Life hacks might seem to be a modern invention, but they’re not; they’ve probably been around as long as the need to communicate with another human has.
“How’d you light that glowing thing?”
“Fire? I rub these sticks together until something happened. Don’t touch – it’s… hot.”
Here’s a vintage life hack for fixing those squeaking doors; with winter coming up for those of us in the northern hemisphere, this might just come in handy if you don’t have any WD-40 on hand.
Throughout history, men and women have sometimes found it expedient to take on the guise of the opposite sex. For men, it was often a tool to avoid military duties or to escape punishment of some kind; for women, the reasons were often due to the fact that men’s lives were easier – they had access to higher education, could rule, could lead, could travel more safely than a lone woman, and had far more freedom in society; another frequent reason was to avoid being forced into a loveless marriage. There are many, many documented histories of cross-dressers; I will therefore focus my selection on a few of those cases where expediency was the factor, and not a question of sexual preference. Some were androgynous, while others were unattractive or neutral enough in features to pass as either gender. To read each history, click on the links:
Deborah Sampson Gannett (December 17, 1760 – April 29, 1827): Served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War as Timothy Thayer.
Hannah Snell (1723-1792): Served as a Royal army foot soldier, and a marine. She is one of the few cases who became famous within their own lifetime; she revealed her true identity in 1750, and used her tales of adventure to pecuniary advantage.
Catalina de Erauso (late 15oos): She held many positions, some under the very noses of relatives searching for the missing woman.
Chevalier d’Éon (5 October 1728 – 21 May 1810): French diplomat, spy, freemason and
Chevalier d’Eon
soldier who fought in the Seven Years’ War.
Frances Clayton (1830s): Female Soldier in the Civil War.
Billy Tipton (December 29, 1914 – January 21, 1989): Jazz musician.
Ulrika Eleonora Stålhammar (1683-1733): A Swedish Corporal under the name of Vilhelm Edstedt.
Shi Pei Pu (1938-2009): A Chinese opera singer and spy.
Margaret Ann Bulkley (ca. 1789-1865): An Irish military surgeon in the British Army, as James Barry.
Marina the Ascetic, Monk (Fifth Century): She chose exile from her monastery and to raise the illegitimate child of a woman who wrongly accused “him” of raping her, rather than reveal her true gender. Only after her death was the truth discovered.
Isabelle Eberhardt (1877 – 1904): Explorer in the Arabian region, under the assumed name of Si Mahmoud Essadi. Also, spy during the Algerian revolt against France. She died in a flash flood at the age of 27.
Anne Bonney and Mary Read (18th century): Ruthless pirates, they started off as cross-dressers, but once their reputations were established they dropped the male guise.
Here’s a fascinating look into the history of the village of Tyneham, England, which died when the population was forced to evacuate in 1943. Enjoy learning about its legacy.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED.
This morning, Aaron and Sean cleared space for the anticipated greenhouse. Holly and Bay trees were cut back and Jackie’s old work corner dismantled.
The sun danced over Jackie’s head as she contemplated the opening.
This afternoon Jackie drove us to Tyneham in Dorset and back.
Now uninhabited for the last 73 years, Tyneham was a thriving village from a previous age, until the villagers were ordered to leave their homes as part of the war effort in 1943. They were never allowed back. Today the remnants of this community were swarming with visitors.
The story of its century of change is fixed to a wall near the telephone box. All will become clear when this photograph is enlarged.
The replaced telephone box bears it own story,
as does the shell of the Post Office.
Most of the buildings are now ruined husks
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Recently, my husband and I had a discussion about dragons (as one does). I had just read Job 41, in which God describes fire-breathing dragons to Job as a rhetorical example of something that Job cannot control, but that God does (vss. 10-11). Here’s a snippet (vss. 12-34):
“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armour? Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. It makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is its equal — a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”
Some Bible commentators have tried to pass this off as a hippo, or even crocodile; but I have yet to hear of a crocodile that sneezes flames. As recently as the 17th century, scholars and scientists wrote about dragons as though they were scientific fact, yet modern science seems to steer clear of them as much as they might dismiss stories about big foot and the Loch Ness Monster. Yet for all that, there is a rich treasure trove of historical evidence for the existence of dragons.
Just seen in the light of historical literary references, it is undeniable that such creatures as we would describe as dragons existed; from Native America, throughout Europe and into China records abound. Some literary sources are as follows: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (two mentions); the Epic of Gilgamesh (written 2000 BC); the ancient historian Josephus; the third century historian Gaius Solinus; the Greek researcher Herodotus; the historian Gesner; the Italian historian Aldrovandus; the first century Greek historian Strabo; and the list goes on and on.
Historical pictorial references also abound: Of the 12 animals depicted on the Chinese zodiac, the dragon is the only one that is no longer alive today; it is also the only one that is often considered mythical – but does it seem logical that they would include one non-existent animal, when all the others are real? Botanists, meticulous recorders of natural history, fauna and wildlife, and men who were renowned historians all make references to and descriptions of dragons. Like the Cambodian Stegosaurus, what seems out of place to modern man might simply have been a known creature at the time of the creation of the document or the artwork construction, but unknown today.
For an excellent article on the topic, with historical references galore, please click on the image below.
History Undusted 