#15 November 1872

[rabbitcruiser]

Pigeon Point Lighthouse’s Fresnel lens was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872.

[marzipanandminutiae]

A Crimson Peak Timeline

(based on the art book, documents shown onscreen in the movie, and the character bios GDT wrote- where the bios don't contradict film canon. I've attempted to combine the two where contradicting elements are unavoidable.

Sometime during the reign of Charles II (1660-1685). Edward Sharpe created Baronet for services to the crown in providing clay for construction projects. Allerdale Hall built in the parish of Above Derwent, Cumberland, England.

1841. Carter Everett Cushing born the second son of six in an impoverished family that traveled the eastern US for his father's masonry business.

1863. Beatrice Alexandra Chetwynde, eldest daughter of a large, wealthy family, marries Baronet James William Sharpe. The marriage is contracted solely for the Chetwyndes' land, which adjoins the Sharpe estate.

April 1, 1865. Lucille Sharpe born.

Sometime between 1865 and ~1873. Carter marries 18-year-old socialite Eleanor Wyndham-Beckford, to the immense disapproval of her family. Though she is disowned and the couple struggles to make ends meet for years, Carter ultimately becomes a successful developer.

February 18, 1867. Thomas Sharpe born.

C. 1867-1872. The Sharpes employ a wet nurse- and later nanny -named Theresa, who would become the only adult to care about the children in their lives. She would ultimately be sacked after Beatrice caught young Lucille snuggling with her for warmth on a winter's night (on the grounds that a noble child should not be close with servants- a "crime" for which Lucille was beaten severely).

1876. 11-year-old Lucille murders her father with poison distilled from mine tailings, after he took Thomas on a hunting trip and left him in the woods to die of exposure.

Late 1876? A mining vein near Allerdale Hall collapses, killing several child mine-workers. I could have sworn I read somewhere that James foolishly dug a mining tunnel under the house shortly before his death, and that's what destabilized it, but I can't find it now.

October 9, 1877. Edith M. Cushing born, after Eleanor had suffered several miscarriages.

1878. Thomas and Lucille begin a secret sexual relationship.

Early August, 1879. Beatrice catches Lucille and Thomas together; Lucille murders her to keep their secret. The siblings try to run away together but are caught and brought back. Thomas is sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Whitehaven (who in turn send him to boarding school), while Lucille is forced into a mental institution.

Probably summer, 1885. Thomas finishes his schooling and rescues Lucille; they return to Allerdale.

1887. The Sharpe siblings travel to London seeking investors for Thomas' venture to reopen the mines. A wealthy, terminally ill gentleman, Major Richard Upton, takes a liking to Thomas and begs Thomas to marry his disabled daughter, Pamela. At Lucille's urging- since they're running out of both options and money -Thomas agrees. The two attempt to poison Pamela to death, but Lucille ends up strangling her instead.

Sometime between October 1887 and October 1888. Eleanor Cushing dies of cholera and appears to Edith as a ghost.

Early-mid 1890s. Carter and the recently widowed Mrs. McMichael have a brief flirtation that both Edith and Eunice oppose. Though it goes nowhere, the rift between the two girls is never healed.

Late October or November 1892. Edith (age 15) becomes infatuated with a 25-year-old poet who is having marital difficulties. After convincing Carter to hire him as a tutor, all unknowing, she confesses her feelings to him. He not only takes his leave of the Cushing family, but of Buffalo itself, quickly moving away with his wife and children.

1893. The Sharpes travel to Edinbrugh, where Thomas again finds no investors but does attract the attention of a 36-year-old widow of means, Margaret McDermott. Once again, he marries her and helps Lucille poison her, though she is ultimately killed via blunt force trauma.

Summer 1893. Edith asks her best friend, Alan McMichael, to kiss her so she can write about kisses more accurately. It means nothing to her, but sparks an unrequited passion in Alan

1896. Lucille falls pregnant by Thomas. He travels with her to Italy, which he loves and she despises. There he meets a wealthy woman named Enola Sciotti, widowed and bereaved of her only child, and decides of his own accord to marry and murder her in their usual fashion. The Sharpes and Enola return to Allerdale.

1897. Lucille is delivered of a son, who may or may not be sickly. Enola tries to care for her and the child, promising she can save him. The baby either dies of natural causes or Lucille smothers him under the conviction that his cries mean something is terribly wrong with him and he can't live- this is one contradiction in the bios vs. the movie that I prefer to leave vague, since it's possible not even Lucille remembers what happened. Either way, she blames Enola and dispatches her by unknown means. Thomas patents his excavating machine.

Late summer(?) 1901. Alan returns from studying medicine in London and sets up an ophthalmology practice in Buffalo. Edith's debut novel, Figures In The Mist, is rejected for publication by Oglivie and Sons. Thomas seeks investment in the mines from Cushing and Co., unsuccessfully. Edith and the Sharpes begin a friendship. Edith sees her mother's ghost for the second time.

September 14, 1901. President William McKinley dies after being shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. I include this because the fact that the movie doesn't is hilarious to me.

October 21, 1901. At the Cushings' dinner party, Carter bribes the Sharpes to leave, instructing Thomas to break Edith's heart or he'll tell her about the marriage to Pamela. A deleted scene reveals that he was on the verge of relenting and investing in the mines when he read the private investigator's report.

October 22, 1901. Lucille murders Carter at his club, then departs to return to England. Thomas and Edith become engaged.

Late October-early November 1901. Thomas and Edith are married and travel to Allerdale.

November-December 1901 (possibly into early 1902?). The rest of the movie's plot.

[scotianostra]

The Scottish Polymath Mary Somerville died on November 28th 1872 in Naples.

