June 30th, 2017

In the Roman calendar, March was the first month of the year. This seems to have change sometimes in the 2nd century BC, at which point it became the third month, where it remains to this day. Some Indian cultures still consider the New Year to fall in spring.

Bonus:

For this reason, the monumental set of 12 tapestries Les Chasses de Maximilien, in which each work depicts a month, begins in March.

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June 29th, 2017

The building of the pyramids conjures images of slaves dying of exhaustion after working endlessly under the fierce sun. Though the conditions were no doubt difficult, one may be surprised by a few details of the Egyptian working life. Slaves didn't built the pyramids. Rather, peasants did when they could not work on their crops due to flooding. As well, they enjoyed at least some basic worker rights. Workers were given rations, and (at least as early as 1170 BC) there were reports of strikes if rations were not provided. Instead of being met with violence, a vizier would be sent to address the problem, and sometimes the project head would be punished.

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June 28th, 2017

In 2011 a music project was formed consisting of five well known artists from vastly different genres. They were Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, and Dave Stewart from the UK, along with reggae icon Damian Marley (youngest son of Bob Marley), as well as Indian composer A. R. Rahman (renowned in India for being one of the nation's most prolific composers). The group were called SuperHeavy, and their songs fuse elements of British rock, Jamaican Reggae, and Indian classicism.

Bonus:

L'Office québécois pour la langue française (The Quebec Office for the French Language) has proposed costumade as a French substitute for the English composite word cosplay (costume play).

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June 27th, 2017

In 1991, Yugoslavia was beginning to break apart, with Croatia and Slovenia gaining independence. In 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina began contemplating also seeking independence. This move was supported by ethnic Bosniaks and Croats, but decried by Serbs. Tensions began to rise, and on March 18$^{th}$ a treaty was signed by the leaders of all three sides which would see the country divided into cantons. However, 10 days later the Serbian representative withdrew his signature. He did so after a meeting with US diplomat Warren Zimmermann, in which the latter encouraged the former that the US would fully support a non-divided Bosnia and Herzegovina. When the Bosniaks and Croats - having held a referendum in February - declared independence regardless of the failure of the treaty, the Serbs mobilized their forces. For the next four years the Bosnian War raged, in which Serbs attempted to secure the country, and ethnically cleansed the other two ethnic groups. In April 1993, the UN declared the region of Srebrenica a safe zone for Muslim Bosniaks, and the Netherlands sent a battalion to protect it. However, the battalion was poorly armed, and faced indifference from the Dutch parliament. On June 11$^{th}$ Serbian military pressure forced the Dutch battalion to surrender Srebrenica. The leader of the Serbian troops, Ratko Mladić, evacuated the Bosniak women and girls, and promised to do the same for the males. Instead his troops took over 8000 men and boys into the surrounding mountains and murdered them, in what became known as the Srebrenica Massacre. Mladić, named the 'Butcher of Bosnia', went into hiding, but was captured in 2011 and will face life in prison. Today, a UN court concluded that the Netherlands were partly responsible for the genocide, and they will be responsible for paying money to relatives of the victims.

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June 26th, 2017

Today is Eid al-Fitr in India, however other parts of the world the festival was celebrated yesterday. The Islamic Calendar is lunar, meaning the dates of festivals depend on the moon cycles. Although there are now modern ways of knowing exactly what the moon cycle will be at a certain point on earth, a more traditional approach is favoured: simply looking up into the sky. Clouds, or geographic position, can therefore push the date of a festival.

Bonus:

The Islamic Calendar is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian Calendar, and because of this the Islamic year (1438) is slowly catching up with the Gregorian year (2017). For half of the year 20,875 the year will be the same in both calendars, after which point the Islamic Calendar will surpass the Gregorian.

Bonus 2:

In Japan, poking someone's anus through their pants is (apparently) considered a lighthearted prank. The act is called カンチョー (Kancho).

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June 25th, 2017

Rewilding defines an effort to reintroduce, or encourage the growth of, historic populations of wild animals. One organization aims specifically at rewilding Europe, and has started to see success with European Bison.

