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My favourite etymologies: the dog days of summer Let’s get canicular
7th Sep 2026
2

My favourite etymologies: the dog days of summer

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Sep 2026
Let’s get canicular
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All About the Telescope (1980) Klushantsev, Pavel. Illustrated by Voishvillo, E., B. Kalaushin, and B. Starodubtsev. All About the...
yesterday
1

All About the Telescope (1980)

from Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera [alt+shift+b] in history

yesterday
Klushantsev, Pavel. Illustrated by Voishvillo, E., B. Kalaushin, and B. Starodubtsev. All About the Telescope. Translated by Jan Butler. Moscow: Progress Publishers. (70 p.) 1980 This book was a translation of the 1972 Russian book: Klushantsev, Pavel. Illustrated by Voishvillo,...
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Collections: Reconstructing the Roman Pectoral This week we’re going to look a specific piece of early Roman military equipment, the humble bronze...
3rd Apr 2026
1

Collections: Reconstructing the Roman Pectoral

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Apr 2026
This week we’re going to look a specific piece of early Roman military equipment, the humble bronze pectoral, which it turns out is surprisingly tricky for us to confidently reconstruct, in part because the period of its use that most interests us (the run from c. 264 to c. 146...
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An 800 year prayer book that's decorated with puns Plus a little history of manuscript illustration
4th Jul 2023
146

An 800 year prayer book that's decorated with puns

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Jul 2023
Plus a little history of manuscript illustration
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internet in paradise Huahine, one of the many grouped islands in French Polynesia. Our plans for future ocean voyaging...
1st Jul 2017
1

internet in paradise

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2017
Huahine, one of the many grouped islands in French Polynesia. Our plans for future ocean voyaging could have ended here, because we almost crashed onto a reef. Because we always time our arrival with the morning sun, I always get the first look of every island. Huahine stood in...
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North Pacific Logbook The passage from Japan (Shimoda) to Canada (Victoria) took 51 days, and it was the hardest thing...
31st Jul 2020
1

North Pacific Logbook

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

31st Jul 2020
The passage from Japan (Shimoda) to Canada (Victoria) took 51 days, and it was the hardest thing we've ever done. We decided to keep a logbook, to better remember it and so it can help others who wish to make this trip. Continue Reading
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Manufactured Betrayal : A Statement from Fire Ant Movement Defense on Solidarity and Betrayal in the... On July 4, 2025, roughly a dozen people participated in a demonstration at the Prairieland Detention...
7th Jul 2026
1

Manufactured Betrayal : A Statement from Fire Ant Movement Defense on Solidarity and Betrayal in the Prairieland Trials

from CrimethInc. [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Jul 2026
On July 4, 2025, roughly a dozen people participated in a demonstration at the Prairieland Detention Center, a facility serving Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At the conclusion of the demonstration, a participant named Benjamin Song saw a police officer aim a gun at a...
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Collections: The Journey of the Roman Gladius and Other Swords This week I want to do something a little different and discuss the evolution and development of a...
5th Jan 2024
97

Collections: The Journey of the Roman Gladius and Other Swords

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Jan 2024
This week I want to do something a little different and discuss the evolution and development of a specific weapon, in this case the famed Roman gladius, the sword of the legions. As we’re going to see, this is going to entail a journey covering quite a bit of both time and space...
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To Tip or Not To Tip: A Victorian Traveller’s Perspective Like it or not, tipping is a big part of hospitality and the service industry. Debates about how...
6th Jan 2025
95

To Tip or Not To Tip: A Victorian Traveller’s Perspective

from Dr Alun Withey [alt+shift+b] in history

6th Jan 2025
Like it or not, tipping is a big part of hospitality and the service industry. Debates about how much/whether to tip rumble on, but they are not new. Even in the 18th and 19th centuries, travellers were complaining about the amount of unwanted or unexpected extras they had to pay...
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France’s Little Corner of North America In the 17th century, France had a huge empire of possessions and colonies in North America. Today,...
3rd Mar 2026
2

France’s Little Corner of North America

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Mar 2026
In the 17th century, France had a huge empire of possessions and colonies in North America. Today, the French flag flies over just a tiny sliver. St Pierre in 1887 photo from WikiCommons The French motive for exploring the New World was the same as Columbus’s had been–they hoped...
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AI labs need to start funding historical research Using GPT-6 and Opus 5.5 to trace alchemical knowledge and decode 17th century letters
2 weeks ago
1

AI labs need to start funding historical research

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

2 weeks ago
Using GPT-6 and Opus 5.5 to trace alchemical knowledge and decode 17th century letters
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Acemoglu in Kongo: a critique of 'Why Nations Fail' and its wilful ignorance of African history. There aren’t many Africans on the list of Nobel laureates, nor does research on African societies...
3rd Nov 2024
55

Acemoglu in Kongo: a critique of 'Why Nations Fail' and its wilful ignorance of African history.

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Nov 2024
There aren’t many Africans on the list of Nobel laureates, nor does research on African societies show up in the selection committees of Stockholm.
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2006 Web Technology Trends This post as it looked in 2006. It's December already and so it's about that time to reflect on what...
11th Dec 2006
1

2006 Web Technology Trends

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

11th Dec 2006
This post as it looked in 2006. It's December already and so it's about that time to reflect on what has happened in Web Technology during 2006 — and ponder what 2007 may bring. Over the next few weeks Read/WriteWeb is going to publish some in-depth posts analyzing the trends and...
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To The Moon By Rocket Ship (1940) A bit of obscure ephemera today. In 1940 the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia had a program they...
8th Nov 2025
1

To The Moon By Rocket Ship (1940)

from Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera [alt+shift+b] in history

8th Nov 2025
A bit of obscure ephemera today. In 1940 the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia had a program they called "To the Moon by Rocket Ship." It was a program for adults and children describing the science of what it would be like to go to the Moon. It also explored the formation of...
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Who Was the Real Aspasia? The “Prostitute” Who May Have Taught Socrates
2nd Sep 2026
1

Who Was the Real Aspasia?

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Sep 2026
The “Prostitute” Who May Have Taught Socrates
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Universities as factories I have seen, and read about, of many instances when the police would clear universities of students...
4th May 2024
52

Universities as factories

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

4th May 2024
I have seen, and read about, of many instances when the police would clear universities of students who were demonstrating. The police would come in on the orders of the authorities unhappy with student-created oases of freedom. It would come, armed, beat up students, and end the...
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Star Trek’s Space Babes: Vintage Photos of the Women Who Captivated 1960s Audiences When Star Trek premiered in 1966, it introduced audiences to a vision of the future filled with...
3rd Sep 2026
1

Star Trek’s Space Babes: Vintage Photos of the Women Who Captivated 1960s Audiences

from Rare Historical Photos [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Sep 2026
When Star Trek premiered in 1966, it introduced audiences to a vision of the future filled with advanced technology, distant worlds, and a diverse crew working together aboard the USS Enterprise. Alongside its groundbreaking ideas about space exploration and human progress, the...
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Pixar’s True Story The true story of Pixar's IPO and the Silicon Valley investment bankers who took a chance on Steve...
5th Dec 2025
1

Pixar’s True Story

from CHM [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Dec 2025
The true story of Pixar's IPO and the Silicon Valley investment bankers who took a chance on Steve Jobs' passion project. The post Pixar’s True Story appeared first on CHM.
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How does China's victory in 1945 still define the Taiwan question? The Taiwan question arose when the Chinese nation was weak and divided, and it will be resolved when...
3rd Sep 2025
1

How does China's victory in 1945 still define the Taiwan question?

from Beijing Scroll [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Sep 2025
The Taiwan question arose when the Chinese nation was weak and divided, and it will be resolved when the Chinese nation's rejuvenation is complete.
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Fireside Friday, August 4, 2023 Hey all, Fireside this week, as I look to take a bit of time to focus on getting some writing done...
4th Aug 2023
37

Fireside Friday, August 4, 2023

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Aug 2023
Hey all, Fireside this week, as I look to take a bit of time to focus on getting some writing done and some syllabi written before the semester begins in earnest later this week. Also before we dive in I want to note that it appears that Patreon has been having some trouble...
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Then They Came for the Palestinians : How to Respond to the Kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil On March 8, Department of Homeland Security agents kidnapped Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian organizer...
11th Mar 2025
61

Then They Came for the Palestinians : How to Respond to the Kidnapping of Mahmoud Khalil

from CrimethInc. [alt+shift+b] in history

11th Mar 2025
On March 8, Department of Homeland Security agents kidnapped Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian organizer and graduate student at Columbia University who had permanent residency in the United States. Donald Trump’s State Department arbitrarily revoked his residency. They are holding...
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Europe on fire UK News Report #7: July 2026
2nd Aug 2026
2