Today Somerville’s name lives on in an Oxford college, but her wider legacy is largely forgotten. She is the face of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s £10 banknote – the first non-royal woman to be honoured in this way.

Born in Mary Fairfax, Jedburgh on 26th December, 1790, Somerville grew up in the Fife seaside town of Burntisland. She was fascinated by the natural world from the start, collecting shells and fossils, and observing birds and sea creatures.

When her father returned from the sea, he discovered 8- or 9-year-old Mary could neither read nor do simple sums. He sent her to an elite boarding school, across the Firth of Forth, Miss Primrose's School in Musselburgh.

Miss Primrose was not a good experience for Mary and she was sent home in just a year. She began to educate herself, taking music and painting lessons, instructions in handwriting and arithmetic. She learned to read French, Latin, and Greek largely on her own. At age 15, Mary noticed some algebraic formulas used as decoration in a fashion magazine, and on her own she began to study algebra to make sense of them. She surreptitiously obtained a copy of Euclid's "Elements of Geometry" over her parents' opposition.

Four years after marrying, Mary Somerville and her family moved to London. Their social circle included the leading scientific and literary lights of the day, including Ada Bryon and her mother Maria Edgeworth, George Airy, John and William Herschel, George Peacock, and Charles Babbage. Mary and William had three daughters and a son who died in infancy. They also traveled extensively in Europe.

In 1826, Somerville began publishing papers on scientific subjects based on her own research. After 1831, she began writing about the ideas and work of other scientists as well. One book, "The Connection of the Physical Sciences," contained discussion of a hypothetical planet that might be affecting the orbit of Uranus. That prompted John Couch Adams to search for the planet Neptune, for which is he is credited as a co-discoverer.

Mary Somerville's translation and expansion of Pierre Laplace's "Celestial Mechanics" in 1831 won her acclaim and success: that same year, British prime minister Robert Peel awarded her a civil pension of 200 pounds annually. In 1833, Somerville and Caroline Herschel were named honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society, the first time women had earned that recognition. Prime Minister Melbourne increased her salary to 300 pounds in 1837. William Somerville's health deteriorated and in 1838 the couple moved to Naples, Italy. She stayed there most of the remainder of her life, working and publishing.

In 1848, Mary Somerville published "Physical Geography," a book used for 50 years in schools and universities; although at the same time, it attracted a sermon against it in York Cathedral.

William Somerville died in 1860. In 1869, Mary Somerville published yet another major work, was awarded a gold medal from the Royal Geographical Society, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

By 1871, Mary Somerville had outlived her husbands, a daughter, and all of her sons: she wrote, "Few of my early friends now remain—I am nearly left alone." Mary Somerville died in Naples on November 29, 1872, just before turning 92. She had been working on another mathematical article at the time and regularly read about higher algebra and solved problems each day.

Her daughter published "Personal Recollections of Mary Somerville" the next year, parts of a work which Mary Somerville had completed most of before her death.

[thedeafprophet]

Character Summary: The Vitriolic Thief

Alexander 'Alex' Hastings

Pronouns: He/him

Ambition: Light Fingers

Profession: Silverer /Thief

Main Skills: Shadowy, Dangerous, Glasswork

Main Quirks: Subtle, Steadfast, Magnanimous

They say… “A face seen on wanted posters around the city, and glimpsed in dreams at night. Harsh words for those who cross him, a helping hand for those who need.”

Further Writeup under the cut:

Backstory

Alex was born November 15th, 1872. A troubled childhood, Alex's mother passed shortly after childbirth, and his father passed in a housefire when he was 8. Him and his older sister Adelaide were left to face the world on their own, with the minimal help that came from soceity. Alex ended up falling into crime from a young age and had more then his fair share of experiences with the underhanded parts of life.

Alex was sent to an industrial school when he was 15 years old, where he met and became friends with Jamie and Josephine. 2 years later, he fled from the school with the other two in tow.

His late teen years and early adulthood were spent with a beginning combo of pratical work, Alex working in kitchens, before going further and further into Alex's 'work' with thievery and other crime. He was comitted to not only his own survival, but that of his friends as well. Alex started presenting as a man in his late teen years, and chose the name Alexander for himself when he was around 18.

Most of his crimes were for the purpose of monetary gain needed for survival, but became more and more situations of addrenline and petty venegeance against those 'on top'. Alex also has a history of pyromania, and perhaps a few cases of arson. Suffice to say, he had a considerable police record even back on the surface.

In the end, Alex mainly came down to the Neath because of Josephine's goal of doing so. Prior to the descent , Alex met with a contact familiar with the location in order to gain any potential information on the threats, and things to do there.

The relationship between Alex, Jamie, and Josephine was a bit strained by the time the game began, but that comittment and care still stood.

It was 1898 when Alex came to the Neath, at 26 years old.

Game Timeline Events

Alex's experience in Fallen London began with aquainting himself into the world. He quickly rose among ranks in petty thefts within the underworld's underworld, his experience with crime on the surface giving him plenty of skill to complete the jobs. His storyline consists in part of that of the shadowy Making Your Name questline. Alex toasts to no one but himself.

The crime options of the neath provided far more substainial gain for Alex then the surface did. He found himself an apartment pretty early on, and has refused to leave it ever since. Beyond crime, Alex ended up connecting heavily among the dockworkers in the neath, and often ended up on their side in any form of ongoing strike. Alex knows the bare minimum of right and wrong.

Once he was established in the neath, it was then Alex set out to find a contact from the surface.

Alex's experience with Light Fingers is a whole other post on its own, but to say in short, the experience greatly affected him. He cared quite a bit for the rest of the Light Fingers crew, and the hybrid holds a very important place in his heart. Alex always feared having children for the dread of somehow ending up like the adults who failed him, but that choice was taken out of his hands. He loves his child dearly, and did everything he could to guarantee its safety.

