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TheCollector
Magic and Sorcery in Colonial Latin America Witchcraft has existed in almost every culture throughout time. Due to the great mixing of customs...
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Witchcraft has existed in almost every culture throughout time. Due to the great mixing of customs in Latin America during the colonial period, a new form of witchcraft, or brujería, was born, blending the traditions of European, Native American, and African cultures. Accusations...
History Today Feed
When Summer Meant Sea Serpents When Summer Meant Sea Serpents JamesHoare Thu, 08/21/2025 - 09:11
a week ago
TheCollector
7 Interesting Facts to Know About the Mona Lisa The Mona Lisa is probably the most famous painting in the world. Painted in the 16th century by...
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The Mona Lisa is probably the most famous painting in the world. Painted in the 16th century by Leonardo da Vinci, it has an amazing history. Her smile has left a lasting impression on lovers of art and beauty throughout the ages. The Mona Lisa draws thousands of visitors a year...
Flashbak
A Year Living In Grand Central Station: A Photographer’s Pictures From 1978 “A lot of my images are from Grand Central station for a project I did,” says reader Bill Antin. “I...
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“A lot of my images are from Grand Central station for a project I did,” says reader Bill Antin. “I literally lived in the station for a year taking these images. It was my senior year photo thesis at the school of Visual Art in NYC. I spent many days and nights all over …...
TheCollector
How the Nazis Won Over the Establishment in the Weimar Republic The National Socialist movement acquired an air of respectability through their collaboration with...
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The National Socialist movement acquired an air of respectability through their collaboration with the established elites of right-wing politics. This was a situation of give and take. If the right-wing Establishment was to work with the Nazis, they had to be reassured that the...
Classical Wisdom
What’s the Use of a Good Cry? Catharsis, Aristotle, and Why Emotions Matter
a week ago
TheCollector
Why Did the Vikings Begin Invading England? The start of Viking raids in England, and the start of the Viking Age more generally, is usually...
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The start of Viking raids in England, and the start of the Viking Age more generally, is usually dated to 793 CE when the Vikings sacked the holy island of Lindisfarne. This initiated centuries of raiding, followed by invading, with Vikings claiming English territory and creating...
History Today Feed
The Church of England’s Great Ejection The Church of England’s Great Ejection JamesHoare Wed, 08/20/2025 - 08:13
a week ago
TheCollector
The Unconventional Marriage That Defined the Book of Hosea The Book of Hosea is the first of the Minor Prophets listed in the Bible. Hosea prophesied during...
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The Book of Hosea is the first of the Minor Prophets listed in the Bible. Hosea prophesied during the last years of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. When he started his ministry, the kingdom prospered and his prophecies of a fall were unpopular and seemed unlikely.   God...
Trying to Understand...
The War Was The Easy Bit. Just wait until we get to the politics.
a week ago
Classical Wisdom
Before the Rest of the World Sees It Just a Gentle Reminder...
a week ago
TheCollector
Who Were the Knights of the Round Table? (Arthurian Legends) The Arthurian legends tell us that King Arthur was supported in his rulership by an alliance of...
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The Arthurian legends tell us that King Arthur was supported in his rulership by an alliance of knights known as the Knights of the Round Table, referring to a special table constructed at Camelot that was designed to give every knight an equal place. The number of Knights of the...
History Today Feed
‘The Invention of the Eastern Question’ by Ozan Ozavcı review ‘The Invention of the Eastern Question’ by Ozan Ozavcı review JamesHoare Tue, 08/19/2025 - 08:29
2 weeks ago
Dr Alun Withey
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...
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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...
TheCollector
10 Vincent van Gogh Paintings You Should Know Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is today a globally renowned artist, but his lifetime was marked by...
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Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) is today a globally renowned artist, but his lifetime was marked by profound struggles and limited recognition. Amidst immense personal adversities—from health issues to a tumultuous relationship with a fellow artist—Van Gogh proved extraordinarily...
Classical Wisdom
The Hero Athens Hated to Love Meet the brilliant man who outwitted nations
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
Was the Pax Romana Really Peaceful? The “Pax Romana,” or “Roman Peace,” was a roughly 200-year period between 27 BCE and 180 CE. During...
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The “Pax Romana,” or “Roman Peace,” was a roughly 200-year period between 27 BCE and 180 CE. During this time, the Roman Empire enjoyed relative internal peace when compared with the years of civil war that preceded it and the struggles between imperial claimants that followed....
Flashbak
Illustrated People: Artist Burns Old Photos Onto Human Skin “You know, I am fed up with how photography is often shown in a frame, and so we should invent new...
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“You know, I am fed up with how photography is often shown in a frame, and so we should invent new ways to show it, and performance is one way of doing that” – French artist Thomas Mailaender, creator of Illustrated People, 2015     Thomas Mailaender needed a favour. Having...
