The Fountain of Youth is a spring that restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years, appearing in writings by Herodotus, the Alexander romance, the stories of Prester John. Stories of similar waters were evidently prominent among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean during the Age of Exploration, who spoke of the restorative powers of the water in the mythical land of Bimini and others. Based on these many legends and adventurers have long looked for the elusive Fountain of Youth or, at least, some remedy to aging, most associated with magic waters; these waters were not a fountain but might have been a river, a spring, or any other water source, said to reverse the aging process and cure sickness when drank or bathed in. The legend became prominent in the 16th century, when it was attached to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, first Governor of Puerto Rico. According to an apocryphal combination of New World and Eurasian elements, Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to what is now Florida in 1513.

The legend says that Ponce de León was told by Native Americans that the Fountain of Youth was in Bimini and it could restore youth to anyone. Herodotus mentions a fountain containing a special kind of water in the land of the Macrobians, which gives the Macrobians their exceptional longevity; the Ichthyophagid in their turn questioned the king concerning the term of life, diet of his people, were told that most of them lived to be a hundred and twenty years old, while some went beyond that age—they ate boiled flesh, had for their drink nothing but milk. When the Ichthyophagi showed wonder at the number of the years, he led them to a fountain, wherein when they had washed, they found their flesh all glossy and sleek, as if they had bathed in oil- and a scent came from the spring like that of violets; the water was so weak, they said, that nothing would float in it, neither wood, nor any lighter substance, but all went to the bottom. If the account of this fountain be true, it would be their constant use of the water from it which makes them so long-lived.

A story of the "Water of Life" appears in the Eastern versions of the Alexander romance, which describes Alexander the Great and his servant crossing the Land of Darkness to find the restorative spring. The servant in that story is in turn derived from Middle Eastern legends of Al-Khidr, a sage who appears in the Qur'an. Arabic and Aljamiado versions of the Alexander Romance were popular in Spain during and after the period of Moorish rule, would have been known to the explorers who journeyed to America; these earlier accounts inspired the popular medieval fantasy The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, which mentions the Fountain of Youth as located at the foot of a mountain outside Polombe in India. Due to the influence of these tales, the Fountain of Youth legend was popular in courtly Gothic art, appearing for example on the ivory Casket with Scenes of Romances and several ivory mirror-cases, remained popular through the European Age of Exploration. European iconography is consistent, as the Cranach painting and mirror-case from 200 years earlier demonstrate: old people carried, enter at left and enter a pool, as large as space allows.

The people in the pool are youthful and naked, after a while they leave it, are shown fashionably dressed enjoying a courtly party, sometimes including a meal. There are countless indirect sources for the tale as well. Eternal youth is a gift sought in myth and legend, stories of things such as the philosopher's stone, universal panaceas, the elixir of life are common throughout Eurasia and elsewhere. An additional hint may have been taken from the account of the Pool of Bethesda in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus heals a man at the pool in Jerusalem. According to legend, the Spanish heard of Bimini from the Arawaks in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico; the Caribbean islanders described a mythical land of Beimeni or Beniny, a land of wealth and prosperity, which became conflated with the fountain legend. By the time of Ponce de Leon, the land was thought to be located northwest towards the Bahamas; the natives were referring to the area occupied by the Maya. This land became confused with the Boinca or Boyuca mentioned by Juan de Solis, although Solis's navigational data placed it in the Gulf of Honduras.

It was this Boinca that held a legendary fountain of youth, rather than Bimini itself. Sequene, an Arawak chief from Cuba, purportedly was unable to resist the lure of Bimini and its restorative fountain, he sailed north, never to return. Found within the salt water mangrove swamp that covers 6 kilometres of the shoreline of North Bimini is The Healing Hole, a pool that lies at the end of a network of winding tunnels. During outgoing tides, these channels pump mineral-laden fresh water into the pool; because this well was carved out of the limestone rock by ground water thousands of years ago it is high in calcium and magnesium. Magnesium, shown to improve longevity and reproductive health, is present in large quantities in the sea water. While it is not known whether any legend about healing waters was widespread among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, the Italian-born chronicler Peter Martyr attached such a story drawn from ancient and medieval European sources to his account of the 1514