The experiences in Parabola during Light Fingers led Alex to have a great interest in the way of dream weaving, which eventually led to his role as a silverer. He takes on a protective role in dreams, defending against the more violent of nightmares.

Following the end of Light Fingers, Alex was dragged into the Railway Questline at the behest of Jamie, using his thievery skills to help provide resources for the GHR. In his role he met Furnace, of whom he came to greatly respect, and considers her a friend.

The railway also brought Alex to further interactions with a previous enemy, Mr Fires. Events during this lead to further contact between the two, and their antagonistic dynamic took on...more complicated aspects. The exact details of their relationship, well, even they arent too sure about that one....

A few exceptional stories are also canon to Alex's timeline (some spoilers for such stories here):

The Ballad Of Johnny Croak

Alex sided with Johnny and blew up the factory. Following the events of the ES Alex continues to visit Johnny, and occasionally gives the kid a place to sleep if he's ever back in the city. Alex is very protective of the kids, and sees a lot of his childhood self in him

The Icariun Cup

The events of this ES left Alex with the Dawn Burnt affect (this action will have consequences)

and then Adornment and The Queen of Elephants are also considered canon to his timeline.

[nocturna7]

𝟮𝟭 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄:

1. Scotland has over 790 islands, but only about 130 are inhabited. The largest inhabited island is Lewis and Harris.

2. Edinburgh was the first city in the world to have its own fire brigade, established in 1824.

3. Scotland's national animal is the unicorn, symbolizing purity, innocence, and power in Celtic mythology.

4. The shortest scheduled flight in the world is in Scotland. The flight between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands lasts just around one minute.

5. Scotland is home to the oldest tree in Europe: A twisted yew tree in Fortingall that is estimated to be between 3,000 and 9,000 years old.

6. Shetland has the highest density of otters in Europe, with around 1,000 otters living in the wild.

7. The raincoat was invented by Charles Macintosh, a Glaswegian, in 1824, revolutionizing outdoor wear with his waterproof fabric.

8. Scotland has its own legal system, separate from England and Wales, with its roots in Roman law and influenced by other legal traditions, including French law.

9. The Encyclopedia Britannica was first produced in Scotland in 1768, in Edinburgh, to be precise.

10. The world’s first color photograph was taken in Scotland: In 1861, James Clerk Maxwell presented a color photograph of a tartan ribbon.

11. Golf originated in Scotland, with the game being played on Musselburgh Links in 1672, which is recognized as the world’s oldest golf course.

12. Scotland’s national dish is haggis, a savory pudding containing sheep's heart, liver, and lungs, mixed with onions, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, encased in the animal's stomach.

13. The first official international football (soccer) match was played in Scotland between Scotland and England in 1872.

14. Scotland has its own currency: Scottish banks issue their own banknotes, which are legal currency throughout the UK, though they might be met with confusion outside Scotland.

15. Edinburgh was named the first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004, recognizing its strong literary heritage.

16. St. Andrew’s Day on November 30th is a national holiday in Scotland, celebrating Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland.

17. The Old Course at St. Andrews is considered the "home of golf" and has been played on since the 15th century.

18. Skara Brae on Orkney is older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, making it one of the oldest agricultural villages in the UK.

19. The largest secondhand bookshop in Scotland, Leakey’s Bookshop in Inverness, is housed in an old church and features a wood-burning stove in the center.

20. The Scots Pine is Scotland’s national tree, symbolic of its ancient Caledonian forests.

21. Scotland is famed for its "right to roam", where people can access most land and inland water for recreation, as long as they do so responsibly under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

[sensitiveuser]

Portrait of a Communard (1) : Arthur Arnould (1833-1895)

During the Second Empire, Arthur Arnould was a journalist at the Revue nationale, a newspaper opposed to Napoleon III. In 1870, he joined La Marseillaise.

After the proclamation of the Third Republic, he became assistant librarian of the city of Paris.

On March 26, 1871, he was elected to the Council of the Commune, as a representative of the 4th arrondissement. He was first a member of the Commission of External Relations, whose delegate was Pascal Grousset. In April, he joined the Commission of Labor and Exchange, whose delegates were Augustin Avrial, Léo Frankel, Benoît Malon, and Albert Theisz. He then joined the Commission of Subsistence, under the responsibility of Auguste Viard. Finally, we find him at the Commission de l’Enseingement, under the responsibility of Edouard Vaillant.

During the Commune, Arthur Arnould worked for Le Rappel, La Nouvelle République, and L’ Affranchi. On May 1, alongside Auguste Vermorel, he became an editor at the Journal officiel. When the Committee of Public Safety was created, he was one of the nineteen internationalists of the anti-authoritarian minority, alongside Andrieu, Avrial, Babick, Beslay, Chalain, Clémence, Cluseret, Frankel, Girardin, Langevin, Lefrançais, Longuet, Malon, Pindy, Serraillier, Rheiz, Vaillant, Varlin. As a reminder, the Committee of Public Safety, following the proposal of Jules Miot, was established on May 1, 1871, by 45 votes to 22. The five members were Antoine Arnaud, Gabriel Ranvier, Léo Meillet, Félix Pyat, and Charles Gérardin. The anti-authoritarians saw their power confiscated by the Committee of Public Safety; they were ousted from the delegations. On May 15, Arthur Arnoult signed the declaration of the internationalist minority, which publicly denounced the "dictatorship" of the Committee of Public Safety, "The Paris Commune has abdicated its power into the hands of a dictatorship to which it has given the name of Public Safety."

