Issue 44 of the newsletter is out now π
I take a look at the influence of medievalism on the Suffragettes & how Chaucer may have inspired Emily Davison's infamous Derby actions 110yrs ago this week.
https://t.co/dmBnlzkoA0
#Medievalism#Suffragettes
h/t @DrJaninaRamirez
When I say next week, what I really mean is this week. This Friday. (It's a public holiday here in the UK today, so it still feels like the weekend π«)
I was on holiday βοΈ when Issue 43 of the newsletter went out... π
While I took a pause, I shared some of my favourite takes on the punctuational pause β the semi-colon: https://t.co/ehnWwIhoUW
Normal storytelling service resumes next week.
Issue 42 of the newsletter is out now π
It's another instalment from the 1923 diary (held at
@GtDiaryProject@BishopsgateInst) of 17-year-old Londoner, Lily* β and sadly, she's having a tough time of it.
https://t.co/sfZ4EmdHQJ
#History#SocialHistory#London#1920s
Happy #MayDay. I once heard Ronald Hutton describe maypole dancing in the Puritan era (permanent maypoles were ordered cut down from 1644) as "like raves of the 1990s". Mobile maypoles were set up & Puritan police given false tipoffs to draw them away from the real dances.
Issue 41 of the newsletter is out now π
In it I tell the story of @LowellObs's founding astronomer who - in an effort to see beyond our world - inadvertently turned the lens on himself.
https://t.co/cygdauXMX9
#History#Space#Astronomy
Issue 40 of the newsletter is out nowπ
In it I interview @theciderologist about the forgotten success & status of English cider in the 17thC.
Did you know English cidermakers beat French winemakers to the 'champagne' fizz?!
https://t.co/Gc85hmTwfq
#Cider#History#Champagne
For #NationalPencilDay, here is a picture I took a few years back of a jar of pencil stubs collected by Wisconsin author and newspaper editor Waldemar Ager (1869-1941).
On display at the @Vesterheim National Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa.
Issue 39 of the newsletter is out now π
In it I share the first in a series of social history snippets of 1920s London, as described in the diary of a young woman that's held at @GtDiaryProject@BishopsgateInst
https://t.co/NGkVaYok9f
#History#SocialHistory#London#1920s
If no one wanted to put them in exhibitions, she put her #art into the world any way she couldβ¦ Sometimes she would βthrow objects into the Thames at nightβ. What audience was there for these works? βThere was no audience at all. An audience of one.β https://t.co/1b7VQLD7bX
Issue 38 of the newsletter is out now π
In it I investigate the potential link between a unique native Australian animal and a classical Greek character, and find there is indeed a link there!
https://t.co/9LyowrB1DP
#History#Science#GreekMyth#Theogony#Echidna
Issue 37 of the newsletter is out now π
Read how a professor has found striking links between Ferula drudeana, a rare plant growing in Turkey, and silphion, a renowned plant from ancient history, thought to be extinct.
https://t.co/NvCOUGyQf3
#Science#History#Silphion
Roget wanted to classify & organize words in the English language. Rogetβs Thesaurus is not just a book of words, itβs like a library of wordsβ¦ the words are not arranged alphabetically, like a Dictionary, but βaccording to the ideas which they express.β https://t.co/gjiB5RaEos
H/t to @FryRsquared & @laurenlaverne for the tip-off.
And if you want to learn more about Sir William Henry Perkin's discovery of a new purple, try 'Mauve' by Simon Garfield: https://t.co/N5HGfCGwed
Issue 36 of the newsletter is out now π
In it I look at the history of the colour purple, and how an accidental discovery democratised its use in fashion and had other important scientific implications.
https://t.co/xew8rC81UJ
#History#Science#Purple#Mauve
Issue 35 of the newsletter is out now π
In it I dig into the history of a certain witchy-vibes photograph I love, and try to find out what it's really about.
https://t.co/e8TzCc4y9m
@Vassar#witches#dancing#Shakespeare
Issue 34 of the newsletter is out now π
In it I speak to @shirilevari about her research into the sound of swearing.
I thought I knew what one of the key elements of a strong swear word was. I was wrong.
https://t.co/XhQ52RrJS2
#science#language#swearing#profanity
Stationery addicts / pencil fans unite βοΈββοΈ
Why the pencil is perfect (Caroline Weaver | Small Thing Big Idea) https://t.co/SwXMK1JylX via @TEDTalks#StationeryAddict