About the writer's marriage in 1724. (Photo: James Beck/National Trust)

London is a historic city full of relics of the past. But modern minds may find it difficult to feel transported to the bustling wharfs full of merchants and sailors, the Inns of Court with wigged lawyers boasting ink-stained fingers, or the enormous parks through which the noble and plebeian alike would parade in nice weather. In the early 18th century, London was already a rapidly growing city of about 680,000 people.

Young people arrived from the countryside to make their fortune and pursue their pleasure. Among these youthful arrivals was Ben Browne, who grew up in Westmorland and, like many modern 20-somethings, moved to the big city for work. Starting his training as a law clerk, Browne wrote a series of letters home to his father, which are a treasure trove of information on life in London and the enduring emotions of youth.

Of the letters, 65 survived and were bound in the 19th century by a descendant of the family. Book conservator Ann-Marie Miller recently rebound them to preserve the words for centuries to come. Through the process, “I feel as if I have also got to know young Ben, with his solicitous turn of phrase and the flourish of his handwriting,” she shares. Now, anyone can read these recollections online.

Browne was 27 years old when he arrived in London from his hometown of Troutbeck in 1719. He made the 300-mile journey on horseback, making his way to the city to start his career. The young Browne would stay in London for 16 years.

A prominent theme throughout the letters is his requests for additional funds from his parents to support a London lifestyle. Rent, wigs, hose, and more were necessary to be remotely stylish. Once, his father even sent a wig from home.

Ben defends his spending, writing he “humbly hope you will not take it amiss that the money you sent me is all gone nor think me Extravagant for I pay 8d of wood and sometimes more for washing which goes cost a deal of money tho’ I am sparing as I can in all things…” Despite this “sparing” approach, the young man certainly enjoyed eating and drinking with friends, as well as collecting books. The latter hobby was discovered by assessing the inscriptions and purchase dates of the family collection, and Ben's father may never have known.

Other times, the son asked about acquaintances in common, passing news back and forth. In one letter, he hit his parents with a big announcement: his marriage in 1724. Mary Branch worked for Browne's employer, a lawyer to whom he was apprenticed as a clerk. This work could entail long, even 12-hour days of document copying, but clearly, Browne found time for romance. He asked his father, to “compleat mine and my wife’s happiness these come to beg of you to write to me or [master] expressing the gratefull sense I have of all his kindness and tender regard he has allways had for me…”

These letters are as much a testament to a life lived in 18th-century London as they are to the enduring relationship between young people and their parents—rebellion, dependence, and love.

The letters, along with other items in the Browne family archive, are now on display at the family's former home, Townend, in England's Lake District. The home, which is now run by the National Trust, will exhibit this material until November 1, 2024.

This 18th-century letter collection gives insight into the highs and lows of life as a 20-something in bustling London.

Long work days in 1719. (Photo: James Beck/National Trust)

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

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READ: Fascinating 18th-Century Letters Detail Life as a Twenty-Something Living in London

Excerpt from “Tabulae primi mobilis” by Giovanni Bianchini. (Photo: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence via Historia Mathematica)

For centuries, the earliest known use of the decimal point appeared in 1593, when the German mathematician Christopher Clavius wrote it in an astronomy book. Since then, it has radically changed the course of mathematics. However, it was recently discovered that the first documented use of the decimal point was not in 1593 but over 100 years before in Renaissance Italy.

When the Venetian merchant Giovanni Bianchini wrote Tabulae primi mobilis in the 1440s, he used the decimal point to calculate the coordinates of the planets. By doing this, Bianchini invented the system of decimals, which would, in turn, make scientific calculations far more accurate. Years later, Clavius would borrow Bianchini's decimal point, leading to confusion about the true origins of the mathematical symbol.

In a recent NPR episode, Glen Van Brummelen, a historian of mathematics, recounted how he discovered Bianchini's invention. In the episode, Brummelen said, “I was working on the manuscript of this astronomer, Giovanni Bianchini. I saw the dots inside of a table—in a numerical table.”

