Category Archives: history

history

April 1926

Leave a comment

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

1. Birth. Anne McCaffrey, American-born Irish author (d.2011)

2. Birth. Jack Brabham, Australian racing driver (d.2014)

3. Birth. Gus Grissom, American astronaut (d.1967)

6. Birth. Ian Paisley, Northern Irish politician (d.2014)

7. An assassination attempt against Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini fails.

9. Birth. Hugh Hefner, American founder of Playboy magazine (d.2017)

Hugh Hefner and blonde

21. Birth. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (d.2022)

30. A state of emergency is proclaimed in the United Kingdom under the Emergency Powers Act 1920 on account of the “threat of cessation of work in Coal Mines”.

arts, books, environment, history, links, medical, natural history, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for March

3 Comments

Herewith my collection of links to items you may have missed, but didn’t want to. Again this month we have quite a few science and medicine articles, and not so much on the arts – well it all depends on what’s published and looks interesting.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Now tell me … would aliens do physics, and do it the way we do? [££££] [LONG READ]

Beyond which, could aliens in another galaxy see dinosaurs on Earth? [££££]

So what is time? Is it just a figment of our imaginations?

A researcher has found Galileo’s handwritten notes in old astronomy text.

The Eye of the Sahara. They think it’s a circle and it shouldn’t be there. [LONG READ]

On the dying art of taxonomy and a love of midges.

In Papua New Guinea scientists have found a tiny possum and a glider which were thought extinct for 6,000 years.

Staying with discoveries, scientists have found three unknown geckos, and a lot else too, in Cambodia’s limestone caves.

And still with new discoveries, some other scientists have found lots of strange new species (example below) deep off the coast of Britain’s Caribbean islands.

Back on dry land apparently hedgehogs can hear very high frequency ultrasound.

Apparently cacti could help explain one of the oddities of evolution.

And finally in this section, an immunologist takes a hard look at the science behind the paraben panic.

Health, Medicine

Which brings us to the messier bits of the scientific arena …

We all have skin mites, but should we worry? Are they a health issue or harmless passengers?

Why do some people (like me) suffer from motion sickness, while others don’t.

What does body odour actually say about you?

Have you ever noticed that you breathe out of one nostril at a time. And have you ever stopped to wonder why?

Researchers have a suspicion that a previously unknown virus, hiding in a bacterium, may be a trigger for colorectal cancer.

And still wth gut bacteria, apparently couples share 30% of their gut bacteria. [I’m surprised it is so little – K]

Sexuality & Relationships

NSFW. So what does science tell us about why breasts send males wild? [LONG READ]

Remaining with female anatomy for a minute, apparently the clitoris has migrated from the inside (in most species) to the outside (in humans).

And so to male anatomy … with a look at the history of male member. [LONG READ]

The myths, misconceptions and realities of how porn shapes sexual health.

NSFW. Against which the evolution of erotic literature looks fairly tame.

Environment & Ecology

For once some good news: the Large Tortoiseshell butterfly (above) is no longer extinct in UK

It’s definitely counterintuitive, but when the human population fell during the Black Death, plant diversity dropped as well.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

The UK is considering putting native fauna on its banknotes, so some experts have a say.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Here’s an interesting interview with Ruth Scurr who wrote a biography of 17th century antiquarian John Aubrey (below).

Apparently our least favourite word is all about womb wisdom.

NSFW. A look at art and the vulva. [LOMG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

The theory of the population of the Americas has again been turned on its head by an archaeological site in Chile.

King Harold’s movement of troops from the NE to fight the Battle of Hastings … was it (as has been assumed) the most heroic march ever, or did everyone travel by boat?

London

Matt Brown takes a look at some of the interesting and varied historical models of London. [LONG READ]

And I’ll leave you this month with Matt Brown looking at bovine influences on London. [LONG READ]

history

March 1926

1 Comment

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

6. Birth. Alan Greenspan, American economist, Federal Reserve Chairman

16. Robert H Goddard launches the first liquid-fuel rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts .

23. Éamon de Valera organises the political party Fianna Fáil in Ireland.

31. Birth. John Fowles, English writer (d.2005)

John Fowles

history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links for February

Our monthly collection of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

How could we even know what came before the Big Bang? [LONG READ] [££££]

Which brings us on to some misconceptions about the universe.

At the other end of the unknowable, there’s growing evidence that some giant “Blobs” of rock have influenced Earth’s magnetic field for millions of years.

Compared with which it seems tame that researchers having managed to isolate antibiotic-resistant ancient bacteria from 5000-year-old ice.

