Tag: Desert
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Sir Arthur Evans: Archaeology visionary
Sir Arthur Evans (1851–1941) achieved lasting fame by discovering the Minoan civilization in Crete. Through his systematic Knossos excavations and his later interpretations, he revolutionized our knowledge about European prehistory and societal evolution. Born 1851, in Nash Mills, Hertfordshire, he studied modern history at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he developed an interest in… Read more
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The Semmelweis Museum of Medical History, Budapest
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England Museums on medical themes are uncommon and generally scattered worldwide. Budapest features the Semmelweis Museum, dedicated to one of Hungary’s greatest physicians and the history of medical advances in Hungary. It is the birthplace and childhood home of Ignaz Semmelweis, born… Read more
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Below deck and breathless: Pneumonia’s toll on seafarers
Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia In the tight, damp quarters of historical tall ships on the open sea, pneumonia was a common occurrence. More than just an unfortunate illness, it was often a death sentence, preying upon the weakened and crowded bodies of sailors, soldiers, convicts,… Read more
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Brushstrokes and benevolence: Thomas Sully, Samuel Coates, and the Pennsylvania Hospital
Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States Artist Thomas Sully was born in 1783 in the remote English village of Horcastle, but he would gain fame and fortune in the city where the greatest minds came together to sign the United States Constitution: Philadelphia. Lauded as the… Read more
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Caravaggio: Beauty and crime intertwined
Born in Milan in 1571 and orphaned by the plague in 1577, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio made his way to Rome in 1592, where he enrolled the lowlife of the city, its prostitutes, thieves, and other undesirables, in order to paint the Virgin Mary, Jesus,… Read more
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Titian: The mastery of color and the perils of paint
Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/90–1576) hailed from Pieve di Cadore, near Venice. He trained first in the workshop of the mosaicist Sebastiano Zuccato and subsequently with the acclaimed Giovanni Bellini, while his close relationship and collaboration with the influential Giorgione greatly shaped his early style. Titian’s… Read more
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The Pickering-Platt debate
JMS PearceHull, England Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC–43 BC), statesman, scholar, and philosopher once said: If no use is made of the labours of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge. It may therefore be worthwhile to recollect the aspects… Read more
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The Celts, early inhabitants of Europe
The Celts, a collection of Indo-European tribes, shared common linguistic and cultural traditions. They controlled extensive territories across Europe from 1200 BCE to 400 CE, spanning from Ireland and Scotland to Anatolia and from the Netherlands to Spain and Italy. Greek and Roman observers frequently wrote about the… Read more
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The Trinity Plague Column in Budapest
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England In the Buda Castle district of the city of Budapest, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there is an elegant square in front of the famous centuries-old Matthias Church with its imposing Gothic spire. This site was a mosque during the Ottoman invasion… Read more
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The early death of Alfonso XII
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain ¿Dónde vas Alfonso XII?¿Dónde vas triste de ti?Voy en busca de MercedesQue ayer tarde no la vi. Where are you going, Alfonso XII?Where are you going so blue?I am looking for MercedesYesterday I did not see her. —Popular Spanish song King Alfonso… Read more
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Sir Edward Elgar, pioneer of English music
Sir Edward Elgar raised English music to prominence at a time when it was dominated by continental composers. Renowned for his The Dream of Gerontius oratorio (1900), Enigma Variations (1899), the Pomp and Circumstance marches (1901–1930), a Violin Concerto (1910), a Cello Concerto (1919), two… Read more
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Dr. David Hosack, physician to Alexander Hamilton
In the early 1800s, when Napoleon had established his hegemony over most of Europe but was utterly ignored by Jane Austen in her novels, barber-surgeons took care of most of the bodily needs of their clients. They shaved their beards, pulled their teeth, drew their… Read more