“And when he explained his calculations, it became clear that what he was doing was exactly the same thing as we do with the decimal point. And I'm afraid I got rather excited at that point. I grabbed my computer, ran up and down the dorm hallway looking for colleagues who still hadn't gone to bed, saying, this person's working with the decimal point in the 1440s. I think they probably thought I was crazy.”

You can listen to the rest of the episode here.

A mathematical historian recently discovered that the decimal point is about 150 years older than we thought. It was first used in a text by Venetian merchant Giovanni Bianchini in the 1440s.

Excerpt from “Tabulae primi mobilis” by Giovanni Bianchini. (Photo: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence via Historia Mathematica)

h/t: [Open Culture]

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READ: The Decimal Point Is a Lot Older Than We Thought

 

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Una publicación compartida por Wisdom Kaye (@wisdm)

When looking up the history of fashion, it's almost irresistible to browse through that various styles of garments made for women over the years. Tracing the history of female fashion is a colorful adventure filled with diverse silhouettes. Unbeknownst to many, male fashion history can be just as compelling. And no one has made a better case for this than multi-hyphenate model-stylist-photographer Wisdom Kaye. The stylish young man has compiled an insightful “High Fashion Time Travel” video, going back thousands of years—and even daring to peek into the future—to show the evolution of male outfits.

Kaye begins his fashion voyage in a place rarely regarded for the clothes of the time—the year 10,000 BCE, or the Paleolithic era. But rather than commissioning a bespoke outfit or turning to a museum archive, the model recreates the furs and capes of the era with garments designed and sold by contemporary luxury retailers. In fact, he does so for every decade, century, and millennia he showcases.

After 10,000 BCE, Kaye's fashion timeline skips forward to the age of empires and ostentatious robes before showing us suits from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, like the ones depicted in museum portraits and historical documents. After the turn of the 20th century, Kaye relishes in slowing down and savoring the intricacies of each decade's fashion, even showing how outfits evolved every few years. It's as if he's challenging the notion of 70s or 90s fashion and conveying how intricate and mutating they were.

Towards the end of his voguish video, he presents how outfits have changed before our eyes over the last couple of decades. His fashion expertise captures the evolution in broad strokes—something that's hard to notice happening, when you're in the middle of it all or if you're not a fashion connoisseur. As the cherry on top, he takes a few seconds to predict the fashion of the years 3000 and 3333—the latter much more experimental than the former. With a little luck, just like he nailed each look from the past, he will ace his vision of the future.

To stay up to date with his daily fashion and creative styling, you can follow Kaye on Instagram and TikTok, where he often experiments with looks inspired by followers' requests.

Wisdom Kaye is an extremely stylish model who shares his fashionable everyday looks.

 

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He has made a name for himself as a man who expresses himself and his passions through fashion.

 

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Kaye also shows how to translate pop culture favorites into wearable fashion.

 

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@wisdm8 Replying to @west ♬ original sound – Wisdom Kaye

@wisdm8 Replying to @user9381720148560 ♬ original sound – Wisdom Kaye

His knowledge of fashion history is apparent in the way he styles himself.

@wisdm8When y’all thought i was 30 when i was 19♬ original sound – Wisdom Kaye

 

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Given his expertise in style, he can even make skinny jeans look cool.

 

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In one of his most impressive compilations, Kaye time travels through history, showing how men's fashion has evolved over the centuries and even millennia.

@wisdm8 Replying to @Richmond okeke ♬ original sound – Wisdom Kaye

Wisdom Kaye: Instagram | TikTok | YouTube

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(Photo: Richard Mortel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

Tibet's Sakya Monastery is home to many wonders. Founded in 1073, its collection includes some of the oldest Tibetan artwork, as well as 84,000 ancient manuscripts and books. Given its remote location, the contents of this library may seem out of reach for international scholars. Luckily, in an attempt to preserve these ancient documents, the Sakya Monastery Library began digitizing its assets in 2011 and is well underway in its mission.

