Of the many shady undertakings committed by Helen Duncan, witchcraft was not one of them. But nonetheless, during the Second World War the Scottish Spiritualist and show-woman was convicted under the 1735 Witchcraft Act. Duncan spent nine months in jail, and was the last person prosecuted in Britain under this legislation.An irony is that Duncan […]
Helen Duncan and the 1735 Witchcraft Act Read More »
In our theme this week of “women who were famous for something they didn’t do,” I turn to the well-known and macabre story of the alleged death of Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796). The incredibly successful monarch had her husband assassinated, suppressed many rebellions, and was a patron of the arts. But she
The Rumor of Catherine the Great’s Death Read More »
This week, I am teaming up to do a crossover-post series on fashion statements that made history with my friend (and former student) Katie McGowan! (@katiemaecrochet ) Following is her write-up featuring Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “Dissent” collar.Fashion can be used to express opinions, and no one did that more effectively than the late Supreme Court Justice,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Her Judicial Collars Read More »
In this third crossover history post on “fashion statements that made history” with Katie McGowan, I feature one of the most famous beards in history, worn by the Pharoh Hatshepsut, which means “foremost of women.” Yep, you read that right: Hatshepsut dressed in drag.Hatshepsut (c. 1503-1482 BCE) had been wedded to the powerful ruler Thutmose
Queen Hatshepsut and Drag Read More »
On our third crossover post in “fashion statements that made history” with myself and Katie McGowan, I am featuring Joan of Arc and her male attire for battle.Jeanne d’Arc, aka “the Maid of Orleans,” was highly conscientious about the way gender played into her self-perception as the military leader chosen by God to lead the
Joan of Arc – “The Maid of Orleans” Read More »
Evolutionary history is the focus of my posts for a while, and what better place to start than CRISPR? Last week, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna’s work in using CRISPR for gene editing made news headlines – this is the first time the Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two women. The future
CRISPR Gene and The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Read More »
Meet Julia Barlow Platt (1857-1935), who in her 70s was elected as the first female mayor of Pacific Grove, California. She spent her late years galvanizing efforts to create a nature preserve on Monterey Bay, which is still one of the most lovely areas on California’s northern coast. Behind these achievements, however, is a story
Julia Barlow Platt, Embryotic Cells, and California Politics Read More »
This is Marie-Claire King (born 1946), and just reading about her accomplishments makes me tired. Besides earning her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, she has six other honorary doctorates in science from the most prestigious universities in the world. From her work in discovering the genetic foundations of breast cancer, schizophrenia, and hearing loss, to her
Marie-Claire King and Genetic Studies Read More »
Charles Darwin’s idea of Natural Selection as the key driver of evolution has been demonstrated many times over. However, in the century and a half since his lifetime, scientists have added onto his theories as various scientific discoveries have been made. Perhaps no one has reframed the picture of Darwinian evolution as much as the
Lynn Margulis and Eukaryotic Cells Read More »
The Ancient Maya idea of beauty differed radically from our own, as evidence from art and human bones show. Shown here is medical anthropologist Vera Tiesler, who has examined thousands of bones from the Maya Classical Era (250-900 CE) and found fascinating patterns in the practice of skull-shaping.The Maya used stiff boards to flatten their
Ancient Mayan Skull Shaping Read More »
Shown here are Doctors Pear Kendrick and Grace Eldering, and together they developed the first successful vaccine against the childhood disease pertussis, or Whooping Cough.Whooping Cough is of course characterized by the sound of the hollow, forced, and unremitting chest cough that mostly younger people endured until the 20th-century development of a vaccine: it killed
Doctors Pear Kendrick and Grace Eldering Read More »
Queen Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603) ruled her country for decades through an era of extreme religious strife and against the will of many who thought, as the Protestant leader John Knox, that “It is more than a monstre in nature that a Woman shall reigne and have Empire above a Man . .
Queen Elizabeth I and Her “Queen’s Touch” Read More »
For Women’s History Month and my 800th post, I am featuring Violet Oakley (two of you readers voted for her yesterday). Oakley was a leading American artist of the early 20th-century: her 43 murals at the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania are among her most famous works — they were the first public murals
Artist Violet Oakley and Pennsylvania’s Capitol Read More »
So it’s still Women’s History Month, and since I adore history and science, I wanted to do this entry about the American astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, whose contributions to our knowledge about the physical makeup of the universe were relatively unknown for much of the 20th century.Here you see Cecilia Payne’s portrait by artist Patricia Watwood,
Astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Read More »
Here you see an image from around 1800 of one Chloe Russell, the purported author of _The Complete Fortune Teller and Dream Book_. Only a handful of copies exist today, but they provide a tantalizing glimpse into the tastes of some Americans for the occult, and an association of black Americans having access to magical
Purported Author Chloe Russell Read More »
You are looking at the most expensive Easter egg ever made: the famed “Winter” Fabergé egg created by Alma Pihl, the only woman designer of the iconic Russian jeweled eggs.Alma (slide two) was brought into the Fabergé workshop because her father had been its leading jeweler. Since 1885, the company of Peter Carl Fabergé had
Alma Pihl’s “Winter” Faberge Egg Design Read More »
In 1985, scientist, Katalin Karikó left her native Hungary for the United States with her husband and two-year old daughter. The University of Szeged, where she had earned her degree and was working as a postdoctorate fellow, had run out of funding. So the family — who had to sew cash into their daughter’s stuffed
I have a good story for this Mother’s Day in the U.S.. It comes from a Hindu myth found in a sacred text called _The Bhagavata Purana_ (8th-10th c), which tells the story of the maternal love of Yasoda for her foster son, the God Krishna.Yasoda had no idea that she was raising a divine
Yasoda and Her Foster Son God Krishna Read More »
The sculpture you see here shows two decidedly feminine figures, standing shoulder-to-shoulder as they face the sea, their hair whipping in the breeze. It is an utterly modern imagining of two real-life woman pirates from the early 1700’s, and says even more about 2020, when this artwork was unveiled, than it does about the actual
Female Pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read Read More »
I have another person to add to my list of imaginary attendees in my hypothetical dinner party. Might I introduce to you one Margaret Lucas Cavendish (d.1673)?.Margaret’s life shows just how much human potential has been wasted by limiting women’s access to education. She gleaned hers through conversations of the men around her — her
Margaret Lucas Cavendish Read More »
