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Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia
Beautiful, charismatic and gentle, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the most influential Queen of Prussia. However, the “Queen of Hearts”, was much more than a pretty face. She helped shape her husband’s policy and lent a steadying presence during some of the worst times the country had faced. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was born March 10,1776 in Hanover. Her mother died when she was only six, and her new stepmother died when she was ten. This left her with a lifelong soft spot for orphans. Their grief stricken and newly widowed father sent Louise and her sister to be raised by their maternal grandmother. The girls were raised more humbly than most…
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Kaskaskia- Illinois’ first capital
This is the strange sad tale of a once booming town in Illinois that ended up a ghost town in Missouri. Legend says it was due to a curse, and whether or not you believe in curses, it certainly seemed like Kaskaskia was plagued with bad luck. The village of Kaskaskia was founded in 1703 where the river of the same name flowed into the Mississippi. The Native American tribe of the same name migrated south with French missionaries and fur traders. The French settlers married the Native American converts to Catholism and settled in to building a thriving town. By 1711, agriculture had become more important than the original…
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George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. I first encountered Lord Byron’s work “She Walks In Beauty” when I was an angsty teen. It quickly led me to his other works I would read and sigh over. The violent romance of it has an appeal that has never truly dimmed, and a note of melancholy that still wrings my much older than teenaged heart. Any one who wrote these words must have been a sensitive tormented soul,…
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Metal detectors and the Tudors
When I think of metal detectors, I think of the ubiquitous old man on the beach searching for lost change. I had never thought of them being gateways to larger treasures until I started getting interested in British History. Even so, I am always amazed at what can be found by a lone person and their trusty metal detector. Recently in Sinnington village, near Pickering in the North of England, Steve Whitehead made a discovery. He was poking about on a dig with his metal detector and found something tucked between two pieces of iron. He stuck it in his pocket and didn’t realize until later that he had a…
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How to avoid the heartbreak of halitosis and other dental disasters in the time of the Tudors
Taking care of our teeth has always been a priority even in Tudor times. However, for many people it was not an easy task and did not always work. There were not toothbrushes and certainly no fluoride enhanced toothpaste at the time, but cleaning your teeth was considered part of good daily grooming. A “tooth rag”, twigs or sponges were used to scrub teeth with ashes of burnt rosemary. At least one expert at the time, recommended ground pumice stone. Then the teeth must be rubbed by a mixture of Aqua Vitae, aqueous solution of ethanol, and Aqua Fortis, nitric acid, to strengthen them. After dinner, the mouth must be…
