The Web site of Alex S. Jones, community catalyst, user advocate, Web technologist, barbecue acolyte & information junkie

Category Archives History

Orwell’s Diaries

George Orwell\'s Diary Entry from September 3rd, 1939. Original image from The Orwell Prize (http://www.theorwellprize.co.uk)

George Orwell’s Diary Entry from September 3rd, 1939. Image from George Orwell Archive, UCL

Starting August 9th, the Orwell Prize will serialize George Orwell’s diary, publishing each entry 70 years to the day after it was originally written. The topics are likely…

A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone by Ismael Beah at Amazon.com Growing up in the safe confines of the middle-class womb here in the U.S., it is easy to lose sight of the larger world around me. While I count myself a student of history and a constant consumer of information,…

Cosquer Cave

Cosquer Cave “is the only painted cave in the world with an entrance below present-day sea level where [prehistoric] cave art has been preserved”.

Stalin’s Super-Warriors

Apparently, back in the mid 1920s, Josef Stalin “ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes”.

History kicks ass…

Revelation of Oldest Known Maya Mural

Xeni Jardin, over at BoingBoing posted an interesting note about a National Geographic article: Oldest Known Maya Mural, Tomb Reveal Story of Ancient King. The article explains that the mural, depicting a “stunning story of creation”, dates to 100 B.C., which utterly…