-
5. Medieval Murder Maps
By Stephanie Brown (@StephEmmaBrown) Upon finding a dead body in medieval England, you were required to raise the alarm to alert bystanders and the authorities. Once the coroner had been notified of a violent death, they summoned an investigative jury from the village or parish where the person had died and from the three neighbouring…
-
18. A Trip to Hong Kong’s Oldest Department Store
by Yolanda Lam With Christmas just around the corner, people are flocking into department stores to do some last-minute gift-shopping (myself included). As one traverses Central, one of the busiest urban districts in Hong Kong, one will find the first and oldest department store chains in the city – The Sincere Co. Ltd. Celebrating its…
-
19. To Make Milk Punch
By Tomas Brown Recipes for milk punch are intriguingly elusive; in one early nineteenth century receipt book they are found nestled among the ‘German method of Blackening Leather’, ‘Dr Fullers Vapour for a Quincy’ and ‘Fine Red Ink’.[1] They present themselves to us pervaded by logistic and cultural incongruities. Are they recreational or medicinal? Hot…
-
23. Perhaps the Most Famous New Year’s Gift in Science
By Floris Winckel It’s the season of gift-giving. Some of you might be cash-strapped or lost for ideas of what to give (or indeed both). In December 1610, Johannes Kepler, imperial mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor and one of the most renowned intellectual figures of early modern Europe, found himself in exactly this position.…
-
24. Birthday Candles for Good Luck – A Look at Georges de la Tour’s Chiaroscuro
by Tiffany Laloy At the height of Counter-Reformation France in the XVIIth century, Baroque art was in part used as a tool to promote the Catholic faith and to inspire and impress the masses.[1] And whilst the extravagance and opulence of some of these religious paintings did indeed arouse emotion and religious fervor, Georges de…
doinghistoryinpublic.org 