Europe on fire

from Wrong Side of History [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Aug 2026
UK News Report #7: July 2026
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The Ocarina The Ocarina, also sometimes called the “sweet potato flute”, is an ancient instrument that was...
22nd Oct 2024
29

The Ocarina

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

22nd Oct 2024
The Ocarina, also sometimes called the “sweet potato flute”, is an ancient instrument that was developed in Meso-America, and was resurrected in 19th century Europe. When we hear the word “flute”, most of us think of a long thin wooden or metal tube with holes along its length...
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The UK Is Getting Even Crazier In Defense Of Israel Reading by Tim Foley:
1st Jun 2026
1

The UK Is Getting Even Crazier In Defense Of Israel

from Caitlin’s Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jun 2026
Reading by Tim Foley:
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Summary of changes for March 2024 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
1st Apr 2024
1

Summary of changes for March 2024

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2024
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of March. Summary Of Changes 100r.ca, added chainplates, knots, washing dishes, receiving mail, updated our notes on diy carbonation system, and refrigeration. Uxn, added 2 new commands...
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The Discman Era How Sony Carried the Compact Disc Into the Streets
6th Oct 2025
1

The Discman Era

from Obsolete Sony’s Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in history

6th Oct 2025
How Sony Carried the Compact Disc Into the Streets
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Weekly Wisdom Quiz Plato, Aristotle, and Euripides
2nd Mar 2025
33

Weekly Wisdom Quiz

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Mar 2025
Plato, Aristotle, and Euripides
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Washington DC is Not a Popularity Contest IN 2009 PAUL GRAHAM WROTE A THOUGHTFUL ESSAY titled “Cities and Ambition.” There he proposes that a...
27th Sep 2024
64

Washington DC is Not a Popularity Contest

from The Scholar's Stage [alt+shift+b] in history

27th Sep 2024
IN 2009 PAUL GRAHAM WROTE A THOUGHTFUL ESSAY titled “Cities and Ambition.” There he proposes that a great city is defined by the sort of ambitions it kindles—or perhaps more accurately, the sort of ambitious it gathers. As Graham puts it:
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The Making of The Conversation – An Interview with Francis Ford Coppola, 1974 In 1966, Francis Ford Coppola was working as a scriptwriter when he talked with fellow American...
1st Mar 2025
49

The Making of The Conversation – An Interview with Francis Ford Coppola, 1974

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2025
In 1966, Francis Ford Coppola was working as a scriptwriter when he talked with fellow American director Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner (April 29, 1923 – November 27, 2010)) about spy movies. The time was ripe with espionage plots. The James Bond films were hugely popular...
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Why drug history? Drugs and spices play an outsized role in world history — but it's often a hidden one
1st Feb 2024
47

Why drug history?

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Feb 2024
Drugs and spices play an outsized role in world history — but it's often a hidden one
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My new git utility `what-changed-twice` needs a new name As I have , my typical workflow is to go along commiting stuff that might or might not make sense,...
21st Sep 2025
1

My new git utility `what-changed-twice` needs a new name

from The Universe of Discourse [alt+shift+b] in history

21st Sep 2025
As I have , my typical workflow is to go along commiting stuff that might or might not make sense, then clean it all up at the end, doing multiple passes with and to get related changes into the same commit, and then to order the commits in a sensible way. Yesterday I built a...
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Feels Gone Wrong The films A Complete Unknown, on Bob Dylan, and In Restless Dreams, on Paul Simon, make vivid to me...
5th Jan 2025
91

Feels Gone Wrong

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Jan 2025
The films A Complete Unknown, on Bob Dylan, and In Restless Dreams, on Paul Simon, make vivid to me the huge emotional appeal of becoming a musician like them.
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Respect The Social Wild While most foragers had great respect for nature, our farmer-era ancestors had less resepct.
3rd Mar 2025
45

Respect The Social Wild

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Mar 2025
While most foragers had great respect for nature, our farmer-era ancestors had less resepct.
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My Politics Not sure why I didn’t notice before, but I’ve just realized that my key ask re cultural drift,...
1st Jul 2026
1

My Politics

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2026
Not sure why I didn’t notice before, but I’ve just realized that my key ask re cultural drift, namely let’s try to save cherished parts of our culture from being discarded by successor civs, violates key modern taboos!
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The First Trip Around the World Ferdinand Magellan is usually given credit for making the first circumnavigation of the globe, but...
7th Jul 2026
1

The First Trip Around the World

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Jul 2026
Ferdinand Magellan is usually given credit for making the first circumnavigation of the globe, but in fact he was killed halfway through the trip and never made it. . Juan Sebastian Elcano, photo from Wiki Commons When the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail for the...
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The Silicon Gold Rush: How AI is Driving Development of New Chips The California Gold Rush created fortunes not only for prospectors, but also for the people selling...
1st Sep 2026
1

The Silicon Gold Rush: How AI is Driving Development of New Chips

from CHM [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Sep 2026
The California Gold Rush created fortunes not only for prospectors, but also for the people selling picks and shovels. At CHM Live, computer architecture pioneers Bill Dally of NVIDIA and Norm Jouppi of Google joined CHM Fellow David Patterson to discuss the modern version of...
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The French Space Cat Felicette France joined the Space Race in the 1950s, and one of her missions was a test flight involving the...
7th Jan 2025
104

The French Space Cat Felicette

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Jan 2025
France joined the Space Race in the 1950s, and one of her missions was a test flight involving the first (and so far only) cat to enter space. It did not end well for the cat. In the aftermath of the Second World War, France, under the leadership of General Charles De Gaulle, was...
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Thursday discussion post It’s 2026.
1st Jan 2026
1

Thursday discussion post

from Slow Boring [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jan 2026
It’s 2026.
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Rethinking the “Technology Gap” in African History: Guns, Plows, and Furnaces. Popular literature on the history of technology maintains that the limited adoption of more complex...
7th Jun 2026
1

Rethinking the “Technology Gap” in African History: Guns, Plows, and Furnaces.

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Jun 2026
Popular literature on the history of technology maintains that the limited adoption of more complex technologies in pre-colonial Africa placed the continent at a disadvantage in its interactions with the wider world.
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Gap Week: October 3, 2025 Hey folks! Apologies for the lack of a post this week – a mix of teaching, writing and family...
3rd Oct 2025
27

Gap Week: October 3, 2025

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Oct 2025
Hey folks! Apologies for the lack of a post this week – a mix of teaching, writing and family demands had to come first. Still, so that I don’t leave you with nothing to read, here are some things I’ve been reading and watching lately you may find interesting. Over on YouTube,...
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When few do great harm Power laws in criminal behavior
23rd Apr 2023
30

When few do great harm

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

23rd Apr 2023
Power laws in criminal behavior
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Baseball on the Moon We want to adapt baseball to be played on the moon. Is there any way to make it work? My first...
18th Mar 2025
1

Baseball on the Moon

from The Universe of Discourse [alt+shift+b] in history

18th Mar 2025
We want to adapt baseball to be played on the moon. Is there any way to make it work? My first impression is: no, for several reasons. The pitched ball will go a little faster (no air resistance) but breaking balls are impossible (ditto). So the batter will find it easier to...
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Summary of changes for March 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
31st Mar 2023
1

Summary of changes for March 2023

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

31st Mar 2023
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of March. Summary Of Changes Donsol, added 100r logo to splash screen on the rom. 100r.ca, added a new page: diy carbonation system. Updated Saving fuel, Engine rebuild and...
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Do you want to be a synonym? I had a dinner with a friend tonight and we spoke of how the new era which has just begun makes lots...
2nd Apr 2025
64

Do you want to be a synonym?

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Apr 2025
I had a dinner with a friend tonight and we spoke of how the new era which has just begun makes lots of our knowledge, or the ways of thinking, about international relations, economic policies, poverty and wealth etc.
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One Way Or Another .... We're going to get you.
7th Jun 2023
92

One Way Or Another ....

