An afternoon refresher of European history is enough to give an idea of how common inbreeding was among the world’s most prestigious families. Aristocratic bloodlines have the highest rates of traceable inbreeding, and the tradition can be found as early as the Medieval years when marriages between close relatives were common among the ruling elite. ... Continue Reading →
Or, The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. The Shakers originated in northwest England in 1747 as a millenarian restorationist sect. The group believed that they were living in the end times and that Christ had already returned to earth in the form of one of their founders. The name Shakers is a... Continue Reading →
The Icarians were a 19th-century utopian society in France. The movement’s formation was inspired and encouraged by the writings of Etienne Cabet; a politician, writer, and irritator. The Founding Before becoming a radical Cabet was born in Dijon in 1788. He grew up in a family of middle-class artisans. He became active in politics after... Continue Reading →
I came across the term Black Nobility while reading a vintage conspiracy book that liked peppering in ominous names paired with sinister insinuations dastardly geopolitical deeds. There was little explanation of these spooky societies. Coincidentally I was also reading J.M. Roberts’ A History of Europe around the same time and had come across an entry... Continue Reading →
1881 - 1913 Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson founded the Smith & Wesson Company in Norwich, Connecticut in 1852 for the development of the Volcanic rifle. Smith & Wesson Company was renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms in 1855 and soon sold to Oliver Winchester. In 1856, when Samuel Colt’s patent on the revolver was due... Continue Reading →
by Antonia Fraser, originally published in 1975 and edited in 2000. This one is more valuable as a reference book than for entertainment. It’s especially useful for parsing out the various Henrys and Edwards that have sat on the English throne. There’s also a clear trace of the decline of British monarchial powers starting post-... Continue Reading →
The Myst Island Recreation Initiative, shortened to MIRI, was a project launched in 2003 by a handful people who were active on the Myst Community forum. At the time the plan was to build it in a sea or large lake. It was not meant to be a commercial enterprise so much as a retreat... Continue Reading →
Ian Davidson, 2016 This one is a sweet middle ground between scholarly and easily digestible. There's a brand of contemporary non-fiction that I call candy tales. It's that poppy, junk food way of detailing the life of some vast historical figure in these already stale OMG Scandal Gossip or Totally Super Rad Bro tones. This... Continue Reading →
The decline and fall of the Oneida community began when founder John Noyes chose to pass the commune's leadership onto his son, Theodore. Besides being shy and awkward, Theodore was an agnostic. This change caused a schism in the community with one Communitarian, John Tower, attempting to take control himself. He and a breakaway group... Continue Reading →
The stirpiculture experiment at the Oneida commune would be the first eugenics program tested on early American soil. It went on for ten years, between 1869 and 1879. The term stirpiculture was coined by Oneida founder John Humphrey Noyes. He also developed the experiment through his interpretations of Plato, Charles Darwin, and Francis Galton. Noyes... Continue Reading →
The Fancy Times 