It’s such a pretty name, isn’t it? It makes you think of swashbuckling science fiction or the old Victorian fantasy fiction, the sort of stories that HG Wells wrote, or the pulp fiction of the 1920s. I might have to see if there’s a story in that name… However, the Galilean Moons are very real. […]
The Galilean Moons Read More »
For those of you who are actually on line today that celebrate Christmas, even if it’s just for the turkey and presents, please have a wonderfully happy, argument-free day with your family and friends. May your stocking be overflowing! And because I just can’t help myself, did you know the very first Christmas was celebrated
Did you know Bluebeard was a real man? I didn’t. I’ve found another cool history factoid! I grew up reading the Bluebeard fairytale that warns women everywhere and everywhen about the dangers of curiosity and not obeying your husband (which just underlines when the fairytale was created!). It took growing up and getting married myself
Bluebeard Gets His Just Rewards Read More »
Benjamin Franklin may be the earliest indie author in North America. He wrote and self-published Poor Richard’s Almanack on this day in 1732, and it was so successful it ran for decades after that, lasting sixteen years. It was considered a best seller, with print runs reaching ten thousand per year. The Almanack contained weather
Poor Richard is 282 Years Old Read More »
145 years ago today, in 1869, the first Women’s Suffrage law in the United Stated was granted in Wyoming Territory. It was the first step in full voting rights for women in America, which was written into the Constitution in 1920. Canada gave women the vote in 1919, and the United Kingdom trailed behind, declaring
Equality for Women: Not such a hot idea. Read More »
Funny, I was just talking about Lancelot the other day, wasn’t I? Sheer coincidence. Or perhaps not. The Arthurian tale seems to be one of those evergreen ones, that revises itself, renews its magic and repeats generation after generation. I am particularly fond of the Camelot musical and especially the movie made from the same
Camelot is 54 Years Old Read More »
So here’s a doozy I tripped over while wandering through the rabbit burrows of history the other day. On this day in 1971 a man, whose identity is still unknown, hijacked a Boeing 727, demanded $200,000 in ransom, then jumped out of the plane and skydived to the ground. He has never been found. No
The Only Unsolved Case Of Air Piracy In American History Read More »
The Norse didn’t do things the easy way. Their Norse mythology features a world called Hel, and it seems to be mildly correlative to the Christian Hell…but there aren’t just sinners in Hel. Oh, no, not at all. Hel seems to be a dumping ground for a whole lot of species that had nowhere else
Hel…More Crowded than Hell Read More »
As I write this, they’re still mopping up in Ottawa after the gunman opened fire on a reservist at the War Memorial, and again in the central hall of the parliament building, where he was finally shot down. It’s still very unclear whether the gunman was is an official terrorist or working on his own
I think it’s fair to say that I have grown to love Katharine Hepburn and that she ranks up there as one of my favourite actors. I watched a lot of old, classic movies over the summer, including one that has been a favourite of mine for a very long time: The Philedelphia Story. It’s
Happy Birthday, Katharine Read More »