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Jun 2023
We're going to get you.
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Millions of Cats: Wanda Gag’s Beautifully Illustrated Children’s Book “I aim to make the illustrations for children’s books as much a work of art as anything I would send...
1st Jan 2024
26

Millions of Cats: Wanda Gag’s Beautifully Illustrated Children’s Book

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jan 2024
“I aim to make the illustrations for children’s books as much a work of art as anything I would send to an art exhibition. I strive to make them completely accurate in relation to the text. I try to make them warmly human, imaginative, or humourous — not coldly decorative — and...
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The Machine Stops. And fiddling won't fix it.
4th Sep 2024
75

The Machine Stops.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Sep 2024
And fiddling won't fix it.
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The case for bundling substacks No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money
3rd Mar 2026
1

The case for bundling substacks

from Wrong Side of History [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Mar 2026
No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money
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The end of the great order under the Heaven A review of Gary Gerstle’s “The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order”
22nd Aug 2024
53

The end of the great order under the Heaven

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

22nd Aug 2024
A review of Gary Gerstle’s “The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order”
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Meeting My Hero, Tim Berners-Lee, at W3C Headquarters In June 2009, I interviewed the man who had made my entire career possible: Tim Berners-Lee. Another...
3rd Jul 2024
1

Meeting My Hero, Tim Berners-Lee, at W3C Headquarters

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Jul 2024
In June 2009, I interviewed the man who had made my entire career possible: Tim Berners-Lee. Another of my passion projects as a tech reporter was the Semantic Web (it was always capitalized at the time). In May I’d done a presentation to a Wellington tech gathering about web...
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Life and works of Africa's most famous Woman scholar: Nana Asmau (1793-1864) On the contribution of Muslim women in African history.
5th May 2024
93

Life and works of Africa's most famous Woman scholar: Nana Asmau (1793-1864)

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

5th May 2024
On the contribution of Muslim women in African history.
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Fiction is truer than fact Willing suspension of disbelief is not a good basis for lawmaking
2nd Apr 2025
40

Fiction is truer than fact

from Wrong Side of History [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Apr 2025
Willing suspension of disbelief is not a good basis for lawmaking
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The life of Maynard K. A review of Zach Carter’s “The Price of Peace”
9th Jun 2024
92

The life of Maynard K.

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

9th Jun 2024
A review of Zach Carter’s “The Price of Peace”
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Ranking medieval plague cures Number 4 may surprise you!
4th Jul 2026
1

Ranking medieval plague cures

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Jul 2026
Number 4 may surprise you!
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Jolted and Jumbled: Riding in a Sedan Chair in the 18th Century If there is one form of transport that perhaps typifies the 18th century more than any other, it is...
19th Aug 2025
27

Jolted and Jumbled: Riding in a Sedan Chair in the 18th Century

from Dr Alun Withey [alt+shift+b] in history

19th Aug 2025
If there is one form of transport that perhaps typifies the 18th century more than any other, it is a sedan chair.  Recently I have been doing some work on stage coaches, and the experience of what it was actually like to travel in one. This is already turning up some interesting...
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The Tyranny of "We" Why "We Are All One Humanity" Is the Most Dangerous Idea on Earth
10th May 2026
2

The Tyranny of "We"

from Arnaud Bertrand [alt+shift+b] in history

10th May 2026
Why "We Are All One Humanity" Is the Most Dangerous Idea on Earth
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Referenda ad Senatum: November 1, 2024: Ancient Weapons, Lost Works and Roman Spooky-Stuff! Welcome back! At last, the hiatus has ended and we are back to regular weekly posts. As we’ve done a...
1st Nov 2024
55

Referenda ad Senatum: November 1, 2024: Ancient Weapons, Lost Works and Roman Spooky-Stuff!

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Nov 2024
Welcome back! At last, the hiatus has ended and we are back to regular weekly posts. As we’ve done a few times before, this week I am breaking the hiatus by taking a chance to answer a few shorter questions posed by my patrons over at Patreon who are the Patres et Matres...
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Cultural Scenario Probabilities On Oct 25 I posted on the rankings given by polls on 16 cultural drift scenarios re their relative...
1st Dec 2024
37

Cultural Scenario Probabilities

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Dec 2024
On Oct 25 I posted on the rankings given by polls on 16 cultural drift scenarios re their relative likelihood, desirability, and ease of influence.
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Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIa: Family Formation This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II) discussing the patterns of life of...
1st Aug 2025
58

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIa: Family Formation

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Aug 2025
This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II) discussing the patterns of life of the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of all humans who lived in our agrarian past and indeed a majority of all humans who have ever lived. Last week, we looked at...
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China-Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0 Looks to the Sea Marine science and the blue economy are emerging as a new area of China-Pakistan cooperation,...
yesterday
1

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor 2.0 Looks to the Sea

from Beijing Scroll [alt+shift+b] in history

yesterday
Marine science and the blue economy are emerging as a new area of China-Pakistan cooperation, linking Gwadar with research, coastal industries and environmental management
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Top 5 Culture-Tech Trends of 2019: Rise of Digital Culture Every December going back to 2004, I’ve done an end-of-year review of the top Internet technology...
3rd Dec 2019
1

Top 5 Culture-Tech Trends of 2019: Rise of Digital Culture

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Dec 2019
Every December going back to 2004, I’ve done an end-of-year review of the top Internet technology trends. This is my sixteenth year doing this, but the 2019 review will be a little different. This year I’ll be focusing on what I call “culture-tech”: digital technology that is...
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Passing the Buck: The story of the 2022 Wings Over Dallas air show collision
28th Feb 2025
1

Passing the Buck: The story of the 2022 Wings Over Dallas air show collision

from Stories by Admiral Cloudberg on Medium [alt+shift+b] in history

28th Feb 2025
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Immigrant assimilation in Denmark A brief overview of the school performance of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants in Denmark
17th May 2024
29

Immigrant assimilation in Denmark

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

17th May 2024
A brief overview of the school performance of 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants in Denmark
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Summary of changes for January 2024 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
1st Feb 2024
1

Summary of changes for January 2024

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Feb 2024
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of January. Summary Of Changes 100r.ca, added galley refit, updated lifelines, seamed box cushions, and moisture prevention underliner. Permacomputing, revamped the page. Flappy Bird,...
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1999: Netscape’s Fall and the Rise of the Mozilla Browser At the beginning of 1999, one company had all the momentum on the Web: Microsoft. While Netscape was...
13th Oct 2021
1

1999: Netscape’s Fall and the Rise of the Mozilla Browser

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

13th Oct 2021
At the beginning of 1999, one company had all the momentum on the Web: Microsoft. While Netscape was adjusting to corporate life with new owner AOL and trying to figure out its browser strategy, Microsoft was preparing to release version 5 of its browser, Internet Explorer. Like...
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My favourite etymologies: "to curry favour" Or, the unfathomably dark depths of the equine soul
1st Mar 2025
61

My favourite etymologies: "to curry favour"

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2025
Or, the unfathomably dark depths of the equine soul
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The intellectual history of East Africa (ca. 900-1950 CE): from the Swahili coast to Buganda to... The intellectual history of pre-colonial Africa is dominated by studies of the scholarly traditions...
1st Dec 2024
67

The intellectual history of East Africa (ca. 900-1950 CE): from the Swahili coast to Buganda to Eastern Congo.

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Dec 2024
The intellectual history of pre-colonial Africa is dominated by studies of the scholarly traditions of Ethiopia, West Africa, and Sudan, where a large corpus of extant manuscripts have been collected from the old scholarly centers of Timbuktu, Djenne, Gondar, and Harar.
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When the Feds Come to Your City: Standing Up to ICE : A Guide from Chicago Organizers Are masked agents showing up in your town to kidnap your neighbors? Want to do your part to protect...
3rd Dec 2025
2

When the Feds Come to Your City: Standing Up to ICE : A Guide from Chicago Organizers

from CrimethInc. [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Dec 2025
Are masked agents showing up in your town to kidnap your neighbors? Want to do your part to protect each other, but don’t know where to start? We hope this guide will help you prepare to stand up to federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as they attempt...
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UFO As Aliens Odds, Spending The following are some (lognormal fit) median estimates from some X polls I just ran.
2nd Feb 2025
44

UFO As Aliens Odds, Spending

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Feb 2025
The following are some (lognormal fit) median estimates from some X polls I just ran.
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Telling Lies: Bowie and Online Music Distribution in 1996 The CD version of David Bowie's online single, 'Telling Lies', 1996; via kupindo.com. In an...
7th May 2025
1

Telling Lies: Bowie and Online Music Distribution in 1996

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

7th May 2025
The CD version of David Bowie's online single, 'Telling Lies', 1996; via kupindo.com. In an interview featured in the 1998 book “The Interactive Music Handbook,” Larry Rosen — CEO of an online music services company called N2K — provided his theory on how the internet would...
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How Sony Lost Control of Digital Music Control, DRM, and the moment distribution stopped being governable
1st Mar 2026
2

How Sony Lost Control of Digital Music

from Obsolete Sony’s Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2026
Control, DRM, and the moment distribution stopped being governable
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Isaac Asimov’s Books of Dirty Limericks Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) is remembered for his prolific science fiction...
1st May 2024
49

Isaac Asimov’s Books of Dirty Limericks

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st May 2024
Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) is remembered for his prolific science fiction writing, impressive ‘lamb chops’  – of which he said: “They became a permanent feature of my face, and it is now difficult to believe early photographs that show me without sideburns”...
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Thoth and Khepri Thoth and Khepri Dean Nicholas Tue, 10/30/2018 - 00:00
30th Oct 2018
1

Thoth and Khepri

from History Today Magazine Feed [alt+shift+b] in history

30th Oct 2018
Thoth and Khepri Dean Nicholas Tue, 10/30/2018 - 00:00
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The "mechanical miracle" that ruined Mark Twain's life Learning from the automation dreams of the first Machine Age
5th Aug 2026
1

