Download or read book Curious Events in History written by Michael Powell and published by Union Square + ORM. This book was released on 2011-09-13 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forty strange-but-true historical happenings—from a thirty-eight-minute war to the time when a top-hat caused a riot—from the author of Lies You Learned in School. Here are forty of the most curious events in world history. Though they span the centuries and circle the globe, they share one common trait: all were too peculiar to make it into the standard history books. Read these fascinating accounts and learn about: The craze for consuming powdered mummy to cure all ailments The medieval courtroom advocate who pled the case of plaintiff rats The U.S. President who was shot by an assassin but killed by his doctor’s earnest efforts to treat him If you thought you knew all you needed to know about history, this book will show you some truly curious gaps in your knowledge.
Download or read book A Million Years in a Day written by Greg Jenner and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-06-21 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock? Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. Structured around one ordinary day, A Million Years in a Day reveals the astonishing origins and development of the daily practices we take for granted. In this gloriously entertaining romp through human history, Greg Jenner explores the gradual—and often unexpected—evolution of our daily routines. This is not a story of wars, politics, or great events. Instead, Jenner has scoured Roman rubbish bins, Egyptian tombs, and Victorian sewers to bring us the most intriguing, surprising, and sometimes downright silly historical nuggets from our past. Drawn from across the world, spanning a million years of humanity, this book is a smorgasbord of historical delights. It is a history of all those things you always wondered about—and many you have never considered. It is the story of your life, one million years in the making.
Download or read book The Waterless Sea written by Christopher Pinney and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mirages have long astonished travelers of the sea and beguiled thirsty desert voyagers. Traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry and art depict the above-horizon, superior mirage, or fata morgana, as exhalations of clam-monsters. Indian sources relate mirages to the “thirst of gazelles,” a metaphor for the futility of desire. Starting in the late eighteenth century, mirages became a symbol in the West of Oriental despotism—a negative, but also enchanted, emblem. But the mirage motif is rarely simply condemnatory. More often, our obsession with mirages conveys a sense of escape, of fascination, of a desire to be deceived. The Waterless Sea is the first book devoted to the theories and history of mirages. Christopher Pinney navigates a sinuous pathway through a mysterious and evanescent terrain, showing how mirages have impacted politics, culture, science, and religion—and how we can continue to learn from their sublimity.
Download or read book These Truths A History of the United States written by Jill Lepore and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 733 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Nothing short of a masterpiece.” —NPR Books A New York Times Bestseller and a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year In the most ambitious one-volume American history in decades, award-winning historian Jill Lepore offers a magisterial account of the origins and rise of a divided nation. Widely hailed for its “sweeping, sobering account of the American past” (New York Times Book Review), Jill Lepore’s one-volume history of America places truth itself—a devotion to facts, proof, and evidence—at the center of the nation’s history. The American experiment rests on three ideas—“these truths,” Jefferson called them—political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. But has the nation, and democracy itself, delivered on that promise? These Truths tells this uniquely American story, beginning in 1492, asking whether the course of events over more than five centuries has proven the nation’s truths, or belied them. To answer that question, Lepore wrestles with the state of American politics, the legacy of slavery, the persistence of inequality, and the nature of technological change. “A nation born in contradiction… will fight, forever, over the meaning of its history,” Lepore writes, but engaging in that struggle by studying the past is part of the work of citizenship. With These Truths, Lepore has produced a book that will shape our view of American history for decades to come.
Download or read book ArtCurious written by Jennifer Dasal and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings? ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.
Download or read book A Curious History of Sex written by Kate Lister and published by Unbound Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-06 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is not a comprehensive study of every sexual quirk, kink and ritual across all cultures throughout time, as that would entail writing an encyclopaedia. Rather, this is a drop in the ocean, a paddle in the shallow end of sex history, but I hope you will get pleasantly wet nonetheless. The act of sex has not changed since people first worked out what went where, but the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world. Attitudes will change and grow – hopefully for the better – but sex will never be free of stigma or shame unless we acknowledge where it has come from. Based on the popular research project Whores of Yore, and written with her distinctive humour and wit, A Curious History of Sex draws upon Dr Kate Lister’s extensive knowledge of sex history. From medieval impotence tests to twentieth-century testicle thefts, from the erotic frescoes of Pompeii, to modern-day sex doll brothels, Kate unashamedly roots around in the pants of history, debunking myths, challenging stereotypes and generally getting her hands dirty. This fascinating book is peppered with surprising and informative historical slang, and illustrated with eye-opening, toe-curling and meticulously sourced images from the past. You will laugh, you will wince and you will wonder just how much has actually changed.
