Old Ships is a website packed full of evocative, interesting and historical pictures of old ships
from A to
Zambesi. It's a feast of
all kinds of other vintage maritime images, including
ports, docks,
ferries, harbors,
paintings, canals,
rivers, maritime scenes,
onboard pictures,
shipboard menus, lots of
great postcards and other
old historical nautical memorabilia (even
the ship's cat).
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Aug 24, 2012 -
13 comments
The ‘white’ slave children of New Orleans:
Almost immediately after the law came into practice, Northerners and abolitionists set up relief organisations, which battled to establish schools and provide other forms of support – but their resources were limited. They soon discovered it was near-impossible to find sympathy and support in a war-torn and racially-prejudiced county.
posted by nickyskye
on Mar 4, 2012 -
11 comments
Wanderlust:
GOOD Magazine, in collaboration with Graham Roberts, maps the most famous journeys in history - some fiction, some non-fiction. Wanderlust includes trips like Around the World in 80 Days and Journey to the Center of the Earth to the voyages of Marco Polo and Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. However, it's not just a map with journey lines on it; Wanderlust is a history lesson. Select a trip for a summary and explore highlights of the journey.
posted by nickyskye
on Apr 15, 2011 -
3 comments
Dr. Frances W. Pritchett, Professor of Modern Indic Languages at Columbia University, New York, has created
a superb online collection of resources, all about
India and South Asia, its art, history, literature, architecture and culture. Her
Indian Routes section (the
Index page) is a particularly rich resource. Her vast, colorful and informative site also has many great images. Check out her "scrapbook pages" on the
Princes l the
Ghaznavids l
British Rule l
Women's Spaces l
Perspectives on Hinduism.
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Jun 9, 2009 -
14 comments
Clips from the BBC documentary, The African Rock n' Roll Years -
Part 1 l
Part 2 l
Part 3 l
Part 4 l
Part 5 l
Part 6 - a six-part series mixing interviews with key artists, concert footage and news archives, the series examines and explains the "styles that make up the continent's music, and the political and social pressures that led to their development."
BBC documentary details. Found in YouTube member,
Duncanzibar's, good collection of mostly African music videos.
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Dec 30, 2008 -
9 comments
Until 1947/48, the complex political map of India (by which I mean pre-Independence India, including Pakistan and Bangladesh) included over 650 quasi-independent Indian Princely States. Indian royalty: In
hats,
turbans and,
more turbans, sometimes
colorful, often
decorated with
amazing gems ("It is believed that the entire collection of Pearls in the Nizam's collective collection could fill up an Olympic size swimming pool.") like
emeralds,
diamonds (
large diamonds),
pearls,
sapphires. Usually with
beards and moustaches, on a
throne.
Princesses.
Reflections of a Princess (audio and video).
Queen mothers (in
animation).
The Royal Houses Of Punjab. The
Maharaja of Patiala had 365 wives. In
satins and
brocade, with
swords. Owners of stylish cars, like a
1937 Delahaye Type 135 Figoni & Felashi,
bottled water, extraordinary
interior design,
lavish architecture, in
their many palaces, from a place
to watch cockfights to special
palaces to keep their
harem.
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Oct 18, 2008 -
19 comments
A fascinating story of the first known, Western transsexual, Tibetan Buddhist novice monk:
Laurence Michael Dillon (born Laura Maude Dillon, May 1, 1915 - May 15, 1962) was a British physician and the first female-to-male transsexual to undergo phalloplasty. His brother, Sir Robert Dillon, was the eighth Baronet of Lismullen in Ireland. The editor of Debrett's told Time Magazine that Dillon was unquestionably next in line for the baronetcy: The unwanted press attention led Dillon to flee to India, and then to a Tibetan monastery.
Girls Will Be Boys, a review of
The First Man-Made Man: The Story of Two Sex Changes, One Love Affair, and a Twentieth-Century Medical Revolution, by Pagan Kennedy.
Photograph of Michael Dillon as a monk.
[more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Sep 8, 2008 -
15 comments
Forty years ago, Swinging London was yet to swing. Everything was in black and white and, in class-bound Britain, fashion photographers were trades-men – polite, smart, seen but not heard. A new breed of snappers changed all that – Terry O’Neill, Brian Duffy, David Bailey and Terence Donovan. Bailey and Donovan started their careers in the West End studio of the doyen of fashion photographers – John French. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye
on Sep 1, 2008 -
11 comments
The International Institute of Social History was founded in 1935. It is one of the world's largest documentary and research institutions in the field of social history. From their collections:
Secret Societies: Documents and illustrations of Freemasons, Jesuits, Illuminati, Carbonari, Burschenschaften and other putative secret societies and clandestine organizations.
posted by nickyskye
on Feb 24, 2008 -
11 comments
