Archive · In the Press · Science · Society
On 29 July 1955 American scientists announced their intention to launch the first artificial satellite of the Earth within the next two years. On 2 August, at the Sixth Congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Copenhagen, Academician Sedov promised that the USSR would launch an Earth satellite before the
NB! · Art · Paris · People
The Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos in the Red Salon of his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Chanaleilles, beneath the Pietà (c. 1581) by Doménikos Theotokópoulos, El Greco, one of the principal treasures of his own collection
Aristocracy · Cinema · People · Pop Culture
It turns out that Sir Christopher Lee, the actor who brought Saruman to life in Peter Jackson's film trilogy, was descended on his mother's side from the noble Italian house of Carandini. This allowed Christopher Lee to trace his lineage directly back to Charlemagne, Emperor of
Archive · Museums · Heritage
Yury Sadovnikov
Archive · Moscow
Photo by Boris Kosarev
Aristocracy · Cinema · People · Pop Culture
In 2007 Helen Mirren, born Elena Lydia Vasilyevna Mironova, visited Russia and found her cousins and other relatives. Her grandmother was Countess Lydia Andreyevna Kamenskaya, her grandfather Colonel Pyotr Vasilyevich Mironov. Helen's father arrived in Great Britain at the age of two. In Russia her grandfather had left
Archive · Faith · The East · Heritage
The Greatest Robbery of All Time. So wrote the German Benedictine chronicler Otto of St Blasien of the sack of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204. He describes how the sack of Constantinople sent enormous Greek riches, above all the sacred treasures of the Cathedral of Saint Sophia and countless
Faith · Observations · Society · Pop Culture · Humour
For Ethical and Moral Reasons, the Archdiocese of Liverpool Will No Longer Post on Twitter. TikTok, however, will do nicely. I would not say that the spiritual life of the people of Liverpool is any concern of mine, and the point is not the abstract ethical and moral grounds, or
Faith · Observations · Society
Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. Jeffrey Epstein wanted to penetrate the Vatican. To that end he began funding Catholic charities through his foundation, sent his people to events at the Vatican, and conspired with Bannon to "overthrow Francis" and "cleanse the Church&
Geography · Observations · Society · Nature
I Should Like to Express My Profound Gratitude to the Government of Kazakhstan: the North Aral Sea Is Being Reborn, and Its Volume Has Grown by an Impressive 42%! Not so long ago the Aral was the scene of one of the most destructive ecological catastrophes on the planet, but
Archive · Ethnography
A Belarusian Beauty in the Field. Komintern Collective Farm, Mogilev Region, 1950s
NB!