Feb 3, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Readers of my blog and interviews will know that my sci-fi/fantasy series, Pearseus, is basically Herodotus’ history of Cyrus, King of Persia… in space. It’s easy enough to understand how I came up with the idea, growing up some 20′ from the...
Jan 31, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Writing
This is a trick question, obviously, as everyone knows there are actually 13 loaves of bread in a baker’s dozen. So, how did this strange idiom come about? And no, the answer is not that bakers are just terrible at maths. This one, as the Australian...
Jan 29, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
In my last post, I mentioned the possibility of AI replacing humans in writing. I am pleasantly surprised at the post’s reactions, as they generated some great comments. So, I thought I’d clarify today what my own feelings on the matter are, something I...
Jan 23, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts
Dusty Old Thing recently published an article by Rose Heichelbech about The Fierce Female Librarians Who Delivered Books On Horseback During The Great Depression. While everyone’s heard of the Pony Express, this is a rarely-told story. If like me, you’d...
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...