The "mechanical miracle" that ruined Mark Twain's life

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Aug 2026
Learning from the automation dreams of the first Machine Age
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AI makes the humanities more important, but also a lot weirder Historians are finally having their AI debate
7th May 2025
50

AI makes the humanities more important, but also a lot weirder

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

7th May 2025
Historians are finally having their AI debate
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Are Beards Over? A Historical Perspective. Recently I spoke with the Guardian journalist Tim Dowling for an excellent article he was writing...
25th Apr 2022
86

Are Beards Over? A Historical Perspective.

from Dr Alun Withey [alt+shift+b] in history

25th Apr 2022
Recently I spoke with the Guardian journalist Tim Dowling for an excellent article he was writing (published last week) about whether beards are finally ‘over’, and I thought it would be interesting to reflect on some of this. Since re-emerging around 2014, gaining popularity...
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Spacewalks: Poems for the Moon Age (1971) So to keep up with my strange postings, today is strange (bad?) space poetry. I like the drawings...
5th Dec 2025
1

Spacewalks: Poems for the Moon Age (1971)

from Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Dec 2025
So to keep up with my strange postings, today is strange (bad?) space poetry. I like the drawings that are VERY late 60s with spacecraft and other images mixed together. I also like his approach to using our Space Race as an inspiration to think about what people had done and...
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Fireside Friday, April 4, 2025 Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for...
4th Apr 2025
63

Fireside Friday, April 4, 2025

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Apr 2025
Fireside this week! I am still a bit behind after attending the annual meeting of the Society for Military History – conferences always leave me a bit tired and slow to get back to writing, even as they also stimulate my thinking – so the conclusion of our look at Rings of Power...
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In Memoriam: Dame Stephanie Shirley, 1933–2025 CHM is saddened to share the passing of 2018 CHM Fellow Dame Stephanie Shirley, who was a pioneer in...
18th Aug 2025
1

In Memoriam: Dame Stephanie Shirley, 1933–2025

from CHM [alt+shift+b] in history

18th Aug 2025
CHM is saddened to share the passing of 2018 CHM Fellow Dame Stephanie Shirley, who was a pioneer in embracing remote, flexible work for the thriving software company she founded in the 1960s. The post In Memoriam: Dame Stephanie Shirley, 1933–2025 appeared first on CHM.
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ReadWriteWeb Mistaken for Facebook Login — Hilarity Ensues As internet culture continued to go mainstream over 2010, sometimes we at ReadWriteWeb got caught in...
4th Sep 2024
1

ReadWriteWeb Mistaken for Facebook Login — Hilarity Ensues

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Sep 2024
As internet culture continued to go mainstream over 2010, sometimes we at ReadWriteWeb got caught in the crosshairs. In February, our website was hilariously mistaken for the Facebook login page by thousands of people. We’d published a post entitled “Facebook Wants to Be Your One...
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Why Early Modern Books Are So Beautiful Three theories
3rd Aug 2023
77

Why Early Modern Books Are So Beautiful

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Aug 2023
Three theories
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Race and slavery in the Muslim world The role of anti-blackness in the Arab slave trades
29th Mar 2026
1

Race and slavery in the Muslim world

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

29th Mar 2026
The role of anti-blackness in the Arab slave trades
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The myth of the Hamitic race in religious and pseudo-scientific literature: an African perspective In 1845, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass observed that American slaveholders appealed to the...
1st Mar 2026
2

The myth of the Hamitic race in religious and pseudo-scientific literature: an African perspective

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2026
In 1845, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass observed that American slaveholders appealed to the biblical claim that ‘God cursed Ham’ as a theological justification for slavery, an argument he rejected as fundamentally unscriptural.
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How did medieval travellers communicate in foreign lands? Studies from the east and west
5th Feb 2026
1

How did medieval travellers communicate in foreign lands?

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Feb 2026
Studies from the east and west
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The order of inequality Review of Tongdong Bai’s “Against political equality: The Confucian case"
12th Apr 2024
39

The order of inequality

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

12th Apr 2024
Review of Tongdong Bai’s “Against political equality: The Confucian case"
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Unseen Friends: Rare Behind-the-Scenes Photos from the Iconic Sitcom In the mid-1990s, television audiences were introduced to a group of six friends whose daily lives...
1st Nov 2025
1

Unseen Friends: Rare Behind-the-Scenes Photos from the Iconic Sitcom

from Rare Historical Photos [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Nov 2025
In the mid-1990s, television audiences were introduced to a group of six friends whose daily lives in Manhattan would soon redefine the meaning of modern friendship. Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994, and instantly captured...
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“There is a great disorder under the heaven. The situation is excellent” A review of Westad and Chen, The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform
8th Mar 2026
1

“There is a great disorder under the heaven. The situation is excellent”

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

8th Mar 2026
A review of Westad and Chen, The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform
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A Brief History of the Hungarian Soviet Republic The idea of a communist Hungary is usually associated with the Cold War that arose post-World War...
1st Apr 2025
65

A Brief History of the Hungarian Soviet Republic

from TheCollector [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2025
The idea of a communist Hungary is usually associated with the Cold War that arose post-World War II. Hungary, however, had a brush with communist leadership several decades before, in the aftermath of the First World War.   The short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic ultimately...
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Beyond The Appearances. The joys of an Ideal world.
4th Feb 2026
1

Beyond The Appearances.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Feb 2026
The joys of an Ideal world.
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No More Heroes. Pity the nation that needs someone else's.
6th Nov 2024
66

No More Heroes.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

6th Nov 2024
Pity the nation that needs someone else's.
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Cultural revolution in the land of Kafka and Borges On Peter Kropotkin's Memoirs
2nd Oct 2024
61

Cultural revolution in the land of Kafka and Borges

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Oct 2024
On Peter Kropotkin's Memoirs
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Summary of changes for April 2025 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
30th Apr 2025
1

Summary of changes for April 2025

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

30th Apr 2025
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of April. 100r.ca, updated water, ditch bag, woodstove installation, and added new photos and information on first-aid kit. Rabbit Waves, updated Triangular Bandages with animated gifs,...
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Summary of changes for September 2025 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
1st Oct 2025
1

Summary of changes for September 2025

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Oct 2025
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of September. Noodle, redesigned the interface. Wiki, updated with a new photo. Punk Rabbits, completed 19 new rabbits(#35-53). NanoTalk, released a Nanochat client, written in Tal. As...
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Out-of-Europe: History of Migrations to the United States Following the Renaissance period, a transition started occurring in West Europe, with rapid...
4th Jun 2023
30

Out-of-Europe: History of Migrations to the United States

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Jun 2023
Following the Renaissance period, a transition started occurring in West Europe, with rapid advancements in science and technology happening in the 1400s. With improvements in cartography, ship and other maritime technology, and an increased desire to understand and discover...
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Weekly Wisdom Quiz Ancient Egypt, Diogenes, and more!
1st Jun 2025
21

Weekly Wisdom Quiz

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jun 2025
Ancient Egypt, Diogenes, and more!
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Wigs: Selling Hair in 1980s London “If your hair gone with the wind?” – sign in a wig shop, Stepney, Tower Hamlets, London   People...
2nd Sep 2026
1

Wigs: Selling Hair in 1980s London

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Sep 2026
“If your hair gone with the wind?” – sign in a wig shop, Stepney, Tower Hamlets, London   People were keen to fix their hair in the 1980s. Before the buzzcut became the norm for men with a thinning thatch and hair extensions for women became popular, Peter Marshall spotted high...
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15 Great History Museums Every History Lover Must Visit at Least Once Walking into a great history museum is the closest we can get to true time travel. From London and...
1st Jul 2026
1

15 Great History Museums Every History Lover Must Visit at Least Once

from TheCollector [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2026
Walking into a great history museum is the closest we can get to true time travel. From London and Berlin to Cairo and Mexico City, these 15 institutions rank among the best history museums in the world. Each museum holds culture-defining artifacts including the Rosetta Stone,...
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Why I love etymologies Telephones popularized "hello," "lox" is 8,000 years old, and other reasons why the history of words...
30th Apr 2024
96

Why I love etymologies

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

30th Apr 2024
Telephones popularized "hello," "lox" is 8,000 years old, and other reasons why the history of words matters
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Best LittleCo of 2011: Dropbox This post as it looked in 2011. Every year since 2004, ReadWriteWeb has selected a best "little...
19th Dec 2011
1

Best LittleCo of 2011: Dropbox

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

19th Dec 2011
This post as it looked in 2011. Every year since 2004, ReadWriteWeb has selected a best "little company." These are small companies (loosely defined as less than 100 employees) that have had a big effect on the Web over the calendar year. Last year we chose Tumblr, which...
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Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part Va: Putting It Together This is the first half of the final part (I, IIa, IIb, III, IVa, IVb, Va) of our apparently...
8th Aug 2026
2

Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part Va: Putting It Together

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

8th Aug 2026
This is the first half of the final part (I, IIa, IIb, III, IVa, IVb, Va) of our apparently five-part series laying out some general guidelines for how pre-modern armies are organized, in particular exploring the principle that armies cannot help but recreate their civilian...
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Peter Pan goes to Ukraine Some people never grow up.
7th Dec 2022
81

Peter Pan goes to Ukraine

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Dec 2022
Some people never grow up.
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A complete history of Jenne: 250BC-1893AD Journal of African cities chapter 6
5th Mar 2023
95

A complete history of Jenne: 250BC-1893AD

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Mar 2023
Journal of African cities chapter 6
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The Ancient Empires of Africa: Imperial Governments and “Native” Rulers. Ancient state structures in Africa included Empires, which carried with them all the complexity,...
6th Sep 2026
1

The Ancient Empires of Africa: Imperial Governments and “Native” Rulers.

