Detail of an oil painting: small hands hold an open gilt-edged book. The page reads, in old Russian script, a military drill regulation. Red garment with a gold belt.

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Open book of military regulations in hands, detail of a painting

NB! · Faith · People · Rome · Humour

Asked by an Italian television presenter which programmes he enjoyed in his youth, Pope Francis, aged 86, replied: “I'll let you in on a secret

Asked by an Italian television presenter which programmes he enjoyed in his youth, Pope Francis, aged 86, replied: “I'll let you in on a secret. When I was young, we had no television.”

NB! · Monarchies · People · Humour

Napoleon, at about 168 cm, was taller than the average Frenchman and the average soldier, taller than his marshal André Masséna, than Admiral Nelson, Beethoven, Robespierre and Nicolas Sarkozy, and yet he remains in history a ruler of diminutive stature

NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Mores · Pop Culture

French Aristocratic Fashion of the Eighteenth Century

NB! · Art

Fried Potatoes

Fried potatoes. British artist Eric Satchwell (1926-2012)

A music typewriter with a curved set of keys bearing musical symbols lies on a printed sheet of music with lyrics.

NB! · Archive · Science

Robert Heaton patented a typewriter for musical notation in 1936

A typewriter for music. Patented in 1936 by Robert Heaton

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A 111-Year-Old Heartthrob 🤍

NB! · Coming Up · Moscow · Museums · Observations

The Pushkin Museum turns 111 as director Elizaveta Likhacheva invites guests to celebrate

To the country's finest museum, our dear and beloved Pushkin Museum, 111 years old today. Yelizaveta Likhacheva, Director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, invites you to celebrate this great anniversary

NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Here's Paul I, and I have nothing to add

NB! · Aristocracy · Monarchies

The Habsburg Family Tree

NB! · Museums · Observations

I have a dream: that all museums would open at 10 a.m. at the very latest

NB! · Books · Education