Just some old photos from the Balkans (part 1)

In 1903-1904 Henry Noel Brailsford visited Macedonia and the Balkan peninsula, and made some extraordinary photos. His collection was later published in his book Macedonia: Its races and its future.

Link for the book.

The Main Street, Ochrida

“A Desert Swept by a Hurricane” – the Village of Zagoritchani After the Ilinden uprising in 1903

A Poor Village of the Plains (near Ochrida)

Peasants from a Poor Village (Ochrida)

Peasants from a Rich Village (Uskub)

A Prosperous Village Among the Hills. (Brusnik, near Monastir/Bitola)

Peasants Weaving (Near Ochrida)

Ancient Church of St. Sophia (Ochrida)

Monastery of Sveti Naoum, Lake Ochrida

Monastery near Ochrida

T o   b e   c o n t i n u e d . . .

Moscow Victory Parade of 1945

Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 took place in the Soviet capital of Moscow, on a rainy June 24, 1945, over a month after May 9, the day of Germany’s surrender to Soviet commanders. It was ordered directly by Joseph Stalin. Here are some photos and the whole video ( under the photos ) from the event.

Pelister, wild beauty

National Park “Pelister”, which is an area of 120km square, is located in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia near Bitola. The top “Pelister” on the mountain Baba is the third highest peak in the country with altitude of 2601 meters. The view from this point is breathtaking. East from the peak lies Pelagonia plane, and west is lake Prespa. Due to the large number of endemic plant and animal species, large area of the mountain was declared a national park in 1948. The national Park is well known for the endemic pine tree (pinus peuce) and the stone rivers that represent one of the most representative periglacial land forms on Balkan Peninsula. There are two glacial lakes on mountain Baba, known by the mutual name “Pelister eyes” that enchant with their wild beauty. The Big lake is 2,218 metres above the sea level while the Small lake is 2,180 metres high. Here are the sources of many rivers. The climate in Pelister National Park is diverse. Because of these natural characteristics that are rarely found elsewhere around the globe, Pelister each year attracts a large number of guests from home and abroad.

Photos by Stefan Ordevski & Katerina Manevska

Operations of the Serbian army in the Balkan war’s 1912-1913 through pictures (part 4)

Part one

Part two

Part three

Bloody vineyard’s

Serbian army march

Serbian artillery attacking the Bulgarian positions (1)

Serbian artillery attacking the Bulgarian positions (2)

Captured Bulgarian soldiers

Peasant woman

Discussion

Commemoration of the fallen soldiers

Serbs leaving Albania

Peace

Heir to the throne Alexander

 

T H E    E N D

Operations of the Serbian army in the Balkan war’s 1912-1913 through pictures (part 3)

Part one

Part two

Serbian artillery battery attacking Edirne

Explosion

Field hospital near Edirne

Тruce, marking of the demarcation line

Preparing for the final attack on Edrine

Battlefield in Thrace

Captured Turks

Bridge over the river Maritsa\Evros

Fortification of the Serbian army

Edrine after the siege

T o   b e   c o n t i n u e d . . .

Korab, Macedonia’s highest peak with a height of 2,764 m.

Korab is Macedonia’s higest peak. It’s height is 2,764 m. Korab is popular touristic place both in winter and summer. It’s beauty attracts many mountaineers, climbers, winter sports enthusiasts etc. In the following are pictures taken of Korab during summer expedition.

Photos by Stefan Ordevski

Operations of the Serbian army in the Balkan war’s 1912-1913 through pictures (part 2)

Part one

Field hospital

City of Skopje, autumn 1912

Serbian army entering Tetovo, 1912

Mavrovi Anovi, village in western parts of Macedonia

Serbian army crossing the Albanian mountains

Towards Adriatic sea

Durrës, Albania 1912

Meeting of the Montenegrin and Serbian army in Novi Pazar

Shkodra in northern Albania, 1912-1913

Serbian army coming to help Bulgarian soldiers near Edirne

On the river Maritsa/Evros

Camp of the Serbian army in Thrace

Front line, Edirne, 1912-1913

Winter is coming

Army tent

Positions near Edirne

T o   b e   c o n t i n u e d . . .

Zero Generation Computers

First man to create calculating machine was the french scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).
He built this device when he was only 19 years old. It was entirely mechanic, the operations it supported were only addition and subtraction.

Thirty years later German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz designed a calculating machine called the Step Reckoner.

For 150 years there wasnt much progress in calculating machine design, until mathematician Charles Babbage (1792-1871) constructed his
difference engine which had only two operations just like the Blaise Pascal’s machine. Because the difference engine calculated only one algorithm
Charles got bored with it and decided to make another machine which was the analytical engine which had multiplication and division too. The advantage of this engine was that it could do many different algorithms.
Babbage is considered as “father of the computer”.

Next in the series mechanic computers were the machines designed by Konrad Zuse, John Atanasoff and George Stibbitz. Expecially interesting was the Atanasoff machine which used binary arithmetic and had memory capacitors similar to the DRAM chips.

Last in the series zero generation computers were Mark I and Mark II machines.

Blaise Pascal’s machine

The Step Reckoner

The Step Reckoner

Charles Babbage’s Difference Machine

Aiken’s Mark I

Operations of the Serbian army in the Balkan war’s 1912-1913 through pictures (part 1)

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913. The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, and was fought between the kingdoms of Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria & Montenegro on one side, and the Ottoman empire on the other. The victory over the Ottoman army was to prove relatively easy. The Balkan forces numbered about 700,000, against 320,000 for their adversary. With the defeat of the Ottoman army the Turkish state lost all of its territories in Europe. The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, unsatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked, entering Bulgaria. With Bulgaria also having previously engaged in territorial disputes with Romania, this war provoked Romanian intervention against Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire also took advantage of the situation to regain some lost territories from the previous war. When Romanian troops approached the capital Sofia, Bulgaria asked for an armistice, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest, in which Bulgaria had to cede portions of its First Balkan War gains to Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Ottomans.

(sources : Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans: 20th Century, Cambridge University Press, 1983 ; V. Albert, Balkanski rat 1912-1913 )

Mobilization of the Serbian army, October 1912

Crossing the ottoman border

Serbian field artillery

On the front line

Serbian cavalry

Battlefield near Kumanovo, present day Rep. of Macedonia, October 1912

Dead soldier

Advance of the Serbian cavalry

Heading toward Prilep & Bitola, present day Rep. of Macedonia

Army convoys

T o   b e   c o n t i n u e d . . .