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June 24th, 2017

Koko the gorilla has amazed the world over the past 5 decades with her ability to communicated basic ideas through sign language. Over the years she has captured many hearts by her love for kittens, strikingly human emotions, and celebrity friendships. There remains some debate about the exact depth of her language abilities. Her trainer claims she has a vocabulary of roughly 2000 words, though she does not use grammar nor syntax. Some are much more skeptical, and point to the 'Clever Hans' effect, in which a trainer gives subtle cues to the animal without being aware they are doing so. Through this the animal learns how to respond not through an understanding of what is being asked, but what seems to generate said cues.

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June 23rd, 2017

What games were kids playing in the Middle Ages? Illustrations dating from the period can give us some answers. One famous diptych depicts French children playing La Grenouille (The Frog). Examples of this game have also appeared in artwork from other countries. A child would sit cross legged on the ground (the frog), and other kids would slap, hit, or hair-pull this sitting child. If the sitting child was able to grab the wrist of one of the attackers, that one would become the frog. Somewhat of a violent variation on 'monkey in the middle' that would most likely not be allowed in today's schoolyards. A more challenging version called hautes coquilles (hot cockles) added the additional constraint that the sitting child should had his head covered, and must identify the perpetrator he grabbed by name in order to be freed from the role of the frog.

Bonus:

Georgia (the country) planned a surprise reception for their 6 millionth tourist in 2016. The welcome included a full tour of the country and dinner with the president.

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June 22nd, 2017

If you're a tourist in Paris, your sights are probably set on the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Montmartre, and a quaint brasserie by the Seine to cap it all off. For architects visiting the city, another attraction most likely beckons. Villa Savoye is a house built in the village of Poissy, west of Paris, in 1932 by architect Le Corbusier. Although not especially striking today, it was one of the first steps into Modern Architecture, which would go on to dominate cityscapes after the Second World War. Speaking of which, Villa Savoye nearly didn't survive the war, during which it was occupied by the Germans, and then the Americans. Afterwards it was nearly torn down to make room for a school, but the architecture community's cries were heard. It was restored from 1985 - 1997, and today it is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Bonus:

Villa Sovoye was built with Le Corbusier's 'Five Points of Architecture' in mind:

1. Concrete columns (called 'pilotis') in place of supporting walls
2. Freely designing of the ground plan, making use of the lack of supporting walls
3. Freely design of the façade, independant of the building's structural function
4. Horizontal windows, to light all rooms equally
5. Roof gardens, to protect the roof and provide a relaxing space of the tenants

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June 21st, 2017

While the Second World War was raging in Europe, another enormous humanitarian crisis was unfolding in India. The Bengal famine of 1943 took the lives of an estimated 2.1 million people, though the exact number is murky. Even more nebulous is the cause of the famine. The complexity of the tragedy have contributed to many theories ranging from poor bookkeeping, to state-level corruption, to an outbreak of brown spot disease amongst rice crops, to a lack of cooperation between various grain markets, and so on. A large question that has persisted to date is how much blame should fall on the British - as they were in charge of India at the time of the famine. Large quantities of food were being used to feed British troops fighting the war, and it is clear there was much disregard for the Indian people's well-being in London's Parliament. Winston Churchill is even quoted as saying ''I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine is their own fault for breeding like rabbits.'' As incriminating as this quote would be, it's never this black and white. Churchill is quoted as saying the first part through the memoirs of a contemporary, Leo Amery. As for the second part, it was also recorded by Amery, however as a rough paraphrase before asking for advice on how to deal with the famine, showing that Churchill was at least somewhat concerned for Indians. Amery himself was for Indian independence, spoke fluent Hindi, and lamented that ''Churchill knew as much of the Indian problem as George III knew of the American colonies''. In sum, where, when, and to what degree the disconnect between the British and the Indians lead to the tragedies in Bengal remains elusive, however seeking to prove that the players involved were entirely guilty or innocent is most likely narrow-sighted. Nonetheless, for now Churchill is akin to Hitler in the eyes of Indians.

