Diary of Martha Ballard:

Martha Moore Ballard was fifty years old when she began her diary on January 1 of 1785. Every day, for twenty-seven years, she recorded the daily events in her diary, beginning with the weather. Initially the entries were short and choppy, but gradually they became fuller and more regular. What began, most probably, as a record of her midwifery and healing work, grew into a remarkably steady account of both the ordinary and the extraordinary events in her life.

Martha Ballard’s massive but cryptic diary was handed down through her daughter Dolly’s family as a pile of hand-made diary booklets. Remarkably, none were lost. When a great great-granddaughter of Martha’s, Mary Hobart, graduated from medical school in New York in 1884, Dolly’s daughters gave her the diary. Mary Hobart had the scrambled leaves of the diary put in order and bound in homemade linen covers. And at the end of her career, in 1930, she donated the diary to the Maine State Library, where historian Laurel Ulrich found it fifty years later.

Posted by Amy as History, Women at 10:29 AM EDT

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Medieval and Renaissance Weddings: extensive information on vows, clothing, and much more.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, History at 1:09 AM EDT

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The Unofficial History of the Hatfield-McCoy Family Feud:

Over the years, there have been many famous feuds between families and family members, perhaps none more infamous than the historic Hatfield-McCoy Family Feud. Over time, our site will develop into a place were others can tell the story of their Family’s Feud vis-a-vis the most famous one in history. One of the common themes will be to investigate the causes of these feud, and the perpetuation of family animosity, in many cases even despite no longer remembering the origin of the feud.

Via El Dorado County Library’s What’s Hot On The Internet This Week.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Psychology, History at 1:57 AM EDT

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Images That Changed The World: Warning–some very graphic shots of violence and death.

Some people might be offended or upset by these images but this isn’t my intentions I just want it to be thought provoking and enlightening, and for people to talk about the past and to never forget, because we need to learn from past events other wise we will keep repeating history.

Posted by Amy as Photography, History at 1:29 AM EDT

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The World History of Male Love:

History is written by the victors. They choose what will be remembered, and what covered up. So it has been with male eros. Looking at any history textbook, one would think that never has a society praised love between men, never has a painter, a poet or a pope shared his bed and his heart with another male. Evidence of same-sex love has been either quietly suppressed, as with the Greeks and Romans, or quickly destroyed, as is still done with newly unearthed Inca and Mayan art. The result of this deception has been a needless polarization of society and untold suffering for those people who happen to fall in love with others of their own sex.

Uncensored, the historical record reveals an opposite reality: the male love instinct is a universal constant. Only society’s attitude towards it has varied. All cultures have regulated male love, weaving varied tapestries of ritual around it. And a few have tried - to no avail - to regulate it out of existence.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, History, Relationships at 1:36 AM EDT

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Folkstreams: The Best of American Folklore Films:

A National Preserve of Documentary Films about American Roots Cultures
streamed with essays about the traditions and filmmaking. The site includes transcriptions, study and teaching guides, suggested readings, and links to related websites.

Via El Dorado County Library’s What’s Hot On The Internet This Week.

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies, History at 1:04 AM EDT

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Medieval Conception of Time: a calendar of feasts and festivals for saints’ days, liturgical celebrations, pagan rituals, and more.

Here’s one snippet about Midsummer Day (24 June) that I learned while browsing through this website:

Fires were burnt throughout the night, called bonfires or bone fires because bones were burned to keep evil spirits away.

Posted by Amy as History at 4:04 AM EDT

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Full Map of Europe in the Year 1300

Posted by Amy as History, Maps at 5:43 AM EDT

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Rome Reborn: a digital model of ancient Rome (320 A.C.E.).

Via houndcats’ books and blather.

Posted by Amy as History at 11:28 AM EDT

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The Call To Duty: Canada’s Nursing Sisters:

The incredible contribution of Canadian nursing sisters in the First World War can be best appreciated by examining their experiences during their service. Women left their families and homes to answer the call to duty and serve their country. Many worked in substandard conditions, with poor sanitation and limited supplies of water. They cared for soldiers with horrendous wounds caused by new advancements in weaponry. Canadian nurses adapted to a situation that was completely unlike their lives in Canada, and for which their work in Canadian hospitals could not possibly have prepared them. By drawing on their strengths and knowledge, they comforted and mended the soldiers in their care. Their dedication to their work, their country and, most importantly, to their patients, serves to measure their contribution to the Canadian war effort.