In November 1872, Arthur Arnould was sentenced in absentia to deportation. He therefore took refuge in Switzerland with his wife Jeanne Matthey (Jenny). In Geneva, among the proscribed, he was active in the Socialist Revolutionary Propaganda and Action Section. In 1873, he was sent to Lugano to attend the congress of the International League for Peace and Freedom. A year after the Saint-Imier Congress, he became close to Bakunin.

In 1874, he left for Argentina with Jenny.

In 1876, Bakunin died. Arthur Arnould was one of the people responsible for managing his manuscripts, which he then passed on to James Guillaume. In Geneva, he contributed to the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, La Commune, and Le Travailleur. He published L’État et la Révolution (in 1877), and his Histoire populaire et parlementaire de la Commune de Paris (in 1878). With Gustave Lefrançais, he wrote Souvenirs de deux communards réfugiés à Genève, 1871-1873.

He also wrote novels under the pseudonym A.Matthey.

In the 1880s, when he returned to France, we can say that the character changed, and not in a good way, for a former communard and anarchist ! In 1881, he joined the Republican Socialist Alliance, a reformist socialist party of which Clemenceau was a member... A few years later, he had to deal with Jenny's death... The worst thing about his evolution was that he would have accepted to be decorated with the Order of Isabella the Catholic ! Then he joined an esoteric sect, the Theosophical Society.

Nevertheless, I would not say that he had completely erased his past as a communard and anarchist, since he still wrote an article about Bakunin in the Nouvelle Revue in 1891.

He died in 1895.

[conradscrime]

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

May 11, 2023

The Mary Celeste ship was built in Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia and was launched under British registration as Amazon on May 18, 1861. On the registration documents the ship was 99.3 feet long, 25.5 feet broad, with a depth of 11.7 feet. 

She had previously been in a wreck in Cape Breton and was very damaged. In November 1868, a man named Richard W. Haines, from New York paid $1,750 (US) for the wrecked ship and spent $8,825 to restore it. In December 1868, the ship was registered to the Collector of the Port of New York as an American vessel under the name, Mary Celeste. Haines also became the captain of her. 

In October 1869, the ship was seized from Haines and sold to a New York consortium. For at least three years there is no record of Mary Celeste’s trading activities. In 1872, she underwent a refit that cost $10,000 and her size was increased, and the new captain’s name was Benjamin Spooner Briggs. 

In October 1872, Briggs, his wife, and infant daughter took Mary Celeste on her first voyage, after her New York refit, to Genoa, Italy. Briggs had left his school aged son behind to be taken care of by his grandmother. 

Briggs chose the crew for the voyage himself, including first mate Albert G. Richardson, second mate Andrew Gilling, 25 years old, the steward was Edward William Head, and four seamen who were German from the Frisian Islands: brothers Volkert and Boz Lorenzen, Arian Martens, and Gottlieb Goudschaal. Briggs and his wife were extremely satisfied with the crew. 

On October 20, 1872, Briggs went to Pier 50 on the East River in New York City to supervise the ship loading 1,701 barrels of alcohol. Briggs’ wife and infant joined him a week later. 

On Tuesday, November 5, 1872, Mary Celeste left Pier 50 and went into New York Harbor. The weather was uncertain, so they waited for better conditions. After two days, the weather was good enough to begin the voyage, and so Mary Celeste sailed into the Atlantic. 

A Canadian ship, Dei Gratia was nearby in Hoboken, New Jersey, waiting on cargo before they set sail. The Captain, David Morehouse, and first mate Oliver Deveau were Nova Scotians who were highly experienced. It was even rumoured that Captain Morehouse and Briggs were friends and had dined together the night before Mary Celeste departed, however the evidence of this comes from Morehouses’ widow 50 years after the event. 

Dei Gratia departed for Gibraltar on November 15, 1872, following the same route as Mary Celeste had seven days earlier. 

On December 4, 1872, between the Azores and the coast of Portugal, Captain Morehouse on the Dei Gratia was made aware that there was a vessel heading unsteadily towards them about 6 miles away. The ship appeared to be making erratic movements, leading Morehouse to believe something must be wrong. 

Captain Morehouse noticed there was nobody on deck when the ship came closer, and they were receiving no replies from their signals. Captain Morehouse sent Deveau and his second mate John Wright in a boat to investigate the strange vessel. 

The two men discovered that this vessel was indeed the Mary Celeste, as the name was on her stern, so they climbed onto the ship and found that it had been completely deserted; there was not one person around. The sails were partly set and in poor condition, some were completely missing and a lot of the rigging had been damaged, with ropes hanging over the sides. The ship had a single lifeboat that was missing. The binnacle that had the ship’s compass in it was out of place and the glass cover was broken. 

There was 3.5 feet of water in the hold, however that was not suspicious for a ship of that size. A makeshift sounding rod which measures the water in the hold was found abandoned on the deck. 

The Mary Celestes’ daily log was in the mate’s cabin, and the final entry date had been at 8 am on November 25, nine days before the ship was discovered. The position was recorded to be about 400 nautical miles from the point where Dei Gratia had found her.

Deveau reported that the inside of the cabin had been wet and untidy from water that had come in through doorways and skylights, however it was mostly in order. There were personal items scattered in Captain Briggs’ cabin, however most of the ship’s papers were missing, along with navigational instruments. 

There was no obvious signs of fire or violence, and there was no food prepared or being prepared. It appeared that there had been an orderly departure from the Mary Celeste, the crew using the missing lifeboat. 

Captain Morehouse decided to bring Mary Celeste to Gibraltar, which was 600 nautical miles away. Under maritime law, a salvor could get a decent amount of money of a rescued vessel and cargo. 

Morehouse divided his crew, and sent 3 members on the Mary Celeste, which he and four other members stayed on the Dei Gratia; however this meant that each ship was very under crewed. Dei Gratia arrived at Gibraltar on December 12, while Mary Celeste arrived the next day due to fog. 

