Random Learnings #50
Sovetsk, Russia is part of the Kalingrad enclave, physically separated from mainland Russia. It's even further separated from mainland Russia as planes can no longer fly over the Baltics but…
From Here I Can See Russia!
Sarah Palin is often misquoted as saying I can see Russia from my house! - thank you, Tina Fey - but I can say I saw Russia from my rental…
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,…