Category: HISTORY

May 15, 2014 at 5:41 pm

Picture of the Day: 600-year-old Tower in Front of a Modern High-Rise

Picture of the Day: 600-year-old Tower in Front of a Modern High-Rise

A 600-YEAR-OLD TOWER IN FRONT OF A MODERN HIGH-RISE Photograph by Epizentrum on Wikimedia Commons In the foreground is Eschenheimer Turm, the oldest and most unaltered building in the Innenstadt district (city center) of Frankfurt, Germany. Erected at the start of the 15th century (1426-28), the tower was a city gate that…

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May 8, 2014 at 7:06 pm

Picture of the Day: Hadrian’s Wall, England

Picture of the Day: Hadrian's Wall, England

Photograph by Robert White | Prints available In this fantastic capture by Robert White, we see Hadrian’s Wall, a defensive fortification in Roman Britain, begun in AD 122 during the rule of emperor Hadrian. In addition to its military role, gates through the wall served as customs posts. A significant portion of the wall…

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April 28, 2014 at 4:18 pm

Amazing ‘Forensic Collages’ of Famous Dutch Paintings

Amazing 'Forensic Collages' of Famous Dutch Paintings

Michael Mapes is a mixed-media collage artist currently living in Croton Falls, New York. He received his BFA and MFA from the University of Chicago and has exhibited his work in solo and group shows around the country. In a series entitled The Dutch Master collection, Mapes uses a variety of items including: photographic…

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April 28, 2014 at 10:12 am

This is an Olive Pit. It was Carved in 1737

This is an Olive Pit. It was Carved in 1737

A mere 3.4 cm (1.34 inches) in length and 1.6 cm (0.63 inches) tall, this carved olive pit from 1737 is one of the most intricate artworks you will see. The perfectly preserved Carved Olive-Stone Boat was crafted by artist Ch’en Tsu-chang during China’s Ch’ing dynasty. The sculpture is on display at the National…

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April 23, 2014 at 1:27 pm

24 Historic Black and White Photos Colorized

24 Historic Black and White Photos Colorized

One of the greatest components of reddit are the thriving subreddits, niche communities of people who share a passion for a specific topic. One of the Sifter’s personal favourites is r/ColorizedHistory (featured previously). The principal contributors are a mix of professional and amateur colorizers and restorers that bring historic photos to life through color.…

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April 10, 2014 at 12:41 pm

This 3000 Year Old Amulet Kind of Looks Like a Gummy Bear

This 3000 Year Old Amulet Kind of Looks Like a Gummy Bear

Photographer Unknown via innuendoPL The story goes that this amber bear amulet was found in 1887 in a peat bog near Slupsk, a city in northern Poland. The amber bear is believed to be from the Neolithic period and was dated between 1700 and 650 BC. Until 1945 the ‘amber bear of happiness‘ was…

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April 3, 2014 at 5:36 pm

Picture of the Day: The Ancient Windmills of Kinderdijk

Picture of the Day: The Ancient Windmills of Kinderdijk

THE ANCIENT WINDMILLS OF KINDERDIJK Photograph by DAVID KNOPFLER Kinderdijk is a village in the Netherlands, in the province South Holland, about 15 km east of Rotterdam. The village is situated in a polder (a low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes), at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers. To…

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April 3, 2014 at 12:35 pm

The Daily Routines of Famous Artists and Scholars

The Daily Routines of Famous Artists and Scholars

Published last year (23 April 2013), Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals: How Artists Work took an in-depth look at the daily routines of 161 of history’s most inspiring minds. Data visualization artist RJ Andrews of Info We Trust created an amazing infographic of 16 of the 161 creative masterminds featured in Currey’s book. The routines…

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April 1, 2014 at 12:22 pm

The Top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day’ of 2014

The Top 25 'Pictures of the Day' of 2014

At the end of every quarter the Sifter highlights the top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day‘, culminating in an epic Top 100 at the end of the year (check out the ‘Top 100 POTDs for 2013‘!). It’s hard to believe we’re already 1/4 of the way through 2014. I can’t wait to see what…

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March 26, 2014 at 4:37 pm

Rare Portraits of Roald Amundsen. The First Person to Reach the South Pole

Rare Portraits of Roald Amundsen. The First Person to Reach the South Pole

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the Antarctic expedition (1910-12) to become the first men to reach the South Pole in December 1911. In 1926, he was the first expedition leader to be recognized without dispute as having reached…

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