The salvage court hearings began on December 17, 1872, Captain Morehouse had written to his wife that he believed he would be paid well for the Mary Celeste salvage. Testimony from Deveau and Wright convinced the court that a crime had been committed, foul play was involved.

On December 23, 1872, there was an examination of Mary Celeste, which reported that there were cuts on each side of the bow, caused by what they thought a sharp instrument. There was also what appeared to be possible traces of blood on Captain Briggs’ sword. 

The report stated that the ship did not appear to have been struck by heavy weather, or been involved in a collision. A group of Royal Naval captains also examined the ship and said the cuts on the bow seemed to be caused deliberately. There was also stains on one of the ship’s rails that might have been blood, with a deep mark possibly caused by an axe. 

On January 22, 1873, the reports from the court hearings were sent to the Board of Trade in London, with Frederick Solly-Flood, the Attorney General of Gibraltar concluded that the crew on the Dei Gratia had wanted to steal the alcohol on the Mary Celeste, and murdered Captain Briggs’ and his crew in a drunken frenzy. Flood believed that Captain Morehouse and his men were hiding something, that the daily log of where the Mary Celeste had been had been doctored. Flood did not believe that the ship could have travelled 400 nautical miles while being uncrewed.

It was discovered that what appeared to be ��blood stains” were in fact not blood, which setback Flood’s theory of murder. Another blow was when Captain Shufeldt of the US Navy reported the marks on the bow were not man-made, but came from natural actions of the sea. 

There was nothing concrete, so Flood had to release the Mary Celeste from the court’s jurisdiction on February 25, 1873. The salvage payment was decided on April 8, 1873, the award was about one-fifth of the total value of ship and cargo, far lower than what was expected. 

While Flood’s theories of murder were not very convincing, there was still suspicion that the ship had met foul play of some sort. Some believed that Briggs and Morehouse were involved together, wanting the money, but it doesn’t make sense that they would have planned such an attention drawing event. Others also comment that if Briggs wanted to disappear permanently he wouldn’t of left his young son behind with his mother. 

Some believed the Mary Celeste was attacked by Riffian pirates who were active off the coast of Morocco in the 1870′s, however this has been largely dismissed because pirates would have looted the ship, yet the captain’s personal possessions were found; some which had significant value. 

A New York insurance appraiser named Arthur N. Putman, was a leading investigator in sea mysteries in the early 20th century. He proposed a lifeboat theory, stating that only one single lifeboat had been missing, the rope had been cut, not untied, which meant that when the Mary Celeste was abandoned, it happened very quickly. 

There was multiple times in the ship’s logs where it was mentioned there was ominous rumbling and small explosions from the hold. Putman believed that the alcohol on ship gave off explosive gas and one day there was a more intense explosion of this. A sailor perhaps went below deck with a light or a lit cigar which set off fumes causing an explosion that was violent enough to blow off the top covering on the hatch, explaining why it was found in an unusual position. Putman believes Briggs and the crew were in a panic and piled into one lifeboat, abandoning Mary Celeste. 

Deveau, who was one of the men who examined the abandoned ship on sea, proposed that Briggs abandoned the ship after false sounding, there might of been a malfunction of the pumps or another mishap, giving the impression the ship was taking on water at a rapid pace, the crew might have assumed the ship was in danger of sinking. 

Mary Celeste made her way to Genoa, and then left on June 26, 1873. She arrived in New York on September 19, 1873. Due to the Gibraltar hearings and newspaper stories she became quite unpopular, nobody wanted her. In February 1874, Mary Celeste was sold at a considerable loss to a partnership of New York businessmen. 

Mary Celeste sailed mainly in the West Indian and Indian Ocean routes, but was losing a lot of money. In February 1879, her captain was a man named Edgar Tuthill, who had fallen ill. Tuthill died and some believed the ship was cursed, as he was the third captain who had died prematurely. 

In August 1884, a new captain named Gilman C. Parker took on the ship. On January 3, 1885, Mary Celeste approached a large coral reef, the Rochelois Bank, where she purposely ran into it, ripping out the bottom and wrecking her beyond repair. The crew then rowed themselves ashore, and sold what was left of the cargo for $500. 

In July 1885, Parker and his shippers were tried in Boston for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, with Parker also being charged with “wilfully casting away the ship” which was known as barratry, which you could be sentenced to death for. 

On August 15, 1885, the jury could not agree on a verdict. Instead of having another trial, which cost a lot of money, the judge negotiated an arrangement where Parker and his crew withdrew their insurance claims and repaid what they got. The barratry charge was deferred and Parker was set free, though his reputation was ruined. 

Parker died in poverty three months later, one of the co-defendants went mad and another ended his life. This further caused people to believe Mary Celeste was cursed. 

At Spencer’s Island, Mary Celeste and her lost crew are commemorated by a monument, and by a memorial outdoor cinema built in the shape of the vessel’s hull. The fate of the crew of the Mary Celeste have never been discovered, and over 150 years later, it is unlikely we will ever discover the truth. 

[archduchessofnowhere]

In the 19th century, there were 9 marriages between the House of Wittelsbach and the House of Habsburg:

1816, 29 October. Emperor Franz I of Austria (1768-1835) married Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (1792-1873). They had no children.

1824, 4 November. Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (1802-1878) married Princess Sophie of Bavaria (1805-1872). They had five children, four who survived infancy.

1842, 30 March. Francesco V, Duke of Modena and Archduke of Austria (1819-1875) married Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (1823-1914). They had one daughter who did not survive infancy.

1844, 16 April. Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, future Prince Regent, (1821-1912) married Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande of Austria-Tuscany (1825-1864). They had four children.

