Jan 19, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Writing
I recently came across a great thread in Quora about the usage of the word “yes” in various languages. The thread is concerned with explaining why romance languages use almost the same word for “yes” (si [Spanish, Italian] and sim [Portuguese])...
Jan 13, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Marillion, a singer in Game of Thrones, had his tongue cut out on the orders of King Joffrey for writing and performing a crude limerick about Joffrey’s parents. Thankfully, the real punishment meted out to musicians in the Middle Ages who had offended their...
Jan 7, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
I apologize for disappearing for a few days. I took a few days off and went to stay with friends in a small village at the foot of Mount Parnassus. As part of their wonderful hospitality, they took us to visit a Byzantine church; Panagia Skripou. Readers often comment...
Dec 7, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts
I think it was Franz Liszt who, as a young composer, walked into a music publisher’s and asked to show his music. He then produced a sheet of music with a plaintive Lied (song). After studying it for a few moments, the publisher said, “young man, you have...
Nov 15, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts
You may remember Erik Kwakkel or Leiden University from earlier posts like A Fantasy Tip From History: Medieval Spam. Erik recently shared the incredible history of St. Albans Bible. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! A Horror Story In 1964, the New York rare book...
Nov 11, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts
As you may know, today we celebrate Armistice Day. Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World...
Oct 21, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts
What’s that you say, it was an iceberg which sank the Titanic? Sure, but why did the iceberg cut through the ship’s steel like it was hot butter? Senan Molony, Titanic expert and author of Titanic: why she collided, why she sank, why she should never have...
Sep 7, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts
The world has known many languages; some 7,000 are currently spoken. And we use language to inform others. So, are some languages better than others when it comes to how fast we convey information? A group of intrepid linguists set out to find out. How many bits per...
Aug 31, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts, Maps and Infographics
Back in May, I posted an infographic on the Fermi Paradox. Marian Griffith, a visitor to my blog, left a wonderful comment. I was so impressed by it that I thought it deserved to be shared as a proper post. I have updated this to reflect Charles Yallowitz’s...
Aug 27, 2019 | Fun Historical Facts
According to DesignYouTrust, a group of Czech students has recreated weird scenes from Medieval books, thus proving that those Medieval scribes did more than just sell all those beers they were producing. You can see the result in the original post but here’s a...
