Historical postcards from Opava, CZ
posted by yegga on Jul 26, 2009 - 6 comments

It would take over 50 years after the creation of this map before it was confirmed that California is indeed attached to the mainland of America. 20 Fascinating Ancient Maps (via). More zoomable historical maps at the World Digital Library. (previously)
posted by desjardins on Jul 22, 2009 - 32 comments

The Cornell Historical Math Monographs archive has a great many famous papers, including works by De Morgan, Hamilton, Descartes (warning: French) and of course Lewis Carroll. [more inside]
posted by DU on Jun 15, 2009 - 7 comments

What It Costs provides information on the costs associated with a wide variety of services and concepts. Whether you want to know the price range of practical activities — such as what it costs to replace a kitchen countertop, building a nuclear aircraft carrier — or are interested in unusual articles — such as the cost to build Fenway Park, being cryogenically frozen or cleaning up a murder scene — you will find all this and much more.
posted by netbros on Apr 9, 2009 - 24 comments

Kate Beaton, Historical Cartoonist
posted by flatluigi on Mar 13, 2009 - 70 comments

You are interested in the unknown... the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts of a flickr collection of old snapshots?
posted by gamera on Feb 14, 2009 - 18 comments

The Australian National Library is digitising newspapers.
posted by Fiasco da Gama on Dec 16, 2008 - 13 comments

20 photos from the Civil War via listverse
posted by lobstah on Nov 19, 2008 - 16 comments

Kilmer House, the most engrossing corporate-based blog I've ever experienced, tells "The Story Behind Johnson & Johnson and Its People", from the days of the company's inception. Posts include strange products like silk and velvet Beauty Spots, a sherry-based cola drink, pain relievers laced with belladonna and kidney plasters; the difficulty marketing early feminine products to a prudish society; Doctor Dan the Bandage Man; why J & J is allowed to use the Red Cross on its packaging; and the iconic artistry behind the company's early ad campaigns.
posted by misha on Oct 7, 2008 - 9 comments

For Sale: Max Yasgur's Farm [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Jan 9, 2008 - 56 comments

Morbid Anatomy - an excellent blog with a focus on art, medicine, death, and culture. Great viewing anytime, but it might also be a good reference source for any macabre seasonal celebrations!
posted by madamjujujive on Oct 8, 2007 - 5 comments

Historical medicine and health images - there's some fun browsing for aficionados of antique medical technologies, such as orthapedic devices, anatomical illustrations and models, public health materials, and much more. Each image can be enlarged and has explanatory text. (Just a small part of the 30,000+ image database of the wonderful site ingenious, previously brought to our attention by Fat Buddha.)
posted by madamjujujive on Aug 3, 2007 - 5 comments

Telephone Central Office Histories - A fascinating collection of personal anecdotes and histories about telephony from the US and around the world, from The Telephone Exchange Name Project. Coral Cache links -1- -2- (via)
posted by loquacious on Jun 9, 2007 - 8 comments

Alternative Photography. How-tos and galleries of albumen prints, ambrotypes, tintypes (modern), (classic), temperaprint and many more. The article section is varied and includes instructions on making a cyanotype quilt and digital cyanotypes.
posted by Mitheral on Sep 28, 2006 - 5 comments

What Do You Know About The Separation of Church and State ? The Freedom From Religion Foundation has created this handy 21 question online multiple choice test. How good are your church/state separation Constitutional knowledge chops ? Could influential GOP member, Bush 2004 campaign consultant, and "America was founded as a Christian Nation" cheerleader David Barton pass ?
posted by troutfishing on Jan 27, 2006 - 70 comments

What's so funny?
posted by gilgamix on Aug 9, 2005 - 9 comments

New York Changing. Rephotographs from then and now.
posted by stbalbach on Nov 22, 2004 - 43 comments

The National Endowment for the Arts and the Library of Congress are putting 30 million newspaper pages online. The National Digital Newspaper Program "will create a national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers from all the states and U.S. territories published between 1836 and 1922." The goal is to have it done in 20 years; the LOC has a sample up now: The Stars and Stripes from 1918-1919.
posted by me3dia on Nov 17, 2004 - 17 comments

33 40' 31'' N - 106 28' 29'' W, 7/16/45, 05:29.45
posted by crunchland on Jul 16, 2004 - 21 comments

10 years ago today, and the killer is still at large.
posted by crunchland on Jun 12, 2004 - 46 comments

Dazzling, full-color shots of people long since dead, landscapes long since paved, and an empire long since overthrown.
A pre-WW I process for creating color image projections meets Photoshop®
posted by magullo on Jan 16, 2004 - 27 comments

Have you ever seen a $100,000 bill?
From the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Historical Currency Gallery.
posted by crunchland on Sep 13, 2003 - 30 comments

We are because of others. We are born into this world with minds as naked as our bodies and we have to rely on others to feed, clothe us, and to teach us to think of ourselves as selves. The key is language -- grammatical speech and human culture build upon the brain's biological capacities to create a mind that is something different again than that with which we are born. We are conscious because we can speak to others and ourselves, because we can speak of ourselves to others and ourselves. Language gives us as individuals, memory, and as groups, culture, the social memory. Or so thought Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, among others. Welcome to the the neuronaut's guide to the science of consciousness.
posted by y2karl on Jul 11, 2003 - 36 comments

GangRule - the history of organized crime in New York City. A growing database of photos, biographies, newspaper clippings and family trees from 1890 on. And for the godfather trackers among us, there's also Boston Mafia, which includes the history of a notorious contemporary fugitive, lately in the news via testimony from his brother, Billy Bulger.
posted by madamjujujive on Jun 24, 2003 - 8 comments

Wow. Spartacus Educational is a masterwork of hyperlinked history with a rather eclectic list of focus topics that can suck you in and never let go. Start anywhere, and then just click, and click, and click...

In light of recent events, you might begin, if you wish, with a brush-up on the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, and from there go on to find out more about the Black Hand secret society responsible for the killing. You may attempt to sidestep politics by going to cartoonists, or U.S. novelists and poets, but you will find that the site is organized against a backdrop of world politics (viewed chiefly from a British perspective), a point of view that weaves its own endlessly looping and mesmerizing mesh.
posted by taz on Mar 14, 2003 - 9 comments