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Lessons From History

@LessonHist

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Stories from history with lessons. Unleash the wisdom of the past in your life. (Formerly "Stories For CEOs")

Joined March 2011
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
In 1218, Genghis Khan wanted to establish a trade alliance with a neighboring ruler who didn't like him. The ruler was Shah Muhammad II of the Khwarazmian empire. Initially, the Shah pretended to agree... But when Genghis sent a caravan of 500 merchants to the Khwarazmian
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@LessonHist
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In the late 1680s, the French King Louis XIV had an embarrassing health problem... He had something painful, called a fistula, growing on his butthole He needed to get rid of it badly, but no one was qualified to do it. So he turned to a barber named Charles-Francois Felix for
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@LessonHist
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In the mid-1800s, a medical doctor working at the Vienna General Hospital noticed something strange... Mothers were dying at three times the rate if they gave birth in the wards staffed by doctors, than in wards staffed by midwives. Very strange... What could be happening? He
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@LessonHist
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In 471 BC Athens, one of their greatest politicians and army generals, Themistocles, found himself in big trouble. Ancient Athenians had this bizarre custom in which citizens would vote annually to banish a politician or influential person who was perceived as a threat to
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@LessonHist
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In the 6th century BC in ancient China, the Duke of Qi just sentenced someone to death for losing his favorite bird... His wise chief minister, Yang Yin, wanted to intervene, but without offending his powerful boss. So he devised a clever ruse... The crime the bird caretaker,
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@LessonHist
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In 1260 AD, Genghis Khan's grandson sent the most terrifying letter you'll ever read... (The letter is included below) This letter was delivered to Sultan Qutuz, of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt by two Mongol emissaries (who will meet a terrible fate shortly). Most recently,
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@LessonHist
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The famous insult that gave birth to Lamborghini... In 1958, Ferruccio Lamborghini bought a Ferrari 250GT. Then, his company was just in the humble tractor and farm equipment manufacturing business. Not many people know that Lamborghini started off as a tractor manufacturer.
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@LessonHist
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In the early 19th century, American spies were trying very hard to steal British industrial trade secrets... The British Government, seeking to stay ahead, had banned the export of textile machinery and designs. With hefty fines due if you were caught trying to smuggle them.
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@LessonHist
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In 1457 BC, the young Pharaoh Thutmose III set out to confront a massive rebellion by an alliance formed by some of Egypt's vassals. Will he succeed? He is in his mid 20's and unproven as a military commander... He just become Pharaoh after the death of Hatshepsut – his aunt
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@LessonHist
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In 62 BCE while Julius Ceaser's wife, Pompeia, was hosting a sacred festival called the Bona Dea – from which men and male animals were forbidden to attend... A politician named Publius Clodius Pulcher disguised himself as a woman and sneaked into the venue, with the intention
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@LessonHist
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1 year
In May 1864, during the American Civil War, a Union general had one of the most unfortunate last words... During the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia, a Union General named John Sedgwick refused to take cover. His reasoning was sound... While he was directing his
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In 1805, when Muhammad Ali Pasha was appointed the Ottoman governor of Egypt, he only had control of the Capital Cairo... Everywhere else, he was fighting for control with the Mamluks, a warrior caste of slave soldiers who had ruled Egypt for centuries. But when the British
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In 330 BC, Alexander the Great uncovered a conspiracy to murder him... The plot was exposed because the person who hatched the plot, Dimnus, revealed the plans to his gay lover, Nicomachus. Nicomachus, in turn, told his brother, Cebalinus, about it and Cebalinus exposed the
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In the 4th Century BC, Philip II of Macedon, Alexander the Great's father, threatened Sparta with an invasion... At this point, he was on a roll and had already defeated and subdued all the major Greek city-states, with the exception of Sparta. He sent them this message: "You
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@LessonHist
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9 months
In 1737, when Benjamin Franklin (the guy on the $100 bill) was renominated as clerk for the Pennsylvania General Assembly... Another member who didn't like him very much made a long speech about why the job should instead be given to someone else. Being the clerk was a
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@LessonHist
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The Bona Dea festival celebrates the virgin goddess Bona Dea, who is associated with fertility, healing, and women. It holds annually on May 1st and sometimes in December. Because of Publius' voice and mannerisms, Aurelia, Julius Ceaser's mother became suspicious and raised an
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@LessonHist
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In 1462, Vlad the Impaler was in big trouble... His tiny principality of Wallachia was about to be invaded by a large Ottoman army led by Mehmed the Conqueror. (Mehmed II is the guy who conquered Constantinople, and Wallachia is a part of modern-day Romania.) Vlad the Impaler,
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In 1805, Napoleon, the Emperor of France was in big trouble. He was at war with the combined empires of Austria and Russia. At this time, he was in a delicate position... His army was deep into enemy territory so he had to leave lots of soldiers behind to protect their supply
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In 75 BC, Julius Ceaser, the future dictator of Rome, was captured by Cilician pirates in the Aegean Sea. Big mistake... At the time, he was just a 25-year-old nobleman, on his way to study oratory in Rhodes. When the pirates demanded a ransom of 20 talents of silver (about
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@LessonHist
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In the Christmas of 1954, Bill Marriot Sr (the founder of Marriot Hotels) invited President Eisenhower to his family farm in Virginia for quail hunting... The then 22-year-old Bill Marriot Jr. learned one of the most important lessons of his life during this visit. He's a
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In the 1860s, during the American Civil War, an embarrassing letter from Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, was leaked to the press. When it was published in the papers, it caused quite an embarrassment for President Lincoln. The letter was highly
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
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@LessonHist
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In 1797, when Napoleon was the commander of the French army in Italy. A lowly soldier traveled at full speed, on horseback, to deliver an important letter to him...
