“The loneliest person who ever lived,” she once called herself. As Brazil attempts to train all eyes on the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, observers continue to be distracted by the country’s travails: the recent Zika outbreak, economic difficulties, and the controversial impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Not a few people are wondering how[…]
The assumption that Andean peoples could not have built Tiwanaku is the greatest myth of all. Bolivia, 1928. As the train steamed around the bend, Lake Titicaca became visible far to the north. The morning sun danced on the water. The majestic Cordillera Real towered beyond. The whistle howled. The engine lurched. After an arduous[…]
From the summer of 1944 till the end of the war in Europe, the US fielded a unique ‘Ghost Army’. By Jeremy Bender From the summer of 1944 till the end of the war in Europe, the US fielded a unique ‘Ghost Army’ throughout France and the Rhine Valley in order to deceive the Third[…]
From Zeppelin airships to propaganda leaflet drops, exploring the significant role of aerial warfare in World War One – where it was used on a large scale for the first time. Introduction Aerial warfare was by no means a First World War invention. Balloons had already been used for observation and propaganda distribution during the[…]
A trilingual inscription has been discovered on the hillside around the tomb of Darius in Naqshe-Rustam. Two Iranian researchers, M. Doorodi from Shiraz and S. Delshad from Berlin, have announced that a hitherto undocumented trilingual inscription has been discovered on the hillside around the tomb of Darius in Naqshe-Rustam. The discovery of the inscription, which[…]
It takes about a millennium for dialects to become languages. Simple questions often yield complex answers. For instance: what is the difference between a language and a dialect? If you ask this of a linguist, get comfortable. Despite the simplicity of the query, there are a lot of possible answers. You can see it firsthand[…]