Observations · Mores · Society

The American order of writing dates as a legacy of the British colonial period

If We Write It the American Way, Today Is 123123. Writing the date back to front, with the month ahead of the day, is no original American invention: it is a relic of an old colonial custom left over from the days of British rule. The British themselves abandoned such

NB! · Society · Nature · Humour

The Elephant Calf Bought by Ronald Reagan for a Party Conference

Museums · Society · Paris · People · Pop Culture

Lady Mendl and the Duchess of Windsor founded a wartime charity to aid the French army

American actress, designer and philanthropist Elsie de Wolfe (1865-1950), by marriage Lady Mendl, in a velvet cape created specially for her in 1938 by Elsa Schiaparelli. The cape is dedicated to the Fountain of Apollo in the park of Versailles and is called, accordingly, Apollo of Versailles. The garment

Art · Science · Society · Ethnography

Soyuz-Apollo

Soyuz-Apollo. A work by Lubsan Dorzhiev (1918-2011), People's Artist of the Buryat ASSR, who painted in the folk style and for many years devoted himself to Buryat ornamentation. Soyuz-Apollo was the first international crewed space flight, and is considered to mark the end of the

Faith · Observations · Society

In His Christmas Address Pope Francis Unexpectedly Reminded Us That We Are Not a Number but a Face

Yet in reality everything now happening in the world looks rather the other way round. "Amid a world so judgemental and unforgiving", "you are not a number but a face", and the Christ Child "descends into the narrow confines of our lives, not shunning our

Books · Society · Humour

Blaise Pascal on how the number of lackeys decides who yields the way

How right it is to distinguish men not by their inner qualities but by their outward signs! Which of us two is to go first? Which is to yield the way to the other? The one who is less nimble. But we are equally nimble, so force will have to

German soldiers in spiked helmets in a trench read letters and open parcels beside a decorated Christmas tree.

NB! · Archive · Mores · Society

The Christmas Truce of 24–25 December 1914 on Some Sectors of the First World War Fronts

The Christmas Truce of the First World War, 24–25 December 1914. The truce was not observed along the whole front, but in some sectors the guns fell silent

Coming Up · Books · Moscow · Society

Moscow Libraries Are Giving Away Books Again

Moscow libraries are giving away books again. The traditional campaign Withdrawn Books has begun. The mechanism is very simple. Find the nearest library on the portal, see which books are available, reserve up to 10 books a day and take them home.

NB! · The East · Geography · Society

In 1920 Tokyo had fewer than 3.7 million inhabitants; in 1962 its population reached 10 million; today 37 million people live in the Japanese capital, making it the most populous city in the world

Engraving of L. H. Marqueste's sculpture “Perseus, the Gorgon Slayer”: a nude Perseus in a winged helmet stands over Medusa.

Books · Society

Clive Staples Lewis on the impossibility of making people good by law

You cannot make people good by law, and without good people there can be no good society. That is why we must think about the second thing: morality within the individual. Clive Staples Lewis

Books · Mores · Society

Eugene O’Neill’s play “All God’s Chillun Got Wings” and the harassment of its author over the staging

Eugene O'Neill has a play, "All God's Chillun Got Wings", about the friendship of a Black boy and a white girl who share their dreams with one another. Ella says she wants to be black, like Jim, while Jim secretly eats chalk, dreaming of

NB! · Faith · Society · Rome