Most of the library's collection is made up of Buddhist scriptures. This relates back to the monastery being the most important seat of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. However, the library also contains pieces of literature, as well as works on history, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, and art. Among its most compelling assets are volumes of palm-leaf manuscripts, which have survived the passage of time thanks to the arid climate of the region, and the heaviest scripture in the world, which weighs 1,100 pounds.

“Following the advice of His Holiness, the 41st Sakya Trizin, the Ven. Khenchen Appey Rinpoche (1927-2010) stressed the importance of collecting, digitizing and publishing important texts to ensure an authentic and complete transmission of the Dharma to future generations,” writes the team. “Recovering and publishing many volumes of important scriptures from the Sakya tradition, Rinpoche has made an immeasurable contribution to the Dharma in general and to the Sakya tradition in particular.”

Given the sheer size of the endeavor, it wasn't until 2022 that all books were indexed. So far, only 20% have been fully digitized and are available in the original Tibetan. Following the mission to preserve these texts for future generations, the works are available under a Creative Commons license for educational and scholarly purposes.

These priceless resources can be browsed on the Sakya Digital Library website.

Tibet's Sakya Monastery Library is home to 84,000 ancient manuscripts and books.

(Photo: Richard Mortel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

In an attempt to preserve these ancient documents, the Sakya Monastery Library began to digitize its assets in 2011, making the work accessible to international scholars.

(Photo: Richard Mortel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

Given the sheer size of the endeavor, it wasn't until 2022 that all books were indexed. So far, only 20% have been fully digitized and are available in the original Tibetan.

(Photo: Richard Mortel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

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@erik_kwakkel Speaking of cats, this is definitely the mark of one angry feline in the State Archives of Dubrovnik. pic.twitter.com/v1GpVTJR

— Emir O. Filipovic (@EmirOFilipovic) September 27, 2012

Today, cats are the kings and queens of the internet. Their popularity amongst humans is nothing new though. Felines have accompanied humankind for centuries for a variety of reasons. Medieval monks often kept cats in their monasteries because their kitty companions protected their food stores from rodents. Cats were also employed to limit the rodent population, as mice and rats were known to nibble on manuscript pages, ruining them. But occasionally, cats also caused damage to these precious manuscripts by walking over them when the ink was still drying. They'd even urinate on the now-antiquated tomes, proving that cats have been a menace for centuries.

Finding firsthand sources that prove how meddlesome and carefree cats have always been may be rare, but they do exist. One prime example comes from 1420 that details its cat-astrophic ruination. The manuscript—currently stored in The Historisches Archiv in Cologne, Germany—is truly illuminating, though probably not in the way the monk intended it to be. Two pages have been left noticeably unfinished, with a drawn picture of a cat and accusatory fingers pointing at scribbled handwriting on the right page.

The scribe's notes, when translated into English, read: “Here is nothing missing, but a cat urinated on this during a certain night. Cursed be the pesty cat that urinated over this book during the night in Deventer and because of it many others [other cats] too. And beware well not to leave open books at night where cats can come.” It's good to know that 600 years later, cats haven't really changed, as any cat owner could attest.

You can find more information on the relationship between monks and their cats on Medieval Fragments.

h/t: [Open Culture]

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Photo: George Bergman via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After spending years on end studying and researching, many scientists are thrilled to receive an award. But some, like Grigori Perelman, prefer to avoid the fame that comes with significant breakthroughs. Between the 1990s and the first years of the 21st century, Perelman proved conjectures that had fixated mathematicians over the last decades. And yet, when he was offered the Fields Medal, regarded as the equivalent to the Nobel Prize of Mathematics, he declined the prize.

