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Posts Tagged ‘history’

Curious Horses Change History

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , on February 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Last night, we watched the original Ghostbusters, which is always fun. Coincidentally and just in time to inspire this post, today I ran across this article from Dan Lewis at Now I Know that opens with that film and evolves into a fascinating discussion of why firehouses have poles.

Curious horses, that’s why!

How Horses Created Firehouse Poles – Now I Know

…in the late 1870s, “David Kenyon of Company 21, an all-African-American firehouse in Chicago [. . .] reached the ground by sliding down a wooden pole normally used to bale hay for horses.” Kenyon realized that this could be made into a permanent feature…

Read the whole thing for more on why poles were not just a good idea, but critical for firefighters. Spoiler alert, it’s not just because sliding down poles is fun!

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Photo by Thiago Rocha on Unsplash

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The Power of Story

Posted in Holidays, Other, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. I do try to emphasize the brighter side of life in this blog and this is not that, but it’s important. Fewer children are taught this history and too many adults act like it never happened (and could never happen again).

As survivors pass on those of us who remain must remember what and how and why. Not only for those who died, but for ourselves and our futures. This is the power of stories.

It is right that those who committed atrocities be held responsible, but remembrance days like this aren’t primarily about blame for past guilt. They are about the political tides that make these events possible. They are about the ordinary people swept up in such times.

Most of all, they are about avoiding future repetition.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.

‘New way of bearing witness’: one of biggest Holocaust archives goes online

Announced on Holocaust Memorial Day, the Wiener Holocaust Library’s new online platform includes more than 150,000 items collected over nine decades. Users can view letters, pamphlets and photographs that record the rise of fascism in Britain and Europe.

My grandpa chose not to speak about his Holocaust experiences – but he asked me to tell the world

I’ve been asked why I believe Holocaust education is so important, and I find it hard to verbalise. It seems so obvious to me, as the grandchild of survivors, that these stories must continue to be told – it sounds cliche to quote “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it”, but with every passing year, it’s clear we are continuing to forget the horrors humanity is capable of. Gyuri’s final message was clear: tell the world, so they can learn from it.

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Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash

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Are You Super?

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on January 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

It turns out I’m super, and you might be too!

The National Archives needs Citizen Archivists who can read cursive

“Reading cursive is a superpower,” said Suzanne Isaacs, a community manager with the National Archives Catalog in Washington, D.C.

If you’d like to help the Library of Congress decipher History (yes, with a capital H), consider becoming a volunteer Citizen Archivist.

Because History is cool, and so are you.

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This is in Italian so I can’t read it, but you get the point. Photo by 
Alessio Fiorentino on Unsplash

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A Touch of the Medieval

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

So, here’s the thing: I don’t really like the Middle Ages. I feel a little bad about that because if you have a History degree it seems like you are obligated to keep an open mind about even the worst centuries, but it’s true. The Middle Ages are very much middling in my book.

Is this bias a result of the (relative) lack of historical records, the goofy headgear, or the whole Black Death, Inquisition, feudal lords fighting over tiny territories, and “Bad Times All Around” vibe that so many of those centuries have?

Well, maybe.

However! While reading an interesting article on a medieval herb garden (as one does), I realized that the era was into some of the things that I am into: the many uses of plants, bookbinding, woodturning, weaving, dyeing, and a wide variety of handmade hacks designed to moderate the vicissitudes of life. (The fantasy genre also owes a lot to that time period, and to be fair the bycocket, or Robin Hood hat, was pretty cool.)

So, yeah. It’s possible that I might have a touch of the medieval in me. Which goes to show that I shouldn’t rule out whole swaths of history, or people, or things. (Except the Plague, I continue to be very much down on pandemics. For, you know, reasons.)

So while I’m never going to be a fan of petty monarchs, famine, uncertain hygiene or strict class divisions, the next time the topic of the Middle Ages comes up, I’ll do my best to keep an open mind. 

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Photo by Wasim Z Alkhatib on Unsplash

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Writer, Curious

Posted in Other, Writing, tagged , , , , , on August 14, 2024| 2 Comments »

Writers are known for their weird web histories, and I am no exception. Today, I’ll highlight just one of the many oddities I have come across lately. In case you are a writer. Or are the curious sort.

The official CIA manual of trickery and deception

The manuals reprinted in this work represent the only known complete copy of Mulholland’s instructions for CIA officers on the magician’s art of deception and secret communications written to counter Soviet mind-control and interrogation techniques

I found the reference after reading this newsletter, featuring a little magic and some talking shoelaces. 

These Shoes Are Made for Talking – Now I Know

So in 1953, according to the BBC, the CIA hired a man named John Mulholland to help, paying him $3,000 (the equivalent of $35,000 today) to write the first-ever “CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception.” Mulholland, though, wasn’t a spy — he was a magician. The manual outlined lots of different ways CIA agents could use the principles of illusionists to help them survive in the field and advance their goals.