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June 20th, 2017

Amongst a group of French siblings, the firstborn child is called the ainé(e), and the youngest the benjamin(e). There is also a name for the second child: cadet(te). In a family of more than three children, the word puîné(e) can also prove useful: it refers to the child born after the one mentioned previously (and comes from puis né, meaning 'then born').

Bonus:

Hebocon is a robotics battle tournament held in Japan, however it is intended for people who know nothing about robotics. Robotic warriors include a toy car on a ramp, a spinning barbie doll, and one that simply waves an instant noodle spice pack.

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June 19th, 2017

Each year, the Detroit Autorama showcases some of the most stunning customized vehicles. The venue has been held since 1953, and each year participants hope to land the coveted 'Ridler Award', for Best in Show. The award, named after one of the Autorama's early promoters, has been awarded to some truly spectacular cars. Of these, perhaps none have stood out more than the Deora, which took the award in 1967. Built out of a 1965 Dodge A100, the Deora was imagined as a pick-up from the future. Looking at it, the most striking sight is the lack of any doors. This is because one must enter from the front, which swivels open. If there was any doubt that the Deora would be immortalized amongst car-lovers, this was dispelled when Hot Wheels created a toy model in 1968 as part of their initial lineup.

Bonus:

From around 1350 to 1700 English underwent what is now called the Great Vowel Shift, in which all of its long vowels changed their pronunciations.

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June 18th, 2017

La Rochelle is a city on the western coast of France. Rochelle is a diminutive form of 'roche' (rock), and hence the meaning is 'little rock'. The name became popular in the US largely due to the fame of French actress Rochelle Hudson, who made her name in US cinema. La Rochelle was one of the largest cities in the Protestant region of France, and as such suffered heavily during the Huguenot Wars, in which Protestants were massacred. Many French from the region fled to Québec (New France at the time) to escape persecution. This history has forged a strong friendship between La Rochelle and Québec: The former is sometimes called 'Port Canadien', and the latter contains some cities paying tribute in their name.

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June 17th, 2017

In big cities in China, bars often offer free alcohol to foreigners to coax them into coming into their establishment. Bars with white people are seen as upper class, and tend to attract more local clients. So how can they afford to give away free alcohol? It's all fake, and comprises various cheap (and sometimes dangerous) inebriating substitutes mixed together and served in fancy looking bottles.

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June 16th, 2017

Neuschwanstein Castle, in Southern Germany, is a sight fit for a fairy tale. Indeed, it allegedly inspired the Disney Castle. On the other hand, the story of the man behind the castle was anything but a fairy tale. Born in 1845, Ludwig II ascended to the throne at 18, upon the death of his father. He was well liked at first, though eyebrows began to be raised when he was still unmarried into his mid 20s. It is now know that Ludwig was likely a homosexual, a quality that caused him much personal torment. Ludwig hoped that he would have a heir though his younger brother Otto, yet these aspirations were dashed when Otto suffered a mental breakdown after the Franco-Prussian war. Eventually Otto's condition was so poor that he was considered insane, and had to be held in isolation (though his older brother would visit him some nights). As time passed, Ludwig become increasingly eccentric, and soon began commissioning huge construction projects. These included Neuschwanstein, Linderhoff, and a small-scale replica of the French Château de Versailles built on an island (Herrenchiemsee, which was never completed). Although he never took state funds, these projects personally bankrupted him, and he was forced to seek large loans from around Europe, refusing anyone who implored him to stop. On the evening of June 1886, while walking near Berg Castle, Ludwig was killed under mysterious circumstances, and his body found floating in a nearby lake. The cause of death was listed as drowning, and although an assassination seems very likely, the culprit or culprits were never caught. Ludwig's castles were seen as absurd excess at the time, but now they have paid for themselves many times over, drawing huge amounts of tourist money each year, especially Neuschwanstein. Ludwig once said ``I wish to remain an eternal enigma to myself and to others''. In that, he has likely succeeded. 

Bonus 1:

In his lifetime, Ludwig had a huge fascination with composer Richard Wagner. He funded his projects, attended his operas, and assured his acclaim. Wagner's name would not be as revered as it is today had it not been for Ludwig.