So we’re gradually going down in size to take a look at the jam-packed nature of cells.

Meanwhile our favourite drug chemist, Derek Lowe, takes a look at the parlous state of scientific research literature.

Health, Medicine

A surgeon looks at the protection afforded by bone and hormone health.

Trigger warning … the rare condition that produces a calcified foetus.

It is totally normal for our skin to be home to countless mites.

Was the 1889 “flu” pandemic actually a coronavirus?

Sexuality & Relationships

Why do women Lose interest in sex? On the causes of low libido.

Scientific American takes a long, hard and rational look at the workings of polyamory. [££££] [LONG READ]

NSFW … Just when did penis size become important in Japan?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

It is becoming increasingly apparent that ancient humans were seafaring far earlier than we thought. [££££] [LONG READ]

The rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game have supposedly been worked out by AI. [££££]

Early medieval swords found in child graves in Kent suggest they were not just weapons.

Another pandemic item … it seems a mass grave in Jordan is providing new light on our earliest recorded pandemic, the Plaque of Justinian.

Our notions of foul drinking water in the Middle Ages are far from accurate.

We hear of heralds, on and off, throughout European history, but what do heralds actually do?

London

Matt Brown is back having coloured another section of John Roque’s 1746 map of London. This time Victoria and Pimlico. And he follows this up with a look at the very soggy state of Pimlico.

Underneath South Kensington (aka. Albertopolis) there’s a subterranean passage.

Back above ground Matt Brown (again) has a bit of fun with London’s street signs, and Katie Wignall goes looking for some of the city’s oldest street signs.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

A psychologist offers some ideas for staying positive when it never stops raining.

Well it was news to me but it seems there’s a new trend for showering in the dark before bed. Whether or not there’s any scientific justification, I think I’ll pass – thank you.

And finally … By way of puffing her new book, Karin Celestine asks “What is in your pockets?”

Image: Karin Celestine
history

February 1926

1 Comment

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

1. Death. Theodosius of Skopje, Bulgaria Orthodox religious leader and saint (b.1846)

2. Birth. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, President of France (d.2020)

9. Birth. Garret FitzGerald, Irish lawyer, politician, and 7th Taoiseach of Ireland (d.2011)

10. Birth. Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer, football manager (d.1993)

11. Birth. Paul Bocuse, French chef (d.2018)

14. Death. John Jacob Bausch, German-born American optician, co-founder of Bausch & Lomb (b.1830)

16. Birth. John Schlesinger, British film director (d.2003)

22. Birth. Kenneth Williams, English actor (d.1988)

Kenneth Williams

25. Francisco Franco becomes General in Spain.

history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

1 Comment

And they’re off … with the first collection for 2026 of monthly links to items you may have missed. This is a short edition (mainly due to the holidays) but it is full of curiosities. As always we start with the hardest stuff …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with a really interesting curiosity. A woman who was murdered in China has been found to have varying proportions of male and female cells throughout her body, due to an exceedingly rare form of chimerism. [££££]

Still on curiosities, there’s a fungus (above) in China, and a few other places, which if eaten when not fully cooked causes people to hallucinate dozens of tiny humans – and reliably only this hallucination!

How many holes does the human body have? It’s really all a question of topology and how you define a hole.

Hallucigenia (below) was such an odd animal that we know very little about it, but researchers are beginning to understand what it ate. [££££]

OK, so now let’s think about the sex life of plants, because it is a lot more complicated than we imagine.

And now the land itself … Scientists have now managed to map, in detail, the landscape of Antarctica beneath the ice.

Health, Medicine

The Covid-19 pandemic has left a hidden toll of millions of undiagnosed chronic conditions.

Next up we have two pieces on the curiosity which is synaesthesia:
First a young lady with time-space synaesthesia on how it affects her experience of events like new year.
Secondly, a pair of twins talk about what it’s like to also have the same synaesthesia.

And in an attempt to cap that, here’s a brief piece on the wild history of the hymen.

Environment & Ecology

The iconic green rose-ringed parakeets (below) a have been spreading across the UK since their escape 50+ years ago; and they’re now causing concern in some quarters (although personally I like having them around).

There are naturally stingless bees in the Amazon, and they’ve now been granted legal rights in parts of Peru.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

The interesting story of when the United Kingdom annexed an island in the North Atlantic.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

A look at the curious etymology of OK.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have made an absolutely stunning find of an iron age war trumpet (modern French reproduction carnyx below) and a boar’s head standard, with possible links to Boudicca.

In another major find, archaeologists have unearthed a hoard of Saxon coins which appear to have been buried on just before the Battle Hastings in 1066.