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

6th Sep 2026
Ancient state structures in Africa included Empires, which carried with them all the complexity, inequalities, and political baggage inherent in such systems.
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Why China Filed Plans for 203,000 Satellites The strategic thinking behind Beijing’s record ITU filings, what they mean in practice for everyday...
15th Jan 2026
1

Why China Filed Plans for 203,000 Satellites

from Beijing Scroll [alt+shift+b] in history

15th Jan 2026
The strategic thinking behind Beijing’s record ITU filings, what they mean in practice for everyday connectivity, and the unavoidable global competition for orbital and spectrum resources.
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Summary of changes for November 2024 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
30th Nov 2024
1

Summary of changes for November 2024

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

30th Nov 2024
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of November. Summary Of Changes 100r.ca, added an article named A Shining Place Built Upon The Sand, and Week 6 to the Victoria to Sitka Logbook. Rabbit Waves, added a page on Morse Code...
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FREE Obsolete Sony book for paid subscribers A DRM-free digital copy of Sony Year by Year, and a thank-you for year one.
3rd May 2026
1

FREE Obsolete Sony book for paid subscribers

from Obsolete Sony’s Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd May 2026
A DRM-free digital copy of Sony Year by Year, and a thank-you for year one.
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Comes the Hiatus, 2024! Dear Readers! As I’ve noted during the summer, I was planning on a one to two month hiatus towards...
7th Sep 2024
73

Comes the Hiatus, 2024!

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Sep 2024
Dear Readers! As I’ve noted during the summer, I was planning on a one to two month hiatus towards the end of this year in order to allow me to focus on finalizing the manuscript of my book project, a study of the cost of fielding armies in the third and second centuries BC. That...
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7 Famous Dutch Artists Who Achieved Greatness The Netherlands has produced some of the most celebrated painters in history, from the luminous...
1st Oct 2025
16

7 Famous Dutch Artists Who Achieved Greatness

from TheCollector [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Oct 2025
The Netherlands has produced some of the most celebrated painters in history, from the luminous scenes of Vermeer to the powerful portraits of Rembrandt and the bold colors of Van Gogh. Here are seven Dutch artists whose work has achieved global acclaim and continues to captivate...
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The Man Behind The History Thucydides' Life & Legacy
1st May 2026
1

The Man Behind The History

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

1st May 2026
Thucydides' Life & Legacy
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Who lost Afghanistan? George W. Bush blundered away a winnable war.
a week ago
1

Who lost Afghanistan?

from Slow Boring [alt+shift+b] in history

a week ago
George W. Bush blundered away a winnable war.
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The Chernobyl Podcast and the Value of Internet Deep Dives I’ve just finished watching the HBO-Sky miniseries, Chernobyl. It was by far the best new tv series...
12th Jun 2019
1

The Chernobyl Podcast and the Value of Internet Deep Dives

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

12th Jun 2019
I’ve just finished watching the HBO-Sky miniseries, Chernobyl. It was by far the best new tv series I’ve seen all year — a horrifying true story told in a masterful way by its writer, director, and actors. About midway through binging the five episodes, I discovered there was a...
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Nations Double-Down on Status Years ago I noticed that when my kids tried out a new game, those who won more wanted to play it...
2nd Apr 2026
1

Nations Double-Down on Status

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Apr 2026
Years ago I noticed that when my kids tried out a new game, those who won more wanted to play it again.
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Summary of changes for February 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
28th Feb 2023
1

Summary of changes for February 2023

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

28th Feb 2023
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of February. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Wiktopher, added back corrected chapters 1-7 to...
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Summary of changes for March Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
1st Mar 2021
1

Summary of changes for March

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2021
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of March. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Uxn, lots of progress on Uxn, started documenting the assembly...
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Las Vegas and the Microsoft MIX Conference 2007 Stranger in a strange land; me at The Venetian, 28 April, 2007. After the Web 2.0 Expo, it was off...
5th Mar 2024
1

Las Vegas and the Microsoft MIX Conference 2007

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Mar 2024
Stranger in a strange land; me at The Venetian, 28 April, 2007. After the Web 2.0 Expo, it was off to Las Vegas for Microsoft’s MIX conference, an event to promote the company’s web technologies. My travel, including accommodations at the Venetian on the Strip, was being paid for...
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Genes and social stratification How genes affect socioeconomic success, and its consequences for society's structure.
20th Apr 2024
26

Genes and social stratification

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

20th Apr 2024
How genes affect socioeconomic success, and its consequences for society's structure.
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Reality Would Like A Word. Paging Tom and Daisy Buchanan
2nd Aug 2023
75

Reality Would Like A Word.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Aug 2023
Paging Tom and Daisy Buchanan
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Reading China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Through “Investing in People” From public services to talent development, the draft outline shows how the idea is being translated...
7th Mar 2026
1

Reading China’s 15th Five-Year Plan Through “Investing in People”

from Beijing Scroll [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Mar 2026
From public services to talent development, the draft outline shows how the idea is being translated into policy priorities.
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A view of the world After the Global Financial Crisis, the World Bank got more much involved in South-East Asian...
4th May 2025
25

A view of the world

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

4th May 2025
After the Global Financial Crisis, the World Bank got more much involved in South-East Asian countries than before.
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Don't Expect Respect. All we have left now is money.
1st Jul 2026
1

Don't Expect Respect.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2026
All we have left now is money.
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The Seven Deadly Sins Under Death’s Dominion by James Ensor, 1904 “…the eternal black night, death under the colourless earth” – James Ensor on his dread of death    ...
1st Feb 2025
74

The Seven Deadly Sins Under Death’s Dominion by James Ensor, 1904

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Feb 2025
“…the eternal black night, death under the colourless earth” – James Ensor on his dread of death     Belgian painter and printmaker James Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) etched his Seven Deadly Sins in 1904. To hammer home the message of human foolishness, malice and the...
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The Golden Age of Microblogging, With Soup.io and Tumblr Microblogging was a trend that emerged in the second half of the 2000s, after long-form weblogs had...
22nd Mar 2023
1

The Golden Age of Microblogging, With Soup.io and Tumblr

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

22nd Mar 2023
Microblogging was a trend that emerged in the second half of the 2000s, after long-form weblogs had become established in the culture. Microblogging is basically just short-form blogging and, as I’ll lay out in this post, its heyday was in the 2007-11 period. But microblogging is...
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Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIIa: Peak Pike-Phalanx This is the first part of the third part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa) look at the...
1st Mar 2024
57

Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IIIa: Peak Pike-Phalanx

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2024
This is the first part of the third part of our four(ish) part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa) look at the triumph of the Roman legions in the third and second century over the Hellenistic armies of the heirs of Alexander. Last time, we looked at some of the operational and strategic...
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The handmade beauty of Machine Age data visualizations How William James, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Francis Galton thought with diagrams
22nd Apr 2026
1

The handmade beauty of Machine Age data visualizations

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

22nd Apr 2026
How William James, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Francis Galton thought with diagrams
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Res Obscura is now on Substack Three years late, but historians are always late
13th Apr 2023
35

Res Obscura is now on Substack

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

13th Apr 2023
Three years late, but historians are always late
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Why did medieval people invent so many collective nouns? A pride of lions, a paddling of ducks, and....a herd of harlots?
9th May 2023
98

Why did medieval people invent so many collective nouns?

