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Month: October 2019

Peter Stumpp
By The Generalist Posted on October 31, 2019October 30, 2019

Werewolf witches

Within the witch panic of Medieval Europe was a strange subset of trials that accused people of being both witches and werewolves.

Categories: Early modern history, Europe, History, Medieval history, Places, Politics & law, Religion & belief
Red Western
By The Generalist Posted on October 30, 2019April 28, 2021

Red Westerns

Sergio Leone famously filmed Westerns in Italy and Spain, creating the genre known as the Spaghetti Western. But Soviet bloc countries had their own version too: the Red Westerns.

Categories: Arts & recreation, Europe, Film & television, North & Central Asia, Places
Gastric-brooding frog
By The Generalist Posted on October 29, 2019January 25, 2023

Stomach tadpoles

Remember those fish that raise their children inside their mouths? Two Australian frog species went even further: they raised tadpoles in their stomachs.

Categories: Animals, Oceania, Places, Sciences
Military skateboard
By The Generalist Posted on October 28, 2019April 21, 2021

Military skateboarding

Sometimes the image says it all; in the 1990s the United States military experimented with skateboards for urban warfare.

Categories: Games & sport, Military
Orrery
By The Generalist Posted on October 27, 2019October 26, 2019

Surprising eponyms

An eponym is a word named after a person. Some, like algebra, are well-known. But these words are also eponyms: boysenberry, cardigan, diesel, guy, Kiribati, neanderthal, orrery, and pamphlet.

Categories: Language
Chinese clock
By The Generalist Posted on October 26, 2019April 28, 2021

Double time

Almost all of China uses only one time zone. In the extreme west of China, the Xinjiang region uses two time zones at the same time. This is very confusing.

Categories: East Asia, Places, Politics & law, Sciences, Weights & measures
Hofmann
By The Generalist Posted on October 25, 2019January 25, 2023

Bicycle Day

The creator of LSD, Albert Hofmann, first purposefully took a dose on April 19, 1943. Unfortunately, he took twelve times too much and then went for a bicycle ride.

Categories: 20th century history, Health & medicine, History, Sciences
Shell sculpture
By The Generalist Posted on October 24, 2019January 25, 2023

Art in the trenches

In World War I millions of troops sat in trenches for more than three and a half years. It was by turns terrifying and boring. To ignore one feeling and allay the other, they made art.

Categories: 20th century history, Art, Arts & recreation, History, Military
Ice block truck in the Sahara
By The Generalist Posted on October 23, 2019August 17, 2021

From the Arctic to the Equator

In 1959, a block of glacier ice was carried – without refrigeration – from the Arctic Circle, through Europe, across the Sahara, and all the way to the Equator. It was perhaps the greatest publicity stunt in history.

Categories: 20th century history, Africa, Economics & business, Europe, History, Places, The poles
By The Generalist Posted on October 22, 2019January 25, 2023

Hyperparasites

Parasites live off – and often on – other animals. But what live on the parasites?

Categories: Animals, Sciences
Snowflake
By The Generalist Posted on October 21, 2019January 25, 2023

Space ice

Water freezes into ice. This is not new information to you (I hope). But which kind? Because there are eighteen different phases of ice, including electric viral space ice.

Categories: Astronomy, Physics & chemistry, Sciences
Castle
By The Generalist Posted on October 20, 2019April 28, 2021

Castle licence

If you wanted to build a castle in medieval England, you needed permission from the king. They’re supposed to be for the defence of the realm, but sometimes you just want to fake out the neighbours.

Categories: Architecture, Europe, History, Medieval history, Military, Places, Politics & law
Strongman
By The Generalist Posted on October 19, 2019January 25, 2023

Proof by intimidation

Mathematical proofs can be established by various means, including induction, contradiction, construction, and exhaustion. My favourite is proof by intimidation.

Categories: Education & philosophy, Mathematics & statistics, Sciences
Bank of England
By The Generalist Posted on October 18, 2019January 25, 2023

100 million pound banknote

Deep in the vaults of the Bank of England are banknotes, legal tender, for 100 million pounds each. These may be the most valuable banknotes in the world.

Categories: Economics & business, Europe, Places
Pompeii
By The Generalist Posted on October 17, 2019November 25, 2021

Encyclopedia vs. volcano

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, also killed the famous author of one of the earliest encyclopedias.

Categories: Ancient history, Arts & recreation, Earth science, Education & philosophy, Europe, History, Literature, Places, Sciences
Cheonggyecheon
By The Generalist Posted on October 16, 2019January 25, 2023

Lost and found rivers

Underneath many large cities lie buried and lost rivers. Sometimes, they return to the surface world.

Categories: Earth science, East Asia, Europe, Places, Sciences

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