Mar 21, 2018 | Fun Historical Facts, Writing
This article is temporarily down at the request of its original author.
Feb 9, 2018 | Fun Historical Facts
As those of you who have watched my interviews know, I have a strange accent. Definitely not Greek, it’s been mistaken for British (by my American friends) and Dutch (by my British ones). Even worse, I seem to unconsciously pick up the accent of the person...
Jan 23, 2018 | Fun Historical Facts, My friends' Guest Posts, Writing
This is a guest post by Allan Bishop, a mid-twenty-something writing hack, and yuppie professional somewhere in the Greater Boston area. He laments the passing of bacon, enjoys long walks on back roads, and provides irreverent but affectionate takes, guides, and...
Nov 21, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts
I have Anika Burgess and Vittoria Traverso of Atlas Obscura to thank for the beautiful images you can enjoy below and for the fascinating tale of the Luneborch manuscript; a long-lost 15-century prayer book that had been missing for some 40 years. The...
Nov 3, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts, My friends' Guest Posts
This is a guest post by Adela Belin, a private educator and a writer at Writers Per Hour. She shares her teaching experience with colleagues, students, and writers. Feel free to contact her on G+. I strongly believe that one of the things making the Expanse or Firefly...
Oct 31, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts
Halloween is all about scary fun, right? Well, it looks like the Japanese have been celebrating it for ages, judging by these outhouse-haunting spirits! Take your pick from the following creepy spirits, brought to you courtesy of Eric Grundhauser of Atlas Obscura....
Oct 27, 2017 | Entertainment, Fun Historical Facts
Seeing how much you all enjoy archaic insults, here are some more, courtesy of Dictionary.com. Gobermouch: an old Irish term for someone who meddles in other people’s business. That classic Friends scene would be quite something with goubermouch instead of...
Oct 9, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts, Publishing
Even though pamphlets and softcover books have been available in Europe since the 16th century, US readers looked down on them until well into the 20th century. As a recent Atlas Obscura post by Cara Giaimo explains, without a mass-market distribution model in place,...
Oct 3, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts
Marginalia. That is the official name for the edges of pages in medieval manuscripts. These are filled with anything from intriguingly detailed illustrations to random doodles. And they are far more important than you may realize, as both tell us huge amounts about a...
Sep 25, 2017 | Fun Historical Facts
Thanks to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who used the word to describe President Trump as “a mentally deranged U.S. dotard” this week, Americans rediscovered an arcane, English insult long forgotten. It’s a fun word to say, kind-of naughty, rhyming with the...