1844, 1 May. Archduke Albrecht of Austria, Duke of Teschen (1817-1895) married Princess Hildegard of Bavaria (1825-1864). They had three children, two who survived infancy.

1854, 24 April. Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (1830-1916) married Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria (1837-1898). They had four children, three who survived infancy.

1866, 20 February. Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, future King Ludwig III, (1845-1921) married Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (1849-1919). They had thirteen children, eleven who survived infancy.

1873, 20 April. Prince Leopold of Bavaria (1846-1930) married Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856-1932). They had four children.

1893, 15 November. Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872-1962) married Princess Auguste of Bavaria (1877-1964). They had six children, four who survived infancy.

[a-land-lacking-sleep]

Electric Trains are the Future Timeline

Since I plan for Electric Trains are the Future to cover multiple time periods with small time skips throughout, as well as small one-shots/smaller stories connected to it, I wanted to put a timeline together for it that I will update as the story goes on and more stories are added. Note: There are two time periods in this fic, but they are both tracked here.

Hisuian Era

October 28th, 1868 - Ingo appears in the Alabaster Icelands of Hisui, and becomes a rumored spirit.

November 7th, 1868 - Gaeric sees Ingo atop Avalugg’s Legacy.

November 9th, 1868 - Lady Sneasler arrives at the Pearl Settlement with a bloodied Ingo. Ingo receives medical attention, and after seeing that he is without memories or a home, he is welcomed into the Pearl Clan.

September 30th, 1869 - The Galaxy Expedition Team lands in Prelude Beach, and sets up a base camp in a natural valley. After a few weeks of discussion with Irida and Adaman, Galaxy Commander Denboku Kamado is allowed to settle his people permanently in what becomes Jubilife Village, and given leave to bring more settlers, as long as sovereign lands and treaties with the Clans are respected.

December 19th, 1869 - Shiki, the Warden of Lady Sneasler, passes away at age 87. After a week of mourning, Sneasler chooses Ingo, who Shiki had been helping get used to Clan life, as her new Warden. He is official indicted as Warden on December 29th.

January 13th, 1871 - The Space-Time Rift tears itself open above Mt. Coronet, sending both the Clans and Jubilife into a panic.

September 18th, 1871 - Hikari falls from the sky and takes the name Akari as she joins the Galaxy Expedition Team. The next night, after she is accepted into the Team, Lord Kleavor is sent into a Frenzy.

September 18th, 1871 to January 30th, 1871 - The events of Pokemon Legends Arceus take place. Akari, 15, frees the Nobles of their Frenzy, is banished  for a short time, and defeats Volo at the Spear Pillar.

March 18th, 1872 - Akari accidentally summons Elesa into Hisui, and Electric Trains are the Future begins. Akari spends the night talking with Giratina to plan how to fix her mistake, and Elesa and Ingo talk about their shared history.

March 19th, 1872 - Elesa begins work at Edith’s Hair Salon and with the Galaxy Security Corp. Later that day, Warden Ingo collapses due to the strain of his memories returning.

June 24th, 1872 - Warden Ingo’s coat is restored by Elesa.

July 2nd, 1872 - Akari completes the Hisuian Pokedex, evolving her last Pokemon and turning it in to Laventon. That night, she gets a text on her Arc Phone, summoning her to the Temple, and a new page adds itself to the Pokedex.

July 5th, 1872 - While investigating potential locations for a new Galaxy-funded Village, Warden Ingo falls from a cliff face. 

July 6th, 1872 - Warden Ingo is in critical but non-life threatening condition.

-

Modern Sinnoan/Unovan Era

August 18th, 2010 - Ingo and Emmet Grayn, 23, form the Battle Subway in Nimbasa City with the support of Champion Alder and League Official Palmer Walton. Ingo has been Head of the Unovan Transportation Authority for 4 months.

June 2012 to November 2012 - The events of Pokémon Black take place. Hilbert Blackmore, 14, bonds with Reshiram, the Dragon of Truth, and defeats N, the King of Team Plasma and trainer bonded to Zekrom, the Dragon of Ideals. Though inducted into the Hall of Fame, Hilbert refuses the position of Champion and leaves Unova to search for N.

October 17th, 2013 - Alder Begay, 56, steps down as the Unova League Champion after holding the position for 16 years. Iris Grayn, 14, the co-Gym Leader of Opelucid Gym, is appointed to the position of Champion due to her previous win against the League Champion in an exhibition match. Drayden Grayn, 65, returns to being the full-time Gym Leader.

April 2014 to September 2014 - The story of Pokémon Black 2 takes place. Nate Rivers, 13, defeats a renewed Team Plasma, and completes his Gym Challenge. He faces against Champion Iris, but is unsuccessful, and begins working in earnest at Pokéstar Studios.

December 23rd, 2016 - Palmer Walton moves to Sinnoh to establish the Battle Tower, as well as to take care of his ailing mother. His family moves with him.

June 8th, 2017 - Elesa Stark, 31, and Skyla Cirrus, 29, are married in a private ceremony in Lentimas with friends and family.

December 25th, 2017 - In a Delibird Day Miracle, Hilbert Blackmore, 19, returns to Unova after interning at the Indigo League with Kukui Mahi’ai, 21. A few weeks after his return, Hilbet challenges the League once more, defeating Iris Grayn, now 18, and taking the spot as Champion. Iris takes control of Opelucid Gym, while Drayden, now 69, retires to administrative work.

February 18th, 2018 - Palmer expands the Battle Tower into a Battle Frontier.

November 28th, 2018 - During a check on Pokémon in the tunnels, Ingo Grayn, 32, disappears and remains missing. Multiple regional Leagues look into the disappearance, but no major leads are found.

