As its name indicates, the Spanish Cape of Finisterre (finis terrae) was considered in Antiquity as the westernmost limit of the known world. But where was the eastern border located at that time? It was Alexander the Great who, in 329 BCE, established this boundary—at least in its northernmost part—of the Greco-Roman world, which remained […]
Jorge Álvarez
Degree in History and Diploma in Archival and Library Science. Founder and director of Apuntes magazine (2002-2005). Creator of the blog El Viajero Incidental. Travel and tourism blogger since 2009 in Viajeros. Editor of LBV Magazine.
Posted inAge of Exploration, Culture
Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, the chronicles of the Korean kingdom spanning five centuries, are the longest uninterrupted ones of a single dynasty in history
In 2006, the Seoul government announced that the Guksa Pyeonchan Wiwonhoe (National Institute of Korean History) had undertaken the digitization of the Joseon Wangjo Sillok, that is, the “Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty”, 1,893 books distributed across 888 volumes written in Chinese characters. These chronicles document the successive reigns of the monarchs of that […]
Posted inModern Era, Science
Deutsche Physik: The Germanized and Aryan Physics Some Nazi Scientists Opposed to Einstein’s Relativity
What does physics have to do with politics? Or racism? The answer is nothing… unless we are talking about Germany in the first half of the 20th century. In that case, we must highlight the emergence of a pseudo-scientific movement embodied in the so-called Deutsche Physik, or German Physics, also known as Arische Physik, or […]
Posted inAncient Rome
The First Internal Rebellion of the Eastern Roman Empire Happened Because a Goth Was Not Received with Proper Ceremony in Constantinople
In the early 4th century AD, the newborn Eastern Roman Empire became the stage for a shadowy plot involving numerous figures from various spheres. Two of them, Romanized Ostrogoths, managed to threaten imperial security through a cunning double-sided scheme that provoked a rebellion, using the excuse of an improper official reception at court. They toppled […]
Posted inModern Era
Mesmerism, the Theory of Animal Magnetism That Believed in the Existence of an Inner Force in All Living Beings
On August 11, 1784, a report was delivered to Louis XVI, King of France, by the so-called Royal Commission on Animal Magnetism, consisting of two independent committees of physicians and scientists (including Benjamin Franklin), tasked with clarifying the existence or non-existence of an invisible magnetic fluid that surrounded living beings and whose alterations were thought […]
Posted inModern Era
Schienenzeppelin, the Strange Experimental German Train Powered by a Propeller That Held the Speed Record Until 1954
Although looking at the images might suggest a Japanese bullet train, this was actually an experimental German railcar named the Schienenzeppelin—“Zeppelin on Rails”—due to its resemblance to airships. Propelled by an airplane propeller mounted at the rear, it set a speed record in the year it was invented, 1929. However, the inability to add carriages […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
When France Evacuated Toulon and Converted the Cathedral into a Mosque to Temporarily Cede It to the Ottomans
Hayreddin Barbarossa, the famed admiral of the Ottoman Empire, effectively became the master of the Mediterranean during the first half of the 16th century. Between 1543 and 1544, he raided numerous towns along the Spanish coast as well as the Genoese coast. This was nothing new, as he had been doing so for years; what […]
Posted inModern Era
The Curious Connection Between Edison and a Japanese Shrine Through Bamboo
In 1964, Madeleine Edison Sloane traveled to Japan and visited Iwashimizu Hachimangu, a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto Prefecture near the city of Yawata. The purpose of her visit was not tourism but rather to personally see a memorial within its walls and take part in one of the two festivals held there in memory […]
Posted inModern Era
The Story of the “White Woman” Captive of the Australian Aboriginals and Her Subsequent Liberation
From the myth of Prester John to the character of Tarzan, the idea of a Western white person living among jungle natives has always been intriguing. Thus, the legend that emerged in mid-19th-century Australia isn’t surprising. It began when a Scottish shepherd emigrant wrote a letter to the press reporting the discovery of several European-origin […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
Hongzhi, the ‘Great Ruler’ of the Ming Dynasty and the Only Monogamous Emperor in Chinese History
He lived at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, becoming one of the most unusual emperors in Chinese history—not only as the first to renounce any military glory but also the only one to have a single wife, in contrast to the usual collection of consorts and concubines. A devout follower of Confucius, […]
