Anarchist Russians, Princes in the Towers and Jewish Bonfires

1. Dmitri Mendeleev, credited with creating the periodic table, was also a Russian anarchist. Mendeleev proposed to, and married, his second wife before he was divorced from his first wife. Even still he was a bigamist because the Russian Orthodox Church requires 7 years in between remarriages. When pressed to punish Mendeleev the Russian Czar responded, "Mendeleev has two wives, yes, but I have only one Mendeleev"(The Disappearing Spoon).

2. During the War of the Roses, Richard usurped the throne from his 12 year old nephew, Edward the V, son of Edward the IV. Edward the V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York were the two princes in the tower. The War of the Roses ended at the Battle of Bosworth Field where Richard was killed and Henry was named king, thus beginning the Tudor dynasty (In Our Times).

3. Lag BaOmer is a Jewish holiday is most well identified with its custom of lighting bonfires. The holiday originally was a celebration of the death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a Mishnaic rabbi and on the same day he revealed the secrets of kabbalah in the Zohar (foundational Kabbalahist text). Zionist have repurposed it as a celebration of the success of the Bar Kokhba revolt - or the Third Jewish Revolt - in 132–136 CE against the Romans, the success of which allowed an independent Jewish state to exist for 2 years. But then the Jews lost hardcore.