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.

-E

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).

-E

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.

-E

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

-E

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.

-E