Click here to book for The Gentle Author’s Tours Now that Whitechapel Station has been completely rebuilt and the new Elizabeth Line is fully operational, few remember how it used to be half a century ago but photographer Philip Cunningham recorded the vanished streets and yards that once occupied this lost corner Winthrop St “I first started taking photographs of Winthrop St and Woods Buildings in Whitechapel in the mid-seventies. I remember the first time I went to Winthrop St on a cold…

Bild: Radweg-Bauprojekt Zeppelindamm (L651). Straßen.NRW, Oktober 2026. Der Zeppelindamm ist Teil der Städteverbindung Gelsenkirchen – Hattingen, die komplett über Bochumer Stadtgebiet verläuft. Alle vom Bauprojekt betroffenen Straßen – Zeppelindamm, Munscheider Damm, Wattenscheider Hellweg, Berliner Straße, Varenholzstraße – sind Teil des Radverkehrsnetz NRW. Für den Radverkehr ist diese Verbindung praktisch alternativlos.Und für den motorisierten Verkehr ist die Verbindung aus Gelsenkirchen…

We left off two days ago (because of the Farhad Tarash interlude) with the "wrong" ending of their love story, one we know didn't happen because we know when the two lovers lived and died. The idea that Khosrow's son kills Khosrow in order to marry Shirin, and Shirin killing herself to avoid this, does not fit the few facts we know.The fact is that the two were married. Shirin was a Christian, and her presence in his life was likely an influence on his tolerance for the various Christian…

From Japan, 1941: Countdown to Infamy, by Eri Hotta (Vintage, 2013), pp. 385-387: On the night of June 18, 1942, the Gripsholm of the Swedish American Line set sail from New York with a group of Japanese nationals aboard who had been detained in various makeshift camps, including one on Ellis Island. The Japanese government, in return, had dispatched the Asama Maru from the port of Yokohama, and later the Italian ship Conte Verde from Shanghai, carrying North and South American nationals home.…

Built to endure the tests of time, the pyramids of Giza stand as some of the oldest and last remaining wonders of the ancient world. Rising from the desert sands of Egypt’s Giza Plateau, these monuments were constructed from a masterful blend of limestone, granite, basalt, gypsum mortar, and baked mud bricks—materials quarried both locally and from distant sites along the Nile, including the

Gavin Dalzell built a treadle bicycle in 1846, hailed in 1888 as the first until MacMillan’s earlier 1839 claim sparked a lasting debate.

Taken on the 15th of September, 2026 Tianjin, Five Great avenue 天津，五大道 "Tianjin Five Major Avenues Cutural and Tourism Area is a region with a total area of 1.28 km2 and a total of 2185 buildings, including 423 Western-style buildings many of which were built between the 1920s and 1930s."

Orginal post: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Hermann Henrich Stücker, Wäfner (weaver) and Ackerer (farmer), son of Bernard Herman Henrich and Margaretha Elisabeth (Wenningman) Stücker, was born in Ochtrup 5 January 18201 and died in Epe 4 May 1897.2,3 He married in Epe 22 August 1856, Gertrud Niehoff,4 daughter of Antonius Niehoff and Gesina ten Berge. She was born in Lonneker, Overijssel, Netherlands about 1833 and died in Gronau 6 July 1908.5,6 They resided at Glanerhock in the Eilermark…

Visiting the exhibition with works by Désiré De Lacy and Guusje Slagter.

Five generations after leaving Earth the generation star ship Archimedes is approaching its destination planet. Alongside it are three other ships. As they come close to their destination wear and tear are beginning to undermine the viability of the ships. On board some of the crew are doubting their mission. Perhaps their arrival will destroy and existing biosphere and civilisation. Maybe they

I mentioned yesterday a sculptor named Farhad who was punished by Khosrow II for becoming a rival for the love of Shirin. He was given the impossible task to carve steps into the cliffs of Mount Behistun.As it happens, if you go to Mount Behistun in western Iran you'll find a long smooth section carved into the stone that is decidedly not natural. Called the Farhād Tarāsh, it is 30 meters high and 200 meters long.Its origin is unknown. A medieval geographer named Istakhri, who died in 957, had…