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 […]
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
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, […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Aristoxenus of Tarentum, the philosopher who authored the oldest known treatise on music, and healed by playing the flute
What was music like in antiquity? Today, we will explore the story of the man who is our primary source of knowledge about the music of Classical-Hellenistic Greece. He was a Peripatetic philosopher, a student of Aristotle, who was displeased when Aristotle chose someone else as his successor to lead the school. He healed by […]
Posted inModern Era
The World’s Richest Man in the First Half of the 19th Century Was a Chinese Merchant Who Lent Money to American Millionaires
If we asked who the wealthiest person in the world was in the first half of the 19th century, many would likely think of Queen Victoria or an American multimillionaire like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Morgan, or Ford. But the queen did not ascend the throne until 1837 and thus needed decades to amass her fortune, estimated […]
Posted inAge of Exploration
George Anson, the British seafarer who circumnavigated the world to capture the Spanish Acapulco Galleon
The War of Jenkins’ Ear pitted Britain against Spain from 1739 to 1748, leaving three particularly noteworthy episodes in its wake. One was the incident that sparked it, leading the British to name it that way while Spanish call it Guerra del Asiento. Another was Admiral Howard Vernon’s disastrous attempt to conquer Cartagena de Indias, […]
Posted inFirst World War
White Friday: The Avalanches That Buried Thousands of Soldiers in the Alps in World War I
Many people are eagerly watching the calendar, awaiting the arrival of Black Friday on November to take advantage of tempting deals, even if it means braving the crowds to do so. But, while each year we laugh at the videos circulating of these scuffles, the truth is that the White Friday was much worse. Unlike […]
Posted inModern Era
How the Siege of Paris in 1871 Enabled German Unification, Proclaimed in Versailles
On October 7, 1870, one of those minor, anecdotal episodes that pepper History amidst greater events took place. A hydrogen balloon named Armand-Barbès lifted off from Paris, setting out towards Tours with an unusual passenger: none other than Léon Michel Gambetta, Minister of the Interior and War in the National Defense Government, a provisional administration […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The Strange Legend of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary
The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, also called Borametz and Polypodium Borametz, or “Chinese polypody,” is a plant shaped like a lamb, covered in golden fluff. It stands on four or five roots; the plants around it die, yet it remains lush; when cut, it releases a bloody juice (…) In other monsters, species or animal […]
Posted inAntiquity
The Mesopotamian Stele Showing the First Phalanx Formation in History
When we talk about a phalanx in a military context, we automatically think of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian army, with its compact formation of armored infantrymen armed with long sarissas. These were arranged in 64 squares or syntagmas, 16 men across (each in a one-square-meter space) by as many in depth, forming a total of […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Bohemond of Taranto, the Sinister Norman Who Conquered Antioch and Hated the Byzantine Empire
There are quite a few literary and cinematic works about the First Crusade, and in most of them, beginning with the anonymous Gesta Francorum or Torquato Tasso’s famous epic poem The liberated Jerusalem (La Gerusalemme liberata), we find a curious figure who was one of its main leaders, the Norman Bohemond of Taranto. He was […]