TheCollector
5 Invasions That Shaped Russian History Throughout its over one thousand-year history, Russia has been invaded numerous times, some more...
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Throughout its over one thousand-year history, Russia has been invaded numerous times, some more famous than others. In fact, the development of the modern Russian state is inexorably linked with these various invasions, both successes and failures. From the widely successful...
History Today Feed
On the Spot: Natasha Wheatley On the Spot: Natasha Wheatley JamesHoare Mon, 08/18/2025 - 08:56
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
The Incredible Story of the (Real) Last Samurai and the Satsuma Rebellion In The Last Samurai (2003), a group of 19th-century Japanese warriors rebel against the government...
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In The Last Samurai (2003), a group of 19th-century Japanese warriors rebel against the government because it abandoned the katana in favor of guns. In the end, the last of the samurai perished during the Battle of Shiroyama, pitching blades against bullets in a last-ditch...
Classical Wisdom
Weekly Wisdom Quiz Pscyhedelia and the Sun
2 weeks ago
Flashbak
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster, 1963 In 1963, Norton Juster (June 2, 1929 – March 8, 2021) wrote and illustrated The Dot and the Line: A...
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In 1963, Norton Juster (June 2, 1929 – March 8, 2021) wrote and illustrated The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics. To give you an idea of the book’s tone, Juster described himself as “a dedicated mathematician whose efforts have been focused primarily on the...
TheCollector
How King Arthur Proved His Right to Rule The incident of the Sword in the Stone is one of the most famous stories in the Arthurian legends....
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The incident of the Sword in the Stone is one of the most famous stories in the Arthurian legends. This account tells how Arthur was accepted as the rightful king of the Britons. Arthur proved his right to rule by withdrawing a special sword that had been stuck in a stone. The...
Classical Wisdom
Walk Like an Egyptian (Historian) A Once-in-a-Lifetime Journey to the Land of the Pharaohs
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
The Tudor Midwives, Women Who Held Royal Lives & Secrets in Their Hands When it came to power in Tudor England, most women were shut out or, for the noble women, sidelined....
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When it came to power in Tudor England, most women were shut out or, for the noble women, sidelined. They couldn’t sit on councils, hold office, or even legally own property. Yet, there existed one room where they reigned—quite literally—with blood on their hands. That room was...
Flashbak
Teenagers on the Brink at Summer Camp in 1977 “I want my photos to be truthful accounts,” Sweet once wrote. “The color is a device to include more...
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“I want my photos to be truthful accounts,” Sweet once wrote. “The color is a device to include more reality.” – Andy Sweet, Summer Camp     In 1977, Andy Sweet was at Camp Mountain Lake, in North Carolina. Based in Miami, Florida, Sweet was well known for his photographs of...
TheCollector
Guns vs. Slingshots? The Indigenous Weaponry That Fought the Conquistadors When Europeans first arrived in the Americas, their guns, horses, and, perhaps most importantly,...
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When Europeans first arrived in the Americas, their guns, horses, and, perhaps most importantly, diseases, made relatively quick work of conquering native populations. But while Indigenous weaponry was ultimately not a match for the steels and gunpowder of the Conquistadors, the...
Global Inequality...
Gramsci and Lenin on transcending “parliamentarianism” and on direct democracy Century-old writings and today's politics
2 weeks ago
Dreams of Space -...
Jimmy and The Spaceship (1949) To continue my obscure "space fiction" I have Jimmy and the Spaceship to share with you. This was a...
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To continue my obscure "space fiction" I have Jimmy and the Spaceship to share with you. This was a very small "pocket book" of a comic strip. There were other "Jimmy and the...." books but I really enjoyed reading this one. It reads like the typical space story but has its own...
Flashbak
A Walk Around Mildmay and Newington Green, North London in the 1970s Newington Green, in the Mildmay Ward of the Borough of Islington, North London is soaked in history....
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Newington Green, in the Mildmay Ward of the Borough of Islington, North London is soaked in history. King Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) kept a hunting lodge there. Several streets in the area take their name from that period, such as King Henry’s Walk, Boleyn Road...
TheCollector
The Innovative Methods That Allowed the Mongols to Create a Vast Empire During the 13th century, the Mongols stormed onto the world stage to create one of the largest...
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During the 13th century, the Mongols stormed onto the world stage to create one of the largest empires the world had ever seen. Despite their reputation for barbarity, the way they approached both warfare and governance was highly calculated and organized. The Mongols fostered a...
A Collection of...
Fireside Friday, August 15, 2025 (On Latin Pronunciation) Hey folks, Fireside this week! The new semester is starting up next week, so things may be a little...
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Hey folks, Fireside this week! The new semester is starting up next week, so things may be a little more fireside-y than usual over the next few weeks, but I do promise we will get to the end of “Life, Work, Death and the Peasant” eventually. That said, since I am teaching Latin...
