Modern History

[image] You never know. This ordinary French farmhouse became a significant D-Day site. The de Vallavieille family’s farm, Brécourt Manor, was occupied by the Germans because of its strategic location for a concealed artillery position. The family was forced to live on the property

[image] Mysterious. Tiffany Studios Bronze and Turtleback Glass Tile Desk Lamp, crafted around 1910.

[image] When Winston Churchill visited the United States during Prohibition in 1932, he was issued a doctor's note authorizing the Prime Minister to drink an "indefinite" amount of alcohol for health reasons.

[image] This is how you turn eating dinner into a "gastronomical experience." 19th-century agate flatware.

[image] Marie Antoinette's personal theatre in Versailles.

[image] Surreal. Art Nouveau Pond Lily Table Lamp, made by Tiffany Studios around 1902-10

[image] Gothic Revival in all its splendour at Strawberry Hill House, England.

[image] A Stunning Art Nouveau wicker armchair from France around 1910.

[image] Beauty will save us. Trembleuse Art Nouveau Dragonfly crafted with Aquamarine, Diamond and Ruby. London, around 1900.

[image] Art Nouveau Liberty Bridge, designed by János Feketeházy and built for the late-19th-century Millennium World Exhibition, spanning the Danube river between Buda and Pest.

[image] Prague doesn't just have history - it lives in it. A city of cobblestone, secrets, and soaring gothic spires 🏰

[image] In 1518, residents of Strasbourg were struck by a bizarre and terrifying phenomenon now known as the Dancing Plague. Dozens (possibly hundreds) of people danced uncontrollably for days on end. Some reportedly collapsed from exhaustion, while others are said to have died from

[image] Art Nouveau Lamp cast in bronze from around the 1890s.

[image] "I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable

[image] Remembering Captain Walter J. Huchthausen, killed in action in the final months of WWII. Before the war he was an American architect and educator. He served with the MFAA ("Monuments Men") unit, tasked with protecting cultural monuments and rescuing Nazi-looted art. He was

[image] A lovely display of Victorian-era cosmetics. There's just one catch. Used long enough, and they can be lethal. Victorian cosmetics sometimes contained toxic ingredients including lead, mercury, ammonia, and ... arsenic.