Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
3. Born. Tony Benn, politician, in London (d.2014)
6. Died. Alexandra Kitchin, 60, British model for Lewis Carroll.
10. The novel The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald was published.
14. Died. John Singer Sargent, 69, American artist
28. Presenting the government’s budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill announced Britain’s return to the gold standard.
Here’s this month’s round up of links to interesting(?) items you may have missed.
Science, Technology, Natural World
Yes, everything is chemicals! Here are the first two articles in a series for reasonably intelligent non-scientists explaining from the ground up how everything is chemicals so you can navigate the modern world of misinformation.
1. Everything is chemicals – yes, even you.
2. Cyanide is natural, Aspirin is synthetic. Which one do you trust?
[LONG READS]
How to use a significant lack of data to estimate the power of the enemy.
The Blue Bus Paradox and the legal system.
American researchers are asking cat owners to share their pets’ habits and quirks (and if you’re in USA) their fur for genetics. The hope is this will shed light on how cats’ health and behaviour are influenced by their genes.
Astronomers have now discovered 128 previously unknown moons of Saturn. It begs the question: how large does a rock have to be to be called a moon.
Another big rock, the asteroid Bennu, turns out to be a lot weirder than it was thought. [££££]
And there’s another very odd small rock (below), a meteorite, which appears to be the relic of a lost planet. [££££]
Lastly in this section, Prof. Christina Pagel paints a gloomy dystopian picture of the possible future of British science.
Health, Medicine
An Australian man, who has died recently aged 88, was the most prolific blood and plasma donor in Australia ever! It is estimated that he gave blood over 1000 times.
Environment
Coyotes don’t like money. While they like green space like parks, they choose against against golf courses and cemeteries in wealthier areas.
Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics
75 years ago an engineer turned economist, created one of the first physical models of an economy, using salvaged parts from a WWII Lancaster bomber.
Art, Literature, Language, Music
Here’s an interview with Richard Blair, about his extraordinary father George Orwell. [LONG READ]
So what and how changed the way we spoke English during the late Medieval and Early Modern periods?
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
It all happens a lot earlier than we think … 1.5 million years ago, our ancestors used hippo bones to make tools.
We all know the Venus of Willendorf, but what’s on her head? Hair? Or a hat?
Archaeologists have uncovered an unexpected Bronze Age stone circle in Derbyshire.
So why did this Iron Age culture on the Iberian Peninsula drive large nails in skulls?
London
Many strange things happened during WWII, but how did the London Underground spawn Ampersand Station?
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Scotland has created and certified an official tartan to honour its executed witches.
An Australian sex writer takes two personal looks at pubic hair:
1. If pubic hair is a personal choice, why do so many choose to be hairless? [LONG READ]
2. Why she’s OK with her full bush.
Wow! Ha ha!
And finally, sex researcher reports on wearing a Kim Kardashian £68 nipple bra for a week. [££££]
Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..25 years of yore.
Some Notable Events in 225
Unknown Date. Emperor Alexander Severus marries Sallustia Orbiana, and possibly raises her father Seius Sallustius to the rank of Caesar.
Unknown Date. The first Christian paintings appear in Rome, decorating the Catacombs.
Some Notable Events in 325
20 May. First Council of Nicaea. Constantine I summons an ecumenical Council of bishops in Nicaea (Turkey). .
19 June. First Council of Nicaea adopts the Nicene Creed and declares that the members of the Trinity are equal. The council also decides that Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
Unknown Date. Gladiatorial combat is outlawed in the Roman Empire.
Unknown Date. The Church of the Nativity is built in Bethlehem.
Some Notable Events in 425
27 February. The University of Constantinople is founded by emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocias.
Summer. Roman civil war: Joannes, Roman usurper, is defeated at Ravenna and brought to Aquileia and executed.
23 October. Valentinian III, six-year-old son of Galla Placidia, is installed as emperor (Augustus) of the Western Roman Empire.
Unknown Date. Last known usage of Demotic script in Egypt.
Unknown Date. Buddhism begins to spread to Southeast Asia.
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
8. The Chicago Department of Public Health announced that the present crossword puzzle fad caused no ill health effects from headaches or eye strain, as had previously been feared.
12. The British government decided to reject the Geneva Protocol.
16. A 5,000-mile high speed communications cable between the United States and Italy was officially activated by envoy to the United States Giacomo De Martino.