This exhibition tells the story of six women who served as nursing sisters during the First World War.

Posted by Amy as History, Canada, Women at 1:52 AM EDT

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European Mediaeval Swords: there is information here on swords from the Germanic Iron Age, The Viking Age, the Norman Period, and the High Middle Ages. The time span ranges from 400 A.C.E. to 1450 A.C.E.

Posted by Amy as History at 7:50 AM EDT

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A Serial Killer From the 1700s:

In the year of the Lord 1786, the Austrian surgeon Franz Xaver Wegartshofner put an end to a most bizarre killing spree. For a long time, there had been rumours concerning the wealthy farmer Bartholomäus Rainer of Großlobming (Styria). He was now sixty-eight years of age, seemingly a rather odd man who never cut his fingernails, and people whispered he was a sorcerer dealing with occult powers. Yet he was never in want of a wife, which is to say that whenever a wife of his went to the churchyard for good, he had no problems in finding one to replace her.

However, when his sixth wife died on July 4th of that year, rumours got so intense and minds so upset that the authorities could no longer ignore it.

Via Bourgeois Nerd.

Posted by Amy as Crime, History at 1:52 AM EDT

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The History of Poisoning: Timeline: poisoning throughout the ages, some famous cases of poisoning (e.g. Thomas Overbury, Madeleine Smith, Georgi Markov), and poisons in common use (past and present).

Via Rebecca’s Pocket.

Posted by Amy as Crime, History at 5:20 AM EDT

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Eyewitness To History: “history through the eyes of those who lived it.” Excerpts from diaries, letters, and other first person accounts from ancient times to the 20th century.

Posted by Amy as History at 1:51 AM EDT

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The History of Costume:

The “History of Costume” or “Zur Geschichte der Kostüme” was printed from 1861 to 1880 in Munich by the publishing firm of Braun and Schneider. It was originally published as individual plates in a German magazine titled “Münchener Bilderbogen”. ater, these plates were collected and bound into book form. The total publication consisted of 125 pages, with four pictures per pages, for a total of 500 costume designs. These plates consisted of historical dress from antiquity to the end of the 19th century. This book is an excellent source for students who are studying the history of fashion and for costume designers. One must be aware though, that these illustrations have a Victorian perspective to their designs. The last 35 pages consists of contemporary folk dress (c.1880) from most European, Asian, and African countries. These provides a source for researching plays which take place during the Victorian period, such as “The King and I” or “The Sea Gull”. The original book was published in German, so at times, the English translation is confusing.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as History, Clothing at 4:59 AM EDT

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The People History: “An Online Social History from the last 50 years created from memories of events and experiences in peoples lives. What do you remember? add your memory or comment.”

There’s information in the following categories:

Popular Culture, Music, Film and TV, Technology, World Events Cost of Living, Inflation, Price of goods and property, Wages and The Value of Money

Posted by Amy as History at 9:12 AM EDT

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Historic Cities: Maps and Documents: “This site contains maps, literature, documents, books and other relevant material concerning the past, present and future of historic cities and facilitates the location of similar content on the web.”

Posted by Amy as History at 1:07 AM EDT

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Ancient Cultures of the Southwest is a website that provides information about eight early cultures from southwestern America.

The site discusses the following peoples:

• Anasazi
• Mogollon
• Casas Grandes
• Salado
• Hohokam
• Sinagua
• Patayan

In addition to the text, the site contains photos of artefacts of each group.

It’s a good introduction to the history that stretches back to 400 A.C.E.

Posted by Amy as History at 1:05 AM EST

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If you’re at all interested in British history, or if you enjoy historical novels set in the time of Elizabeth I, check out Life in Elizabethan England.

This website gives a good overview of the details of everyday living. It covers food, games, money, religion, occupations, pastimes, names, and much, much more.

Here are a few of the facts I learned on this site:

• “sack” is sherry, and “brandywine” is distilled wine; also, “most wines are sweet and rather heavy. They probably have to be strained before you want to drink them, and may still have solid matter floating in them.”
• a mercer is a merchant who sells cloth; a bowyer is one who sells bows (you would buy the arrows from a fletcher); you would have your portrait drawn by a limner
• most people in England did not have a middle name until the 17th century; a middle name was a European custom only

There’s a lot of good information here–you could be browsing for a long time.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as History at 6:58 AM EST

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If you’re interested in how people in the past celebrated Christmas, check out Medieval Christmas.

