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Month: November 2021

By The Generalist Posted on November 30, 2021November 29, 2021

Sun storm

In 1859 a geomagnetic storm from the Sun knocked out telegraph equipment in Europe and North America and sent auroras almost as far as the equator; it was the largest such event in recorded history.

Categories: 19th century history, Astronomy, Europe, North & Central America, Technology
By The Generalist Posted on November 29, 2021November 25, 2021

Thrice pope

Benedict IX has to be one of history’s strangest popes. He was one of the youngest popes ever appointed, he was the pope on three non-consecutive occasions, and he’ll go down in history as the only pope to ever sell the papacy.

Categories: Europe, Medieval history, Religion & belief
Macaroni
By The Generalist Posted on November 28, 2021January 25, 2023

Featured category: Fashion & design

The speed-limit skirt; the millions of dresses made out of feed sacks; the chair designed to be torpedo-proof; and who was actually sticking a feather in their hat and calling it macaroni anyway?

Categories: Featured category
By The Generalist Posted on November 27, 2021January 25, 2023

From the archives: Volcanoes

The Japanese government’s secret volcano; the capital city destroyed by a volcano in 1997; the eruption that killed the creator of one of the first encyclopedias; a volcano disrupted world weather in 1808, but we have no idea which one it was.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on November 26, 2021November 25, 2021

Indigenous appropriation

Iron Eyes Cody portrayed Native American characters in more than 200 films and the famous “Crying Indian” TV ad. Red Thunder Cloud and Jamake Highwater presented themselves as experts on Native American culture. None of them were actually indigenous.

Categories: 20th century history, Film & television, Literature, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on November 25, 2021November 24, 2021

Napoleon in the Pacific

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse led a French scientific expedition around the Pacific; in 1788 it disappeared without a trace. A young Napoléon Bonaparte almost went with him.

Categories: Early modern history, Europe, Military, Oceania, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on November 24, 2021January 25, 2023

Sludge of the universe

Many moons, dwarf planets, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects are covered in a kind of complex chemical sludge sometimes called “tholins.” And this sludge may be much more common throughout the universe.

Categories: Astronomy, Physics & chemistry
By The Generalist Posted on November 23, 2021November 22, 2021

Polari slang

Naff, butch, camp, and zhoosh are slang terms that came out of Polari, an argot from early 20th century English gay subculture.

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Language
By The Generalist Posted on November 22, 2021November 20, 2021

First wheels

A prehistoric pot found in Poland and a wooden slab pulled out of a Slovenian marsh are the earliest evidence of wheels in Europe.

Categories: Europe, Prehistory, Technology
Baltic Way
By The Generalist Posted on November 21, 2021January 25, 2023

Featured category: Politics & law

The human chain across the Baltic states; the 1746 Scottish kilt ban; legislators and slumlords in 19th century New York battling over windows and sunlight; when the dictator of Portugal was removed from office no-one told him for two years.

Categories: Featured category
Ramesses III
By The Generalist Posted on November 20, 2021January 25, 2023

From the archives: Ancient Egypt

The tomb of Meketre contained wooden dioramas of ancient Egyptian life; Ozymandias was a redhead; Ramesses III fought off an invasion by the mysterious Sea Peoples, and was then murdered by a conspiracy of magicians, physicians, butlers, and his wife.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on November 19, 2021November 18, 2021

Stalactite music

Within the Luray Caverns in Virginia, United States, is an electric organ made of stalactites. It literally makes rock music.

Categories: 20th century history, Earth science, Music, North & Central America, Prehistory
By The Generalist Posted on November 18, 2021November 17, 2021

Return to the Winter Palace

In 1917 Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Three years later, more than a thousand actors, circus performers, and ballet dancers stormed it again.

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, Military, North & Central Asia, Politics & law, Theatre
By The Generalist Posted on November 17, 2021November 16, 2021

Smallest self-replicating program

A quine is a computer program that outputs its own source code. An entrant in the 1994 International Obfuscated C Code Contest created the smallest quine possible.

Categories: Computer science
By The Generalist Posted on November 16, 2021January 25, 2023

Saint Pontius Pilate

The Ethiopian and Coptic Orthodox Churches hold that Pontius Pilate, the governor who condemned Jesus Christ to death, later converted to Christianity himself, and they revere Pilate as a saint.

Categories: Ancient history, Medieval history, Middle East, Religion & belief
By The Generalist Posted on November 15, 2021January 25, 2023

Victorian carpet train

The Birmingham Dribbler was one of the earliest model train toys. Powered by steam, it leaked water everywhere and caused fires when it fell over.

Categories: 19th century history, Europe, Games & sport, Technology

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