20. Died. George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India (b.1859)
21. The first performance of the Maurice Ravel opera ballet L’enfant et les sortilèges took place in Monte Carlo.
22. Born. Gerard Hoffnung, artist and musician, in Berlin (d.1959)
25. Scottish inventor John Logie Baird publicly demonstrated the transmission of moving silhouette pictures at the London department store Selfridges
25. Born. Flannery O’Connor, American writer (d.1964)
26. Born. Pierre Boulez, French composer (d.2016)
31. The Bauhaus closes in Weimar and moves to a building in Dessau designed by Walter Gropíus.
This month’s collection of links to items you may have missed the firs time around.
Science, Technology, Natural World
A new theory suggests humans might not be that special in the universe after all.
A new asteroid has been found and it might hit us in 2032, but the odds keep changing as it’s orbit is refined by new observations.
A different asteroid has been found to possibly contain the building block of life.
At the other end of the size spectrum … There’s a whole world of tiny “organisms”, smaller than viruses, out there; but do they constitute life? [££££]
This is a few months old, but the Asian Southern Giant Hornet (Vespa soror) has found its way to Europe. That’s a third species: it’s not the Yellow Legged Hornet (Vespa velutina) now widespread in Europe; nor the Northern Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia) which has hit NW USA. [££££]
Studying babies’ minds [££££] [LONG READ] is prompting a rethink of consciousness, and maybe explains why we can’t remember our lives as babies or toddlers.
Health, Medicine
Contrary to the naysayers, we know exactly what’s in vaccines because we put it there.
Researchers using mice have found a surprising link between menthol and Alzheimer’s Disease.
It seems that it may be possible that aching joints really can predict the weather.
Sexuality
I thought we already knew that, although still taboo, masturbation really can be good for you.
Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics
Following a recent spate of accidents, it looks as if planes are crashing more often. But are they really?
Art, Literature, Language, Music
Amongst his other achievements Leonardo da Vinci made some incredible studies of human anatomy, but they are still not getting the recognition they deserve. [LONG READ]
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
In Egypt, archaeologists have found the 3,500 year-old tomb of a missing pharaoh.
New research suggests that most Europeans had dark skin until less than 3000 years ago. [££££]
Thanks to ever-improving technology, researchers have got the first glimpse inside a 2000-year-old scroll from Herculaneum.
In London some of the earliest parts of the Roman city’s basilica have been found in an office basement.
Meanwhile a new study has found evidence suggesting the ownership of Scotland’s Viking-age Galloway Hoard.
The Oakington Women: A collection of extraordinary female burials in sixth-century Cambridge is evidence of a matriarchal society.
In West Sussex the discovery of a medieval toilet has helped uncover lost home of the England’s last Anglo-Saxon King.
What we choose to remember from the past can give a radically different picture from the contemporary reality.
A potted biography of Samuel Pepys. [LONG READ]
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
And finally (yes, pun intended) … knowing the common signs that someone is dying can help in their final days.
Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..25 years of yore.
Some Notable Events in 125 BC
Unknown Date. In Rome, Marcus Fulvius Flaccus proposes the extension of Roman citizenship to the northern Italians, but the Senate reacts by sending him off to deal with disturbances around Massilia – and in so doing, commences the conquest of Transalpine Gaul.
Unknown Date. Completion of Aqua Tepula aqueduct in Rome.
Some Notable Events in 25 BC
Unknown Date. Imperator Caesar Augustus becomes Consul for the ninth time. His partner is Marcus Junius Silanus.
Unknown Date. The temple to Neptune on the Circus Flaminius is built.
Unknown Date. Rome, capital of the Roman Empire, becomes the largest city in the world, taking the lead from Chang’an, capital of China.
Some Notable Events in AD 25
Unknown Date. Emperor Tiberius settles a dispute between Messenia and Sparta over the Ager Dentheliales on Mount Taygetus.
Unknown Date. Died. Lucius Antonius, grandson of Mark Antony (b.20 BC).
Some Notable Events in AD 125
Unknown Date. The Pantheon is constructed (in Rome) as it stands today, by Hadrian.
Unknown Date. Emperor Hadrian establishes the Panhellenion.
Unknown Date. Hadrian distributes imperial lands to small farmers.
