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Category: 19th century history

By The Generalist Posted on December 20, 2021December 19, 2021

The magician’s toilet

John Nevil Maskelyne was a turn of the century stage magician who created the first levitation trick, built an automaton that could play whist, revealed the secrets of card sharks, and invented the pay toilet.

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, Economics & business, Europe, Technology, Theatre
By The Generalist Posted on December 6, 2021January 25, 2023

Rational dress

The Rational Dress Society, founded in 1881, fought the strictures of the Victorian corset, crinoline, and high heels.

Categories: 19th century history, Europe, Fashion & design
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 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
By The Generalist Posted on November 3, 2021January 25, 2023

Daylight robbery

New Zealand entomologist George Hudson proposed modern daylight saving time so that he could catch more bugs.

Categories: 19th century history, Oceania, Weights & measures
By The Generalist Posted on October 28, 2021January 25, 2023

Dance notes

Music notation gives you a record of exactly how to play a piece of music. But how do you write a record of a dance?

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, Early modern history, Europe, Theatre
By The Generalist Posted on September 30, 2021September 29, 2021

The Yale blackboard rebellion

In 1830, nearly half of the mathematics class at Yale was expelled for refusing to use a blackboard in their exams.

Categories: 19th century history, Education & philosophy, Mathematics & statistics, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on September 29, 2021January 25, 2023

Castaway rabbits and cattle

Rabbits and cattle were introduced to a remote island near Antarctica as food for shipwreck survivors; they bred there in isolation for more than a century.

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, Animals, Oceania
By The Generalist Posted on September 22, 2021January 25, 2023

The search engine of 1896

In 1896 Paul Otlet set up a bibliographic query service by mail: a 19th century search engine.

Categories: 19th century history, Education & philosophy, Europe
By The Generalist Posted on September 14, 2021September 13, 2021

First joker

Although playing cards in Europe date back to the 14th century, Samuel Hart printed the first joker in 1863.

Categories: 19th century history, Games & sport, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on September 2, 2021January 25, 2023

Castaway cache

Between 1867 and 1927 the New Zealand government built, supplied, and maintained a set of supply huts on islands in the Southern Ocean so that no more castaways would starve to death while waiting for rescue.

Categories: 19th century history, Oceania, The oceans
By The Generalist Posted on August 23, 2021August 22, 2021

Fart battle

The He-Gassen scroll of Edo period Japan depicts an epic battle… of farts.

Categories: 19th century history, Art, East Asia, Military
By The Generalist Posted on August 13, 2021January 25, 2023

Twin shipwrecks

In 1864 two ships were wrecked on the same desert island. Despite sharing the island for an entire year, the crews never met and had no idea they were not alone.

Categories: 19th century history, Oceania, The oceans
By The Generalist Posted on August 10, 2021August 9, 2021

The pictures of Pictures at an Exhibition

Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky composed Pictures at an Exhibition based on a journey through his late friend’s art exhibit – but what happened to the pictures?

Categories: 19th century history, Art, Europe, Music, North & Central Asia
By The Generalist Posted on July 26, 2021July 24, 2021

Nobody’s land

Bir Tawil is a wedge of land between Egypt and Sudan. Neither wants to claim Bir Tawil: it is one of the only unclaimed territories in the world.

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, Africa, Europe, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on July 20, 2021July 15, 2021

The Tristan chord

Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde set the course of 20th century classical music by keeping the audience in suspense for four hours with a single unresolved chord.

Categories: 19th century history, Europe, Film & television, Music

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