January 2019 to July 2019 - The events of a Pokémon Platinum Remake occur. Hikari Mifune, alongside Lucas Kubo and Barry Walton, all age 12, take down Team Galactic in the Sinnoh region. Hikari and Barry both finish their Gym Challenge, and while Barry is unable to defeat Lucian Hale, Hikari defeats the Champion, Cynthia Kurosawa. Note: This event is used by both Interpol and the Aether Foundation to help ascertain when they are dealing with Fallers or Travelers from other realities, as almost every other reality had these events happen in 2007.

September 13th, 2019 - Hilda Whitman, 21, is instated as the new Subway Boss full-time, moving from the Afternoon Singles line to running Singles and Super Singles on all operating days. She battles alongside Emmet on the Multi Lines in addition to her Single Lines duties. Rosa Whitaker, 19, is hired as a Depot Agent for the Double Line.

April 14th to June 3rd, 2020 - Team Plasma resurges, attempting to attack the Subway and Pokemon League before they were quickly quashed by N Gropius, Hilbert Blackmore, and Rosa Whitaker. 

September 21st, 2020 - Grimsley Winstar, 38, resigns from the Unovan Elite Four due to a medicial emergency. After a short search, N Gropius, 28, is hired on to replace him, taking over both the spot and the typing.

February 19th, 2021 - Elesa Stark, 35, and Emmet Grayn, 34, are married in a small ceremony in Anville Town, with only family and close friends in attendence.

September 18th, 2021 - Hikari Mifune, 15, disappears from her room. There are no signs of entry or exit, and her Pokemon were still in the house. Investigations are ongoing.

March 18th, 2022 - Elesa Stark, 36, disappears from the runway of her Gym during a photoshoot. Investigations are ongoing.

May 31st, 2022 - Emmet meets with Professor Burnet Mahi’ai, 27, of Alola to discuss what may have happened to Elesa. Volo, age unknown takes the chance to visit the Ruins of Life with Professor Kukui Mahi’ai.

June 18th, 2022 - Emmet returns to Nimbasa City briefly with Volo and Alolan Champion Elio Nozawa, 12, to check in on the Transport Authority and investigate Ingo’s disappearance.

July 5th, 2022 - Emmet collapses in the Eterna Forest, and is taken to Galactic Urgent Care in Eterna City. He is discharged within hours, but is unconscious through the ordeal.

July 6th, 2022 - Emmet meets with former Sinnoh Champion Cynthia Kurosawa, and makes a plan to find their missing families.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

BORN ON THIS DAY:

Alexandra Feodorovna (6 June [O.S. 25 May] 1872 – 17 July 1918), Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine at birth, was the last Empress of Russia as the consort of Emperor Nicholas II from their marriage on 26 November [O.S. 14 November] 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March [O.S. 2 March] 1917.

She was the sixth child and fourth daughter among the seven children of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his first wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, Prince Consort.

[rabbitcruiser]

Pigeon Point Lighthouse’s Fresnel lens was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872  

[atotaltaitaitale]

.

Thursday Throwback… Wallace Fountain

Wallace fountains are named after their donor, Sir Richard Wallace (1818-1890). Inspired by London's "drinking fountains", they were originally fitted with pewter cups held in place by a chain, which were removed for hygiene reasons in 1952. The first Wallace fountain was installed in 1872 on Boulevard de la Villette.

Born in London Richard Wallace spent most of his life in Bagatelle (Parisian suburbs). Heir to a large fortune, this philanthropist donated 50 drinking fountains to the city after seeing Parisians suffer water shortages during the siege of Paris and the Commune in 1871. Such was the response that he financed a further 10 fountains in 1876, and a further 10 three years later. In this respect, the Wallace fountains were the first major public/private cooperative effort to meet an essential human need: providing access to drinking water for all. Designed as true works of art, the Wallace fountains are adorned with four caryatids, each representing an allegory: Simplicity, Kindness, Sobriety and Charity. Today, 107 of them can be admired in the streets of the capital. The fountains are still in operation today, providing drinking water for tourists and Parisians alike. (They operate from March 15 to November 15, in order to minimize the risk of freezing temperatures during the winter months and jeopardizing internal plumbing)

Sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg used cast iron, a hard-wearing material that was easy to produce. The fountain parts, representing 600 kilos of cast iron, were cast in three pieces (base, central part and cap). Today, the original mold is still used to create new models. The choice of color goes back to Napoleon III and his desire to introduce nature into the city. The color was imposed by the City of Paris to ensure the coherence of the urban landscape, like the newsstands and the colonne Morris. (Source

There’s only one Surface-mounted fountain left (rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, near the Jardin des Plantes)

[scotianostra]

On December 26th 1780 Mathematician and scientist,Mary Somerville was born in Jedburgh.

Before Mary Sommerville came around, the word "scientist" didn't even exist!!

Born as Mary Fairfax wasrelated to several prominent Scottish houses through her mother, Margaret Charters. The family moved to Burntisland when Mary was still a child, probably due to the navy connection, her father was William George Fairfax, rose to be a Vice Admiral in the Navy.

What makes Mary's later feats all the more remarkable is that when her father returned from the sea, he discovered 8- or 9-year-old Mary could neither read nor do simple sums. By this time I assume he father had started rising through the ranks as he could afford to send her to a boarding school, Miss Primrose's School in Musselburgh.

Miss Primrose was not a good experience for Mary and she was sent home in just a year. She began to educate herself, taking music and painting lessons, instructions in handwriting and arithmetic. She learned to read French, Latin, and Greek largely on her own. At age 15, Mary noticed some algebraic formulas used as decoration in a fashion magazine, and on her own she began to study algebra to make sense of them. She surreptitiously obtained a copy of Euclid's "Elements of Geometry" over her parents' opposition. In 1804 Mary Fairfax married—under pressure from family—her cousin, Captain Samuel Greig, a Russian navy officer who lived in London. They had two sons, only one of whom survived to adulthood. Samuel also opposed Mary's studying mathematics and science, but after his death in 1807 she found herself with the opportunity and financial resources to pursue her mathematical interests.