Unknown Date. Plague sweeps North Africa in the wake of a locust invasion that destroys large areas of cropland. The plague kills as many as 500,000 in Numidia and possibly 150,000 on the coast before moving to Italy, where it takes so many lives that villages and towns are abandoned.
Unknown Date. Zhang Heng of Han dynasty China invents a hydraulic-powered armillary sphere.
Unknown Date. The Satires of Juvenal intimate that bread and circuses (panem et circenses) keep the Roman people happy.
Unknown Date. Pope Telesphorus succeeds Pope Sixtus I as the eighth pope according to Roman Catholic tradition.
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
1. Ahmed Zog ascended to power in Albania, becoming its President, Prime Minister and Marshal of the Royal Albanian Army.
2. Born. Elaine Stritch, actress and singer, in Detroit (d.2014)
8. Born. Jack Lemmon, actor, in Newton, Massachusetts (d.2001)
11. In the English House of Commons, Reginald Applin of the Conservatives asked the Speaker of the House if Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson was in order while addressing the House without wearing a hat. The Speaker ruled that she was and a precedent for women was set.
26. Born. Everton Weekes, cricketer, in St Michael, Barbados (d.2020)
Welcome to the first “Monthly Links” of 2025, where we give you links to things you may have missed the first time around. And do we have a bumper crop this month!
Science, Technology, Natural World
Let’s start with a celebration … This month the Universe is 100! [LONG READ]
We do live in a special part of the Universe, don’t we? [££££]
It took Galileo’s new-fangled telescope to find these four objects which you can now see easily with binoculars.
And scientists continue to push the boundaries of the telescope … Hubble Space Telescope wasn’t supposed to ever look at the sun, but they did it anyway. [££££]
Twenty years ago there was a cosmic explosion which rocked Earth. [££££]
Slightly less dramatically, Pluto and Charon may have formed as the as the result of a kiss.
Meanwhile astronomers are hoping for a brief, but spectacular, star which appears only every 80 years. [LONG READ]
Also celebrating its centenary is the Pauli Exclusion Principle which underpins our understanding of subatomic particles.
Let’s get our feet back firmly where we can understand what’s going on … or not so firmly, as here’s a look at the strange fish which has historically struck fear into the hearts of mariners.
Still on oddities, a pair of birders in Michigan have been visited by an extremely rare yellow cardinal bird.
Why in 1926 in the USA was there a plague of mice? [LONG READ]
Going down another level in size, some caterpillars make deadly venoms which can even kill a human.
Even further down is size to our DNA, why are we all riddled with genetic errors? [LONG READ]
Health, Medicine
The series looking at modelling a pandemic has reached Part 4: Asymptomatic Transmission. [LONG READ]
OB/GYN Dr Jen Gunter takes a look at fibroids, one of the scourges if the female reproductive system. [LONG READ]
At the other end of the body, it seems the pupil of the eye can open a surprising window on the mind.
And here’s a real oddity … an 84 year old man in Hong Kong has turned grey due to silver poisoning.
Sexuality
Kate Lister says she spent a year telling men where they were going wrong in bed. [££££]
A sex expert suggests eight questions everyone should ask for better sex. [££££]
Environment
The expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport, indeed all airport expansion and air travel in general, will negate the UK’s attempts to reach net zero.
Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics
Breaking with my normal position on politics … In what may be my only comment on the state of the USA, Ian Dunt at The I Paper looks at that Elon Musk Nazi salute and what it means for the future of the US. [££££] [These people have to be stopped, but how?]
How can we fix democracy? Ancient Greek philosopher Plato could suggest the answer.
Zoom calls and how to survive them in 2025.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
A quarry in Oxfordshire has yielded the UK’s (and maybe Europe’s) biggest set of dinosaur tracks. (Aerial view above.)
Archaeologists have discovered that they can extract ancient DNA from dirt, so areas like cave floors are revealing yet more information about, for instance, Stone Age humans. [££££]
Meanwhile investigations are ongoing into how built Europe’s first cities.
In Egypt archaeologists have found the 4,000-year-old tomb of an overachieving magician.
An Iron Age site in Dorset is demonstrating that women were at the centre of some tribal communities, and exploding the earlier misogynistic narratives.
Excavations at Pompeii continue to reveal astonishing details of life there, including unexpected luxury.
