Weekend Link Dump

It's our first Link Dump of the summer!

And the cats can't wait to get to the seaside.

Behold our latest crop of links:

What the hell happened to this Persian army in 524 B.C.?  Now we know!

What the hell happened to the Pope's Stone?  Well, we sort of know...maybe.

What the hell was this Barbary ape doing in Iron Age Ireland?

What the hell is in this Romanian wall painting?

Watch out for those crinolines!

Watch out for those rock-dwelling elves!

Watch out for the lightning bolts!

Plymouth is really humming!

The night sky as you've never seen it before.

Pirates:  Underrated scientists?

A curious mystery involving an alleged shipwreck and a Welsh bone-setter.

An 1809 breakfast, brought to you from the same people who gave the world Necropants.

You know, considering what the average specimen of humanity is like, I've often thought a lot of people were better off not "finding themselves."

We need a Fortean Perry Mason to solve The Case of the Combustible Countess.

Cheltenham makes hay while the sun shines.

Forging Galileo.

A premature burial that acted as a matchmaker.

It's kinda sad when you become President of the United States (not to mention Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) and what you're mainly remembered for is your bathtubs.

Exploring the weird, wonderful world of archaeoacoustics.

The 19th century, in living color.

Ann Debar, one of the great Victorian charlatans.

An ancient Welsh kingdom reemerges from the sea.

Miles Pierce, a leading candidate for the world's worst selfie.

The "Syrian Pompeii."

A fond look back at the Fejee Mermaid, once the pride of New York.

John Murray Spear and his mechanical Messiah.

Madame Bob:  Lion tamer, race car driver, arranger of elopements.  I would have loved to have seen her business card.

Edward Warren: the first American to successfully take a balloon trip.

We're all Sherlock Holmes now:  how armchair detectives are using the internet to solve cold cases.

I'll say this for the Regency era:  when they wanted to shock their guests, they didn't mess around.

Midsummer Eve and the Black Death.

Pirate Cats and Polio.

A shotgun wedding with a twist, 1906.

It's a dog's life.  Luckily for us humans.

The Ratcliffe Highway Murders:  over 200 years later, still one of England's most notorious crimes.

A duel to the death.  By starvation.

Fanny Murray, 18th century Queen of the Courtesans.

Grace O'Malley, 16th century Irish pirate queen.

Forbes Winslow, offbeat alienist.

Our image of the week:

Believed to be the Earliest Photograph Taken of New York City - Broadway, May 1850 | #NYhistory #photography pic.twitter.com/yA8J8nuOoj
— NewYorkologist.org (@NewYorkologist) December 19, 2013

And, finally, a favorite tune of mine from the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, "The Old Man of Hoy." Just because.



See you all on Monday, when I will be reviving the tale of my favorite forger.