In 1897, the British "Punitive Expedition" looted an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 artifacts from the Kingdom of Benin (modern-day Nigeria). At the time, the British did not "buy" these items; they were seized as "spoils of war" to offset the costs of the military campaign.   Once the art reached London, it was sold through various channels, and its financial "value" has skyrocketed over the last century.   Historical Sale Prices (Post-Looting) After the loot arrived in...

Thomas Fuller   African slave and mathematician 1710-1790   In most discussions of people with extraordinary powers of mental calculation, there is some mention of Thomas Fuller, an African, shipped to America in 1724 as a slave at the age of 14. He was born in 1710 Africa somewhere between present day Liberia and Benin. Late in his life his remarkable powers of calculation made him a tool of abolitionists due demonstrate blacks are not mentally inferior to whites. After is death,...