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@LessonHist
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On March 25, 1199, during the siege of Châlus-Chabrol, King Richard I considered it such a cakewalk that he removed some of his chainmail armor. (This would cost him...) His thinking wasn't wrong. There were only two knights defending the castle and they weren't...
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@LessonHist
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1 year
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
On February 4th, 1912, a French tailor, named Franz Reichelt, decided to test his new parachute design by jumping off the Eiffel Tower. In 1912, aviation was still in its infancy so there were a lot of crashes. Because of this, there was a lot of interest in a means by which
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@LessonHist
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9 months
In the 6th century BC, while Cyrus the Great was still in the womb, his grandfather marked him for death... His grandfather, King Astyages of the Median Empire, had two dreams that troubled him. And when he summoned his dream interpreters, he didn't like what they had to say...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
Lesson: Make an example of one person and others will fall in line... In 336 BC, when the 20-year-old Alexander the Great ascended the throne of Macedonia, following his father's sudden demise, some Greek city-states his father had subdued saw it as an opportunity to rebel.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In the 3rd century BC, King Hiero II of Syracuse commissioned a goldsmith to create a crown using a specific amount of gold... When the crown was delivered, the king suspected that the goldsmith had cheated him by substituting some of the gold with silver. But he had no way to
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@LessonHist
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1 year
@green_shirin Thank you Shirin.
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@LessonHist
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"War is not only a matter of equipment, artillery, group troops or air force; it is largely a matter of spirit, or morale." –– Chiang Kai-shek
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@LessonHist
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@RayoKasali A typo, brother.
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@LessonHist
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When the 28-year-old Darius I ascended the throne of the Persian empire in 522 BCE He had a monumental challenge... How do I prevent my subjects in positions of authority from overthrowing me or robbing the state blind? You see, these were dangerous times...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, U.S Marines and some police officers responded to a hostage situation... You see, the Marines are not the guys you want for domestic duties. Their primary focus is on combat operations. The 1992 L.A. riots were intense... There was massive
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
In 1563, a man was caught hiding under the bed of the Queen of Scotland, Mary I... He was a French poet named Pierre de Bocosel de Chastelard. He was infatuated with the queen and wanted to surprise her in private and proclaim his love for her. Actually, he wasn't a complete
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
In 1885, after a falling out with Thomas Edison, the 29-year-old Nikola Tesla found himself unemployed and penniless. Desperate for work...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
During the Hundred Years War between France and England (1337 – 1453)... Charles II of Navarre, also known as Charles the Bad, initially pledged his loyalty to the French. However, he was not a man of honor. In 1354 when the tide of war seemed to favor the English, he...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
@thoughtfully_an Today, the US is doing something similar to China...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
Take the stress out of hiring. Hire vetted developers & designers from my agency. Send me a private message to get started. Our rates are between $20/hr to $60/hr.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
the people who work for you. If you raise their spirits high enough, each person will be three times more productive, efficient and reliable. I am yet to find a leader or business owner who doesn't want this.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
Correction: celebrated as a hero in *Romania.
