Archaeology · Geography · Science

Devon, the Kingdom of Dumnonia and the Name of the Devonian Period

Dorset borders another "geological" county of England: Devon, which gave its name to the fourth geological period of the Palaeozoic (419-358 million years ago). Rocks of the eponymous period are extremely widespread on Devonian soil. The county itself took its name from an ancient realm that occupied

NB! · Geography · Palaeontology · Nature

The Jurassic Coast of Dorset, Formed 185 Million Years Ago

The Jurassic Coast of Dorset, formed 185 million years ago. Numerous fossilised trees of the Jurassic period and a complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur have been found here.

Old photograph of a large two-handled porphyry vase on an octagonal base, captioned as in the National Museum in Naples.

NB! · Geography · Art

Porphyry vase and the porphyry deposit that belonged to Cleopatra

A vase of porphyry, the volcanic rock that turns red when polished. The material came into fashion from the 1st century BC. The only deposit of porphyry known at the dawn of the Era belonged to Cleopatra

NB! · Geography · Society

Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the surrender of Port Arthur, which the Russian army heroically held for 329 days

Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the surrender of Port Arthur, which the Russian army heroically held for 329 days. At the fortress walls the Japanese lost 110,000 men and 15 warships

Aerial view of a grassy mound with castle ruins, surrounded by green fields and a path.

NB! · Aristocracy · Geography · Monarchies · Heritage

Lancastrian victory over the Yorkists at Wakefield in 1460 and the death of Richard of York

Sites of the Battle of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. One of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses was fought on 30 December 1460. The Lancastrians (the Red Rose) defeated the Yorkists, and Richard, Duke of York, was killed

Coat of arms with a red shield bearing three armoured legs, a crown above, a falcon left, a raven right and a motto ribbon below.

NB! · Geography · Monarchies · Observations

Coat of arms of the Isle of Man with triskelion, crown, falcon, raven and motto

The arms of Mann are rather splendid too: the Sicilian triskelion (a tripod), the coronation crown of St Edward, supporters a falcon and a raven. The motto is Quocunque Jeceris Stabit: "Whichever way you throw it, it will stand".

NB! · Geography · Maps

Map of the Isle of Man, 1610, with some curious figures at sea: to the south-east a Norman riding a reptile, to the north-east an Englishman on a lion, to the north-west an Irishman on a fish, to the north a Scotsman on a unicorn

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Geography · Moscow

Yaroslavsky Station, 1930s

NB! · Archive · In the Press · Geography · Society · Paris

The Novy Altaysky Luch of 15 Feb 1919 carries on a single page both the flooding of the Seine and the affairs of Semirechye: famine, cattle plague, arrests of the steppe intelligentsia

The Novy Altaysky Luch of 15 Feb 1919 carries on a single page both the flooding of the Seine and the affairs of Semirechye: famine, cattle plague, arrests of the steppe intelligentsia. The Bolsheviks, who had seemed to be calming down, have once more stepped up their terror

NB! · Archive · Geography · Paris · Nature

In 1919 the Seine Burst Its Banks and Flooded Half of Paris

NB! · Geography · Maps · Books · Science

A page from the "Uranometria", the first atlas of the starry heavens (1603), by the German lawyer Johann Bayer and the cartographer Alexander Mair

NB! · Archaeology · Archive · The East · Geography