Random Learnings #49
Dexter Gordon's Wikipedia page mentioned that he was unable to perform in New York City bars or dancehalls - essentially any place that served alcohol, more importantly the places that…
Random Learnings #47
Czechoslovakia first came into existence at the conclusion of World War I and the collapse of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The new country immediately needed to create a working government, establish…
Random Learnings #46
"A Peasant Leaving His Landlord on Yuriev Day" by Sergei V. Ivanov I thought that Russian serfs were essentially slaves - a belief supported by many English-language references - but…
Random Learnings #45
"United Nations" by japedi is licensed under CC BY 2.0. I knew that China joined the United Nations at Taiwan's expense - China also getting the permanent seat on the…
Random Learnings #44
I picked up a May 1917 National Geographic magazine ( Volume XXXI, Number 5) for its the World War I reporting, and while the articles were interesting I became sidetracked…
Random Learnings #43
Lebensraum is often attributed to Hitler and the Nazis as a component of Germany's imperial and racist visions towards the east, and contributed to the Holocaust as killing the Jews…
Old-School Advertising
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum displays era-appropriate advertising in their restored trolleys. Besides providing a real feel to what the passengers saw at the time, it also shows how society has…
Random Learnings #40
The Carnegie Museum of Art is currently exhibiting the works of the German artist Beate Kuhn. I initially read a contemporary biography in German: despite my sehr schlecht school-boy Germany,…
Random Learnings #39
Karl Marx popularized - but did not create - the slogan From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs that is most often associated with communism.…
The Museum of Jade
In Spanish Museo del Jade, its more formal Museo del Jade y de la Cultura Precolombina (Museum of Jade and Pre-Columbian Culture) better describes its mission. Even my Costa Rican…