Many observers of modern social science are convinced of the maxim: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics’. Yet good historical scholarship has always used statistics as the antidote to the ‘damned lies’. This is especially useful with the Industrial Revolution, where wild theories dominate. Below I examine three famous theories…
Tag: History
The Wreck Detectives
Vietnam’s Cham Islands, renowned for tropical beaches, granite cliffs and the swallows now circling dizzily overhead have a ominous history. The names for these islands reflect their shape and character – one is called “East Wind”, another “Tomb”. That is the first clue to the history of these waters. This is the story of the coast that…
What do dictators like to eat?
You are what you eat – but also how you eat and who you eat with. Food can affect your mood, your bowels and your world-view, write Victoria Clark and Melissa Scott, authors of Dictators’ Dinners: A Bad Taste Guide to Entertaining Tyrants. In this age of the foodie, the gourmand and the gourmet, we have…
A Surprising History of Turkey in America
How do you get from Christopher Columbus to Butterball by way of Constantinople? Just ask Ataturk. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently made the news when he claimed that Muslim seafarers “discovered America” and that when Christopher Columbus arrived in Cuba in 1492 he found a mosque, built there by the natives, who were also…
The self-publicist whose medical text books caused a stir
Published nearly 500 years ago, Andreas Vesalius’s medical text books occupy an important place in scientific history. Intricate art, unlike anything that had been seen before, sits alongside detailed text that sought to change the way bodies were dissected post mortem. Cambridge University Library holds well-preserved copies of the Fabrica, and its companion piece the…
Archaeologists find skeleton in Alexander the Great-era tomb
Archaeologists in Greece have uncovered a skeleton from a tomb dating back to the era of Alexander the Great. The excavation has refueled rumors about the Greek conqueror, whose final resting place remains a mystery. An archaeological team digging roughly 600 kilometers (370 miles) north of Athens near the city of Amphipolis in recent months discovered…
19 priceless monuments lost in conflict
The countless monuments, art, artifacts and history of civilizations lost to conflict are each a tragedy in their own right. It is a cruel irony that the Middle East, a region so blessed with the treasures of early human civilizations, is also among those most troubled by conflict. As the violence threatens to annihilate some…
In pictures: Relics discovered in Mexico’s Teotihuacan
Some 50,000 relics have been discovered in Mexico in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexican archaeologists say. The city, located about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Mexico City, dominated central Mexico in pre-Columbian times. Read more at BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29828309
The Leonardo hidden from Hitler in case it gave him magic powers
One of the world’s most famous self-portraits is going on rare public display in the northern Italian city of Turin. Very little is known about the 500-year-old, fragile, fading red chalk drawing of Leonardo da Vinci but some believe it has mystical powers. There is a myth in Turin that the gaze of Leonardo da…
Shtetl of honour
The new Museum of the History of Polish Jews will intensify the debate about how museums should think about depicting issues of national identity. From the 1600s until 1939 Poland was the global centre of the Jewish people, home to the world’s largest Jewish population and its greatest nexus of religious, cultural and political activity. Yet…
History gone viral: The 500-year-old poem that captivated Reddit
A complex political satire written almost 500 years ago doesn’t seem like an obvious candidate for viral success, but its unusual pronunciation has struck a chord online. The poem, called Speke, Parrot, was written in the sixteenth century by an Englishman named John Skelton. A group of students at a Dutch university set the poem…
‘Beardless Jesus’ found in Spain
Archaeologists in Spain say they have found one of the world’s earliest known images of Jesus. It is engraved on a glass plate dating back to the 4th Century AD, reports from Spain say. The plate is believed to have been used to hold Eucharistic bread as it was consecrated in early Christian rituals. It measures…
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