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

9th May 2023
A pride of lions, a paddling of ducks, and....a herd of harlots?
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What Happened to Streetcar Suburbs? Thank streetcars for making cities nice
3rd Jun 2026
1

What Happened to Streetcar Suburbs?

from Looking Through the Past [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Jun 2026
Thank streetcars for making cities nice
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Edmund Dulac’s American Weekly Covers – 1924-1951 Edmund Dulac is remembered today as one of the founding fathers of the Golden Age of Illustration,...
1st Jul 2024
80

Edmund Dulac’s American Weekly Covers – 1924-1951

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2024
Edmund Dulac is remembered today as one of the founding fathers of the Golden Age of Illustration, roughly from 1875-1925, writes Albert Seligman. His luxurious Gift Books of the early 20th century were covered in vellum and issued in signed limited editions with tipped-in color...
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1998: How Amazon Conquered Online CD Retailers Like CDnow CDnow homepage, December 1998; via Wayback Machine. 1998 started promisingly for CDnow, a leading...
1st Jul 2025
1

1998: How Amazon Conquered Online CD Retailers Like CDnow

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2025
CDnow homepage, December 1998; via Wayback Machine. 1998 started promisingly for CDnow, a leading online music retailer — or "e-tailer" as e-commerce sites were sometimes called at the time. "CDnow goes public with a bang," read a CNET headline on February 10, 1998: "After upping...
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Frank Film: Watch the Oscar-Winning Animation That Peers Inside Your Head, 1973 Frank Film is a 1973 American animated short by husband-and-wife animators Caroline and Frank...
1st Feb 2024
46

Frank Film: Watch the Oscar-Winning Animation That Peers Inside Your Head, 1973

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Feb 2024
Frank Film is a 1973 American animated short by husband-and-wife animators Caroline and Frank Mouris. The film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1996. It’s an autobiographical narrative – Mouris narrates his path...
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Summary of changes for November Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
1st Dec 2021
1

Summary of changes for November

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Dec 2021
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of November. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Donsol, designed a donsol turnip. Uxn, wrote a file browser...
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32 Hotdogs and A Pocketful of Chops: Eating With Duke Ellington Duke Ellington (born Edward Kennedy Ellington; April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) had a voracious...
1st Jun 2025
39

32 Hotdogs and A Pocketful of Chops: Eating With Duke Ellington

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jun 2025
Duke Ellington (born Edward Kennedy Ellington; April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) had a voracious appetite for sex and food. The elegant American jazz pianist, composer, master of instrumental colour and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra wrote thousands of songs and performed...
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An Invitation to The Rats Wedding And Vietnam’s Ðông Hồ Folk Paintings Often used to illustrate Vietnamese New Year, Ðông Hồ paintings are bright, witty riffs on society...
1st Apr 2026
2

An Invitation to The Rats Wedding And Vietnam’s Ðông Hồ Folk Paintings

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2026
Often used to illustrate Vietnamese New Year, Ðông Hồ paintings are bright, witty riffs on society and human desire. The traditional themes of Đông Hồ painting and woodblock prints are good luck signs, historical figures, folk allegories, popular stories, and social commentaries....
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China’s Almost-War With Taiwan and the US Just as the Cold War was beginning, China, Taiwan and the United States found themselves tangled in...
2nd Dec 2025
1

China’s Almost-War With Taiwan and the US

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Dec 2025
Just as the Cold War was beginning, China, Taiwan and the United States found themselves tangled in a military situation which threatened to go hot. When the Second World War ended in 1945, China was still divided. For years a civil war had raged between the Nationalist...
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How our toy octopuses got revenge on a Philadelphia traffic court judge [ Content warning: possibly amusing, but silly and pointless ] My wife Lorrie wrote this on 31...
25th Apr 2025
1

How our toy octopuses got revenge on a Philadelphia traffic court judge

from The Universe of Discourse [alt+shift+b] in history

25th Apr 2025
[ Content warning: possibly amusing, but silly and pointless ] My wife Lorrie wrote this on 31 January 2013: I got an e-mail from Husband titled, "The mills of Fenchurch grind slow, but they grind exceeding small." This silliness, which is off-the-charts silly, is going to...
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Years of Salt and Metal | The crash of Hop-a-Jet flight 823
26th Aug 2026
2

Years of Salt and Metal | The crash of Hop-a-Jet flight 823

from Stories by Admiral Cloudberg on Medium [alt+shift+b] in history

26th Aug 2026
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Spicy Noodles: Dave Winer and the Web 2.0 Workgroup Celebrating the formation of the Web 2.0 Workgroup at Jing Jing, Palo Alto. From left to right: Gabe...
4th Dec 2023
1

Spicy Noodles: Dave Winer and the Web 2.0 Workgroup

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Dec 2023
Celebrating the formation of the Web 2.0 Workgroup at Jing Jing, Palo Alto. From left to right: Gabe Rivera, Dave Winer, me, Mike Arrington, Fred Oliveira; photo by Dave Winer. During my stay at the TechCrunch ranch, Mike Arrington, Fred Oliveira and I had been discussing how to...
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Summary of changes for August 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
1st Sep 2023
1

Summary of changes for August 2023

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Sep 2023
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of August. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes 100r.ca, added Heriot Bay, Ballet Bay Octopus Islands, and...
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‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review ‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review JamesHoare Mon, 08/04/2025 - 09:08
4th Aug 2025
37

‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review

from History Today Magazine Feed [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Aug 2025
‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review JamesHoare Mon, 08/04/2025 - 09:08
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Studio Portraits of Couples and Families That Perfectly Capture 1960s Style Walking into a portrait studio back in the 1960s was an occasion in its own right. Families prepared...
2nd Mar 2026
2

Studio Portraits of Couples and Families That Perfectly Capture 1960s Style

from Rare Historical Photos [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Mar 2026
Walking into a portrait studio back in the 1960s was an occasion in its own right. Families prepared the way they would for church or a formal dinner, treating the sitting as a milestone worth honoring. Appointments were made in advance, outfits chosen with deliberate care, and...
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How to interpret medieval marginalia 101 A non-comprehensive and unofficial guide
3rd Jun 2026
1

How to interpret medieval marginalia 101

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Jun 2026
A non-comprehensive and unofficial guide
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Summary of changes for May Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
8th Jun 2021
1

Summary of changes for May

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

8th Jun 2021
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of May. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Noodle, released Uxn version. Improved UX to resize the canvas and...
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Did Rome’s First Empress Kill for Power? Livia: “Mother of the Country” or “Evil Stepmother”? Behind the propaganda and bias, what is the...
1st Apr 2026
1

Did Rome’s First Empress Kill for Power?

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2026
Livia: “Mother of the Country” or “Evil Stepmother”? Behind the propaganda and bias, what is the true story of Livia Drusilla?
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The White Masks of Gabon: “Foreign” symbolism in Traditional African sculpture. Among the most refined works of African art are the distinctive white masks of southern Gabon in...
2nd Aug 2026
1

The White Masks of Gabon: “Foreign” symbolism in Traditional African sculpture.

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Aug 2026
Among the most refined works of African art are the distinctive white masks of southern Gabon in Central Africa.
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Five Fundamentals of Chinese Grand Strategy Last month Civic Future invited me to join a panel at their annual policy forum. The topic: what the...
17th Aug 2024
65

Five Fundamentals of Chinese Grand Strategy

from The Scholar's Stage [alt+shift+b] in history

17th Aug 2024
Last month Civic Future invited me to join a panel at their annual policy forum. The topic: what the United Kingdom should do about China. As I am neither a British citizen nor an expert in British affairs, I thought it impolitic to lecture my hosts on how they should be...
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Health and the Habitual Traveller in the 19th Century Recently I’ve been contributing to a new series of stories, drawing on the archives of Lloyds’...
10th Nov 2021
55

Health and the Habitual Traveller in the 19th Century

from Dr Alun Withey [alt+shift+b] in history

10th Nov 2021
Recently I’ve been contributing to a new series of stories, drawing on the archives of Lloyds’ Register – a fantastic archive, with a wealth of sources on many aspects of maritime, but also broader social, history. The full series can be found here:...
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What Did Africans Know About The Outside World? On British “Spies” and News from India
a week ago
1

What Did Africans Know About The Outside World?