Grigori Perelman was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union, (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). His mother, who gave up graduate work in mathematics to raise him, noticed Perelman's talent with numbers when he was 10. The mathematician went on to get a PhD from Leningrad State University, and his work earned him research positions at several universities in the United States.

The conjectures Perelman tackled had long been open problems in mathematics. This means that while solutions may have been hypothesized, no one had been able to provide the airtight logical proofs to those solutions. This is the level of justification that mathematicians require before accepting a new piece of mathematical knowledge as fact.

In 1994, Perelman proved the soul conjecture. In Riemannian geometry, manifolds are the seemingly straight lines that make up one, two, or three-dimensional geometric shapes at their tiniest, most detailed level. Perelman proved that smaller structures that mimic the actual shape—for example, curves—can be found within the overall object. More impressively, he did so in a short scientific article.

About a decade later, Perelman developed new techniques in the analysis of Ricci flow, a concept used in differential geometry and geometric analysis regarding diffusion of heat and the heat equation. In 2004, the mathematician proved the Poincaré conjecture, which proposes that if a loop drawn on that object down can be shrunk to a single point without “cutting” the object, then an object is a sphere. The Poincaré conjecture had been formulated in 1904 by the French mathematician Poincaré, remaining one of math's biggest mysteries for nearly a century. Coming to a resolution took him nearly seven years of work in isolation.

These breakthroughs dazzled the scientific community, and Perelman was offered the Fields Medal for “his contributions to geometry and his revolutionary insights into the analytical and geometric structure of the Ricci flow.” However, Perelman declined the award, stating: “I'm not interested in money or fame; I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo.” He also declined the $1 million award from the first Clay Millennium Prize for his resolution of the Poincaré conjecture. He explained that his work was no greater than that of Richard S. Hamilton, the mathematician who introduced the concept of the Ricci flow.

After these achievements, Perelman stepped away from academia, disillusioned by the ethical standards in the field. In 2005, he quit his research job at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, announcing he was distancing himself from a year later. Now, he lives in seclusion in Saint Petersburg, where he takes care of his ailing mother.

Many today wonder if he continued to work on math at his own pace or whether he let go of his lifelong passion for good. Either way, his findings represent watershed moments that continue to illuminate contemporary mathematicians.

Thank you to Michael O'Leary for his mathematics expertise, consultation, and contribution to this article.

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Photo: Matthew Yohe via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Some people are fans of musicians and athletes. But for those who follow technology closely, the people they admire the most are the brilliant minds who have made great advances. Among them, two of the most respected and beloved are Apple's founders, Steve Wozniak and the late Steve Jobs. Much like with any other celebrities, people also long for an autograph from their heroes. Over 40 years ago, someone decided to shoot their shot and reach out to Jobs for his signature. The response from the late inventor was an example of his cleverness, and would be remembered to this day.

Back in 1983, Apple wasn't the mammoth it is today, but its unique approach to operating systems had made waves among computing enthusiasts. This inspired a person named L.N. Varon from Imperial Beach, California, to write to Jobs in the hopes of getting a unique piece of memorabilia. However, Jobs, who passed away in 2011, wasn't a crowd pleaser. He was known to decline most autograph requests both in person and through the mail. It is not known whether the sender enclosed a printed photograph or a magazine clip, but even if they did, the got something more special. The response was a standard 8.5″ x 11″ letter with an Apple Computer Inc. letterhead that is dated May 11, 1983.

Jobs' message reads, “I’m honored that you’d write, but I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs.” And while that would have been the end of it, he did something even more revealing of his cheeky personality. Jobs then signed the letter with his famous lowercase signature in black ink.

Fast forward to 2021, and Apple's role in innovation has made the cult following around Jobs' work grow to astronomical levels. This made the artifacts related to his legacy even more sought-after. When the 1983 letter was auctioned by RR Auction, it sold for $478,939. The auction house described it as “a great, early autograph from the Apple founder.” They've also sold signed business cards, an autographed iPad, Jobs' 1976 computer prototype, and even a signed movie ticket stub from Pirates of the Caribbean. Still, nothing may ever come close to the cleverness of the letter.

