Two of my kids have rowed crew, so I’ve now attended quite a few crew regattas. Of course I appreciate the beauty and synchronicity, but I also know how hard the rowers work in practice, and how grim and repetitive… Read More
After the Catholic king Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, Huguenots (French Protestants) fled for their lives. Many countries sheltered the refugees. The city of Geneva, with a population of 16,000 people, welcomed 4,000 Huguenots.… Read More
King Louis XIV (1638 –1715) was at the height of his reign when, in 1685, his butt started to hurt. A lot. His royal physicians tried all kinds of treatments, endeavoring to shrink the swelling, but finally, after months of… Read More
On Friday I blogged about a notorious mother, Agrippina, in honor of Mother’s Day. Today’s Evil-Mother-Blog is about Catherine de Medici (1519 -1589), the staunchly Catholic queen of France, who gets at least part of the blame for starting the… Read More
Modernist architect Le Corbusier designed a vacation home that included a toilet in the living area. He considered the toilet “one of the most beautiful objects industry has produced,” and therefore saw no reason to hide it.