Our monthly look at what happened 100 years ago.
On this day, 16 February 1923 …
On this Day in 1923
Category Archives: history
Monthly Links
Welcome to this the first of our 2023 round-ups of links to items you my have missed the first time. There’s plenty here, with a lot of long reads, so let’s get going!
Science, Technology, Natural World
Last year London’s Natural History Museum officially named 351 new species, and surprisingly a quarter of them are wasps.
Still at London’s NHM, Anna Turns in the Guardian visits their secret vault of whale skeletons.
Somewhat differently, palaeontologists have been working out the details of sex with Neanderthals. [LONG READ]
And here’s an interview with Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo on understanding Neanderthals.
Turns out there are human only genes which increase brain size. We need to be very careful with them.
On the improvement of synthetic routes to recreational drugs.
It’s the hidden properties of many rare earth elements which have enabled our modern technology. [LONG READ]
Roman concrete was much different from our modern version, and its self-healing properties could benefit modern construction.
Meanwhile, a volcanic eruption in the wrong place could cause havoc for world trade, much worse than a ship stuck in the Suez Canal ever could. [LONG READ]
So what actually happens when a huge ship sinks? How are the worst effects of a disaster averted? [LONG READ]
From lost ships to lost nuclear weapons which no-one can find. [LONG READ]
Which brings us conveniently to a look at the discovery, properties and politics of uranium. [LONG READ]
There’s long been talk of an undiscovered Planet Nine in our solar system, but if it is there why hasn’t it been seen? [LONG READ]
And finally in this section, one for those who like their brain strained … quantum reality is impossible to measure, so how can we possibly understand it? [£££]
Health, Medicine
All is not always what it seems … it appears there is a mystery virus which confers protection against monkeypox. [LONG READ]
In complete contrast, here’s a brief history of the clitoris.
Environment
Fewer and fewer migrant birds are visiting our shores as the climate crisis takes its toll.
Art, Literature, Language, Music
On the peculiarity of American copyright law.
Against which here are five lesbian expressions from the 19th century to remember when watching Gentleman Jack.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
What do we know about the lives of Neanderthal women? [LONG READ]
Egyptian researchers have used high-tech digital scanning to to look at a 2300 year old mummified boy.
Archaeologists reckon to have found the world’s oldest runestone in Norway.
It seems there was a medieval habit of dividing the night into “two sleeps“. [LONG READ]
A medieval pendant unearthed in Germany has had its secrets unveiled by neutron imaging.
Here’s our favourite medievalist on the gossiping of the female. [LONG READ]
And again we have said medievalist, this time on medieval standards of beauty. [LONG READ]
There were many medieval manuals which taught sword-fighting, but modern experts are unable to decode all the tricks. [LONG READ]
Twenty years ago the remains of a medieval trading ship were discovered in Newport, South Wales. The remains have now been preserved and its custodians now have a huge 2500 piece jigsaw.
Here’s a look at the dilemmas in dating old buildings. [LONG READ]
The blog A London Inheritance goes back 300 years and looks at the London events of 1723. [LONG READ]
Coming almost up to date, the Dutch have released a WWII map purporting to show where a hoard of Nazi treasure is hidden.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Tom Lamont in the Guardian takes a look at some of the UK’s more ribald placenames.
According to the 2021 census, the fastest growing religion in England & Wales is shamanism. But what is it?
The idea of “love languages” – or how we feel nourished by our partners – has been around for 30 years and does seems to help people.
So this is what the experts suggest about how to be the best possible parent, lover, friend, citizen or tourist.
A look at why the right to protest and dissent is so important.
People
Christina Bowen Bravery on becoming a world champion stone skimmer.
Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!
One young art student discovers that her pubic hair is a capitalist.
And finally, some incredible images of the eerie shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea.
On this Day in 1923
Our monthly look at what happened 100 years ago.
This day, 9 January 1923 saw …
Monthly Links
And so to the final 2022 edition of my monthly links to items you may have missed.