Steve Jobs rarely gave out autographs, but he once cleverly indulged in a letter that would later sell for $478,939. It read: “I’m honored that you’d write, but I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs,” before Jobs signed it in black ink.

Steve Jobs typed letter to a fan who had requested a autograph from him, the letter ended up selling at auction for $400k
byu/santiClaud inDamnthatsinteresting

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Digitally restored black and white daguerrotype of Emily Dickinson, c. early 1847. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
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The now-renowned Emily Dickinson is widely regarded as one of the most important poets of American literature. Famously a recluse in her later years, the overwhelming majority of her poems were never published until after her death. Even then, it wasn't until the 1920s, 40 years after her death, that her unconventional style was embraced and celebrated as proto-modern work. Poetry wasn't her only passion, though. In fact, during her life, more of Dickinson's acquaintances would have known her as a gardener than a poet, according to scholar Judith Farr in The Gardens of Emily Dickinson. From a young age, she studied botany. While still a student, the avid anthophile compiled a remarkable herbarium, a compilation of dried plants.

This herbarium still holds the same plants Dickinson dried 180 years ago and is held at Harvard University's Houghton Library. Unsurprisingly, though, the original herbarium is not available for viewing, even by academic researchers, since it is so fragile. Luckily, the Houghton Library used digital photography to make the collection viewable to scholars, and the general public. The book, housed in a green album embossed with a botanical pattern, contains 424 different plant specimens on 66 sheets of paper. Dickinson's neat handwriting can be viewed via the labels that use the scientific name of the plants.

Botany was a common past-time for girls of that era, an acceptable pathway to science through illustration, which was deemed to be suitably feminine. Over a third of Dickinson's poems refer to flowers, and she often gave gifts of her poems entwined with flowers to her friends and family. Farr argues that one can only understand Emily Dickinson the poet if one understands Emily Dickinson the gardener. For instance, most of the plants Dickinson features in her herbarium are ones native to her home in New England. Yet the collection opens with jasmine, a far more exotic species. Farr writes, “Just as her fondness for buttercups, clover, anemones, and gentians spoke of an attraction to the simple and commonplace, her taste for strange exotic blooms is that of one drawn to the unknown, the uncommon, the aesthetically venturesome.”

Emily Dickinson was a passionate gardener, creating her own herbarium when she was just 14 years old.

First page of Emily Dickinson's herbarium. (Photo: Houghton Library, Harvard University, Public domain)

Photo: Houghton Library, Harvard University (Public domain)

During the Victorian Era, young women were often well-versed in the “language” of flowers.

Photo: Houghton Library, Harvard University (Public domain)

Her herbarium was once inaccessible; but now, in Harvard's collections, it is fully digitized and viewable by the public.

Photo: , Harvard University (Public domain)

Photo: , Harvard University (Public domain)

Photo: Houghton Library, Harvard University (Public domain)

h/t: [Open Culture]

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Photo: ClaudioDivizia/Depositphotos

Less and less people are using cash these days, preferring quick contactless digital payment. If you still have a load of $1 dollar bills in your wallet, though, you might have done yourself a favor. In 2014 and 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) made a mistake that means there are 6.3 million $1 bills in circulation that might actually be worth a fortune.

Every piece of currency printed has a unique serial number. Even if there is an error and the bill doesn't go into circulation, its replacement will have a star at the end of its serial number. These unique numbers help track stolen money and stop counterfeit money from being circulated. In 2014, the BEP asked its Washington, D.C., facility to print a run of dollar bills with the serial numbers B00000001* – B00250000* and B03200001* – B09600000*. A clerical error led to the Fort Worth facility printing those same serial numbers in 2016. Apparently, no one caught the error until after they had entered circulation. In fact, the mix-up was only admitted to after a Freedom of Information Act request when a numismatic collector noticed something was off in BEP's public records.

