Mysterious Anna, Empress of Rome

She was left out of most historical accounts and had the misfortune of ending up on the losing side twice over. But she was one of the few women in history (maybe even the only one) to be an Empress Consort twice. The historical traces of her are rare, and Wikipedia has her story mostly wrong in any language I am able to read. We talk of Princess Anna of Byzantium, Empress of Rome.

Vienne

How a House Became a Home in Georgian London

What is it that turns a house into a home? And if you don’t have a house, do you still have a home? And where is that? In her book, these questions were answered time subjectively by historian Amanda Vickery and illustrated together with some persistent medieval ideas that hamper our life still today.

Surviving Shipwreck Three Times

People think they are lucky when surviving ship wreck. What to say about Violet Jessop who survived no less than three major disasters on sea? Would you have gone back onto a ship after surviving the sinking of the RMS Titanic? Would you have gone onto the RMS Titanic in the first place after being in the collision of the RMS Olympic? And would your ship of choice have been the HMHS Britannic? Violet Jessop did all that.

Violet Jessop

Stirling Castle With Music in The Ceiling

Stirling Castle once was a Royal residence of the kings of Scotland. Being situated near the border to England, the castle was of strategic importance for centuries before it became the seat of kings. When the Scots started to convert it into a Royal residence, the builders included a curious code into the ceiling of the king’s bedchamber. The code was cracked to reveal the music hidden within.

Stirling Castle ceiling

Galileo Galilei: Master of Science and Self-Promotion

Galileo’s career started in a monastery in Florence; but his father saw a doctor in him. Defying his father, he studied mathematics instead of medicine. He made his first invention at 22. At 25, he was lecturing at the University of Pisa and building high class musical instruments. He had to move to Padova after being mobbed out from Pisa.