This page has such nuggets as the following:

• the first recorded use of the word “Christmas”
• the source of the word “carol” and some history about carolers
• what to expect for the holiday meal in the Middle Ages (hint—it’s not turkey)

This is an interesting, if brief, browse.

Posted by Amy as History, Holidays at 1:35 AM EST

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Seeing as I’m celebrating my birthday today, I decided to look up a few things of note about the celebration.

Take the song “Happy Birthday To You,” for instance. I discovered that it’s protected by copyright (who knew?).

You can find more info about the song here.

You can also check out how birthday wishes are sung around the world by clicking here.

Then I found the following offbeat information about birthdays at Wikipedia:

• “All racehorses traditionally celebrate their birthday on (i.e. calculate their age in years from) 1 August in the Southern Hemisphere, and on 1 January in the Northern Hemisphere.”
• the “birthday paradox states that given a group of 23 (or more) randomly chosen people, the probability is more than 50% that at least two of them will have the same birthday.”
• “One’s golden birthday, also called a champagne birthday, is the day when the age one turns the same as the day in the month they were born. (e.g. someone turning 20 on January 20th celebrates their golden birthday).”

Also from Wikipedia, here’s a list of events on this day over history:

• “1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.”
• “1653 - English Interregnum: The Protectorate - Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.”
• “1773 - American Revolution: Boston Tea Party - Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.”
• “1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer [was born] (d. 1827)”
• “1893 - Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From The New World” was given its world premiere at Carnagie Hall.”
• “1917 - Sir Arthur C. Clarke, British writer,” was born

Finally, to find out what happened on this day (or any day) in Canada, check out Today’s Canadian Headline.

It all helps to put one little birthday in perspective!

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, History at 9:11 AM EST

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Every now and again a site comes along that helps put life in perspective. When you feel out of sorts because the computer ate your report or the fax is down yet again, check out The Worst Christmas Jobs in History.

The site breaks history down into historical time periods (e.g. Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Stuart) and gives examples of distasteful jobs from each of the eras.

Here are a couple:

• in Georgian times, kelp collectors were needed “to venture out and drag up the stinking slimy seaweed at low tides.” Why? “Collect 20 tons of the stuff and it can be boiled down to make one ton of soda, the magical chemical that will keep the linen tablecloths underneath all that Christmas fare whiter than white.”
• in Victorian times, you could have been the back end of a pantomime cow: “Nobody will actually see you as you’ll be constantly bent double, gripping the belt loops of the actor in the front end.”

I’m glad that I’ve never had to do these jobs, or one of the worst jobs in Roman times. “House servant” sounds relatively innocuous, but check out the job description.

Via Quiddity.

Posted by Amy as History, Holidays at 1:02 AM EST

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Today is Remembrance Day, a day that Canadians observe with the wearing of poppies, a two-minute silence, and, of course, recitations/publications of various writings, especially the Ode of Remembrance and In Flanders Fields.

Veterans Affairs Canada has a very good website to help in the observances: A Day of Remembrance.

The site answers the following questions:

• why remember?
• whom do we remember?
• what should we remember?
• how do we remember?

This site also has information on the history of Canadian involvement in wars (as well as its current peacekeeping work), interviews with veterans from the wars, audio files of songs popular during the First World War, Canadian Orders, Medals, and Decorations, a digitised book of remembrance, and much, much more.

Lest we forget . . .

Posted by Amy as History, Holidays at 7:28 AM EST

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If you’d like to find out how well you understand the nuances of an earlier era—specifically the Victorian time, check out The Victorian Period.

This site is an interactive one set up as a game. We are presented with various scenarios and asked to see if we know the answers to various questions.

Here’s the explanation from the site:

Are you a ‘civilized’ person, suited to the Victorian period?

To find out, select the role of a man or woman by clicking on one of the two portraits over the fireplace.

Then use the game board on the table to move from one situation to another.

You can visit five different places. In each, you will have to choose the appropriate type of clothing to wear, or determine which is the best way to react.

You win or lose points depending on your answers.

Although I was able to pick an appropriate ballgown, I didn’t know that men should not escort their wives in to dinner when the family is entertaining–that would make the meal seem too much like a family gathering.

