From Letters Live: During World War II, Spike Milligan famously served as a signalman with the Royal Artillery. He wrote home often, and in September 1943, secretly stationed in Italy, he sent the following letter to his family. Sanjeev Bhaskar joined us at the Letters Live 10th anniversary show in November 2023 at the Royal […]
Watch as the Weird History channel uncovers the secret rooms concealed within iconic landmarks worldwide. These hidden spaces, unknown to most visitors, serve various purposes, from record-keeping to leisure and sometimes no clear function at all.
[Source: Formal Sweatpants]
You’re a tourist in the ancient Mediterranean. Where do you go? Easy: Do a tour of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The idea for a consolidated list of wonderful man-made monuments came from writers in the ancient world. For example, Antipater of Sidon, a Greek writer from the 100s BCE, wrote a poem […]
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit adventure that preceded it are full-fledged mythologies and histories unto themselves, making it a little strange to discuss the impact of real-world mythology and history on Tolkien’s saga. But the list of historical references in The Lord of the Rings is long and the […]
From Hildegard von Blingin’: Joyous Yule, everyone! Krampusnacht was on December 5th, but it’s never too late to caution your children not to go wandering in the woods. This piece was inspired by “Double Trouble”, which was written by John Williams using Shakespeare’s words. I wrote the lyrics and tune for this as a sort […]
Short winter days can influence your brain chemistry. Schon/Moment via Getty Images Michael Varnum, Arizona State University and Ian Hohm, University of British Columbia What comes to mind when you think about winter? Snowflakes? Mittens? Reindeer? In much of the Northern Hemisphere, winter means colder temperatures, shorter days and year-end holidays. Along with these changes, […]
Dive into the fascinating world of toys with renowned toy analyst and historian, Chris Byrne, as he takes on the internet’s burning questions about our favorite childhood companions. [Wired]