Science, Technology, Natural World
There are quite a few scientific discoveries this month, so let’s start at the bottom and work up …
Scientists have discovered what they think is the world’s longest animal off Western Australia: a 45-metre-long deep-sea siphonophore.
Also found in the deep off Madagascar, scientists have named two new species of rare six-gill sawsharks.
Female sexual anatomy is generally poorly studied in all species, and snakes are no exception. So it’s only now that scientists have discovered that female snakes have a clitoris, or two. Two articles: one from Science News, the other from The Scientist.
So what do you find in a museum cupboard? In this case the thought lost pelt and skeleton of the last Thylacine (aka. Tasmanian Tiger).
Still in Australia, a group of female cowgirls, sorry graziers, have discovered the first intact fossilised skull, and most of the body, of a 100m-year-old plesiosaur.
And still going up, scientists have now found that the Tonga volcano eruption last January was larger and more interesting than previously thought.
Finally for this section, the Guardian had a long article on the epic task of shutting down and cleaning up the Sellafield nuclear facility. [LONG READ]
Health, Medicine
Scientists are beginning to rethink their ideas about what actually causes Alzheimer’s Disease. [VERY LONG READ]
Careful scientific analysis shows that Covid vaccines can temporarily disrupt the menstrual cycle – although Covid itself doesn’t. [£££]
There’s been a huge rise in the number of girls questioning their gender identity, and the professionals don’t really understand why. [LONG READ]
Art, Literature, Language, Music
There’s now brouhaha surrounding the artist and sexual abuser Eric Gill, as Ditchling’s museum effectively chooses to totally ignore their most famous artist. (Just don’t get me started! None of this is new, his abuse has been known about for at least 50 years.)
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
The area around Stonehenge continues to throw up important archaeology. Experts have now figured out that some Neolithic stone axes were much later used as part of a goldsmith’s toolkit.
A group of researchers have discovered over 100 previously unknown designs in Peru’s ancient Nazca plain.
Archaeologists in Rutland have uncovered a barn which was converted into a Roman bathing suite (complete with steam room) for use by the house’s owners.
Yet more archaeologists, this time in Northamptonshire, have uncovered an early medieval burial with a stunning necklace. Two reports from the BBC and The Conversation.
London
The Houses of Parliament are probably hiding a medieval river wall.
Food, Drink
Are sweeteners as harmless as we thought? The jury is still out but it looks doubtful. [LONG READ]
Don’t despise the humble Brussels sprout; they contain as much vitamin C as oranges plus many other health benefits.
And while we’re on healthy food, here are six reasons why, despite popular myth, potatoes are good for you.
So microbiologists have found the ancestor of modern brewing yeast, and then discovered it living under their noses in Ireland.
Finally on food, Ali Ahmed Aslam, the inventor of chicken tikka masala, has died aged 77.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Yes, I am a nudist, so what?
People
And finally for this year, here are 10 reasons why Richard Feynman was more than just a physicist.
December Quiz Answers
OK, so here are the answers to this month’s quiz questions. All should be able to be easily verified online.
December Quiz Questions: 17th Century England
- John Aubrey and John Evelyn were fellows of which organisation founded in 1660? The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, aka the Royal Society
- Who married the 15 year old Elisabeth Marchant de Saint Michel in December 1655? Samuel Pepys
- How is Matthew Hopkins (c.1620-1647) better known? Witchfinder General
- What discovery did William Harvey publish in 1628? The workings of the circulatory system
- Which influential work on political theory did Thomas Hobbes publish in 1651? Leviathan
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2021.
December Quiz Questions
This year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
December Quiz Questions: 17th Century England
- John Aubrey and John Evelyn were fellows of which organisation founded in 1660?
- Who married the 15 year old Elisabeth Marchant de Saint Michel in December 1655?
- How is Matthew Hopkins (c.1620-1647) better known?
- What discovery did William Harvey publish in 1628?
- Which influential work on political theory did Thomas Hobbes publish in 1651?
Answers will be posted in 3 weeks time.
