The Past and the Present Advances 4 9 min readWhat is perhaps the biggest challenge for social historians is to wrap our heads around the continuum of time: around...
Carrington Solar Flare of 1859 Disasters 3 8 min readIn mid-August of 1859, astronomers were excited by the appearance of a large solar spot on the sun which first...
The Women Went to Work Occupations 2 7 min readWhile there is no doubt in my mind that our earliest female ancestors worked, and worked very hard, their choices for...
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics Advances 0 11 min readCenturies ago, ordinary people lived out their days, going about their daily business, and then ultimately died, all without anyone...
Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread Domestic 0 6 min readThe Staff of Life For labourers in the nineteenth century, bread was indeed the staff of life. For the very...
Eighteen Hundred and Froze To Death Disasters 2 7 min readThe summer of 1816 has been called ‘the summer that never was’, ‘the poverty year’ and ‘eighteen hundred and froze...
Ticonderoga Emigration 2 6 min readIn July of 1851, Victoria’s first gold rush began and before the end of the year, gold fever had spread across...
Spanish Influenza of 1918 Medicine 3 10 min readSome believe that the Spanish Influenza of 1918 had its beginnings in the Far East, perhaps China, while others have...
Patent Medicines Medicine 3 7 min readPatent medicines are not, as the name would suggest, medicines that have been patented but rather they are commercial products...
Smallpox Medicine 3 4 min readOne of our ancestor’s greatest fears was the highly contagious smallpox, a disease that has thankfully been considered to be...
