15th November
Founders of Neurology. A photographic exhibit.
Biographies of Women Mathematicians.
Archives of Women in Science and Engineering.
Today's Seeds for Tomorrow's Harvest: The Impact of
Women Nutritionists.
Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (1474 - 1533).
A work in progress, although the first part is online.
'To the court of King Charlemagne comes Angelica
(daughter to the king of Cathay, or India) and her
brother Argalia. Angelica is the most beautiful woman
any of the Peers have ever seen, and all want her.
However, in order to take her as wife they must first
defeat Argalia in combat. The two most stricken by
her are Orlando and Ranaldo ("Rinaldo" in the W.S.
Rose Orlando Furioso translation) ... '
Via Bulfinch's
Mythology.
Mythical and Geographical Names Found in the
Constellations. Comprehensive, well-organised
site; the different pages include synopses of the
relevant myths.
'
Cepheus is the name of two mythological kings.
One was the son of Aleus, from Arcadia. He would
become the king of Tegea (a community on the
Peloponesian peninsula), would father twenty children,
and would sail with Jason as an Argonaut. '
'The other Cepheus was the son of Belus, king of
Egypt (who was himself the son of Poseidon). This
Cepheus grew to become the King of Ethiopia (or
Joppa). He married Cassiopeia and they had a daughter
Andromeda. (Yes, the whole family eventually winds up
in the heavens.) ... '
The Virtual Shtetl. Yiddish language and culture.
The site is organised as locations in a shtetl, or
small eastern European Jewish town; with a library,
synagogue, school, memorial etc.
Painting and Calligraphy Donated to the National
Palace Museum, Taiwan.
Introduction.
'Museums in the modern age have benefited enormously
from the generous contributions made by individuals.
The collection of the National Palace Museum now ranks
as one of the world's foremost in terms of quantity
and quality. Unparalleled for its holdings of Chinese
artifacts, the Museum was established back in 1925
with objects and art inherited from the Ch'ing dynasty
court. These treasures, some of which can be traced
back to the imperial collection more than a thousand
years ago, have been supplemented by private donations
over the years.'
Manuscript version of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
Monochrome Ink Bamboo.
Japanese Lacquerware from the Ch'ing Imperial Collection.
Lakshmi and Saraswati - Tales in Mythology and Art.
Hindu paintings.
'While the great goddess as a cosmic force may be a
deity of compelling dynamism and fearsome power, it
is in the guise of the gentle and beneficent giver
of the devotees' desires, that the female divinities
of India first appeared. This role of the goddess
as one who fulfills wishes has remained one of
enduring strength and consequence. In the ancient
collection of sacred hymns known as the Veda, this
aspect of the goddess already becomes manifest. The
two most shining examples in this context are The
Great Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati.'
Ancient Manuscripts of Eritrea.
Illuminations. Gorgeous.
The Great Hall.
'From farmsteads to palaces, great halls can be found
in every kind of residence and have been a defining
feature of the English house for more than a thousand
years.'
Wren and the Designs for St Paul's Cathedral.
Illustrations include the 'old' cathedral and proposed
designs.
'St Paul's Cathedral is one of the great buildings of
the world and it took a decade to design and forty
years to build. The architect was Sir Christopher Wren
who lived to see the cathedral completed in his
lifetime. In the early 1660s Wren had designed a
handful of buildings in Oxford and Cambridge. In the
aftermath of the Great Fire of London, when still
only in his thirties, he was entrusted with the task
of rebuilding St Paul's, the greatest building project
of the age ... '
The Abbey of St Edmund.
'The Abbey of St Edmund at Bury St Edmunds was built
in the 1000s and 1100s. It was shaped like a cross
with its head, or 'apse', pointing east in line with
religious tradition. The shrine of St Edmund stood
behind the high altar. Originally, the Norman columns
were brightly coloured ... '
Religion and the Founding of the American Republic.
Roger
L. Stevens Presents.
'This exhibition examines Stevens's career through the
great number of stage productions that Stevens
presented or fostered indirectly, for example, through
the NEA. His achievements manifest Stevens's deep
commitment to raising the quality of life for all
Americans and his special place as one of the nation's
foremost cultural leaders.'
Temple of Liberty: Building the Capitol for a New
Nation.
'George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were
determined that the United States Capitol be a
meaningful expression of America's new political and
social order. The Constitution, ratified in 1788, had
given the country its governing structure; the
Capitol, begun three years later, was still incomplete
when Congress first met there in November 1800.
Construction of the original building took thirty-four
years and was directed by six presidents and six
architects. Opinions among statesmen and designers
differed as to how to achieve a symbolically potent
yet functionally efficient building within a
Neoclassical framework. Conceiving of themselves as
inheritors, guardians, and conveyors of Western
civilization, they slowly built a Capitol that drew
upon both American and European emblematic and
architectural traditions ... '
(Compare with the
site about the design of St Paul's Cathedral).
Bronte
Country. The Yorkshire Moors and Dales, adjacent
parts of Lancashire.
'
Welcome to Bronte Country, an area of Pennine
upland in West Yorkshire, England. A windswept land
of heather and wild moors, it is hardly surprising
that this area became the inspiration for the classic
works of the Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and
Anne ... '
Top Withens. Wuthering Heights?
Pendle Witch Country.
'Pendle Witch Country, in the Lancashire Pennines, is
an area dominated by the dark brooding mass of Pendle
Hill (shown above) and made famous (nay infamous) for
its association with the "Witches of Pendle"... '
Mirfield in
Pictures.
'This site is dedicated to my home town of Mirfield,
located 5 miles from Huddersfield and 10 miles from
Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, UK. The current
population of Mirfield is roughly 20,000.'
Bradford Curry Guide.
The Institute for Solar Physics. Thanks to
jp.
The Voyage of Terry
Waite's Clogs.
Home is Not What You Imagine It
to Be.
International Compliance Association.
They keep an eye out for money-laundering.
link
14th November
Mapungubwe:
The Home of the Golden Rhinoceros.
The Iron Age sites of Greefswald, South Africa.
'The Iron Age sites Mapungubwe and K2 on Greefswald
are amongst the best known Iron Age sites in Southern
Africa. They represent the K2 and Mapungubwe Iron Age
cultures which existed in this region between 1000 AD
and 1300 AD. '
'Small Iron Age sites postdating Mapungubwe and K2
have also been identified on Greefswald. Stone-walled
sites on hill tops, including some identified as Khami
type ruins, have also been found in the region. '
'The disease caused by the tsetse fly in the
surrounding Lowveld during the nineteenth century
made cattle herding difficult for local Iron Age
communities. Malaria made living conditions worse.
As a result, the Greefswald region was primarily used
for hunting from around the turn of the century until
after the 1920's. At this time, the discovery of gold
in stone ruins north of the Limpopo River led to the
arrival of prospectors and treasure hunters who
searched for similar sites south of the Limpopo River.
This eventually resulted in the discovery of
Mapungubwe in 1932 and the Greefswald Archaeological
Project of the University of Pretoria. '
The Khazaria
Info Centre.
'Over a thousand years ago, the far east of Europe was
ruled by Jewish kings who presided over numerous
tribes, including their own tribe: the Turkic Khazars.
After their conversion, the Khazar people used Jewish
personal names, spoke and wrote in Hebrew, were
circumcised, had synagogues and rabbis, studied the
Torah and Talmud, and observed Hanukkah, Pesach, and
the Sabbath. The Khazars were an advanced civilization
with one of the most tolerant societies of the
medieval period. It hosted merchants from all over
Asia and Europe. On these pages it is hoped that you
may learn more about this fascinating culture. '
Khazar
historic maps.
Vinnitsa Region Jewish Community.
'Shalom Alekhem! Welcome to the Vinnitsa Region
Jewish Community (VRJC) home page! In late May and
early June 1996, I received two e-mail messages from
Mr. Igor Desner, head of the Vinnitsa Region Jewish
Community in Ukraine, describing the organization and
requesting assistance.'
'Because of my deep interest in helping to preserve
Jewish culture and history in Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union, and assisting the Jewish
communities in these regions, I have created this Web
presentation to share the limited information I have
about the Vinnitsa Region Jewish Community.'
Images of Polish Synagogues.
Stanford
Solar Centre.
' "Anyone who has lived through an English winter can
see the point of building Stonehenge to make the Sun
come back." --Alison Jolly 1988 '
'This site presents a collection of fun educational
activities based on Solar Oscillations Investigation
(SOI) and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
data. Students can explore the Sun's tangled magnetic
field, its turbulent surface motions, the dramatic
sunspot cycle, and even what magic happens in the solar
interior where instrumental eyes cannot penetrate. '
SOHO: Exploring the Sun. The Solar
and Heliospheric Observatory. Lots of images.
Ho-Am Art Museum.
Permanent exhibits. Ancient art, Buddhist art.
Hee-Won Korean Garden.
Horim Museum,
Seoul.
'The Horim Museum owns more than 10,000 collections of
Korean arts including more than 3,000 earthenwares,
1,100 celadons, 2,100 porcelains, 500 punchongs,
2,000 paintings and books, 400 metal arts and 700
other items. Among these, 44 items are designated as
the national cultural properties (8 national treasures
and 36 treasures) as of January 2000. Horim Museum is
recognized as one of the three major private museums
in Korea with the quality and variety of the rare
cultural asset.'
Lineage of Patriarchs.
'This document is a ketsumyaku, certificate of
affiliation to the lineage of the great masters and
Buddhas of the past. It is delivered to the monk
during his ordination and attests to his membership to
the Buddha family. This exceptional ketsumyaku joins
together the lineages Rinzai and Soto through Master
Dogen, as well as the lineages of Eihei-ji and Soji-ji
trough Master Kosen. To be authentic, this document
must be signed and stamped by the seal of the
master.'
Via
zen-deshimaru.com.
Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation.
'Working cooperatively with the Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources, National Park Service, many
local governments, businesses and private landowners,
IAPTF staff and volunteers work to protect, promote,
build and maintain the many segments of the Ice Age
Trail - a thousand-mile national and state scenic
trail located entirely in Wisconsin. The purpose of
the Trail is to tell the story of the Ice Age and
continental glaciation along a scenic footpath.'
The World's Earliest
Television Recordings.
'From the dawn of our television technology age comes
the restored wonders of original recordings made in
the era of mechanically-scanned television! Not until
the computer era came on us could we study these
images. Now they can be seen in as close to their
original quality as the latest techniques can take
us. '
Great site; there's also a special section on British
TV history.
Ackworth School Natural History Diary, from West
Yorkshire.
Walks in Yorkshire.
Roseberry
Topping.
'The images and words on these pages are dedicated to
one hill among many in the Cleveland landscape. For
those yet to pay a visit take a look at its many moods
and the magnetism of a summit truly irresistible to all
who cherish landscapes and wander among the hills. '
The Highland Clearances in Scotland.
'In the 19th century, something happened in the
highlands of Scotland that should never have happened
at all. The Highland Clearances were a shock ripple
from the wave that was the battle of Culloden. Years
afterwards, when the rest of Britain was waking up to
a new era of civilisation and enlightenment, greedy
landlords of estates and lands in the highlands of
Scotland began to remove the local people to make way
for sheep. Sheep were given priority over people, but
not just any people. For the folk burned out of their
homes were the decendants of the clansmen, the native
people of the land - the highlanders ... '
Eyewitness accounts.
The Last Voyage of the Arandora Star.
'July 2nd, 1990, was the 50th anniversary of what was
then one of the Second World War's greatest and most
ill-fated shipping disasters.
It took place north- west of Malin Head when the
one-time flag ship of the Blue Star Line, the Arandora
Star, was torpedoed and sank, with the loss of 682
lives out of a total of 1,571 on board ...
Let me tell you the tragic story of one of the
unfortunate passengers of tbe Arandora Star, namely
Cesare Camozzi, an italian Internee, and how he came
to be interred in the Catholic cemetery in Carndonagh
on a warm and sultry August morning in 1940, after
Requiem Mass celebrated by the late Father Daniel
Reid, P.P., St. Macartan's, Carndonagh. '
Scottish Mining.
History resource at mcpitz.com.
Elvis Presley in Scotland.
Scots at
War.
'This is a Scottish Military History Web Project,
concentrating on the 20th Century. These pages are
respectfully dedicated as a tribute to the endeavours
of all Scots who served their country in the armed and
civilian services in the 20th century.'
The U'wa
Struggle.
'Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government
want to drill for oil in the sacred homeland of the
U'wa people of the Columbian. Follow the links below
to find out more about the U'wa people, their
opposition to the oil project, the latest news on
their struggle, and what you can do to help.'
link
13th November
Iziko Museums of Cape Town.
Some really good stuff in the
South African social history collections.
The British Museum: The Department of Scientific
Research.
'The department provides insights into the past by
applying scientific techniques to answer questions
such as:
How old is it?
Where does it come from?
What is it made of?
How was it made? ... '
RakuGaki. Japanese wall art.
Early Canadiana Online.
'A project to provide access to Canada's published
heritage '
The Official Webpages of Daws Butler, voice
of Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound.
Hara Shobo Japanese Prints.
'Welcome to Hara Shobo website. Over seventy-years,
Hara Shobo have been running the shop in Kanda, center
of Tokyo. Providing with Japanese prints at reasonable
price and with top-quality services, Hara Shobo is
credited by collectors, museums, and tourists
worldwide ... '
Online selection.
National Museum
of Photography, Film and Television. (UK)
It's well worth checking out
TV Heaven for 'the best and worst of British
television' and the
special exhibitions.
There's also a special
James Bond
exhibition.
The Media
History Project. (USA) Lots here, too.
Alexandra Palace
Television Society.
More TV history.
2nd June 1953. Coronation day.
'In most parts of the country, in the towns and
cities, streets were deserted on the morning of
Coronation Day, 2 June 1953. In the residential
quarters, and in the suburbs, groups of cars were
parked, here and there, in the silent roads. They
stood outside houses where the 'H' aerial of TV had
drawn neighbours and friends inside - to take part in
what became, as hour passed hour, the greatest day of
viewing in television's short and remarkable history
... '
Images of Nagasaki. As it is today.
Kyoto Hall of Traditional Crafts.
Near-Earth Object
Programme. From NASA's JPL.
The
Cleveland Way. A 100-mile trail in northern England
- history, wildlife and countryside.
Section 1.
'There cannot be a finer start to a National Trail
than the delightful market town of Helmsley, centred
around a historic market square. Helmsley Castle is
clearly visible as you start to climb out of the town.
Look out for the Start Feature, sculpted by the Whitby
artist Vivienne Mousdell which shows the characteristic
National Trail acorn as well as the names and profiles
of places along the "Way" ... '
Captain Cook Country.
'Historic coastline and heather moorland - the
beautiful North Yorkshire countryside of Captain
Cook's early life is being discovered by visitors from
across the world. '
Don't miss the downloadable Cook Country digital jigsaw
...
Otto of Freising: The Legend of Prester John.
Kindergarten
Collection.
'The Kindergarten Connection is dedicated to providing
valuable resources to primary teachers. Each week we
offer new hints, tips, and information in our Teacher
Tips pages. Frequent updates to the Lesson Plans
section gives you fun and practical activities for your
classroom. Our Book Review area features authors,
illustrators, and books from the wonderful world of
children's literature ... '
Singapore Kindness
Movement. 'This home page is designed to help you
be more aware of the joys of spreading kindness to people
around us and the environment.'
'In so doing, we can together make Singapore - and the
world at large - a better place for all.'
(Courtesy of the Ministry of Information, Culture and
the Arts).
World
Kindness Movement.
Kindness resources, worldwide, stories etc.
Small
Kindness Movement.
Operation
Kindness
'is a nonprofit animal-welfare organization that cares
for homeless or unwanted cats and dogs in a no-kill
environment.'
SantaCam.
(Popups).
link
12th November
St Kilda.
'The archipelago of St Kilda, the remotest part of the
British Isles, lies 41 miles (66 kilometres) west of
Benbecula in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Its islands
with their exceptional cliffs and sea stacs, form the
most important seabird breeding station in north-west
Europe. The evacuation of its native population in
1930 brought to a close an extraordinary story of
survival.'
'This site tells that story and also explains
activities taking place today in this special place.'
Women's Early Music / Art / Poetry.
Huge collection.
History of AIDS.
Forgotten
Holocaust.
'Growing up in a Polish-American community, raised by
parents who survived the Holocaust, I heard many
stories about the atrocities of this World War II
horror. I learned how one of my family's homes in
Poland was burned to the ground by Nazis. I learned
that my uncle was shot in the head by Nazi soldiers
because his family was hiding a Jewish woman. Painful
as it was for them to speak about it, my parents
[Frank and Ewa Pencak] felt it was important that
I knew the stories of the Holocaust. '
'It was only after I moved to the Los Angeles area
several years ago that I realized that many people
were not aware that millions of victims of the
Holocaust were NOT Jewish. Outside the Polish
community, I heard very little mention about the
five million non-Jewish victims -- usually referred
to as "the others". '
'Whenever I would say that my parents were survivors
of the Holocaust, people would look at me oddly and
say, "Oh, I didn't know you were Jewish?" I realized
that most people were not aware of any other Holocaust
victims except Jews. This concerned me. '
Antarctica, Terra Australis Incognita.
The explorers, the continent and the treaty.
Ethiopia: Land of Plenty.
Web stories.
Global
Warming: Early Warning Signs.
'The Earth is heating up. The early warning signs are
in.
Click on the map to find out where it's happening.'
Future Energies.
Alternative energy news/blog/discussion.
National Museum of
Korea.
Buddhist Deities & Bodhisattvas.
Historical Buddhist Sites.
The Tay Bridge Disaster, 1879.
The Drawn Sword,
'engravings and woodcuts from the MacBean Stuart and
Jacobite Collection '
The George Washington Wilson Collection.
19th century photography.
The Scottish Parliament Project.
'The Scottish Parliament Project, based at the
University of St Andrews, was set up in 1997 with
funding from the Scottish Office. Its aim is to
create a new digital edition of the acts of the pre
1707 Scottish Parliament, to be published on CD-ROM
and the internet.'
Mary Queen
of Scots. Official site of the Marie
Stuart Society.
St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.
The Saint Columba Home Page.
'The patron saint of poets, plagiarists, computer
pirates, and computer hackers ... ' (He also brought
Christianity to Scotland).
McSpotlight.
Send Me $10.
Cynthia's
new page. Via
ikastikos.
KidPub.
'Welcome to Kidpub, the largest collection of stories by children on the
Internet (and maybe in the real world, too). We've been on the web since
1995, and our database holds just over 42,000 stories written by and for
children.'
The Queen's House
ghost. (National Maritime Museum)
'What follows is based on correspondence and documentation about the Rev
Hardy's famous photograph of ghostly figures in the Queen's House. Much of
the source material is held in the Museum's archives.'
Servant's
letter to Queen translated.
'When Jean de Simier discovered that Queen Elizabeth I had been wounded by
rumors that she was to marry his master, Francis, Duke of Alancon, he fired
off a four-page letter in coded French to the monarch, declaring he would
rather "fall on the point of my sword or drain a glass of poison" than upset
her.'
link
11th November
The Planet Mars:
A History of Observation and Discovery.
'A century ago, at the height of what might be
referred to as the "canal furor," Camille Flammarion
published the first volume of his great work, La
Plančte Mars, which summarized what was then known
about the planet. In his preface he described how he
hesitated between two methods of presenting the state
of Martian knowledge---in special chapters dealing
with topics such as continents, seas, polar caps, and
so on; or chronologically, in the order in which the
facts had been obtained. He at length decided on the
latter approach, "mainly," he wrote, "because it
seemed to me to be the more interesting . . . and also
because it provides a better account of the gradual
development of our knowledge." So it has seemed to me,
and I have done likewise ... '
The Struggles to Find the Ninth Planet.
By Clyde W. Tombaugh.