Monthly Links
Well then, guys & gals, it’s time for our monthly round up of links to items I thought interesting, and you might too. And having missed last month’s collection we have a lot to catch up on!
Science, Technology, Natural World
The latest research suggests that we Brits are not descended from a single group. Apparently the UK had at least two genetically distinct human groups at end of last ice age.
We, like all apes, have lost our whiskers, but for those animals that still have them they are incredibly important. Here are five things you didn’t know. [VIDEO]
Palaeontologists have been looking at some ancient fish fossils and found they highlight the strangeness of our vertebrate ancestors.
Still with things watery, scientists have discovered living specimens of a clam thought to have gone extinct 40,000 years ago.
Also in the oceans, the denizens of the deep near the Cocos Islands have a array of glassy fangs and glowing fins.
Back on dry land, entomologists are also finding things they thought they’d lost. This time they’ve been searching in Indonesia for surviving colonies of Wallace’s Giant Bee, Megachile pluto. Two stories, first from the Guardian, second from the Smithsonian.
Here’s another oddity … A UK cat charity is looking to find a home for a kitten which is neither male nor female (and no, not intersex either!).
Do we all experience colour in the same way? It’s an intriguing question. Initially you’d say “yes”, but on reflection that would probably change to “no”. So where is the truth?
And here’s another take on colour perception. [LONG READ]
Finally, away from biology … On Saturday 19 November 2022 – yes, that recently! – a tiny asteroid fell from the sky over Ontario, Canada. What’s so special, is that it was spotted just 3½ hours from touchdown, but in that time NASA were able to compute it’s exact impact location.
Health, Medicine
Bird flu (H5N1) is already a huge problem for the poultry industry across Europe with millions of birds being culled. But worryingly a small number of key mutations would make it more easily jump from birds to humans, and to spread between us. And we have no protection beyond lockdown.
Quietly, in their labs, scientists are still working on new Covid-19 vaccines, and they may urn out to work very differently. [LONG READ]
Another approach to controlling Covid-19, and indeed many other infectious diseases, is to use UV light – and scientists think they’ve found a UV wavelength which kills germs but is save for us. [LONG READ]
Now to an old disease … the Black Death of 14th Century is still affecting our health today.
Environment
Conserving the environment and economic progress are not mutually incompatible and dismissing environmentalists as “anti-growth” is wrong. [££££]
Art, Literature, Language, Music
Harry Mount (Editor of The Oldie) takes a look at the importance and joy of rude Latin graffiti.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
Archaeologists working to reconstruct the ancient Mashki Gate in northern Iraq have unearthed beautiful rock carvings that are about 2,700 years old.
Here’s the latest article looking at the Antikythera Mechanism and what it is. [LONG READ]
Two stories on an exceptional collection of 24 ancient bronze statues found immersed in a Tuscan spa.
Analysis of gold coins found in Transylvania in 1713 suggest that the “fake” Roman Emperor Sponsian was actually real.
Now here’s our favourite medieval historian on the maintenance of monarchical succession. [LONG READ]
Meanwhile the Mediaeval Mythbusting blog looks at sex, stonemasons and the sacred. [LONG READ]
Just slightly more up to date, History Today takes a look at Tudor beds.
London
It seems the defunct Whitechapel Bell Foundry is up for sale as the American developers cannot fulfil their development plans. The London Bell Foundry are trying to acquire the site and restore it as a bell foundry.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
At times we all hesitate to be kind when opportunity knocks, but psychologist Claudia Hammond maintains we should all be much less hesitant. [LONG READ]
Still on the psychological, British Naturism looks at the role of nudity in improving mental health.
And finally … Two looks at the work of Architect Peter Barber who is designing some extraordinary housing developments which get right way from the “bloody boring brown Lego architecture” (to quote an acquaintance) and high-rise.
October Quiz Answers
OK, so here are the answers to this month’s quiz questions. All should be able to be easily verified online.
