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  • Daily History Picture: Vietnam Orphans June 22, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Vietnam Orphans

    Vietnam babies being flown to the US…

    Udder Snakes June 21, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary, Modern
    Udder Snakes

    One of the most curious legends, one that this blogger cannot even begin to account for, is the idea that some animals and particularly snakes and reptiles like to take milk directly from a cow’s udder. Here is a selection of some of these legends. It goes without saying that there is no truth in […]

    Daily History Picture: Listen to the Animal Bishop June 21, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Listen to the Animal Bishop

    Would you trust the bishop? Christian beware.

    Emperor Stars in Anti-Colonial Play June 20, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary
    Emperor Stars in Anti-Colonial Play

    Puyu (obit 1967) has gone down in history as the last Chinese emperor, not including of course Mao and his successors, and what a life he had. Brought up in the Forbidden Palace he was perhaps the most spoilt boy in the world: having servants beaten for a whim; this perhaps made up for the […]

    Daily History Picture: Water Jousting June 19, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Water Jousting

    1930s? Looks like fun

    You Have Only Your Chains to Lose (Unless You Are African) June 19, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    You Have Only Your Chains to Lose (Unless You Are African)

    Karl Marx was a prolific author. The complete works of Marx and (his companion) Engels run to an almost unbelievable fifty volumes (including letters). In these volumes Marx said many clever things, some wise things, a good deal of stupid things, and some utterly, utterly bonkers things. Beach has recently been enjoying a selection of […]

    Daily History Picture: Weighing the soul June 18, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Weighing the soul

    Going down…

    Irish Sheep Boy June 18, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    Irish Sheep Boy

    Many years ago Beach ran a post on an Irish cow man, which seemed to have come out of a ‘Celtic’ wonder tale. What though about the Irish sheep boy, reported by the Dutch doctor Nicholas Tulp (pictured) (obit 1674)? The sheep boy had somehow ended up in Amsterdam. Note that in what follows Beach […]

    Daily History Picture: Headless Duel June 17, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Headless Duel

    Where to even begin…

    Enemy Gives Medal for Ship Sinking June 17, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary
    Enemy Gives Medal for Ship Sinking

    There are very occasional instances of enemy officials reporting on the gallantry and heroism of opposite numbers. Captain Roope of the HMS Glowworm was, for example, given his Victoria cross in part because of the testimony of a German captain, Heye, whose ship had been rammed by Roope in 1940. However, there is one instance […]

    The Longest Snake in the World June 16, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary, Modern
    The Longest Snake in the World

    British newspapers gave a couple of acres of space between 1800 and 2000 to ‘monster snakes’ discovered in this or that corner of the Green & Pleasant land. Typically a vicar in Devon had found an adder that measured two and a half feet long… However, leaving the shores of Britain behind there were better […]

    Daily History Picture: Whisky About to Be Destroyed June 16, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Whisky About to Be Destroyed

    Prohibition era

    Bastard Names June 15, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    Bastard Names

    One of the least attractive aspects of organized morality is the scapegoating of children for the sins of their parents. Those who grew up with the Bible will remember the dread words: ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he […]

    Daily History Picture: Winged Fairies June 15, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Winged Fairies

    Early 19 cent. First Winged fairies in a book?

    Seduction by Hashish June 14, 2015

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Medieval
    Seduction by Hashish

    Modern proponents of the legalization of marijuana point out that other societies, particularly Arab society, never had any problems with cannabis and its derivatives. Beach, rather innocently believed the same thing, until he read recently about the fear of hashish in the medieval Arab world in a fine chapter by Franz Rosenthal in his Man […]