Bonus 2:

After his death, Ludwig was hypothetically succeeded by his brother Otto, who was still alive. However, Ludwig's uncle Luitpold acted as Regent, and was eventually succeeded by his son Ludwig III. The Bavarian Monarchy ended in 1918, with the First World War, as did many others in the coming decades. The past century have seen the number of European Monarchies go from 21 to 11.

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June 15th, 2017

Snakes and Ladders is an ancient game. It was invented in India during the 13$^{th}$ century, and was originally called मोक्षपातम् (mokshapaatam), in which मोक्ष (moksha) refers to the Hindu concept of 'breaking' from the cycle of reincarnation. The ladders and snakes were meant to represent good and bad deeds respectively. As one went through life it was believed that good deed would bring them closer to exiting the reincarnation cycle to achieve nirvana, while bad deeds would keep them from this.

Bonus:

A photo album chronicles the difficult life of Russian 'tuskers' - individuals who comb Siberia for mammoth tusks that can be sold to China as 'ethical ivory'.

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June 14th, 2017

Otto Warmbier was freed from North Korea yesterday after spending nearly 17 months in captivity. The American student was accused of stealing a poster while visiting Pyongyang in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour. Upon his release it was discovered that he was in a coma, and had been for a over year. This prompted some to suspect his release had been a medical evacuation. However, perhaps more than coincidentally, Warmbier's release took place only hours after another American visited North Korea - an American known for his close ties with leader Kim Jong Un. So who is this benevolent diplomat? Retired NBA forward Dennis Rodman. Rodman first visited North Korea in 2013 to host basketball exhibitions, and he and his travel companions became the first Americans to meet Kim Jong Un. Since then he has revisited the reclusive regime four times, and become a close friend of Kim. This bizarre turn of events has made Dennis Rodman the only direct diplomatic liaison between the United States and North Korea.

Bonus:

Nearly all colour printers include a subtle yellow dot pattern on each page printed. These dots can be decoded to give information on where and when the sheet of paper was printed. This recently lead to the arrest of whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner, when leaked documents were traced back to her. Encoding secret information into pictures is known as steganography.

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June 13th, 2017

In French, a vendeur de cravates au parapluie (seller of umbrella ties) is an expression used to refer to a peddler, or hawker. The image meant to be conjured is a merchant who pops open an umbrella lined with ties - a sort of makeshift street stall.

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June 12th, 2017

Iceland has a population of just over three hundred thousand. As such, accidental inbreeding could theoretically happen. An app prevents this risk, letting potential couples know if they are too closely related. However, this isn't quite the full story. The app's main purpose is not to prevent awkward family reunions, but to explore Iceland's wealth of publicly accessible genealogical and demographic information. The notorious anti-hanky-panky feature was most likely a cheeky afterthought, as most Icelanders will tell you.

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June 11th, 2017

Walk past Paris' stunning Gard du Nord and it's easy to admire the grandeur of the architecture. A little less subtle is that the statues are personifications of the cities serviced by the station. At the top, in the middle, you will find majestic Paris, flanked by the French Imperial Eagle and a shield bearing the Paris Coat of Arms. She also holds what appears to be a bouquet. To her left and right are the principle international destinations: London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Berlin, Vienna, Warsaw, and Cologne - all realized by famous 19$^{th}$ century sculptors. Lower down are 14 smaller statues, representing destinations within France. Gare du Nord's architecture is not the only exceptional aspect of the station; it is also the busiest station in Europe, with 214 million passengers annually.

Bonus:

A labourer tasked with building navigable routes (generally roads, canals, or railways) is traditionally called a navvy.

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June 10th, 2017

An andouillette is a sausage filled with...well...lots of things. They are usually made using pork intestines, among other animal odds and ends, and are generally a 'you-either-love-it-or-hate-it' item. Sometimes on menus the acronym AAAAA accompanies the word andouillette. This stands for the Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillettes Authentiques. The group of andouillette lovers task themselves with criss-crossing France and certifying top-quality contenders.