Brother Jonathan is the personification of New England. He was used as an emblem of the U. S. in general, can be an allegory of capitalism. The epithet "Brother Jonathan" was one for the U. S. and not just New England. Brother Jonathan soon became a stock fictional character, developed as a good-natured parody of all New England during the early American Republic, he was popularized by the weekly newspaper Brother Jonathan and the humor magazine Yankee Notions. Brother Jonathan was depicted in editorial cartoons and patriotic posters outside New England as a long-winded New Englander who dressed in striped trousers, somber black coat, stove-pipe hat. Inside New England, "Brother Jonathan" was depicted as an enterprising and active businessman who blithely boasted of Yankee conquests for the Universal Yankee Nation. After 1865, the garb of Brother Jonathan was emulated by Uncle Sam, a common personification of the continental government of the United States; the term dates at least to the 17th century, when it was applied to Puritan roundheads during the English Civil War.

It came to include residents of colonial New England, who were Puritans in support of the Parliamentarians during the war. It is derived from the Biblical words spoken by David after the death of his friend Jonathan, "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan"; as Kenneth Hopper and William Hopper put it, "Used as a term of abuse for their... Puritan opponents by Royalists during the English Civil War, it was applied by British officers to the rebellious colonists during the American Revolution". A popular folk tale about the origin of the term holds that the character is derived from Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of the State of Connecticut, the main source of supplies for the Northern and Middle Departments during the American Revolutionary War, it is said that George Washington uttered the words, "We must consult Brother Jonathan," when asked how he could win the war. That origin is doubtful, however, as neither man made reference to the story during his lifetime and the first appearance of the story has been traced to the mid-19th century, long after their deaths.

The character was adopted by citizens of New England from 1783 to 1815, when Brother Jonathan became a nickname for any Yankee sailor, similar to the way that G. I. is used to describe members of the U. S. Army; the term "Uncle Sam" is thought to date to the War of 1812. Uncle Sam appeared in newspapers from 1813 to 1815, in 1816 he appeared in a book; the weekly newspaper Brother Jonathan was first published in 1842, issued out of New York, it exposed North America to the character named "Brother Jonathan". Yankee Notions, or Whittlings of Jonathan's Jack-Knife was a high-quality humor magazine, first published in 1852, that used the stock character to lampoon Yankee acquisitiveness and other peculiarities. It, was issued out of New York, a rival with neighboring New England before the Civil War, it was a popular periodical with a large circulation, people both inside and outside New England enjoyed it as good-natured entertainment. Such jokes were copied in newspapers as far away as California, where natives encountered Yankee ships and peddlers, inspiring Yankee impersonations in comedy burlesques.

Brother Jonathan: or, the New Englanders was the title of a book released in three volumes by John Neal. It was published in Edinburgh, illustrating the impact that the crafty New England character had on British literature. Around the same time, the New England-based Know Nothing Party, which Yankee Notions lampooned, was divided into two camps—the moderate Jonathans and the radical Sams. Uncle Sam came to replace Brother Jonathan, the victors applied "Yankee" to all of the country by the end of the century, after the "Yankee" section had won the American Civil War. "Uncle Sam" was applied to the Federal government. Uncle Sam came to represent the United States as a whole over the course of the late 19th century, supplanting Brother Jonathan. According to an article in the 1893 The Lutheran Witness, Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam were different names for the same person: "When we meet him in politics we call him Uncle Sam. Here of late Uncle Sam alias Brother Jonathan has been doing a powerful lot of complaining, hardly doing anything else."

