Category Archives: History

Ghost Ship

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

For the month of October, a Ghost Ship can be found on the Delaware River at Race Street Pier  on the Philadelphia waterfront. The Ghost Ship is a project created by artists Biangle Studio, curator Ryan Strand Greenberg, and the Delaware River … Continue reading →

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Soon to be available in paperback

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

16th century “assassin’s cabinet” disguised as a book

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Library of Congress Crime Spree

Posted on September 29, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

  The U.S. Library of Congress has recently announced a new collaboration with Poison Pen Press to launch the Library of Congress Crime Classics Series. Beginning this Spring, classic American crime novels will see new life with the reissue of fiction … Continue reading →

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Science Fiction Inspires Science IRL

Posted on September 18, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

News of scientist Giovanni Aldini’s electric reanimation experiments on corpses in 1803 reached author Mary Shelley before the publication of her  iconic science fiction book Frankenstein. It was an instance of science informing fiction. In turn, Shelley’s masterpiece would eventually … Continue reading →

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Resistance Is Not Futile

Posted on September 17, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

In response to my post last week on the 10th anniversary of the American publication of Hans Fallada’s heartbreaking novel Every Man Dies Alone, TBTP reader Lincoln S. reminded me about the real life story of brother and sister Hans and Sophie … Continue reading →

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Personal Demons

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

While cataloging a medieval manuscript the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh encountered a curious text amid various alchemy recipes and treatises: precise instructions on how to summon a demon called Baron, graph included. Very little is … Continue reading →

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Every Man Dies Alone

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Until ten years ago Hans Fallada was a forgotten German novelist who had a moderately successful career until the rise of the Nazis. When he died in a sanatorium in 1947, Fallada was struggling with a long term addiction to … Continue reading →

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September 1, 1939

Posted on September 1, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

September 1, 1939 W.H. Auden I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands … Continue reading →

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The Shape of Our World

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

The fascinating infographic below explores how the view of our planet has evolved over the last 1,800 years. When most of us picture a world map, we likely still envision some variation of the 16th century Mercator projection even though … Continue reading →

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The Original Swiss Trip

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Brian D. Butler

Brooklyn-based comic artist Brian Blomerth has released his debut graphic novel titled Bicycle Day. The technicolor confection recounts the infamous day in April 1943 when Swiss chemist Albert Hoffmann dropped the first dose of LSD. After injesting 250 micrograms of lysergic acid … Continue reading →

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