Skip to content

The Generalist Academy

Learn widely

  • About
  • Explore
  • Connect
  • Contact

Month: May 2022

By The Generalist Posted on May 31, 2022May 30, 2022

Snakes and ladders and nirvana

The classic board game snakes and ladders (or chutes and ladders) began its life as a demonstration of the Jain ascent towards nirvana and beyond.

Categories: Games & sport, Religion & belief, South Asia
By The Generalist Posted on May 29, 2022January 25, 2023

Plain of jars and bombs

The Xiangkhoang Plateau in northern Laos is covered in thousands of prehistoric burial jars… and many more unexploded bombs.

Categories: 20th century history, Military, Prehistory, Southeast Asia
By The Generalist Posted on May 26, 2022May 25, 2022

Breeches of The Last Judgment

After Michelangelo’s death, his friend Daniele da Volterra was employed by the Vatican to paint over the genitalia of the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgment.

Categories: Art, Early modern history, Europe, Religion & belief
By The Generalist Posted on May 24, 2022May 23, 2022

Impostor cells

Biomedical research uses immortal cell lines such as HeLa to test treatments and examine biological mechanisms. But sometimes those cell lines are not what everyone thought: they have been invaded.

Categories: Health & medicine
Election
By The Generalist Posted on May 22, 2022January 25, 2023

From the archives: Elections

The farcical elections of North Korea; the electoral candidate who was the only one on the ballot, won a quarter of a million votes, and still lost; the electoral error caused by cosmic rays; and the ridiculously circuitous election of the Doge of Venice.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on May 19, 2022May 18, 2022

The band prophecy

In the mid-20th century, Austin Wiggin’s mother predicted that her son would have daughters, and those daughters would form a famous band. He did, and they did, in the most surprising way possible.

Categories: 20th century history, Music, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on May 17, 2022May 16, 2022

Return of the space dogs

Laika, the first space dog, died in orbit. But the next two – Belka and Strelka – survived. One of Strelka’s puppies was gifted to John F. Kennedy… but not before it was fully scanned for secret listening devices.

Categories: 20th century history, Animals, Astronomy, Europe, North & Central America, North & Central Asia
By The Generalist Posted on May 15, 2022May 14, 2022

The demo

On December 9, 1968, a team led by computer scientist Douglas Engelbart ran a 90 minute tech demo at a San Francisco conference. This “mother of all demos” introduced the world to the computer mouse, windows, hypertext, and collaborative document editors.

Categories: 20th century history, Computer science, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on May 12, 2022January 25, 2023

Five presidents in two weeks

During the December 2001 riots in Argentina, the country went through five presidents in just two weeks.

Categories: 21st century history, Politics & law, South America
By The Generalist Posted on May 9, 2022May 8, 2022

Man-lifting war kites

A large enough kite can lift someone off the ground. So, of course, several inventors and aeronauts tried to find a military application for such man-lifting kites.

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, Europe, Military, North & Central America, Technology
Wine
By The Generalist Posted on May 7, 2022January 25, 2023

From the archives: Oldest

The oldest drinkable wine in the world; the oldest living rose in the world; why we had to leave the Earth to find the oldest Earth rock; and the oldest river that still flows.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on May 4, 2022January 25, 2023

Hibernating bird

Several mammals, including rodents and bears, hibernate over the cold winters. But at least one bird does so as well.

Categories: 19th century history, Animals, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on May 1, 2022April 30, 2022

Indian flag monopoly

Every Indian flag in India is made in one small south Indian village.

Categories: 20th century history, Fashion & design, Politics & law, South Asia

Newsletter

Follow

Facebook
RSS feed

Categories

  • Arts & recreation
    • Architecture
    • Art
    • Fashion & design
    • Film & television
    • Literature
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • History
    • 19th century history
    • 20th century history
    • 21st century history
    • Ancient history
    • Early modern history
    • Medieval history
    • Prehistory
  • Places
    • Africa
    • East Asia
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • North & Central America
    • North & Central Asia
    • Oceania
    • South America
    • South Asia
    • Southeast Asia
    • The oceans
    • The poles
  • Sciences
    • Animals
    • Astronomy
    • Computer science
    • Earth science
    • Food & agriculture
    • Health & medicine
    • Mathematics & statistics
    • Physics & chemistry
    • Plants
    • Technology
    • Weights & measures
  • Society
    • Economics & business
    • Education & philosophy
    • Games & sport
    • Language
    • Military
    • Politics & law
    • Religion & belief
  • Updates
  • Website
    • Featured category
    • From the archives

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Scroll Up
  • Follow Following
    • The Generalist Academy
    • Join 348 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Generalist Academy
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar