I know I am going to get a lot of sixth grade jibes for writing about what we call Uranus but here goes. Until 1781, the known solar system consisted of six planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). These were all the planets that could be observed with the naked eye. The others …
Continue reading “When George III had a Valid Claim to Uranus”
Well, today we lose an hour of sleep to the interest of commerce. Don’t worry, you will get it back in November. Before the middle of the 19th Century, keeping time was more of an art than a science. Time pieces and clocks were available, even common in certain circles but they were notoriously inaccurate. …
Continue reading “Ben Franklin DID NOT Invent Daylight Savings Time!”
Today we associate cleats on shoes with sporting events (golf, football, etc.). Henry VIII is reported to had the royal cordwainer, Cornelius Johnson, make him a pair of boots “to play football” with oversized and prominent cleats attached to the soles and heels. Despite their ubiquitous presence in the sporting world, shoe cleats have been …
Continue reading “The Cordwainer Put Horseshoes on my Shoes”
This is off topic for me but I often remind my readers that when they frequent businesses and companies that support issues that they find abhorrent, for example Chick-fil-a ACTIVELY discriminates against LBGTQ and non-Christian people (both potential employees and patrons); and GM. UPS, American Airlines, Tyson Foods all made multimillion dollar donations to Donald Trump …
When it comes to arcane historical terms for spirits and other alcohol, proof is one of the frustrating ones. In our modern vernacular, with the blessing of modern analytical chemistry as support, we simply think of “proof” as two times the alcohol by volume (ABV). But why is this measure even a thing? After all, …
Continue reading “Basic Colonial Brewing #18 — Proof your Whiskey, Sir”
In the last decades of the 18th Century, in the south of England, there was a trend It was often referred to as a ‘shift’ or ‘smock’ marriages. These even went so far as to sometimes be puris naturalibus or naked marriages. It seems, in the tradition of Lady Godiva of Mercia, If a woman …
Continue reading “And Now for Something Completely Different…”
I need your help with the Moland House. After 15 years of tireless effort and superb leadership, Jo-Anne Mullen has decided to step down from organizing the annual reenactment at Moland House. In order to make sure this event continues uninterrupted, I am taking the reins of organizing the event (sadly this means I will not be …
Ever fond of hoaxes, Franklin memorized the parable and “read” it aloud from Genesis, “proving” the scriptural importance of religious tolerance. One of these parables—commonly referred to as either the Parable against Persecution or as Abraham and the Stranger—is a story about the biblical patriarch Abraham. Although Franklin did not mention the second parable by …
Continue reading “Benjamin Franklin and the Parable Against Persecution”
Well its Purim and many of us taught that we eat hamantaschen because Haman, the villain of the Megillah, wore a tri-cornered hat but there is no evidence that Haman wore a triangular hat. You might also be surprise to learn that Swedes have a suspiciously similar cookie, called Napoleon’s Hats or Napoleonhattar, which are traditionally filled with …
A bearskin is a tall fur cap worn as ceremonial headgear of grenadiers. The standard bearskin of the British Foot Guards is 18 inches tall, weighs 1.5 pounds, and is made from the fur of the Canadian black bear. An officer’s bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian brown bear as the female …
Continue reading “British Soldiers in a FRENCH Hat? Pourquoi?”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 