London

Not a lot of people know that there’s a medieval hall in Holborn.

Matt Brown investigates whether AI is any good at making maps of London. Spoiler: it isn’t.

But finally we don’t need AI as Matt Brown has released the latest panel in his project to colour John Rocque’s 1746 map of London: when Marylebone was all fields

history, memes

January Quiz Answers

1 Comment

Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

General Knowledge

  1. The numbers on the opposite sides of a six-sided die always add up to what number? Seven
  2. What was the name of the world’s first artificial satellite? Sputnik 1
  3. In what year did cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin reach space? 1961
  4. Where did backgammon originate? Persia
  5. What is England’s official national sport? Cricket
  6. Since the 1970s in which country has it been a tradition to eat fried chicken from KFC on Christmas Day? Japan

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2025.

history

January 1926

1 Comment

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

13. Birth. Michael Bond, English fiction writer, creator of Paddington Bear (d.2017)

16. A British Broadcasting Company radio play by Ronald Knox about workers’ revolution in London causes a panic among those who have not heard the preliminary announcement that it is a satire on broadcasting.

Early BBC logo

26. Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system at his London laboratory for members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from The Times.

29. Birth. Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist and Nobel laureate (d.1996)

history, links, nudism, science

Monthly Links

And so this year’s final collection of links to items you may have missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start off with some seasonal stars … Here are three stars embroiled in an odd ménage à trois (below).

After which the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a manger for exomoons. [££££]

There’s a huge, faint nebula near Andromeda, but now researchers have managed to work out how far away it is.

Now down to Earth … Here are two reports on the somewhat surprising story of how we were domesticated by cats. First from Scientific American [££££] and the second from the BBC.

Research into the remains of ancient DNA have revealed the carrier of the world’s earliest known plague.

Here’s a little experiment to do at home: how close you can get to the value of π (pi) by repeating Buffon’s needle experiment.

Lastly in this section, here’s something I actually saw … pink fog. It was very odd and rather eerie.

Health, Medicine

When should we undertake mass screening, and when shouldn’t we?

Sexuality & Relationships

So just how monogamous are humans? And where are we in a league table of species?

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Let’s hope this isn’t the thin end of the wedge … the Danish postal service is to stop delivering letters.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

For those interested in language, here’s a brief look at the history of the word c*nt.

Here’s a look at the 2000+ history of sex workers in art. [LONG READ]

Musicians and scientists are now understanding and recreating the sound of music from the Stone Age. [LONG READ]
Meanwhile shells found in Spain could be among oldest known musical instruments.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

In Bolivia they’ve uncovered over 16,000 dinosaur tracks – that’s the largest such known field.

It’s being suggested that an ancient hominin called Little Foot may be a newly recognised species.

Still on palaeontology, finds at a site in Suffolk are suggesting that humans made fire some 350,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Ever onward … and a new study is suggesting people arrived in Australia 60,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have found yet another massive structure close to Stonehenge.

While at the other end of the country archaeologists have found a 3,000-year-old mysterious mass burial site in Scotland.

Here’s something I thought we already new … Ancient Roman cement from Pompeii is revealing the secrets of its durability. [££££]

New DNA work on a Roman era young woman found in southern England has revealed that she wasn’t dark skinned after all.

Now here’s an odd one: it is being suggested that the Black Death plague which swept Europe in 14th-century was triggered by a volcanic eruption.

London

Matt Brown is continuing his work on mapping with a big update to his map of Anglo-Saxon London.

In other work Matt Brown takes a look at the forgotten Thorney Island, now know as Westminster.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Here are some thoughts on the way in which hospitality can bruise us mentally and emotionally.

Shock, Horror, Ha ha ha!

Finally for this year, two amusements …

First, the Official Naturist Code.

And then a look at the curious biology of Santa Claus’s elves.

history, memes

December Quiz Answers

2 Comments

Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

British History

  1. In what year was the Battle of Culloden? 1746
  2. How many monarchs reigned during the 19th century? 4 – George III, George IV, William IV, Victoria
  3. Who, in 1835, produced durable silver chloride camera negatives on paper and conceived the two-step negative-positive procedure used in most non-electronic photography up to the present? Henry Fox Talbot
  4. Charles Dodgson is remembered as an early photographer, but what else is he famous for? The Alice in Wonderland books (as Lewis Carroll)
  5. In what year was slavery abolished in the British empire? 1838
  6. What links playing cards in 1588; windows in 1696; candles in 1709; wallpaper in 1712? All were taxed starting in those years

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.