Failed Attempt to Radicalize Soviet Central Asia
YouTube video by Cascalore
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2024 at 2:06 AM
In the 1980s, the CIA and Pakistani intelligence had the *brilliant* idea of trying to get the war in Afghanistan to spill into Soviet Central Asia by radicalizing local Muslims to embrace violent jihad. What was the plan, and why did anyone think it was a good idea? www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtG2...