Over 100 letters sent to French sailors by their fiancées, wives, parents and siblings – but never delivered – have been opened and studied for the first time since they were written in 1757-8. The messages offer extremely rare and moving insights into the loves, lives and family quarrels of everyone from elderly peasants to...
World
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UN Forum Says People of African Descent Still Face Discrimination and Attacks, Urges Reparations
The U.N. body formed to promote respect for and protect people of African descent around the world says in its first report that they continue “to be victims of systemic racial discrimination and racialized attacks” and calls for reparations. The report, which was delivered to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, says reparations are essential to...
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The Day of the Dead in Mexico Is a Celebration for the 5 Senses
The Day of the Dead in Mexico smells like cempasuchil flowers and copal incense. It has a sweet taste. Sounds and colors abound. There are photos, candles and music all over. The hands of artisans prepare the altars to honor their ancestors. Although it is an intangible tradition, borne down from pre-Hispanic cultures, Day of the Dead...
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How ‘La Catrina’ Became the Iconic Symbol of Day of the Dead
On April 13, 1944, thousands of people clashed with police on the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago. The melee was unrelated to U.S. participation in World War II, labor unrest or President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s controversial move to seize control of local Chicago industries. Rather, a massive, impatient art crowd overwhelmed the museum’s...
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Research Shows That Income Inequalities Within the Aztec Empire Eased the Way of the Conquistadores
Spanish conquerors did not themselves bring inequality to the Aztec lands they invaded, they merely built on the socio-economic structure that was already in place, adapting it as it suited their plans. This is the subject of an article by Guido Alfani of Bocconi University, Milan, and Alfonso Carballo of NEOMA Business School in France....
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Stone Age Artists Carved Detailed Human and Animal Tracks in Rock Art in Namibia
During the Later Stone Age in what is now Namibia, rock artists imbued so much detail into their engravings of human and animal prints that current-day Indigenous trackers could identify which animals’ prints they were depicting, as well as the animals’ general age and sex. Andreas Pastoors of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and colleagues report these...
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New Study Uncovers the Causes of the Qing Dynasty’s Collapse
The Qing Dynasty in China, after over 250 years, crumbled in 1912. Led by the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), an international research team has pinpointed key reasons behind the collapse, revealing parallels to modern instability and offering vital lessons for the future. China is considered today to be the world’s largest economy (in terms of...
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/thenational/5PBUPRZRPZDRPFC3TDODF2I6FE.jpg "Using Gemstones’ Unique Characteristics to Uncover Ancient Trade Routes")
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Using Gemstones’ Unique Characteristics to Uncover Ancient Trade Routes
Since ancient times, gemstones have been mined and traded across the globe, sometimes traveling continents from their origin. Gems are geologically defined as minerals celebrated for beauty, strength, and rarity. Their unique elemental composition and atomic orientation act as a fingerprint, enabling researchers to uncover the stones’ past, and with it, historical trade routes. In AIP...
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Mesoamerica: A Model for Modern Metropolises
Jakarta … San Francisco … Shanghai … Phoenix … Houston. These major cities and others around the globe have many similarities, but they share one particular commonality that is concerning for residents. They are among the global cities most affected by climate change. While each of these cities has proven resilient for centuries, urban planners,...
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Thousands of Ukraine Civilians Are Being Held in Russian Prisons. Russia Plans to Build Many More
The Ukrainian civilians woke long before dawn in the bitter cold, lined up for the single toilet and were loaded at gunpoint into the livestock trailer. They spent the next 12 hours or more digging trenches on the front lines for Russian soldiers. Many were forced to wear overlarge Russian military uniforms that could make...