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June 9th, 2017

A polyptych is a multi-panel painting. The prefix varies, depending on the number of panels: diptych, triptych, quadriptich, etc. Two famous examples of triptychs are 'Three Figures in a Room' by Francis Bacon, and 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' by Hieronymous Bosch. In addition to artwork, diptychs (two panel artworks) served an addition purpose: they were the notebooks of antiquity. The two panels would be connected by a hinge, and inside each panel a layer of wax would be applied. Writing could be etched into the wax, and then when necessary the wax could be heated to remove the etchings and provide a clean slate - effectively an early Etch-A-Sketch. One of the most famous diptychs is the Barberini Ivory, which depicts an unknown figure on horseback. Though it was most likely never intended to be used for writing, on account of its cumbersome weight, the details of the ivory carvings nonetheless make this piece exceptional.

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June 8th, 2017

The world's largest albino family lives in India, and consists of 10 members across three generations. In the US and Europe, albinism rates are around 1 in 20,000, yet in some regions of Africa they can be as high as 1 in 1000. This variation in regional prominence is not well understood. In some parts of South-East Africa, albinos are killed for their bones, which are believed to have magical properties.

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June 7th, 2017

A Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) is an incredibly powerful particle jet that originates in unimaginably violent astrophysical phenomena: supernovae or neutron-star collisions. These bursts, should they happen to be aimed at earth, could cause mass extinction. This may have already happened long before humans were around. Although this may sound grim, we are quite lucky that the Universe is such that GRBs are not all that frequent. In fact, a small adjustment in a fundamental parameter known as the Cosmological Constant would have meant many more GRB-emitting supernovae, and a much lower chance of us avoiding annihilation.

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June 6th, 2017

As odd as it may sound, there is a country named after a city in another country. Venezuela was originally Italian for 'Little Venice', after explorers found that stilt houses in the former reminded them of the latter. In fact, there is a second case. Madagascar was an attempt at transliterating Mogadishu, where Marco Polo erroneously thought he had docked. Wikipedia maintains a List of Country Name Etymologies for those who want to dig deeper.

Bonus:

Living rooms were once called 'Withdrawing Rooms', in that they offered a place to 'withdraw' for privacy. The expression has been lost in most English countries, but 'Drawing Room' is still used in India and Pakistan - a relic from colonial times.

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June 5th, 2017

The devil goes by many names. In the Qu'ran, the name of Satan is إِبْلِيسَ (Iblees), the origins of which are unknown. In English, Satan comes from the Hebrew שָׂטָן (Shatan) - a name found in many other modern languages. What about Beelzebub? That also came from Hebrew, the original title being בעל זבוב (Ba'al Zabub), which meant 'Lord of the Flies'. It's no coincidence that the 1954 William Golding novel bears the same name. The allegory of the devil aptly summarised the primal madness that descends upon the book's characters.

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June 4th, 2017

Tomorrow is a holiday in France, specifically Pentecost. The date is set as fifty days after Easter, hence the name (Πεντηκοστή is Greek for fiftieth). It is said that on this date, 10 days after Jesus ascended to Heaven, the Holy Spirit descended to impact 'wit and wisdom' on the Apostles. In the UK, Pentecost is instead called 'Whitsunday', possibly in reference to the aforementioned wit.

Bonus:

In June 2017, Captain Cook discovered a group of Islands he named the Whitsunday Islands, thinking the date to be Whitsunday. However, Cook had sailed across the not-yet-established International Date Line, meaning the discovery, in fact, fell on a Monday.

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June 3rd, 2017

Angkor Wat is a stunning temple ground located in Cambodia, which any traveller should take the time to see. However, to get in isn't cheap: a 1 day visitor pass is 40USD. Yet this isn't the most expensive UNESCO site. A 1 day visit to Petra, Jordan is either 71 or 127USD (depending on whether or not you stay in the country). This makes it more expensive than Disney World. But if you're going to include the money it takes to get to the site, there are many that still blow Petra out of the water. Even worse is that some UNESCO sites, like Cocos Island in Costa Rica and Surtsey in Iceland, have rules explicitly forbidding tourism...