Classical Wisdom
Greek God of the Sun In Myth, Literature, and Art
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
King Arthur’s Forgotten Battle of Llongborth In the Arthurian legends, King Arthur famously fought 12 battles against the Anglo-Saxons,...
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In the Arthurian legends, King Arthur famously fought 12 battles against the Anglo-Saxons, culminating in the historically important Battle of Badon. Years later, he fought against his nephew, Mordred, at the tragic Battle of Camlann. However, there are some obscure references to...
Global Inequality...
How to learn about politics from two Democratic-leaning women in New York Tonight I went rather late (around 9 pm) to a rather expensive New York restaurant; not super...
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Tonight I went rather late (around 9 pm) to a rather expensive New York restaurant; not super expensive where the millionaires from the East Sude meet but one in West Village where mostly successful young (and not so young as the story will soon reveal) people gather to dine and...
TheCollector
Decoding Hieronymus Bosch’s Vision in the Garden of Earthly Delights The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch remains a complex riddle that is next to...
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The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch remains a complex riddle that is next to impossible to solve. The three-panel work includes images of Heaven and Hell, as well as strange portrayals of human sin. Bosch was a deeply religious and god-fearing man who reflected his...
History Today Feed
Spain Was Different: Tourism Under Franco Spain Was Different: Tourism Under Franco JamesHoare Thu, 08/14/2025 - 08:58
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
Did the Celts Have a Sense of Shared Identity? The Celts were one of the most popular peoples of ancient Europe. In the 4th century BCE, the Greek...
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The Celts were one of the most popular peoples of ancient Europe. In the 4th century BCE, the Greek historian Ephorus summed up the world by saying that the Scythians lived to the north, the Indians lived to the east, the Ethiopians lived to the south, and the Celts lived to the...
Classical Wisdom
The Man Who Made August The life, legacy, and cunning of Rome’s first emperor.
2 weeks ago
Res Obscura
All Souls exam questions and the limits of machine reasoning The world's most eccentric exam is newly relevant in the age of AI
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
How Puerto Rico Went From a Conquistador’s Playground to US Territory Once populated by peaceful Indigenous tribes descended from South America’s Arawaks, the island now...
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Once populated by peaceful Indigenous tribes descended from South America’s Arawaks, the island now called Puerto Rico was first stumbled upon by Christopher Columbus’s men during his second voyage to the “New World” in 1493. Within a decade, Spain had established its first...
Flashbak
The Troubles In Kodachrome: An Outsider’s View of A Divided Northern Ireland Akihiko Okamura had not long left photographing the Vietnam War when he arrived in Northern Ireland...
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Akihiko Okamura had not long left photographing the Vietnam War when he arrived in Northern Ireland in 1968 to explore John F. Kennedy’s ancestral roots. The following year he retuned to Ireland, settling first near Dublin, then Avoca, in County Wicklow. Okamura’s interest in war...
TheCollector
7 Renaissance Paintings That Reveal the Secrets of a Changing World More than an artistic movement, the Renaissance was a revolution in how people understood the world...
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More than an artistic movement, the Renaissance was a revolution in how people understood the world and their place in it. Some of the era’s most telling insights happen to be hidden in its most famous paintings. From Italy to Northern Europe, the seven works below reveal seven...
History Today Feed
Cowboy Diplomacy in the Spanish-American War Cowboy Diplomacy in the Spanish-American War JamesHoare Wed, 08/13/2025 - 09:02
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TheCollector
How Loneliness Inspired Beautiful Art and Profound Philosophies Loneliness is a feeling we all know: heavy, quiet, hard to escape sometimes. But what if this is not...
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Loneliness is a feeling we all know: heavy, quiet, hard to escape sometimes. But what if this is not a burden, but a means for creativity? History has captured great art, music, and literature inspired by loneliness. From the star-filled sky of Van Gogh to Mary Shelley’s...
Trying to Understand...
Let's All Feel Good No, we Kant.
2 weeks ago
TheCollector
The Long History and Complicated Legacy of the Ottoman Empire Few empires in history have grown as large or lasted as long as the Ottoman Empire. It was founded...
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Few empires in history have grown as large or lasted as long as the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in the medieval era and only disappeared in the first decades of the 20th century (Quataert, 2005, 3). Ottoman history is, in many ways, marked by contradictions. It was a Sunni...
History Today Feed
‘The Graces’ by Breeze Barrington review ‘The Graces’ by Breeze Barrington review JamesHoare Tue, 08/12/2025 - 08:23
3 weeks ago
TheCollector
How Joan of Arc Helped Charles VII Win the Hundred Years’ War Throughout French history, few heroines have been admired as much as Joan of Arc. This teenage girl...
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Throughout French history, few heroines have been admired as much as Joan of Arc. This teenage girl etched her way into French history thanks to her divine mission; she had been told by God to reclaim French territory from the English. Whatever the actual reasoning for the...