"...we should pass over all biographies of 'the good and the great,' while we search carefully the slight records of wretches who died in prison, in Bedlam, or upon the gallows."
~Edgar Allan Poe

Friday, August 7, 2015

Weekend Link Dump



This week's Link Dump is sponsored by the League of Extremely Bored Cats.





Why the hell were these horse skulls buried under floors?

Watch out for Jack the Flasher!

Watch out for the cat spirits!

Watch out for those killer owls!

Watch out for those killer ghosts!

Watch out for those one-legged killer clowns!

Watch out for those killer toasters!

Watch out for those killer cocktails!

Watch out for those electric sea serpents!

Watch out for the ghost of Madame Gould!

Watch out for those biting nuns!

Watch out for those violent Argentinian elves!

Calgary is really humming!

Australia is really flashy!

A shocking 14th century royal adultery scandal.

Rediscovering the greatest pie fight in film history.

A bit of Old Hollywood:  The history of the "It" Cafe.

What?  Some professional psychics are frauds?!  The devil you say.

Hyde Park boasts a Victorian pet cemetery.

A WWI ghost story.

An 18th century ghost is currently living in New Jersey.

A surprisingly detailed record of one working woman's life in Early Modern England.

This is pretty amazing:  a recently-discovered recording of Bismarck's voice.

A gruesome hoax written by Mark Twain.

The Civil War officer who tempted fate just a bit too far.

Out: Men in Black.  In:  Green Ladies!

Did Burton Abbott  really murder Stephanie Bryan?

Intriguing minor historical mystery:  Is this the baptism record for the secret twins of Horatio Nelson and Emma Hamilton?

The Gentle Author's cat contemplates August.

A 19th century e-mail scam.

George IV visits Scotland.  Hilarity ensues.

A hypnotist tells all.

Mary Linwood, Queen of Needlepoint.

The story of the last pagan Emperor.

A roundup of wedding ring superstitions.

The strange death of a Saudi princess.

When science gets weird.

John Harrison Curtis and his acoustical chair.

An ancient Roman soldier misses his mom.

A tale of two Lancashire churches.

How to conduct a proper Irish duel.

How to eat like Napoleon.

1816: a great year for body-snatching.

Some recently-discovered evidence relating to the Mayerling mystery.

The New England earthquake of 1663.

Irene Castle had better luck with dogs than she did with men.

The conversion of Esther Rodgers.

One of the worst mother-in-law stories ever.

The history of reading the riot act.

What to ask an oracle.

And that's that for this week. See you on Monday, when I'll be presenting a Tale of Two Disappearances. In the meantime, here's Rodney Crowell:

3 comments:

  1. The article about Julian the Apostate was a good one, despite its bad spelling. I like reading about those rulers who reigned but short times yet affected things in great ways - if only for a short time themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been interested about Julian ever since I read about him in one of Colin Wilson's books. One wonders how much would have changed in the world if he had lived longer.

      Delete
  2. I'm pretty skeptical about the "son of Horatio Nelson begot the incredible Mary Seacole" business. Emma did have twins; she revealed that to the daughter she kept - Horatia - after Nelson's death. According to Emma, the child she gave away "because she couldn't raise two children" was a girl. I'm not seeing Horatia anywhere on the register and she was pretty much raised openly as Nelson's daughter. But who knows. Anything's possible, I suppose...

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated. Because no one gets to be rude and obnoxious around here except the author of this blog.