Here’s a look at what five gold rings from Norfolk can tell us about the past.
Porch House in Stow-on-the-Wold claims to be Britain’s oldest pub dating from around 947. But is it really?
Leonardo Da Vinci always maintained that there were secret tunnels in Italy’s Sforza Castle. It now turns out he was right.
Excessively pointed shoes were the height of fashion in medieval London
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Meet a sea captain who’s obsessed with icebreaking.
We’re losing the ability to write in cursive, and therefore also read it – and it’s all the fault of computers.
And finally … What do you need to start meditating? Nothing except your own mind.
Over the next few months we’ll have a look at some things – things which seem to me to be interesting or curious – which happened during other years ending ..25. Some years are busy; in others little seemed to have happened. Each month we’ll progress a bit further through centuries, starting this month with 525 BC and reaching 1825 in November. Most years are fairly sparce, so until things really get going in 1525 each entry will contain multiple years. So off we go at 525 BC.
Some Notable Events in 525 BC
17 September. Venus occults Antares. The next such occurrence will not take place until 17 November 2400 AD.
Unknown Date. Battle of Pelusium. Cambyses II of Persia conquers Egypt by painting cats and other animals sacred to the Egyptians on his soldiers’ shields. The Egyptians run in fear of “harming” these animals. After conquering Egypt, the Persian king Cambyses II sent ambassadors to Macrobia, bringing luxury gifts for the Macrobian king to entice his submission. The Macrobian king replied instead with a challenge for his Persian counterpart in the form of an unstrung bow: if the Persians could manage to string it, they would have the right to invade his country; but until then, they should thank the gods that the Macrobians never decided to invade their empire.
Unknown Date. Born. Aeschylus, author of Greek tragedies.
Unknown Date. Died. Anaximenes of Miletus, Greek scientist and philosopher (b.585 BC).
Some Notable Events in 425 BC
Unknown Date. Demosthenes captures and fortifies the port of Pylos in the Peloponnesus, giving Athens a strong base close to Sparta. The Battle of Pylos results in an Athenian victory leading to the surrender of many of the Spartan troops. Pylos remains in Athenian hands.
Unknown Date. Euripides’ play Hecuba is performed.
Unknown Date. Aristophanes’ play The Acharnians is performed. Produced by Callistratus, it wins Aristophanes a first prize at the Lenaea.
Unknown Date. Died. Herodotus of Halicarnassos, Dorian Greek historian (b.484 BC).
Some Notable Events in 325 BC
Unknown Date. Alexander the Great leaves India and nominates his officer Peithon as the satrap of the region around the Indus.
Unknown Date. The first known reference to sugar cane appears in writings by Alexander the Great’s admiral Nearchus, who writes of Indian reeds “that produce honey, although there are no bees”.
Unknown Date. Born. Euclid, Greek mathematician who will come to live in Alexandria (d.c.275 BC).
Some Notable Events in 225 BC
Unknown Date. After the Battle of Faesulae (near Montepulciano) between the Gauls and a Roman army, the combined Roman forces succeed in outmanoeuvring the Gauls and force the invaders towards the coast of Tuscany. The Consul Regulus crossed from Sardinia, landed at Pisa, and was marching towards Rome. His scouts met the Celts’ advance guard head on near Telamon.
Unknown Date. Battle of Telamon: The Romans, led by the consuls Gaius Atilius Regulus and Lucius Aemilius Papus, defeated the Celts led by the Gaesatae kings Concolitanus and Aneroëstes.
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
1. Norway’s capital Christiania was renamed Oslo.
1. The states of Aleppo and Damascus were united into the State of Syria.
6. Born. John DeLorean, car maker, in Detroit (d.2005)
7. Born. Gerald Durrell, English naturalist, zookeeper, author, and television presenter, in Jamshedpur, British India (d.1995)
15. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin fired Leon Trotsky as Commisar for Military and Naval Affairs.
24. A total solar eclipse. The path of totality ran in an arc from SE Canada, NE USA to the north of the British Isles./p>
25. The tomb of Tutankhamun was reopened in Egypt so Howard Carter could resume his archaeological work. Carter was disappointed to find that the pall which had covered the sarcophagus was now ruined because someone in Egypt’s antiquities department had carelessly stored it in a wooden shed that did not provide adequate protection from sunlight.