This is a fun way to learn about a period that, in superficial matters at least, was so different from our own.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as Etiquette, History at 4:16 AM EST

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I’ve just found a website devoted to recording the different kinds of fashion for women in 16th century Germany. It’s called The Frazzled Frau: Documentation Site For German Women’s Garb.

The site is broken down by decade (beginning in 1490 and ending in 1600). You can also browse by artist renditions (e.g. Durer).

There are also some photos (with commentary) of a gown worn by Mary of Hapsburg.

For another, larger photo of this gown and more discussion of it, you can check out this site.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as History, Fashion at 2:20 AM EDT

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I’m a big fan of baroque music, and I’ve found a good site for it: the Baroque Music Page.

This site has a definition of baroque music, bios of many composers from the era (Bach, Corelli, and Handel, to name just a few), a discussion of “authentic” versus “traditional” performances, the difference between the Italian violin bow and the German violin bow—and much more.

Definitely worth a second look!

Posted by Amy as Music, History at 4:54 AM EDT

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In honour of the Rolling Stones visit to Regina that’s currently taking place, I thought I’d post a link that I found on Mick Jagger’s web site.

He has many interesting links, such as this one: The Empire That Was Russia: The Prokudin-Gorskii Photographic Record Recreated.

Here’s a brief background explaining how the collection came to be:

In the early 1900s [Sergei Mikhailovich] Prokudin-Gorskii formulated an ambitious plan for a photographic survey of the Russian Empire that won the support of Tsar Nicholas II. Between 1909-1912, and again in 1915, he completed surveys of eleven regions, traveling in a specially equipped railroad car provided by the Ministry of Transportation.

Prokudin-Gorskii left Russia in 1918, going first to Norway and England before settling in France. By then, the tsar and his family had been murdered and the empire that Prokudin-Gorskii so carefully documented had been destroyed.

There are photos in the following categories:

• architecture
• ethnic diversity
• transportation
• people at work

There’s lots of interesting browsing here.

Posted by Amy as Photography, History, Travel at 2:02 AM EDT

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Here’s an interesting site: The Most Fabulous Wedding Dresses Ever Created.

From browsing this site, I learned the following:

In the 18th and 19th centuries brides wore many colors on their wedding day. It was not until the 20th century that white became the traditional color of wedding gowns.

There are many photos here of wedding dresses; the dresses date back as far as 1759.

Via Quiddity.

Posted by Amy as History, Daily Life at 1:51 AM EDT

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Family historians everywhere can only hope for the kind of fabulous material that Chris Crombie donated to the Mills Library Archives.

After his mother’s death, Crombie cleaned out her basement and located a treasure trove of documents.

According to the Hamilton Spectator, Crombie found “page after page of farm notes, the day’s news, offbeat poems, horseshoe scores, visitors to the farm, literature reviews, profiles and more, all typed around hand-drawn illustrations.”

The documents span the time period 1760—2002.

There’s another link to the story in the McMaster Daily News.

Via Books, Inq.

Posted by Amy as History at 5:41 AM EDT

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If you’re a fan of medieval English music, you might like to check out the following display from England’s Bodleian Library: 15 Original Leaves of “The Worcester Fragments.”

The Worcester Fragments are pages of sheet music featuring vocal music that date back to the late 1200s and early 1300s.

You can read more about the Worcester Fragments here.

Via Mick Jagger’s Web Site.

Posted by Amy as Music, History at 2:45 AM EDT

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In the Middle Ages, anchoresses were women who, in the service of God, were walled into a small room on the outside of the local church. The anchoress would spend the rest of her life there.

The room (called an anchorhold) had no door—the anchoress never left. However, there were three windows:

• one where she could receive food and talk to her assistant
• one, facing into the church, where she could listen to the services and receive communion
• one where the people from the village could consult with her (anchoresses were thought to be very holy)

Today most people would shudder at this concept, but in the Middle Ages it was considered to be an admirable choice for women or men. Men who secluded themselves in this way were known as anchorites, but anchoresses were far more common.

Here are some links to more information about anchoresses:

• The Way of An Anchoress
• Wikipedia article on anchoresses
• Anchorites In Church and Cloister
• Anchoritic Spirituality In Medieval England

Posted by Amy as Religion & Spirituality, History at 4:45 AM EDT

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