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June 2nd, 2017

On Indian coins you will find the words सत्यमेव जयते (satyamev jayate), which is Sanskrit for 'Truth Alone Triumphs'. The motto dates back to the 2nd Millennium BC, specifically the ancient Vedic text अथर्ववेद (Atharvaved).

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June 1st, 2017

Fair cake-cutting (or, less imaginatively, 'fair division') is a branch of mathematics that deals with resources allocation. The aim is to divide resources such that all parties involved feel that they have received a 'fair share'. Various methods have been proposed to deal with this task. The simplest is the 'Divider-Chooser' method, in which one person divides the resources into two parts of equal value, and then the other person chooses. For more than two parties, the procedure becomes more complex. Some schemes prove effective in dividing up estates, and others work well for splitting territory. Fair cake-cutting has even been use to resolve conflict in the Middle East. There is still much work being carried out on designing a computer algorithm to efficiently generate optimal cake-cutting scenarios. 

Bonus:

Speaking of tricky math problems, David Hilbert introduced a list of 23 problems at a conference of Paris in 1900. At the time, none of them were solved, and they were all considered crucial stepping stones in the progression of mathematics. At present, 9 have been definitively solved, another 9 have been 'partially solved', and an additional 2 have been deemed unsolvable on account of ambiguity in their phrasing. That leaves three unsolved.

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May 31st, 2017

The Russians have an salutation for when somebody gets out of the shower or a bath: "С легким паром!", which means "Congratulations on a light steam!". The expression can also be used to tease somebody who has just been caught in the rain, or spilled a drink.

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May 30th, 2017

François Pérusse is a Quebec comedian who is known for his short two minute radio sketches, called '2 minutes du peuple'. The project has been produced since 1990.

Bonus:

10 years of stars moving around an invisible black hole are summarised in this gif.

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May 29th, 2017

Yemen is currently undergoing an enormous humanitarian crisis, with 7 million people on the brink of starvation.

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May 28th, 2017

In the Islamic faith, Muhammed is considered to have been a prophet sent by God to teach the ways of a righteous life. Religion aside, Muhammed's personal life was a turbulent one. Born around 570 BC, his father died before he was born, and his mother when he was around 6. After this he moved between foster parents, eventually working as a merchant in his teens. At around 25 he was wed to a 40 year old widow named Khadija. Their marriage lasted 25 years, and although it was a happy one, they were saddened by the death of five of their six children (their two sons in childhood, and their three daughters as young adults). After Khadija's death in 619, Muhammed would go on to marry 10 other women. He also bore one other son, who also died in infancy. Muhammed's 10 later marriages were mainly politically motivated - forging inter-tribal relationships or agreeing to take widows into his care, both contractually assured through marriage. These 10 marriages were also to women much younger than Muhammed. One bride in specific, Aisha, was 6 at the time of marriage (Muhammed would have been roughly 52). They consummated the marriage when she was 9. Muhammed passed away on the 8$^{th}$ of June, 632.

Bonus:

After Muhammed's death disagreement erupted over who should succeed him in leading the Muslim world. As none of Muhammed's three sons had survived to adulthood, the logical successor was not clear. The father of Aisha, Abu-Bakr, who had been especially close with Muhammed, was nominated to be the first caliph (successor of Muhammed). This became a popular choice. However, Muhammed had left one living offspring: Fatimah. In life, Muhammed had also held Fatimah's husband, Ali, in high esteem. Ali was also Muhammed's cousin, and many insisted he should be the first caliph. To bolster this claim, it was said Muhammed had appointed Ali as his successor right before his death. This disagreement caused a major schism amongst Muslims, and resulted in the two branches of Islam that are still prevalent today: Sunni Islam, that consider Abu-Bakr the rightful successor; and Shia Islam, that supports Ali's claim.

Bonus 2:

Abu-Bakr was Muhammed's Father-in-Law through his daughter Aisha. However, because of Aisha and Muhammed's large age difference (roughly 46 years), Abu-Bakr was in fact approximately two years younger than his Son-in-Law.

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