'Many papers have been written and published on the
triumphal detection and discovery of Pluto. As the
sole survivor of the Lowell Observatory staff in that
frustrating year of 1929, I thought that it might be
of some interest to relate the "down mood" and
emotions experienced by those persons involved. I
shall give a little history to illustrate the setting
and circumstances. '
Asteroid Discovery Circumstances.
Nature in Art.
'The world's first museum dedicated exclusively
to fine, decorative and applied art inspired by nature
from any period, any culture and in any media. ' (In
Gloucester).
Into the Arms of Strangers. The Kindertransport,
which saved 10,000 children during the Holocaust.
Learning About the Holocaust Through Art.
Introductory essay.
'I never rationally thought that I was going to die,
but there was an unbelievable urge to create. I was in
the same position as all the people around me, and I
realized that they were close to death. But I never
thought of myself like that. I was floating. I was
outside the reality of existence. My task was simply
to portray what was happening. I was a spectator.'
- Halina Olomucki.
The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese
Ceramics.
Japanese Screens.
Sikhism, at
sikhs.org.
Whistler's Nudes.
'In the last twenty years of his life, the expatriate
American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
produced more than one hundred prints, pastel
drawings, and paintings of scantily clad or nude
female models. Early collectors of Whistler's work,
including Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), believed
these images ranked among the artist's greatest
accomplishments, but they have received little
critical attention ... '
Art for Art's Sake. More Whistler.
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).
Blondie Gets Married!
'Everyone knows Blondie. More than 2,000 newspapers
publish the comic strip in fifty-five countries and
thirty-five languages. The "Dagwood Sandwich" has
made its way into Webster's New World Dictionary.
Blondie Gets Married presents twenty-seven drawings,
classic examples of Chic Young's much-loved creative
wit, selected from the gift of 150 works by Jeanne
Young O'Neil, the artist's daughter. '
Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents.
American independence.
Jefferson, Franklin and friends.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Designs for an American Landscape,
1922-1932.
'Architecture is the triumph of Human Imagination over
materials, methods, and men, to put man into
possession of his own Earth. It is at least the
geometric pattern of things, of life, of the human and
social world. It is at best that magic framework of
reality that we sometimes touch upon when we use the
word 'order.' - Frank Lloyd Wright.
Florence Nightingale Museum, London.
'Florence Nightingale founded the first school of
nursing at St. Thomas' Hospital in 1860, and over the
last century the Hospital and School have preserved
and added to a unique collection of Florence
Nightingale's personal mementoes, clothing, furniture,
books, letters and portraits, as well as Crimean War
relics and nursing material. However, only since the
Museum opened in February 1989 has this material been
on view to the public.'
The Philpot
Museum, Lyme Regis, Dorset.
From the
about page :-
'We have a lot of good stories to tell, and our
collections are unusually rich for a small museum.
Lyme's lively local history is well represented by
maritime and domestic objects, and illustrated by
paintings, prints and photographs. The area is noted
for its fossils, displayed in our geological
galleries, and the town's literary connections, from
Jane Austen to John Fowles, are illustrated in the new
Writers Gallery.'
Jersey Heritage Trust Collections. That's Jersey
in the English Channel, which with the other Channel
Isles makes up what remains of the Duchy of Normandy.
Fame & infamy.
Treasures.
Loyalty to the crown.
Faith.
Chief's Rattle. (Haida)
'In the beginning, the world was dark. The people
wondered and argued about something they had heard of
but never seen - daylight. Some said that the river
chief kept daylight in a special box.'
'Raven lived in the dark world. He was sly, wise,
greedy, and meddlesome. And he could change his
form to suit his own needs. Raven decided to find out
about daylight, so he turned into a hemlock needle
and dropped into a freshwater spring. When the river
chief's daughter came to the spring to drink, Raven
floated into her cup, and she swallowed him. In due
time, Raven was born as the grandson of the river
chief ... '
Presidential Pet Museum.
Via
Geisha Asobi Blog.
(Apologies if I haven't been visiting
your blog of late; things have been somewhat hectic
hereabouts. Will try and make an effort soon.)
link