The phrase "We must consult Brother Jonathan" appears on the graduation certificates of Yale University's Trumbull College named for Trumbull. Some members of the Jonathan Club, a private social club headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, believe their club was named after Jonathan Trumbull or "Brother Jonathan." However, the club was formed in 1895, the true inspiration for its name is lost to history. John Bull Marianne Johnny Reb Uncle Sam Columbia Yankee 1862 Harper's Weekly Brother Jonathan Cartoon The Diverting History of John Bull and Brother Jonathan - complete 1827 text w. illustrations

The Safed attacks were an incident that took place in Safed soon after the Turkish Ottomans had ousted the Mamluks and taken Levant during the Ottoman–Mamluk War in 1517. At the time the town had 300 Jewish households; the severe blow suffered took place. The view that the riot's impact on the Jews of Safed was severe is contested. Historians link the event to the general conflict taking place in the country between the incoming Ottoman regime and its opponents and note that the Jews suffered maltreatment during the war. Accounts of the attack against the Jews in Safed were recorded by historian Rabbi Elijah Capsali of Candia, Rabbi Joseph Garson, living in Damascus at the time. According to these reports, many Jews were left injured, they were compelled to flee the city and their property was plundered. Scholars debate whether or not the event led to a decline in the Jewish population of Safed, but all agree that a few years Jews had re-established a significant presence in the city; the attack may have been initiated by retreating Mamluk soldiers who accused the Jews of treacherously aiding the Turkish invaders, with Arabs from the surrounding villages joining the melee.

Alternatively, the attack occurred during an attempt by local Mamluk sheikhs to reassert their control after being removed from power by the incoming Turks. David suggests that the violence may have erupted after rumors of an Ottoman defeat in Egypt led to clashes between supporters of the old regime and those who backed the newly imposed Turkish authority. Supporters of the deposed Mamluk governor attacked Ottoman officials and after having murdered the Ottoman governor, the mob turned upon the Jews and rampaged through the Jewish quarter, the Jews suffering particular maltreatment. Many Jews were killed while others were wounded or had their property pillaged. According to Garson, the Jews were "evicted from their homes and plundered, they fled naked to the villages without any provisions." Many subsequently fled the city, but the community was soon rehabilitated with the financial help of Egyptian Jewry. The Jewish community recovered; the many Jews who had fled and sought refuge in neighbouring villages returned, within 8 years the community had reestablished itself, exceeding the former level of 300 households.

The Ottoman overthrow of the Mamluks brought about important changes. Under the earlier dynasty, Egyptian Jews were guided by their Nagid, a rabbi exercising the functions of a prince-judge; this office was abolished because it represented a potential conflict with the jurisdiction of the hahambaşi or chief rabbi in Istanbul, who represented all Jews in the empire, who had, via a Jewish officer, direct access to the sultan and his cabinet, could raise complaints of injustices visited upon Jewish communities by governors in the provinces or Christians. 1517 Hebron attacks 1834 looting of Safed 1838 Druze attack on Shlomo. Those Were the Generations. Yedioth Ahronoth. ISBN 978-9-6544-8745-0. David, Abraham. "Demographic Changes in the Safed Jewish Community of the 16th Century". In Róbert, Dán. Occident and Orient: A Tribute to the Memory of Alexander Scheiber. Brill Archive. ISBN 978-9-6305-4024-7. David, Abraham. In Zion and Jerusalem: the itinerary of Rabbi Moses Basola. Translated by Dena Ordan. Bar-Ilan University.

ISBN 978-9-6522-2926-7. David, Abraham. To Come to the Land: Immigration and Settlement in 16th-Century Eretz-Israel. Translated by Dena Ordan. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5643-9. Fine, Lawrence. Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos: Isaac Luria and His Kabbalistic Fellowship. Stanford University Press. Finkelstein, Louis. "Eretz Yisrael Under Ottoman Rule, 1517-1917". The Jews: Their History. Schocken Books. Schur, Nathan. Toldot Tsfat. Tel Aviv: Am Oved and Dvir. Shmuelevitz, Aryeh. Ottoman history and society: Jewish sources. Isis Press. Silberman, Neil Asher. Heavenly Powers: Unraveling the Secret of the Kabbalah. Castle Books. ISBN 978-0-7858-1324-8. David, Abraham. Further data on the pogrom of 1517 against the Jews of Safed, Cathedra 8, p. 190-94. Tamar, David. On the Jews of Safed in the Days of the Ottoman Conquest, Cathedra 11, p. 181-82