First up, the awesome paintings above are from this article over at the UK Telegraph entitled "Historical Figures for the 21st Century." Of course there's Nelson as above, a little heavier due to his modern fate as a desk jockey but with a splendid prosthetic arm. Whatever would Emma say? Also in the mix are Henry VIII looking vaguely like Gerard Butler, his daughter good Queen Bess and a surprisingly hipster Will Shakespeare. Who knew?
Next, this little winner from NBC News. A women's group thought they were hiring an pirate expert to speak on the Golden Age. Instead they got a victim of modern piracy with a harrowing tale of survival. But, being a good sport, he did stay to judge the pirate costume contest after his lecture.
While not particularly related to seafaring per ce, this article from the NYT's continuing series on the Civil War should be of interest to anyone with a fascination for history in general and women's history in particular. Entitled "Rape and Justice in the Civil War", the author discusses the Leiber Laws and their application to Southern women attacked by Union troops; both free and slave.
On a modern note, USS Anchorage arrived on Tuesday in hers and my home city, Anchorage, Alaska, for her commissioning today.
Also of interest: On May 3, 1810, George Gordon Lord Byron along with his friend and marine lieutenant Ekenhead of HMS Salsette swam across the Dardanelles Strait.
Today, May 5, in 1828 the American Seaman's Friend Society of New York City was established. Their mission: to supply books via "floating libraries" to U.S. Navy and Merchant ships at sea. Also on this day in 1861 the U.S. Naval Academy moved from Annapolis, Maryland to Newport, Rhode Island for the duration of the Civil War.
And so I will leave you with a quote: The real difference between civilized and savage man consists in the knowledge of knots and rope work. ~ A. Hyatt Verrill
5 comments:
That was a lot of good stuff for one short post, Pauline.
The article on the women's group was particularly amusing.
And Huzzah! for the USS Anchorage!
Now if it would just stop snowing here so we can get on with Spring...
Yep; those ladies certainly got more than they bargained for. And I'm sure the crew of USS Anchorage is thankful for a bright, sunny day today. I know I am :)
This reminds me of my "Booze and Boat Bits" method of compiled brief entertaining randomness. Good to see ya online. I had heard the lecture story on Facebook. As for reimagined Nelson...that's kinda freaky.
Ok I just have to say how much I love your blog. I ran across it while planning my toddlers pirate party. I am no history buff, but this is pretty interesting stuff.
Lou: Those were great posts at the Journal of Blue Lou. This is about all I've got time for right now considering that I don't want to give up on Triple P entirely. I can't, actually. So hopefully I can continue these types of posts for a while until I can get back in to research, etc. And yeah; Nelson. Freaky.
Rebecca: Thank you so much. I hope your child's party is/was a grand success. Please stop in again and, as noted above, I'm hopeful that "new" material will be appearing here sooner than later.
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