Raising a princess

In today’s excerpt–the life of the infant princess Mary (1516-1558), first child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine. Mary later reigned as the first queen of England and is remembered as “Bloody Mary”: “[Newborn] Mary was an attractive baby, and there was genuine parental affection. But she did not stay with them long. [...]

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Changing names after the Black Death.

In today’s excerpt–after the Black Death, the terrifying plague that killed one-third to one-half of all Europe’s inhabitants from 1347 to 1349, there was a change in the names parents gave their children: “The centrality of religion in medieval European life is impossible to overstate. … If you want to pray, you go to your [...]

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The ancient Greeks found out that Earth was a sphere

In today’s excerpt–the ancient Greeks determined the Earth was a sphere and calculated its diameter over 1700 years before Columbus sailed to America: “The Greeks had noticed that on occasion, Earth blocks the sunlight from hitting the Moon, causing what is called a lunar eclipse. By observing the shadow of Earth cast upon the Moon [...]

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Kyoto women in the tenth & eleventh century.

In today’s encore excerpt, the liberated women of the aristocracy in tenth and eleventh-century Japan: “It just happens that the women of Kyoto, in the days when it was the residence of the Japanese emperor and known as ‘the capital of peace,’ made a record of what they felt, illuminating human emotion … While men [...]

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Conficius

In today’s excerpt–Confucius (551 – 479 BC), a Chinese thinker and social philosopher whose influence extends to the present, attempts to define goodness. In the Analects, his definition of goodness starts with the “golden rule,” but he takes his concept further, famously stating that to be good, one must be “resolute and firm, simple and [...]

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The Invention of Interests

In today’s excerpt–interest on loans. Though loans have sometimes been portrayed as an evil aberration, they have been a central part of civilization from the beginning of history. Loans, with interest, appear to have originated in Mesopotamia almost as early as cities themselves, perhaps as early as 3200 B.C.E. The ancient word for interest appears [...]

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Fashion in Antiquity

In today’s excerpt–fashion in antiquity. Whether discussing the shade of purple used in their clothes, or the makeup they applied to their faces, few societies have been more fashion conscious than ancient Greece and Rome: “The different shades of purple [that] came in and out of vogue in Rome is recorded incidentally by Plutarch, who [...]

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Raising Roman Children

In today’s encore excerpt–raising Roman children circa 100 BC, in the era of Julius Caesar’s birth: “Hardness was a Roman ideal. The steel required to hunt out glory or endure disaster was the defining mark of a citizen. It was instilled in him from the moment of his birth. The primary response of Roman parent’s [...]

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Radium Toothpaste.

In today’s excerpt–Marie Curie (1867-1934), physicist, chemist and pioneer in the field of radioactivity: “The nineteenth century held one last great surprise for chemists. It began in 1896 when Henri Becquerel in Paris carelessly left a packet of uranium salts on a wrapped photographic plate in a drawer. When he took the plate out some [...]

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The unloved Benjamin Franklin

In today’s encore excerpt–Benjamin Franklin. Far from the benign, avuncular and aphoristic image we hold today, Franklin was a figure whose life was filled with risk, controversy, and reversal. Here we see two of several periods in Franklin’s life where, although he was already both wealthy and world famous, the public turned against him. The [...]

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