Browse Items

Eagle feather war bonnet and painted buffalo hide shield. Each feather represents an act of bravery. These are display replicas for education and ceremony -- the originals were sacred. Handle with respect or do not handle them at all.

Sitting Bull

🇬🇧

When the penalty for failure is death -- for you and everyone depending on you. Decision making under extreme pressure, keeping groups calm, dealing with fear and doubt. I never lost a single passenger on the Railroad. Tip: Fear is natural. Paralysis is not. Decide and move. A wrong decision made quickly is better than a right decision made too late.

Harriet Tubman

🇬🇧

Desktop cloud chamber that makes radioactive particle tracks visible. Pour in isopropyl alcohol, cool the base, and watch cosmic rays and natural radiation leave vapor trails in real time. It's like seeing the invisible forces that pass through your body every second. Mesmerizing and educational.

Marie Sklodowska Curie

🇵🇱 🇫🇷 🇷🇺

Cast iron replica of the Pennsylvania Fireplace. More efficient than an open fireplace -- the baffle system circulates warm air into the room instead of up the chimney. I refused to patent it. Some things should be free. The Governor of Pennsylvania offered me a patent; I said no. Heat is a public good.

Benjamin Franklin

🇬🇧 🇫🇷

The iklwa -- named for the sucking sound it makes when pulled from a body. Short-hafted, broad-bladed, designed for close combat behind the cowhide isihlangu shield. The shield hooks the enemy's shield aside, the iklwa goes in underneath. I changed warfare in Africa with this weapon.

Shaka Zulu

🌐

Six-foot yew longbow, 120-pound draw weight. The weapon that would later destroy French chivalry at Crecy and Agincourt. Even in my time, English and Welsh archers were devastating. I was killed by a crossbow bolt at Chalus -- never underestimate ranged weapons.

Richard the Lionheart

🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🌐

Group training (12-20 people). The bull horn formation: the chest pins the enemy, the left and right horns encircle. The loins wait in reserve facing away so they do not grow anxious. Commands by runner. We drill barefoot -- I threw away my warriors' sandals. Tip: A warrior who cannot run 50 miles cannot fight.

Shaka Zulu

🌐

Chain mail hauberk over padded gambeson, with plate reinforcement at shoulders and knees. Great helm with cross visor. About 55 pounds total. I wore heavier at Arsuf in desert heat. If you can fight in this, you can fight in anything.

Richard the Lionheart

🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🌐

Concentric walls, flanking towers, murder holes, killing grounds. I designed Chateau Gaillard in Normandy -- three baileys, each commanding the one below. Philip took it by climbing through the latrine chute. Tip: Design for the attack you cannot imagine, not the one you expect.

Richard the Lionheart

🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🌐

Barefoot running, shield drills, stick fighting, distance marches. My impis covered 50 miles in a day on bare feet and arrived ready to fight. Modern shoes made your feet weak. This program fixes that. Tip: Pain is information. Listen to it, then decide what to do with it.

Shaka Zulu

🌐

Riveted chain mail hauberk and conical helmet with nasal guard. Lighter than Crusader plate, better in the heat, flexible enough for mounted archery. My Mamluks wore gear like this at Hattin.

Saladin

🇦🇪 🌐 🌐

How to wage war without losing your humanity. Prisoner treatment, negotiation under pressure, trust with enemies. I sent Richard ice when he had fever. He sent me horses. We tried to kill each other for three years and parted with respect. Tip: Your reputation arrives before your army.

Saladin

🇦🇪 🌐 🌐