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

a week ago
On British “Spies” and News from India
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Wool Aliens of the British Empire Wool Aliens of the British Empire JamesHoare Tue, 04/01/2025 - 09:07
1st Apr 2025
58

Wool Aliens of the British Empire

from History Today Magazine Feed [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2025
Wool Aliens of the British Empire JamesHoare Tue, 04/01/2025 - 09:07
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Translating Latin demonology manuals with GPT-4 and Claude At long last, a real-world use case for AI!
3rd Oct 2023
51

Translating Latin demonology manuals with GPT-4 and Claude

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Oct 2023
At long last, a real-world use case for AI!
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Events Listing Ancient Women, Marcus Aurelius, Economics and Resilience...
18th Apr 2023
72

Events Listing

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

18th Apr 2023
Ancient Women, Marcus Aurelius, Economics and Resilience...
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To all the newspapers I loved The decline and fall of the print media.
2nd Feb 2024
35

To all the newspapers I loved

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Feb 2024
The decline and fall of the print media.
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The Assassination of Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Civil rights icon Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, on a motel...
1st Apr 2025
59

The Assassination of Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2025
Civil rights icon Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, on a motel balcony in Memphis. One of the earliest successes of the civil rights movement was a boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.  In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her...
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The Euro-American Split (I): Dread Possibility THERE ARE DECADES WHEN possibility is constrained in a narrow frame. The terrain has been surveyed,...
21st Feb 2025
63

The Euro-American Split (I): Dread Possibility

from The Scholar's Stage [alt+shift+b] in history

21st Feb 2025
THERE ARE DECADES WHEN possibility is constrained in a narrow frame. The terrain has been surveyed, boundaries have been laid, and rules have been established. In such an age there is still room for high drama: The decisive round of a boxing match draws the eye despite the...
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Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part V: Epilogue This is the fifth part of our four(ish) five part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc) look...
3rd May 2024
63

Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part V: Epilogue

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd May 2024
This is the fifth part of our four(ish) five part (Ia, Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc) look at how the Roman legions were able to overcome the Macedonian sarisa phalanx in the third and second centuries BC. We have covered the decisive battles in the story, although...
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Not at the table: Europe's colonial moment The upcoming negotiations in Alaska between Trump and Putin tells you all you ought to know about...
10th Aug 2025
1

Not at the table: Europe's colonial moment

from Arnaud Bertrand [alt+shift+b] in history

10th Aug 2025
The upcoming negotiations in Alaska between Trump and Putin tells you all you ought to know about the nature of the Ukraine war, and Europe's current geopolitical status.
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OpenAI's "Study Mode" and the risks of flattery Serious learning requires friction, frustration... and other humans
31st Jul 2025
55

OpenAI's "Study Mode" and the risks of flattery

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

31st Jul 2025
Serious learning requires friction, frustration... and other humans
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Summary of changes for July 2024 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
4th Aug 2024
1

Summary of changes for July 2024

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Aug 2024
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of July. Summary Of Changes 100r.ca, added Sitka, and completed route in us se alaska. Left, can now paste binary directly from programs like Nasu. Hakum, added two drawings to the...
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Swapping Web 2.0 Summit for PARC; and RWW Planning for 2011 Me posing next to the Xerox ParcPad from 1992, an ancestor of the iPad (which was released in 2010);...
6th Nov 2024
1

Swapping Web 2.0 Summit for PARC; and RWW Planning for 2011

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

6th Nov 2024
Me posing next to the Xerox ParcPad from 1992, an ancestor of the iPad (which was released in 2010); photo on the right is from a group dinner in San Francisco, October 2010. In July, as I was trying to make progress on a number of troublesome fronts — including filling in...
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Forgotten Cities of the Swahili coast: A history of Pemba in the Medieval Indian Ocean World (ca.... Journal of African Cities: chapter 19
1st Feb 2026
1

Forgotten Cities of the Swahili coast: A history of Pemba in the Medieval Indian Ocean World (ca. 600-1822 CE)

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Feb 2026
Journal of African Cities: chapter 19
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What the Internet Was Like in 1994 Netscape's mascot, Mozilla, in 1994; artist: Dave Titus. The World Wide Web was in its infancy as...
5th Mar 2025
1

What the Internet Was Like in 1994

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Mar 2025
Netscape's mascot, Mozilla, in 1994; artist: Dave Titus. The World Wide Web was in its infancy as 1994 dawned. There were just 623 websites in the entire world at the beginning of the year. By June 1994, that figure had risen to 2,738 and by year's end it had tipped over 10,000....
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Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part IIIa: An Archaic Phalanx? This is the third part of our four-part series (I, II) discussing the debates surrounding ancient...
5th Dec 2025
1

Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part IIIa: An Archaic Phalanx?

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Dec 2025
This is the third part of our four-part series (I, II) discussing the debates surrounding ancient Greek hoplites and the formation in which they (mostly?) fought, the phalanx. Last week, we looked at how the equipment which defined the hoplite – hoplite (ὁπλίτης), after all,...
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The Age of Books and the Age of Brainrot A semi-optimistic take on the future of reading and thinking
2nd Oct 2025
29

The Age of Books and the Age of Brainrot

from Res Obscura [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Oct 2025
A semi-optimistic take on the future of reading and thinking
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Collections: Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’ This week on the blog I want to take a brief detour into discussing historical coinage, particularly...
3rd Jan 2025
139

Collections: Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Jan 2025
This week on the blog I want to take a brief detour into discussing historical coinage, particularly in the context of modern fantasy and roleplaying settings. In particular, the notions I want to tackle are first how did ancient currency systems work in terms of value (what...
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Sandinista! To Our Friends, 20 Years Later : In Memory of Timur Kacharava, Russian Anti-Fascist Twenty years ago, on November 13, 2005, Timur Kacharava, an anti-fascist and a hardcore musician,...
17th Nov 2025
1

Sandinista! To Our Friends, 20 Years Later : In Memory of Timur Kacharava, Russian Anti-Fascist

from CrimethInc. [alt+shift+b] in history

17th Nov 2025
Twenty years ago, on November 13, 2005, Timur Kacharava, an anti-fascist and a hardcore musician, was murdered in a barbaric attack by neo-Nazis in the very center of St. Petersburg, Russia. Although for us, his death was not only a huge personal loss, but also an event that...
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A puzzle about balancing test tubes in a centrifuge Suppose a centrifuge has slots, arranged in a circle around the center, and we have test tubes we...
1st May 2025
1

A puzzle about balancing test tubes in a centrifuge

from The Universe of Discourse [alt+shift+b] in history

1st May 2025
Suppose a centrifuge has slots, arranged in a circle around the center, and we have test tubes we wish to place into the slots. If the tubes are not arranged symmetrically around the center, the centrifuge will explode. (By "arranged symmetrically around the center, I mean that...
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Fireside Friday, March 6, 2026 Hey everyone, we have a Fireside this week and then next week we’ll get back to our somewhat silly...
6th Mar 2026
1

Fireside Friday, March 6, 2026

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

6th Mar 2026
Hey everyone, we have a Fireside this week and then next week we’ll get back to our somewhat silly break discussing the mechanics of warfare in Dune. But I did want to stop to chatter a bit about something that came up in that discussion, which is something about the nature of...
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The key lesson from Iran? Kim Jong Un was right about everything. It’s hard to overstate or even begin to list all the genuinely awful precedents set by Israel and...
24th Jun 2025
1

The key lesson from Iran? Kim Jong Un was right about everything.

from Arnaud Bertrand [alt+shift+b] in history

24th Jun 2025
It’s hard to overstate or even begin to list all the genuinely awful precedents set by Israel and the U.S.’s behavior vis à vis Iran in the latest war.
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The Medieval Monks Who Lived on Top of Giant Pillars A history of the monastic high life
2nd Aug 2023
125

The Medieval Monks Who Lived on Top of Giant Pillars

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Aug 2023
A history of the monastic high life
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Swearing and the Japanese Language It is sometimes said that the Japanese language does not have any swear words—no direct equivalents...
7th Oct 2025
1

Swearing and the Japanese Language

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

7th Oct 2025
It is sometimes said that the Japanese language does not have any swear words—no direct equivalents to English cursing like “fuck you” or “piece of shit”. That is technically true, mostly. For deep historical and cultural reasons, swearing in Japanese is entirely different from...
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Summary of changes for July 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
1st Jul 2023
1

Summary of changes for July 2023

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2023
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of July. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Slide Rule, released a little slide rule toy(Mastodon). 100r.ca,...
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Sony 80 Is Almost Here On June 23rd, the next ObsoleteSony book launches on Kickstarter.
16th Jun 2026
1

Sony 80 Is Almost Here

from Obsolete Sony’s Newsletter [alt+shift+b] in history

16th Jun 2026
On June 23rd, the next ObsoleteSony book launches on Kickstarter.
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Science Proceeds One Question at a Time MIDWAY through his 900 page history of biology, zoologist Ernst Mayr considers the problem posed by...
1st Jan 2025
65

Science Proceeds One Question at a Time

from The Scholar's Stage [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jan 2025
MIDWAY through his 900 page history of biology, zoologist Ernst Mayr considers the problem posed by Alfred Wallace. Wallace was a contemporary of Charles Darwin who independently developed a theory of speciation by means of natural selection. By the time Wallace came on the scene...
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Cloud Gate, Chicago’s “Bean” This futuristic sculpture in Millennium Park has become an icon of Chicago. In 1997, the city of...
4th Feb 2025
57

Cloud Gate, Chicago’s “Bean”

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Feb 2025
This futuristic sculpture in Millennium Park has become an icon of Chicago. In 1997, the city of Chicago was making plans for a patch of land near Grant Park on the shore of Lake Michigan that had previously been a parking lot and a railroad yard. At first, there was talk of...
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The Obscene Art of Wallace Smith For The Banned Book Fantazius Mallare, 1922 “A memory of sanity gives diverting outline to the shadows in me. I am not a maniac like the night....
1st Dec 2025
1