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@LessonHist
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after his death, one of his mercenaries named Mercadier had the boy flayed alive and hanged. Overconfidence can be expensive.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
shot troop morale through the stratosphere. Napoleon was one of the greatest people managers to ever live. He knew how to bring the best out of his troops. And we can learn a lot from his conduct. Getting your well-paid employees to do their jobs well is easy, considering...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
honor in France, and pinned it on that soldier's uniform. "A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon" –– Napoleon Bonaparte As he also said: "In war, the morale is to the physical as three is to one." This, too, applies to...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
Take the stress out of hiring. Hire vetted freelance assistants, developers & designers from my agency. Send me a private message to get started. Our rates are between $20/hr to $60/hr.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
Turn your knowledge into money. Right now, other people are getting paid for the same knowledge and experience in your head. They can't pay you though, because you haven't provided an avenue for that to happen. Let me help you, as I have helped 100s of others from around the
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
"Then take mine”, replied Napoleon. The soldier protested, “But sir, it’s too grand and magnificent for me" "Nothing is too grand and magnificent for a soldier of France”, replied Napoleon. Word of this exchange quickly spread through the camps and...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
If you enjoyed this story, you'll love my free newsletter, Stories For CEOs: Subscribe to get entertaining, historical stories like the above delivered to your inbox.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
Take the stress out of hiring. Hire vetted freelance assistants, developers & designers from my agency. Send me a private message to get started. Our rates are between $20/hr to $60/hr.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
a trivial task. Unfortunately, the boy with the frying pan shield, Pierre Basile, shot him in the shoulder with a crossbow and he died of gangrene a week later. As a final act of mercy, he forgave Pierre Basile and gave him a gift of 100 shillings. However, immediately...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
Lesson:  Be yourself... In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company decided to change the near 100-year-old taste and formula for Coke. All hell broke loose... They didn't just do this on a whim. They had been steadily losing marketing share to other competing cola products, especially to
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
If you enjoyed this story, follow me for daily stories like this from history. I'll also appreciate likes and retweets.
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@LessonHist
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1 year
army when he was just 16 years of age, to put down a rebellion against his father. And in the two decades preceding the siege of Châlus-Chabrol he had become a warrior of many battles. He had fought in Sicily, France, Cyprus, Jerusalem, etc. So indeed, taking the castle was...
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@LessonHist
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prepared for a siege. And to the amusement of the attackers, one of the defenders – a boy named Pierre Basile – had a frying pan as an improvised shield. You see, King Richard I was a legit badass. He is called Richard the Lionheart for a reason. He first commanded an...
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@LessonHist
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a cornerstone of his success. He did things like this all the time... He would soldiers based on their bravery in battle. He once asked a unit, "Who is the bravest man among you?" They pointed at some random guy... And he took off his Legion of Honor medal, the highest..
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@LessonHist
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the highest danger to them is perhaps some back pain. Napoleon got often hungry, poorly paid soldiers – who were forbidden from looting – to fight for him with great enthusiasm. Making his troops feel acknowledged and appreciated was...
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@LessonHist
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@UtahLibertyGov The city in Syria.
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@LessonHist
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transform the electrical industry and lead to the founding of the Westinghouse Electric Company. Just like Tesla, there will be times in your life you might have to engage in manual labor, or other unpleasant tasks because of circumstances. Don't let that get in your way.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
In June 1335, a group of Castilian knights led by Juan Núñez de Lara violated the Navarrese border and attacked a Navarrese convoy, without authorization from the king, Alfonso XI. The incident escalated into a series of raids and skirmishes that led to a full-scale...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
Turn your knowledge into money. Right now, other people are getting paid for the same knowledge and experience in your head. They can't pay you though, because you haven't provided an avenue for that to happen. Let me help you, as I have helped 100s of others from around the
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
territory. And when he called on the English for help, his allies at the time, they instead invaded and seized some of his lands. Unrelated to his schemes, he died in an accident in quite a horrific way.
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@LessonHist
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constantly shifting allegiances backfired and caused him to be distrusted by both the English and the French. And also his own subjects in Navarre. In the end, his many plots and schemes did not prove profitable, as he lost most of his...
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@LessonHist
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@Anshuman123T Thank you!
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@LessonHist
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Napoleon was about to ride off to join a hunting party. But he replied to the letter on the spot and ordered the soldier to deliver it at once. The soldier replied, “Sir, I’ll love to, but my horse is almost dead from exhaustion"...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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he took up manual labor, digging ditches to survive, for a mere $2 a day. This may seem like a demoralizing setback for someone of Tesla's intellect and ambition, but he refused to let it deter him. Instead, he used this time to refocus on his dreams of revolutionizing the field
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
1 year
...from The Kings Eyes and Ears could invoke the powers of the King, and directly command armies, etc, if they considered it necessary. You might not have a vast empire to preside over, but if you are going to delegate certain responsibilities to employees – especially finance
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@LessonHist
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...related – you might want to have someone else or another team audit and report to you on their activities.
