Unruly History in the News #16
an absolute hoard of interesting stories
Whew, there is a lot to cover this week! I guess this is what happens when you take a week off to focus on one kind of history—you get two weeks’ worth of everything else!
This week, in history acting unruly…
International codebreakers have finally deciphered the codes that Mary, Queen of Scots, used in her cryptic letters. Researchers decrypted 57 letters, 50 of which were previously unknown to historians (they’d been languishing in France’s Bibliotheque Nationale, which you might remember just came up in our Catherine de Medici episode)! Written between 1578 and 1584 with a "sophisticated cipher system,” they were sent while she was imprisoned in England by her cousin, Elizabeth I, for her part in the Babington Plot.
A 220-million-year-old worm might be a missing link in our evolutionary history.
A piece of the sun FELL OFF???? This is not history but I can’t not say something.
This week in historical artistic expression:
While excavating the subway in Rome, a piece of fourth-century golden glass was found. These items are incredibly rare and even more beautiful. Archaeologists believe it depicts Roma, the personification of the city of Rome.
This circular golden glass would have originally been placed at the bottom of a cup. This way, the drinker could look at it while drinking. Source. Anna Lea Albright, an atmospheric scientist with the Laboratory of Dynamic Meteorology in France, believes that part of what Impressionists like Monet and Turner were painting was, well, air pollution. Their revolutionary art style was actually “‘capturing changes in the optical environment’ that were associated with a decrease in air quality as coal-burning factories began dotting European cities and spewing pollutants into the air.”
Was William McGonagall—famously ‘the worst poet in history’ and possibly an inspiration for Professor McGonagall’s name in Harry Potter—actually secretly a genius?
These descriptions of the 1114 CE earthquake to hit Turkey sound eerily similar to the recent quake that has devastated parts of Turkey. (Speaking of—here’s a list of vetted organizations helping people in Turkey right now.)
Researchers are using AI to discern the faint ink left on a manuscript partially destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The manuscript, was has long been considered a ‘lost book’ seems to describe Alexander the Great and the dynasties that followed him.
Actor Gregory Peck’s script, who played Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, will go on auction.
We’ve been uncovering Russian spies in Europe and North America since the Cold War, and the hunt is continuing.
Also—those balloons are nothing new. We’ve long been spying from the sky.
This week, in historical documents:
Michael Hölscher, researcher at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, believes that the Book of Revelation—a famously cryptic and vivid chapter of the Bible—deliberately drew on pagan curses popular in Ancient Rome in order to reinforce its message.
The Codex Sassoon, the world’s oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible, is going on auction at Sotheby’s in May. It could fetch between $30 and $50 million, making it the most expensive historical document.
We might be one step closer to solving the mystery of the Voynich Manuscript.
FDR’s “Black Cabinet” pushed for equal rights from within the federal government.
The secrets of Grand Central Terminal in New York City.
This week, in facial reconstructions:
Meet Hinat, a Nabataean woman who lived in modern-day Saudi Arabia 2,000 years ago. She is the first woman from this civilization to receive this treatment.
The ‘Lonely Boy’ who died in a cave in Norway 8,300 years ago—presumably alone, hence the name—has been treated to a full body reconstruction.
Zuzu lived in modern-day Brazil about 9,000 years ago. Initially identified as a female skeleton, that has come up for debate. This new reconstruction depicts Zuzu with traditionally male features.
Excavations at Thompson Farm, where Harriet Tubman was born into slavery, uncovered a West African spirit cache, a collection of items traditionally meant to protect the home’s occupants.
We now think that a very severe drought contributed to the sudden decline of the Hittite civilization in 1200 BCE. Another reminder to get our climate issues under control!
A 5th-century fortress in a forest near Galicia, Spain was just discovered.
A painting by Wassily Kandsinsky that was returned to the descendants of the Jewish couple who bought it before the Holocaust is going up on auction at Sotheby’s in May. It is expected to fetch around $45 million.
This week, in shipwrecks:
25 years ago, Titanic was released. Previously unseen footage of the actual wreck was released in celebration. It was filmed in 1986, but the quality is impressive. The 80-minute footage is as haunting and ethereal as you think.
A Medieval ship found in Newport, Wales is ready to be reconstructed after years of cleaning and study.
Items from the 1692 sinking of The Gloucester—which almost killed James II of England—are going on display, including items the then-Duke of York probably used.
The Josephine Willis, which sank in 1856 with rare Victorian ceramics in the hold, is getting British government protection. A lot of the pottery was packed for sale overseas and remains in the original crates, meaning these are the only complete extant sets.
“Experts have traced the ceramics from the wreck of the Josephine Willis, including this shell-patterned plate, back to three English pottery manufacturers.” Credit: Stefan Panis / Historic England When Gribshunden mysteriously caught fire and sank off the coast of Sweden in 1495, it took its stock of medieval royal pantry items with it. Because it sank in the Baltic Sea, which is terribly cold and has low salinity, the vegetables and spices have survived, giving historians great insight into what the kings and queens of Sweden ate 500 years ago. The pantry had a large number of imported items, including 40 fruits and vegetables, mustard, black peppercorns, and a remarkable 14 ounces of saffron.
A massive footprint from a dinosaur was discovered in Burniston Bay, England, sometimes called the Dinosaur Coast. It is a record-setting print.
An anchoress—a woman walled into a cell at a church to live a life devoted to scripture—was found buried in an extremely odd position, and was diagnosed with syphilis. How she acquired the STI when she was walled into the church is up—and whether her illness is what led to her withdrawal from society—is up for debate.
A fear of ‘revenants’—reanimated corpses—might explain why these children were buried with their limbs weighed down and rocks in their mouths. This was a common fear in 6th-century Rome among Christians and non-Christians at the time.
Why was this man stabbed to death and then buried face-down in 11th-century Italy?
A 10-pound artillery shell was found at Gettysburg last week—and the Civil War-Era weapon hadn’t exploded yet. Members of the US military were called in to clean the shell (carefully!!!) for photographs then safely detonate it.
