NB! · Observations
Alexandr Radayev
Archive · Art · Monarchies · Mores
Catherine II Visits Potemkin at His House by Night
Catherine II visits Potemkin at his house by night. The Empress is dressed as a lady of the court, Potemkin as a monk. Flemish engraver Lambertus Antonius Claessens, after a drawing by Jacques Kuyper, 1800
NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies
The Duke of York, the future King George VI, on the switchback at the Wembley Exhibition in 1925
Science · Education · Society · People
Academician Sakharov in his Nobel lecture on progress and intellectual freedom
Progress is possible and safe only under the control of Reason. Only in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom is an effective system of education and of creative continuity between generations possible. Academician A.D. Sakharov, Nobel Lecture
Books · Society · Humour
Russian poet Andrey Voznesensky in 1977
The idiots should be cleared away twice over: in your country and in mine. Andrei Voznesensky, 1977
NB! · Architecture · Moscow
Moscow has an almost authentic Shakespearean Globe Theatre, with a three-tiered auditorium arranged around an octagonal stage
Moscow has an almost authentic Shakespearean Globe Theatre, with a three-tiered auditorium arranged around an octagonal stage. This is what the small stage of the School of Dramatic Art on Sretenka looks like
Observations · Society · Humour
Rumours that Justin Trudeau is Fidel Castro's son and his likeness to Pierre Trudeau
I recall how Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to deny that he is Fidel Castro's secret son. And "No, Fidel Castro is not my dad" sounded none too convincing against the backdrop not only of their incredible portrait likeness, but also of the biography of
NB! · London · Monarchies · Pop Culture · Humour
79-year-old Welsh musician forced to deny rumour that he is Meghan Markle in disguise, who slipped into the coronation incognito
A 79-year-old Welsh musician has had to deny a rumour that he is Meghan Markle in disguise, who slipped into the coronation incognito. But what a likeness!
NB! · Archive · Mores · Society
In 1671, rafts of hanged men were floated down the Volga as a lesson to sympathisers of Stepan Razin and supporters of the Cossack freedom; the dreadful sight, reported by travellers who saw the hanged drifting past, entered the world history of execution
Aristocracy · Archive · Books · Paris · People
First edition of Felix Yusupov's autobiography inscribed "For Jean Cocteau. From Felix Yusupov" found in the Library of the History of Paris
A first edition of Felix Yusupov's autobiography, inscribed "For Jean Cocteau. From Felix Yusupov", has been found in the Library of the History of Paris. Sent in by a reader
Archive · Architecture · Cinema · Observations · Paris
Security openings in the walls of the Royal Opera of Versailles at the 1961 Kennedy reception
Watching newsreel footage of the Kennedys' state visit to France in 1961, I noticed some curious openings in the wall of the Royal Opera of Versailles. What are these little squares, scattered across the different tiers of the auditorium, for? They are neither heating nor lighting vents. They are
NB!