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@LessonHist
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Bardiya, his predecessor, ruled for just a few months before Darius overthrew him. Stealing from the kingdom was bad enough, but the greater danger to him lay in plots and rebellions From others who were out to do what he already did. Once a subject become too wealthy...
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@LessonHist
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Being one man he had to appoint several rulers to oversee his many provinces. Communication is painfully slow! To prevent fraud, abuse of office and disloyalty, he devised a clever system of checks, each being independent of the others.
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@LessonHist
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of electrical power. And he continued to seek funds to start his own electrical company. In 1887, he secured funding from investors to start the Tesla Electric Company. With his newfound financial backing, he continued to develop his AC system, which would ultimately
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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He also appointed secretaries for each province, who were independent of both the Satraps and generals, to report to him on their activities. Finally, he had a secret agency, known as Spasaka (in Old Persian, meaning "The King's Eyes and Ears") who will show up unannounced to..
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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...inspect and audit the affairs and financial records of each province. If a Satrap enriched himself too much from the King's tributes and taxes, the tendency existed for them to start a rebellion. So this needed to be nipped in the bud. In emergencies, inspectors...
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@LessonHist
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@DijanaV Glad you liked it.
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@LessonHist
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First he appointed rulers, known as "Satraps" to govern each province. Then he placed a general in charge of the armies of each province. These generals were independent of the Satraps and answered only to him. He didn't stop there...
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@LessonHist
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...the tendency is for them to rebel and want to carve out their own kingdom. His empire is vast. Spans 3 continents and is larger than even the Roman Empire (which was founded 500 years later). At the time, it was the largest empire to ever exist in history...
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@LessonHist
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@LessonHist
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address issues promptly and decisively, before they fester and turn into open wounds. Had either of the kings intervened in the beginning, the incident would not have escalated into a war.
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@LessonHist
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back to the English side. Then when John II died in 1364, he saw an opportunity to gain more power in France, so again he switched back to the French side. In 1371 he switched sides again to support the English. His opportunistic behavior and...
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@LessonHist
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betrayed his French allies and threw his support behind the English. When the king of France, was captured in 1356, he switched back to the French side hoping to secure more territory in France. In 1361, when John II, the French king, escaped from captivity, he switched...
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@LessonHist
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@titisavaj Hi Titi, I do not. Writing is more fun, and you can be succinct. Podcasts bore me to death.
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@LessonHist
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a war, and Alfonso XI also didn't want one either. However, they were forced to fight one since things had escalated and gotten out of hand. Luckily, they both came to their senses soon enough and signed a peace treaty in less than a year. As a leader, you should try to...
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some Castilian nobles and officials, including the powerful Juan Núñez de Lara, felt that the treaty was not beneficial to Castile and sought to undermine it. (Both were neighboring kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula and present-day Spain) Philip III of Navarre didn't want...
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@LessonHist
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war between the kingdoms of Navarre and Castile by October of that year. You see, in the early 1330s, Alfonso XI of Castile had signed a treaty with Navarre, in which he recognized the sovereignty of the Navarrese king over certain territories and trade routes. However,...
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@LessonHist
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@pbuenow @titisavaj Hi Paulo, no I do not. But I have a newsletter where I send out stories daily.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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@GMon32759953 Yes my friend. Speaking of The Red Wedding... Just watched it again last week. By far, my favourite show.
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@LessonHist
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@bixybillionsnft Can't win them all...
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
9 months
If you are interested in: - Copywriting services: sales letters, website copy, ad copy, etc. - SEO writing. - Marketing automation. - Conversion-focused web design. - Or no-code app development with Bubble... send me a DM.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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If you are interested in: - Copywriting services: sales letters, website copy, ad copy, etc. - SEO writing. - Marketing automation. - Conversion-focused web design. - Or no-code app development with Bubble... send me a DM. Btw, you can read more about Julius Ceaser here:
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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@JoeSmyth10 @paulg What's this structure used for?
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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If you are interested in: - Copywriting services: sales letters, website copy, ad copy, etc. - SEO writing. - Marketing automation. - Conversion-focused web design. - Or no-code app development with Bubble... send me a DM. Read more about Alexander the Great here:
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@LessonHist
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2 years
@marcus_aura @sama @tszzl Haha, you're not a good person. Nice.
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@LessonHist
Lessons From History
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@rictrevi Thanks! I understand.
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@LessonHist
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@ramamdss @ProfFeynman You've given out all the
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