#otd Phyllis Wheatley freed from slavery
Phyllis Wheatley was one of the first American poets whose work is still known today. (There were many Native American poets, but most of their work was oral. And there were many [...]
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10, 2019
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10, 2019
Winnie the Pooh and the Battle of Hastings
On a lighter note, it turns out that Winnie-the-Pooh and The Battle of Hastings share an anniversary on October 14th (1066, and 1926). So, did you know that E. H. Shepard - [...]
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10, 2019
Privilege and Classics, again
You know how sometimes you find yourself walking along reading an article on your phone even though you know it's terrible to walk and read at the same time? Well, that happened [...]
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10, 2019
World Maths Day
I hope you are all enjoying World Maths Day! (Or if you're American, World Math Day). I've put together a tour of the history of math in Africa and Asia, so you [...]
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10, 2019
Sukkot – what are we harvesting?
It seems funny, now that most Jewish people have lived in cities and worked at city things for two thousand years, to remember that long ago most Jewish people were small farmers [...]
10
10, 2019
#OTD: Battles of Karbala and Poitiers
Forever joined by a coincidence in dates ... well, not that much of a coincidence, because with medieval military campaigns always starting in the spring and ending in the fall, naturally October [...]
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10, 2019
Slave Play and Yom Kippur
A Broadway show A funny thing happened to us when we were on line to get into the newly opened Slave Play on Broadway this past weekend. There was a long line, [...]
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10, 2019
Afternoon at the Cloisters in NYC
I've been busy today touring the Cloisters museum in New York City, which is where a lot of the Metropolitan Museum's medieval collection lives. It's been a long time since I was [...]
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10, 2019
New book: The Brothel of Pompeii
A barmaid brings a drink to two men sitting on chairs. The words show the men arguing about whose drink it is. (Caupona of Salvius, Pompeii, 79 AD) - this is [...]
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10, 2019
Vercingetorix surrenders to Julius Caesar #otd
Nos ancêtres les Gaulois... On October 3rd, 52 BC, the leader of the Gaulish forces, Vercingetorix, surrendered to the Roman general Julius Caesar, and Gaul fell under the control of the Roman [...]