She returned to Scotland with her surviving son and began to study astronomy and mathematics seriously. On the advice of William Wallace, a mathematics teacher at a military college, she acquired a library of books on maths and began solving math problems posed by a mathematics journal, in 1811 winning a medal for a solution she submitted.

She married Dr. William Somerville in 1812, another cousin. Somerville was the head of the army medical department in London and he warmly supported her study, writing, and contact with scientists the family moved to London in 1816 where their social circle included the leading scientific and literary lights of the day, including Babbage and the Herschel Brothers

Mary began publishing her work and was winning acclaim across Europe, so much so she was awarded a pension by the Prime Minister Robert Peel in 1834. Scottish scientist David Brewster said of her she was "certainly the most extraordinary woman in Europe - a mathematician of the very first rank with all the gentleness of a woman".

William Somerville’s health deteriorated and in 1838 the couple moved to Naples, Italy where she stayed for almost all of the remainder of her life, working and publishing.

In 1848, Mary Somerville published "Physical Geography," a book which ended up being used for 50 years in schools and universities; although at the same time, it attracted a sermon against it in York Cathedral. In 1869, Mary published yet another major work, was awarded a gold medal from the The Royal Geographical Society, and was elected to the American Philosophical Society. In 1868 aged 87 she was the first person to sign

By 1871, Mary Somerville had outlived her husbands, a daughter, and all of her sons: she wrote,

"Few of my early friends now remain—I am nearly left alone."

In 1868, four years before her death aged 91, she was the first person to sign John Stuart Mill’s unsuccessful petition arguing for women’s suffrage, in her autobiography Somerville wrote that "British laws are adverse to women".

Mary Somerville died in Naples on November 29th, 1872, just short of reaching 92.. She had been working on another mathematical article at the time and regularly read about higher algebra and solved problems each day. Her daughter published "Personal Recollections of Mary Somerville" the next year, completed mostly of before her death.

There’s a wee biography on the link below delving a bit more into Mary Sommerville’s life.

http://dangerouswomenproject.org/.../mary-somerville.../

[opera-ghosts]

On June 10, 1865, the world premiere of "Tristan and Isolde" by R. Wagner took place in Munich.

„Isolde… wie schön…“

Here are some of the first tenors to have sung the role of Tristan over the years and contributed to the success of this work through their dedication.

Erik Schmedes (27 August 1868, in Gentofte, Denmark – 21 March 1931, in Vienna), Danish heldentenor.

Alois Pennarini (Vienna 1870 - Liberec, Czechoslovakia 1927), Austrian-Hungarian first spinto tenor then heldentenor.

Modest Menzinsky (29 April 1875 in Novosilky, Galicia - 11 December 1935 in Stockholm), Ukrainian heroic tenor.

Karl Kurz-Stolzenberg

Adolf Gröbke (May 26, 1872 Hildesheim - September 16, 1949 Epfach), German tenor.

Iwan Ershov (November 8, 1867 – November 21, 1943), Soviet and Russian dramatic tenor.

Alfred von Bary (January 18, 1873 in Valletta, Malta - September 13, 1926 in Munich), German tenor.

Alexander Bandrowsky (April 22, 1860 in Lubaczów - May 28, 1913 in Cracow), Polish Tenor.

Jacques Urlus (6 January 1867 in Hergenrath, Rhine Province – 6 June 1935 in Noordwijk, Netherlands), Dutch dramatic tenor.

Francesc Viñas (27 March 1863 – 14 July 1933), Spanish tenor.

Richard Schubert (Dessau, Germania; December 15, 1885 - Oberstaufen, Germania; October 12, 1959), German tenor.

Dr. Julius Pölzer (April 9, 1901 in Admont - February 16, 1972 in Vienna), Austrian tenor.

Giuseppe Borgatti (Cento, 17 March 1871 – Reno di Leggiuno, 18 October 1950), dramatic tenor. (with Magini-Coletti as Kurwenal)

Antonio Magini-Coletti (17 February 1855 – 21 July 1912), Italian baritone.

[snacking-on-art-2022]

I posted 415 times in 2022

That's 415 more posts than 2021!

398 posts created (96%)

17 posts reblogged (4%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@classictell

@daughterofchaos

@thefugitivesaint

@artdetails

@somardani

I tagged 0 of my posts in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Sir John Lavery RA (1856 – 1941) 

Ariadna, c.  (1886) 

15 notes - Posted July 29, 2022

#4

Illustration for "Kindness Week"

Max Ernst, 1934 

15 notes - Posted September 20, 2022

#3

The Girl I Left Behind Me, 1872

Eastman Johnson (1824-1906)

17 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

#2

The Witches' Kitchen by Frans Francken the Younger, 1606

22 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Fritz Schwimbeck (1889-1972) ~ Ghost on the Stairs

2,484 notes - Posted October 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[pixelmason]

Here is the Wikipedia page of Painless Parker. Thankfully, the text in the image is accurate to the page as of Nov 15, 2023.

Here is the full text, the part cropped out is in bold italics:

“Painless Parker (born Edgar R.R. Parker;[1][2] 22 March 1872 – 8 November 1952) was a Canadian-born street dentist[1] described as "a menace to the dignity of the profession" by the American Dental Association.[3] However, "Much of what he championed—patient advocacy, increased access to dental care, and advertising—has come to pass in the U.S."[4]”

Yeah that tracks