Monthly Archives: October 2013
Historical Oddities: The Tulip Bubble
The Netherlands is famous for its tulip fields, but back in the 1600s the tulip flower was only a recent introduction into European gardens from the Ottoman Empire. This was during the golden age of Dutch trade dominance, and the … Continue reading
Historical Oddities: Hasekura Tsunenaga
During the Age of Sail, many European merchants went on long expeditions to the East Indies to establish trade and bring back the lucrative spices that would make them rich. This resulted in a large expansion and creation of trade … Continue reading
Historical Oddities: The Telephone Newspaper
The radio revolutionized communication in the early 20th century, as for the first time in history there could be immediate, widespread distribution of entertainment and news into individual homes around the world. With the first commercial radio broadcast in 1920, … Continue reading
Historical Immersion in the Assassin’s Creed Series
There has long been a debate over the treatment of video games as a literary and narrative medium. One of the more innovative methods of storytelling that video games can provide over other media is the direct interactivity of the … Continue reading
Historical Oddities: Kalmykia, Russia’s Buddhist Republic
Buddhism is commonly seen as an eastern religion, mostly prevalent in Asia and without much grounding in Europe. However, there is one region in Europe that is majority Buddhist and has been for centuries. This is the Russian federal subject … Continue reading
Historical Oddities: The State of Jefferson
There have been many attempts throughout the history of the United States to carve new states out of preexisting ones. However, few get very far off the ground or gain significant public support. The only successful attempts to create new … Continue reading
Historical Oddities: Incitatus, the Horse Caligula Made Senator
Many Roman Emperors are now known for the more eccentric moments of their reigns than their actions as rulers. Caligula, consul and Emperor of Rome from 37 to 41 AD, is probably one of the more well known, and the … Continue reading
Historical Oddities: The White Rajahs
Today the island of Borneo is divided between Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, but before the arrival of European traders and up until the 19th century was controlled by various native states. The most powerful of these was the Sultanate of … Continue reading
The Time Stream 