October Quiz Questions: American History
- Which Native American princess is buried in Kent? Pocahontas; at Gravesend
- How many World War II casualties were there on US soil? Six; in 1945 a Japanese balloon bomb landed in Oregon killing a woman and five children
- Which nation in 1886 gave the Statue of Liberty to the USA? France
- Who, in 1825, became number 6? John Quincy Adams, 6th President of USA
- Where, in 1773, was there a famous tea party? Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2021.
October Quiz Questions
This year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
October Quiz Questions: American History
- Which Native American princess is buried in Kent?
- How many World War II casualties were there on US soil?
- Which nation in 1886 gave the Statue of Liberty to the USA?
- Who, in 1825, became number 6?
- Where, in 1773, was there a famous tea party?
Answers will be posted in 3 weeks time.
Monthly Links
Here’s this month’s collection of links to items you may have missed – with minimal reference to last week’s state funeral.
Science, Technology, Natural World
It’s that time of year when we celebrate the Ig Nobel Prizes. [LONG READ]
In yet another round of modelling calculations, based on detailed measurements, scientists are suggesting that Saturn’s tilt and its ring system may be down to a missing moon.
Palaeontologists have studied growth lines and elements preserved in fossil teeth of Pantolambda bathmodon (a sheep-sized mammal and one of the first to expand into large-animal niches left vacant by the extinction of the dinosaurs) to reconstruct its day-to-day life.
There really are some strange creatures in the ocean depths; here’s one with eyes for a head.
Returning from the depths, Japanese scientists have found that tweezers modelled on a crow’s beak outperform our traditional design. [£££]
It might surprise you to know that bees and ants are both descended from primordial waasps. While we like bees, we mostly dislike ants and wasps. But ants are interesting, and incredibly useful in their own right.
Health, Medicine
Good grief! Archaeologists in Borneo have discovered the remains of a youngster who had a successful foot amputation 31,000 years ago!
I think we’ve been told about this before, but there is a Scottish woman who can smell if people have Parkinson’s disease years before they have symptoms – and she’s helping scientists develop a test.
Good news for some of us! A study has found that drinking tea may be linked to a lower risk of early death.
Sexuality
Scientists in Japan appear to have shown that significant female emission at orgasm is release fluid from the bladder. I cannot get my head round who would do this experiment, and who would willingly consent to being one of the guinea pigs. [£££]
Environment
A camera trap in south west London appears to have captured images of a wild pine marten; the first spotted in London for over 100 years. And it’s a damn good walk from the nearest known population.
Social Sciences, Business, Law
We’ll have just these two items on the Queen’s funeral, both about The Queue. They’re from Prof. Steve Reicher, a specialist in crowd behaviour from St Andrew’s University.
First: Don’t be fooled that everyone queueing in London is mourning the Queen.
Second: How the wait to see the Queen’s coffin transformed people.
Expect a lot more sociology on this in months and years to come.
Art, Literature, Language, Music
Actually, I sort of fibbed to you! Here’s another item related to the late Queen. Five photographers recall what it was like photographing Her Majesty.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
A fairly thin history section this month with just two items on the medieval.
Medieval pilgrim badges were not always entirely wholesome: it seems the pilgrims often used bawdy badges as talismen to protect against plague an the like.
DNA analysis suggests that a significant find of Jewish remains in Norwich are the victims of a medieval pogrom.
London
Here’s one about my childhood stamping grounds. Bell Common, Upshire, Essex which is the alleged site of Boadicea’s last stand – except it isn’t; that obelisk is a conceit.
London blogger Diamond Geezer has been trying to set foot in every one of the 1463 1km grid squares within Greater London. And he’s down to the last few.
First he visits square TQ1575 and the Mogden Sewage Works in Hounslow.
Then he reported that he was down to two unvisited squares – no, make that one, and that last one was unvisitable as it’s in the middle of airside at Heathrow.
Oh but wait! Apparently it isn’t entirely airside, and you can legally set foot in that last square. Result: every one of the 1463 squares visited!
It’s nerdy perhaps, but that has to be some achievement!
