QUIS? Who was this woman?
Can you identitfy the woman shown in this ancient photograph? If you can, let us know using the Comment facility on this website. Be quick because this series of quizzes has proved most popular and [...]
Quis? Who was the man in the photograph?
The fifth in our series in which you must identify someone appearing in an usual and invariably ancient photograph.Please use the Comment facility to tell us whom you think it is. Clues: G.K. Chesterton once [...]
Quis? Who is the man in the photograph?
We now start the second series of ‘Quis?’ Let us know using the Comments if you know who this is. Here are some clues:- He was not a gangster. He was not American. He did [...]
(Near) disasters waiting to happen: Antonio Cánovas
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was born in Spain in 1828. He was Prime Minister (Presidente del Gobierno) thrice, in the periods 1875-81, I884-85 and 1895-7. It was a difficult and dangerous time to be in [...]
QUIS: the answers
Please note the spelling. This site has many, many clever and bright bloggers, and the reaction to our first three mystery identities has been praiseworthy. Quis One: Pablo Picasso, in a pic taken when [...]
The League of Nations
This preamble to the United Nations has vanished without trace. It was one of the oddest disasters waiting to happen the world has ever seen. It appeared after the Treaty of Versailles (1918 – 25) [...]
Disasters waiting to happen: Publius Quintilius Varus & his Three Legions
Varus losing his legions / en.wikipedia.org Varus was a Roman general and consul commanding a Roman army in Germany in 13 AD, during the long reign of Augustus Caesar (q.v.). He and his [...]
Black Death & the Great Plague
‘Bring out your dead!’ / scienceclarified .com The most atrocious epidemic of bubonic and pneumonic plague recorded, the Black Death started circa 1347 in Europe. The Tartar army, just arrived at the port [...]
Quis? Who was this man?
The third in our popular quiz for friendly bloggers: Tell us who this man is, or rather was. Use the Comment section for your answer. Clues: He had a lot of facial hair, rather uncontrolled. [...]
Quis? Who was this man?
Who indeed. Following great success in our first ‘Quis?’, here is the second personality from the past. If you know who he is, let us know through the Comment section on this website. The clues:- [...]
Disasters waiting to happen: Getúlio Vargas
Getulio Vargas / elreports.com.uy Vargas was born in 1883. A small, chubby and discreet man, he grew to become a rich cattle man in Brazil, and in 1928 became the Governor of [...]
Switzerland: where Italians, Frenchmen & Germans don’t bother with nationalism
A half-dozen of the planet’s most important countries are now infected by the nationalist mosquito. Europe (after the Second War) invented a large country called Yugoslavia which has again been divided into different [...]
Quis? Who was this man?
Here you see an ancient photograph of a very 20th century man who was actually born in the 19th. Can you figure out who he is? Let us know in the Comments section. This [...]
Disasters waiting to happen: Marcus Licinius Crassus
Olivier plays Crassus in the film Spartacus / morphsplace.com Crassus was not the first man to combine business with politics and, through lack of foresight, or because he was too proud to think, [...]
Humour on Friday: what British public schoolboys think (and say) about each other
The public (i.e. private) schools of Great Britain are not so full of toffs these days. Britain’s democracy since the two world wars has led to a caste system that is never mentioned, but [...]
Disasters waiting to happen: Salazar (disaster for some – not all)
Salazar of Portugal / blogoteca.com Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was one of those Iberian dictators who stayed dictating for a long time. General Franco ruled Spain for nearly forty years, and General [...]
Disasters waiting to happen: General Gordon
Gordon meets his end at Khartoum / dailymail.co.uk Charles George Gordon was born in 1833. When his father discovered that the boy was wilful, obstinate, brave, selfish and over-fond of himself, he [...]
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