In pre-Meiji restoration Japan, why did a Samurai shave his head before battle?
Answer: To indicate he was ready to die.
Source: The Emergence of Modern Japan by Janet E Hunter; General Historical Texts
On This Day
1180 – Philip Augustus becomes king of France aged fifteen. He will be the first monarch to style himself ‘King of France’.
1739 – The Treaty of Belgrade is signed, placing Belgrade under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
More at: History
HistoryWow’s Quick Shot Videos
A short, sharp hit of history in video format. Acclaimed Irish playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde was the toast of London society in the 1890s until things came decidedly unstuck through an association with a young British aristocrat, Lord Alfred Douglas, known as ‘Bosie’.
The source for this HistoryWow video is: Oscar and Bosie - A Fatal Passion by Trevor Fisher; General Historical Texts.
More Quick Shot Videos on HistoryWow's YouTube Channel: 
Who Am I?
- I was born in Indiana, United States of America, in 1859.
- I moved to Texas, where I drove cattle, and later to Colorado, where I attempted gold mining.
- Aged 43 I began writing; my authentic accounts of American life in the days of the open range and westward expansion became immensely popular.
- My most famous work was the The Log of a Cowboy (1903), which depicts a five-month drive of cattle from Texas to Montana. It is considered a classic of western fiction.
- My other works include The Outlet (1905), Wells Brothers (1911) and The Ranch of the Beaver (1927)
Last week’s answer:
Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
HistoryWow’s Highlighted Historical Quotation
“I read it a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all.”
Jane Austen (1775-1817), British author, on the accounts of history.Source: Jane Austen, Critical Assessments by Ian Littlewood More at: History
HistoryWow’s Featured Historical Figure of Note
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (1007-1063)Welsh king. He became King of Gywnedd in 1039, and Deheubarth in 1044 and ruled virtually all of Wales by 1055. He began to attack a number of English settlements before eventually being defeated by English forces at Rhuddlan. He was later killed by his own followers.
More at: History
