When did the fashion of castles die out? Some might say that castles stopped being built after the introduction of gunpowder and cannons to Europe, where the powerful iron cannonballs could smash through even the thickest stone castle wall. Others might argue that it wasn’t until the Victorians or later that castles stopped being built, though not as defensive buildings but rather for luxury and as a social statement. Certainly, by even the Napoleonic Wars, castles had been r

Living in a post-apocalypse isn’t particularly easy or fun at the best of times, let alone a nuclear apocalypse. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t try and enjoy some down time between raider attacks or super mutant encounters to visit a pre-war museum or two! There’s plenty to visit and it’s fun for everyone, so tune your Pip-Boy to your favourite radio station (I’m quite fond of GNR myself), stock up on Stimpaks and RadAways and let’s cross the nuclear wasteland and

History is unfair, and researching dead people for Bath Abbey (see part one of this article for more information) has proven that. As part of an exhibition on Jane Austen in Bath Abbey, I researched a couple - William and Dorothy Tudor (the reasoning was that William lived next door to the Austens for 3 whole months (we think) - a very solid link). I began by researching William, and quickly found a wealth of information. William had a successful career as an army surgeon dur

Napoleon III was elected as president of France, but later named himself emperor in 1852. Not long after this, he commissioned Empress Eugénie’s crown in 1855 for the Paris Universal Exposition. Eight golden eagles (modeled after the Eagle Standard of the French), 1,354 diamonds, and 56 emeralds decorate the crown. Out of the 1,354 diamonds on the crown, 102 of the diamonds were taken from the ‘Diamonds of the Crown of France’, as it was common to repurpose the gems from fo

Empress Eugenie's crown, by Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier © RMN, Musée du Louvre / Stéphane Maréchalle I have a thousand voices in my head at all times. 1,410 to be exact. Not including myself, of course. We are all separate, but all one. I don’t really know how to explain how it works; it just does. Sometimes it gets exhausting, but most of the time, we all live in harmony. We’ve all been together for years. The cacophony of 1,354 Diamonds and 56 Emeralds was really difficult

The Mask of Malinaltepec is a one-of-a-kind object, discovered by Mexican archaeologist Porfirio Aguirre on the 20th of August, 1921. 105 years later, its origins are still being debated, despite being found in Malinaltepec, Guerrero state, inside a ceramic pot covered by a funerary mound. Scholars believe it was created by the Teotihuacan culture. After that, it was carried on foot all the way to Mexico City to avoid any damage (Museo Nacional de Antropolgía ,n.d). Since th