WEIRD HISTORY
Fifty years ago, few scientists believed a drug could fight viruses with low side effects. Then Gertrude Elion showed the doubters “what I could do on my own.” Born in 1918 in Manhattan, Gertrude Elion developed the drug acyclovir, a potent inhibitor of …
Enheduanna means ‘Ornament of Heaven.’ She studied the stars, wrote hymns and myths 4000 years ago, and yet is almost entirely unknown today. Standard of Ur mosaic, 26th century BC. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. – By Louise Pryke, The Conversation – The world’s …
A dazzling civilization flourished in Sudan nearly 5,000 years ago. Why was it forgotten? Meroe, 150 miles north of Khartoum, served as a necropolis for the kings and queens of Kush for close to 600 years. (Matt Stirn) – Text by Isma’il Kushkush; …
Centuries-old texts were erased, and then written over, by monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt. Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, Egypt. – Berthold Werner / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA. – By Brigit Katz, Smithsonian Magazine Saint Catherine’s Monastery, a sacred Christian …
Painting depicting transfiguration of Jesus, a story in the New Testament when Jesus becomes radiant upon a mountain. Artist Raphael /Collections Hallwyl Museum, CC BY-SA – Author Anna Swartwood House, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of South Carolina 2020 Jul 17 …
The “Fat Man” is moved from Assembly Building #2, Tinian – By Don Farrell 2020 Aug 16 – High School textbooks teach that the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were flown to Japan by B-29 Superfortresses based on Tinian in the …
The concept of racial profiling dates back decades, and it’s prevalent throughout U.S. history. (Allie Caren/The Washington Post) – SOURCE: Washington Post 2020 Aug 27 – The Florida Klansmen had armed themselves with ax handles. It was Aug. 27, 1960 — a year …
The fable of the blind men and the elephant is one that speaks to historians’ sense of humility in the face of complexity and need to consider other points of view. It is unclear if Donald Trump grasps this lesson. – by Walter …
Franklin’s lifelong quest was spreading scientific knowledge to regular people. Mason Chamberlin, CC BY – By Carla J. Mulford, Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University – By the time he was 20 years old, colonial American Benjamin Franklin had already spent two years …
Alexander von Humboldt – self-portrait. – By Richard Gunderman, Chancellor’s Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University – Alexander von Humboldt sought to see and understand everything. By the time he drew his self-portrait at age 45, Humboldt had tutored himself …