I wondered, was the book still available? And lo, it was!*

* Free to read with login.

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Photo by Mark Rabe on Unsplash

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Five Rings to Rule Them All

Posted in Entertainment, Other, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 6, 2024| 2 Comments »

The modern Olympic Games began in 1896, but where did they come from? What were the original Olympics like? If you’re interested in the historic details that shaped our current Games, this article gets into all the naked, nitty gritty details.

The origin of the Olympic Games

For twelve centuries, the sacred Games in Olympia were a spectacle of blood, sweat, and glory. These ancient contests, held in honor of the gods, captivated spectators with displays of strength, endurance, and skill. Today, the modern Olympics carry forward this legacy, uniting athletes from all over the world.

And if you have a chance to visit the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, I recommend!

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Photo by Julio Hernández on Unsplash

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Medieval Support Line

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on June 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

When you hear “Medieval Times” you may think of a slightly cheesy yet fun afternoon outing with knights and mead halls, but it was more than that. Populated by living, breathing (and dying) people just like us, this era laid the groundwork for civilizations to come. The fact that many of us know so little about it is our failing, not theirs. (Well, that and the fact that literacy was much less common than it is today!)

Not to worry! Professor of English and Medieval Literature Dr. Dorsey Armstrong is here to answer our questions.

Enjoy!

Why is it called the “Middle” Ages? What activities did people do for fun? Why were animals tried in court for crimes? Answers to these questions and many more await—it’s Medieval Support.

(Although it seems to have given George R.R. Martin far too many gory ideas.)

Why do I share this? You did see my previous post on time travel, right?

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Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash

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Freedom for Us All

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on June 19, 2024| 1 Comment »

Happy Juneteenth, fellow Americans! 

I do love a holiday, and I’ve written about this one before: Our Newest Federal Holiday.

I grew up in a predominantly white region on the East Coast, and Juneteenth wasn’t part of my experience. I’m happy to celebrate it now.

Wondering how? Check out this introduction: The beginner’s guide to celebrating Juneteenth

And this is a rerun from the excellent Now I Know, but it’s just as good the second time around.

Freed But Not Free

“We have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years and Mandy [his wife] twenty years. At $25 a month for me, and $2 a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to $11,680.” (In today’s dollars, that’s about $175,000.)

Would you like to know more? 

Juneteenth | National Museum of African American History and Culture

“If you’re going to hold someone down you’re going to have to hold on by the other end of the chain. You are confined by your own repression.” 

— Toni Morrison

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courtesy of  the Juneteenth Digital Toolkit | National Museum of African American History and Culture

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A Spicy Rabbit Hole

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , on June 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I stumbled across a spice mix yesterday and ended up going down a rabbit hole of seasoning mixes, chefs and surprises. Did I collect a list of Burlap & Barrel wants that will keep my wish list going for the foreseeable future? I did. And did I learn some interesting and fun facts about cooking with spices that are new to me? Also yes.

For example: I didn’t recognize hing at first, but it’s also called perungayam or asafoetida, which I have heard of but never cooked with. It’s used in Indian and other recipes and is good for people who can’t or don’t want to use onions and garlic. (B&B’s tasting notes equate 1/8 teaspoon of the spice to one whole onion plus six cloves garlic, so yeah, it packs a punch.) I happen to be a mite sensitive to alliums so I decided to explore more. Which led me to this in-depth article:

Asafoetida’s Lingering Legacy Goes Beyond Aroma — Whetstone Magazine

Devil’s dung. Seytan tersi. Merde du diable.

In English, Turkish, French and a whole host of other languages, the monikers for asafoetida are so deeply unflattering that you’d wonder why anyone would want to consume or cook with the spice at all. Its most commonly used English name is just as unambiguous. Derived from Farsi and Latin, asafoetida simply translates to “stinking resin.”

So what is asafoetida, and why is it so divisive? 

If you aren’t one of the millions who already use this particular spice, read on for more, including an interesting detour through Afghanistan and Iran with Alexander the Great. Because even kings have to eat!

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Photo by Laura C on Unsplash

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Creative History

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , on April 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

This one’s for my father, who would slow down family road trips by pulling over at every historical marker we passed.

How historical markers and monuments rewrite U.S. history : NPR

Over the past year, NPR analyzed a database crowdsourced by thousands of hobbyists, looking to uncover the patterns, errors and problems with the country’s markers. The effort revealed a fractured and often confused telling of the American story, where offensive lies live with impunity, history is distorted and errors are sometimes as funny as they are strange.

There are markers memorializing 14 ghosts, two witches, one vampire, a wizard and a couple who, a New Hampshire marker says, may have been abducted by aliens.

I did not know that these markers aren’t necessarily official. So if you stop at a marker, enjoy the fun of discovering new things, while remembering that they might not always be true.

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We stopped for this?
via fal.ai

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