Download or read book Curious Encounters written by Adriana Craciun and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With contributions from historians, literary critics, and geographers, Curious Encounters uncovers a rich history of global voyaging, collecting, and scientific exploration in the long eighteenth century. Leaving behind grand narratives of discovery, these essays collectively restore a degree of symmetry and contingency to our understanding of encounters between European and Indigenous people. To do this the essays consider diverse agents of historical change, both human and inanimate: commodities, curiosities, texts, animals, and specimens moved through their own global circuits of knowledge and power. The voyages and collections rediscovered here do not move from a European center to a distant periphery, nor do they position European authorities as the central agents of this early era of globalization. Long distance voyagers from Greenland to the Ottoman Empire crossed paths with French, British, Polynesian, and Spanish travelers across the world, trading objects and knowledge for diverse ends. The dynamic contact zones of these curious encounters include the ice floes of the Arctic, the sociable spaces of the tea table, the hybrid material texts and objects in imperial archives, and the collections belonging to key figures of the Enlightenment, including Sir Hans Sloane and James Petiver.
Download or read book Curious Bypaths of History written by Augustin Cabanès and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Curiosity written by Barbara M. Benedict and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this striking social history, Barbara M. Benedict draws on the texts of the early modern period to discover the era's attitudes toward curiosity, a trait we learn was often depicted as an unsavory form of transgression or cultural ambition.
Download or read book The Curious History of the Crossword written by Ben Tausig and published by . This book was released on 2013-11-27 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the curious history of the world's most addictive game and its unusual upbringing. Celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the beloved crossword puzzle, readers can solve over 100 different puzzles from top constructors.
Download or read book The Curious History of Relativity written by Jean Eisenstaedt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black holes may obliterate most things that come near them, but they saved the theory of general relativity. Einstein's theory was quickly accepted as the true theory of gravity after its publication in 1915, but soon took a back seat in physics to quantum mechanics and languished for decades on the blackboards of mathematicians. Not until the existence of black holes by Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose in the 1960s, after Einstein's death, was the theory revived. Almost one hundred years after general relativity replaced Newton's theory of gravitation, The Curious History of Relativity tells the story of both events surrounding general relativity and the techniques employed by Einstein and the relativists to construct, develop, and understand his almost impenetrable theory. Jean Eisenstaedt, one of the world's leading experts on the subject, also discusses the theory's place in the evolution of twentieth-century physics. He describes the main stages in the development of general relativity: its beginnings, its strange crossing of the desert during Einstein's lifetime while under heated criticism, and its new life from the 1960s on, when it became vital to the understanding of black holes and the observation of exotic objects, and, eventually, to the discovery of the accelerating universe. We witness Einstein's construction of his theory, as well as the work of his fascinated, discouraged, and enthusiastic colleagues--physicists, mathematicians, and astronomers. Written with flair, The Curious History of Relativity poses--and answers--the difficult questions raised by Einstein's magnificent intellectual feat.
Download or read book The Meatshower written by Mick Sullivan and published by . This book was released on 2019-03 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Meatshower is a new children's book by author Mick Sullivan that tells the true story of the day meat fell from the sky on March 3, 1876 in Bath County, Kentucky. (Really, it happened.) The story is told by a piece of the very old meat who now sits in a lonely jar on a museum shelf. He reflects on his humble beginnings and speculates about all the possibilities of how he came to be. Just how and why did chunks of meat rain from the sky 150 years ago? The Meatshower by Mick Sullivan has all the answers. We promise this will be the weirdest, craziest, and meatiest book you'll read with your kids this year. It's just one of the bizarre stories Mick covers on his award-winning children's podcast, The Past and The Curious, which covers bizarre phenomenon from throughout the insane history of the world. Mick Sullivan is a musician and museum educator with a passion for sharing stories and history. He lives with his wife and two sons in Louisville, KY. Mick is the creator and producer of The Past and The Curious, an award-winning and internationally recognized history podcast for kids and families. If you want more history fun, you can find it for free wherever you get your podcasts, or at www.ThePastAndTheCurious.com.
Download or read book The Book of This Day in History written by Publications International Ltd and published by Book of. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Explore thousands of amazing events that have shaped our world."--Cover.
Download or read book Vanishings written by Time-Life Books and published by Time Life Medical. This book was released on 1990 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains fascinating facts about disappearances, including missing persons, lost worlds, extinct species, and more.
Download or read book The Book of Amazing History written by Publications International Ltd and published by Book of. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Amazing Book of History is a 708-page collection of hundreds of articles, lists, quotes, and anecdotes that explore a lively range of human history, from the ancient world to the recent past to pop culture. The hardcover volume looks at history from an anything-goes perspective, with nearly 300 dynamic tales of people, places, and events. Its innovative approach and witty style should appeal to a wide range of readers.
Download or read book Civil War Curiosities written by Webb Garrison and published by GuildAmerica Books. This book was released on 1994 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating collection explores the unusual and often bizarre persons,attitudes, and events of the Civil War. Illustrated and indexed.
Download or read book A People s History of the United States written by Howard Zinn and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2003-02-04 with total page 764 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools -- with its emphasis on great men in high places -- to focus on the street, the home, and the, workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles -- the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality -- were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history. Revised, updated, and featuring a new after, word by the author, this special twentieth anniversary edition continues Zinn's important contribution to a complete and balanced understanding of American history.