The Obscene Art of Wallace Smith For The Banned Book Fantazius Mallare, 1922

from Flashbak [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Dec 2025
“A memory of sanity gives diverting outline to the shadows in me. I am not a maniac like the night. My mind closes like darkness over the world but I enjoy myself walking amid insane houses, staring at windows that look like drunken octagons, observing lamp posts that simper with...
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Academia’s Abstraction Failure One of the greatest obstacles to humanity using abstract thought to help on its biggest issues is...
4th Jan 2026
1

Academia’s Abstraction Failure

from Overcoming Bias [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Jan 2026
One of the greatest obstacles to humanity using abstract thought to help on its biggest issues is this: our main professional specialists in abstract though applied to big issues are academics, and they refuse to think abstractly about how they allocate resources.
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John Haugeland on the failure of micro-worlds Buy Artificial Intelligence from Bookshop.org (with kickback) (without kickback) One of the...
5th Feb 2026
1

John Haugeland on the failure of micro-worlds

from The Universe of Discourse [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Feb 2026
Buy Artificial Intelligence from Bookshop.org (with kickback) (without kickback) One of the better books I read in college was Artifical Intelligence: The Very Idea (1985) by philosopher John Haugeland. One of the sections I found most striking and memorable was about...
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The Internet’s Impact on Culture “It feels like the internet’s impact on culture is just beginning. A world in which culture is based...
29th Jan 2020
1

The Internet’s Impact on Culture

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

29th Jan 2020
“It feels like the internet’s impact on culture is just beginning. A world in which culture is based on the internet, which is what I think is happening, is just the very start. Right, ’cause it had to get universal before it could set the culture.” Those words were spoken by...
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Medieval Muslims loved their cats so much Cat shelters, cat shoes, cat jewellery, and more from the Islamic Middle Ages
2nd Apr 2023
102

Medieval Muslims loved their cats so much

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Apr 2023
Cat shelters, cat shoes, cat jewellery, and more from the Islamic Middle Ages
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Summary of changes for September 2024 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of...
1st Oct 2024
1

Summary of changes for September 2024

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Oct 2024
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of September. Summary Of Changes 100r.ca, added a new page: Victoria to Sitka logbook. M291, added support for Cyrillic glyphs. Fractran, released what might be the most in-depth...
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London at its Dickensian finest What a time to be alive (if you didn’t die from cholera)
3rd Sep 2025
1

London at its Dickensian finest

from Wrong Side of History [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Sep 2025
What a time to be alive (if you didn’t die from cholera)
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A history of Women's political power and matriliny in the kingdom of Kongo. In the 19th century, anthropologists were fascinated by the concept of matrilineal descent in which...
8th Oct 2023
88

A history of Women's political power and matriliny in the kingdom of Kongo.

from African History Extra [alt+shift+b] in history

8th Oct 2023
In the 19th century, anthropologists were fascinated by the concept of matrilineal descent in which kinship is traced through the female line. Matriliny was often confounded with matriarchy as a supposedly earlier stage of social evolution than patriarchy. Matriliny thus became a...
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BowieNet: The Inside Story of Its Creation David Bowie's website circa August-September 1998. In late 1996, just before his 50th birthday...
10th Jan 2023
1

BowieNet: The Inside Story of Its Creation

from Cybercultural: Internet History [alt+shift+b] in history

10th Jan 2023
David Bowie's website circa August-September 1998. In late 1996, just before his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden and before his latest album ‘Earthling’ was released, David Bowie had quietly approved the development of what was to become his biggest internet...
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2024 in writing A brief recap of my 2024 posts
4th Jan 2025
99

2024 in writing

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

4th Jan 2025
A brief recap of my 2024 posts
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The Coming Of Neo-Tribalism. Of honour, gangsters, nomadic tribes and of course identity politics.
5th Jun 2024
53

The Coming Of Neo-Tribalism.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

5th Jun 2024
Of honour, gangsters, nomadic tribes and of course identity politics.
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The triumph of Brand Scotland Good luck booking a holiday in the Highlands next summer
1st Jul 2026
1

The triumph of Brand Scotland

from Wrong Side of History [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Jul 2026
Good luck booking a holiday in the Highlands next summer
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Packing the Essentials!: Preparing to Travel in the 18th Century. Now that Covid restrictions have finally been lifted, and summer is at least theoretically here –...
8th Jun 2022
91

Packing the Essentials!: Preparing to Travel in the 18th Century.

from Dr Alun Withey [alt+shift+b] in history

8th Jun 2022
Now that Covid restrictions have finally been lifted, and summer is at least theoretically here – it’s raining outside as I write! – many people are returning to travel and undertaking the holidays that have had to be postponed over the past couple of years. The pandemic aside,...
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Africa's Poor Numbers How much do we really know about African state of affairs?
22nd Jun 2025
48

Africa's Poor Numbers

from Patterns in Humanity [alt+shift+b] in history

22nd Jun 2025
How much do we really know about African state of affairs?
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Buster Brown Goes to Mars (1958) This comic is a promotional comic from Buster Brown shoes. If you went into a shoe store and tried...
3rd Jul 2026
1

Buster Brown Goes to Mars (1958)

from Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Jul 2026
This comic is a promotional comic from Buster Brown shoes. If you went into a shoe store and tried on Buster Brown shoes you would get a comic book with the name of the store stamped/printed on it. Buster Brown  (and his dog Tag) were a feature of 1950s and 1960s shoe store. In...
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War Is Complicated. And not just the fighting bit.
3rd May 2023
102

War Is Complicated.

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd May 2023
And not just the fighting bit.
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My favourite etymologies: OK It's an acronym, but what does it stand for?
13th Jan 2026
1

My favourite etymologies: OK

from weird medieval guys [alt+shift+b] in history

13th Jan 2026
It's an acronym, but what does it stand for?
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Weekly Wisdom Quiz Ancient Secrets of Success?
1st Mar 2026
2

Weekly Wisdom Quiz

from Classical Wisdom [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Mar 2026
Ancient Secrets of Success?
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a home for pino We left Shimizu on a sunny morning, pushing off the dock at 6am. Early. We wanted to make sure we'd...
11th Aug 2019
1

a home for pino

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

11th Aug 2019
We left Shimizu on a sunny morning, pushing off the dock at 6am. Early. We wanted to make sure we'd arrive at our destination on time. There was 126nm between us and Shima Yacht harbor, a distance we needed to do in part at night. This wasn't ideal. We knew that. Many people...
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The facts of the European (EU27) income convergence How is Europe becoming more equal
2nd Apr 2026
1

The facts of the European (EU27) income convergence

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Apr 2026
How is Europe becoming more equal
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It's War, Josep, But Not As We Know It Trying to understand what Ukraine is all about.
23rd Nov 2022
76

It's War, Josep, But Not As We Know It

from Trying to Understand the World [alt+shift+b] in history

23rd Nov 2022
Trying to understand what Ukraine is all about.
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Was the world of the 1990s better than today’s? It is a fundamental question.
3rd Jan 2026
2

Was the world of the 1990s better than today’s?

from Global Inequality and More 3.0 [alt+shift+b] in history

3rd Jan 2026
It is a fundamental question.
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Secret state The Nottingham Inquiry
1st Apr 2026
1

Secret state

from Wrong Side of History [alt+shift+b] in history

1st Apr 2026
The Nottingham Inquiry
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A Shameless Plug: My “human evolution” book thought some folks here may be interested in this … I just finished up a book on human evolution,...
a week ago
1

A Shameless Plug: My “human evolution” book

from Hidden History [alt+shift+b] in history

a week ago
thought some folks here may be interested in this … I just finished up a book on human evolution, which covers thirty-some hominin species from Sahelanthropus to sapiens. It covers what we know about each of them, what we don’t know, and what the experts are arguing over (and...
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Summary of changes for January Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
31st Jan 2022
1

Summary of changes for January

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

31st Jan 2022
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of January. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Left, re-wrote documentation, redesigned the UX for...
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Collections: Raising Carthaginian Armies, Part III: Generals, Warlords and Vassals This is the third part (I, II) of our series looking at how Carthage’s complex, multipart armies...
1st May 2026
1

Collections: Raising Carthaginian Armies, Part III: Generals, Warlords and Vassals

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry [alt+shift+b] in history

1st May 2026
This is the third part (I, II) of our series looking at how Carthage’s complex, multipart armies were raised and constituted. Last time, we looked at the backbone of Carthage’s armies: North African troops levied out of Carthage’s subject communities in North Africa. These...
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Summary of changes for September 2023 Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the...
2nd Oct 2023
1

Summary of changes for September 2023

from Hundred Rabbits [alt+shift+b] in history

2nd Oct 2023
Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of September. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans. Summary Of Changes Wiktopher, adapted Solresol, edited other conlangs. Niju,...
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