Currency misprints happen, but usually those errors have to do with what are essentially paper jams or misalignment of the design. The double printing of the serial numbers has never happened on this scale and is attracting collectors. If you manage to have a single bill of the misprints, you might be able to fetch up to $400. Or you can hold on to your bill and start searching for its partner. Matched pairs have sold together for almost $10,000. There are unverified reports of another pair being sold for $25,000, and some collectors think pairs might get as much as $150,000.

To check if you have any from the double serial printings, look for the following:

• Series date that reads “Series 2013.” The series date can be found on the right side of the George Washington photograph.
• The “B” Federal Reserve Seal above the serial number.
• The serial number features a star and sits somewhere between “B00000001★ – B00250000★” or “B03200001★ – B09600000★“

There have been 115 matched pairs, which still leaves over three million left to account for. Besides scouring eBay and auction sites, one private citizen has started up a database to keep track of everything related to 2013B misprints. Better start uncrumpling your dollars now.

Over 3 million pairs of $1 bills were mistakenly printed with the exact same serial number, and now they are worth a fortune.

Photo: STILLFX/Depositphotos

h/t: [NBCLA]

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The march of world history, “Adams' Synchronological Chart of Universal History” by Sebastian C. Adams and published by Colby & Co. Publishers, NY, 1881. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

World history is ultimately one long story, a timeline of events rising and swelling, marching along in each country and community around the globe. But exactly how this story is told can vary based on one's contemporary perspective. For Sebastian C. Adams, this perspective was that of a white, 19th-century Christian man who wore many hats over his lifetime. A minister, writer, schoolteacher, clerk, and politician over the years, he created a 22-foot-long timeline full of the twisted, colorful histories that the author viewed as part of his Chronological Chart of Ancient, Modern and Biblical History.

These histories, illustrated by John Alsop Paine, start at the Biblical beginning with Adam and Eve. Their descendants spin out in spindly strands from their parents, traveling down the timeline with their remarkable ages noted. Stone age tools appear, as do the busts of ancient philosophers. The Stone Age becomes the Iron Age, and Assyrian lamassu rise from the sands.

The full 22-foot timeline. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

The ancient world evolves and develops into civilization before our very eyes, as we then follow the trajectories of Greece, Egypt, and Babylon. The Roman Empire is enshrined in purple, before the rainbow hues of many European countries form stringy veins stretching many more feet into modernity. Terminating in 1883, the timeline finishes with portraits of the American presidents and European sovereigns, as well as a list of “eminent men not elsewhere mentioned on the chart.”

The scroll, being designed by an educator and minister, is both an innovative teaching tool and a reflection of its time. It is heavily Eurocentric, with these countries taking up a majority of the map and a Christian cosmology defining its beginning. The lands of the Near East feature heavily in this Biblical beginning, and they are capably illustrated by Paine, who taught in Istanbul and pursued archeological digs in the region.

The map was printed several times, and various copies are extant, including a copy at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. That copy is presented on a scroll so that the unwieldy timeline can be easily perused. Other booklet formats were also used, and the timeline was popular in schools. While not used today, it is a fascinating insight into one historical perspective on the eras that came before.

Luckily, Adams' timeline can still be examined closely thanks to a zoomable version available online at the David Rumsey Map Collection.

This 22-foot scroll visually depicts world history as described by educator and minister Sebastian C. Adams in 1881.

Further moments of note. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

It moves from the Biblical creation story…

Adam and Eve at the beginning. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

…through the development of ancient civilizations.

Assyrian lamassu. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

And it even shows technological developments.

Ancient implements. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

World inventions and events. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

The visual timeline, which is largely Eurocentric, traces the individual development of countries up through the 19th century.

Countries depicted separately. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

h/t: [Open Culture, National Museum of American History]

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