And I think I'll call it morning from now on

amordragon:

Since her death in 1979, the woman who discovered what the universe is made of has not so much as received a memorial plaque. Her newspaper obituaries do not mention her greatest discovery. […] Every high school student knows that Isaac Newton discovered gravity, that Charles Darwin discovered evolution, and that Albert Einstein discovered the relativity of time. But when it comes to the composition of our universe, the textbooks simply say that the most abundant atom in the universe is hydrogen. And no one ever wonders how we know.

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, a truly extraordinary woman.

(via nogoodturkey)

dirtyriver:

Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942)

Because when you’re addicted to books you *have to* follow a few bookstores’ blogs, and you keep on discovering new writers you have to give a try. I mean, come on: a woman who was a writer, journalist, photographer, archeologist, morphin addict between the two wars… how am I supposed to resist?

« Ange dévasté » selon Thomas Mann, la Suissesse fut tout à la fois écrivain, voyageuse, journaliste, photographe et archéologue. Sa vie fut marquée par une errance intérieure qu’elle projeta dans les voyages et la morphine, mais aussi par son amitié avec Klaus et Erika Mann, auprès de qui elle s’engagea dans les années 30 dans la lutte contre le nazisme.
Elle mourut à 34 ans, des suites d’une banale chute de vélo.

(via thehappysorceress)

queenskool:

African American woman sitting on a motorcycle with her child, part of the growing numbers of black motorcycle enthusiasts– circa 1971.

(via fuckyeahhardfemme)

knowledgeequalsblackpower:

Mathematics in Ancient Africa

Rarely do historians discuss mathematics in Africa, and when they do, they only discuss it in Egypt and Northern Africa.

However, the oldest mathematical objects in the world have been found in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The picture is of Ishango bones. They were found near Lake Edward on the borders of Uganda and Zaire and are estimated to be 25,000 years old.

At one end of the Ishango Bone is a piece of quartz for writing, and the bone has a series of notches carved in groups (shown above). It was first thought these notches were some kind of tally marks as found to record counts all over the world. However, the Ishango bone appears to be much more than a simple tally. The markings on rows (a) and (b) each add to 60. Row (b) contains the prime numbers between 10 and 20. Row (a) is quite consistent with a numeration system based on 10, since the notches are grouped as 20 + 1, 20 - 1, 10 + 1, and 10 - 1. Finally, row (c) seems to illustrate for the method of duplication (multiplication by 2) used more recently in Egyptian multiplication. Recent studies with microscopes illustrate more markings and it is now understood the bone is also a lunar phase counter. Who but a woman keeping track of her cycles would need a lunar calendar? Were women our first mathematicians?

Considering that I’ve heard an argument that women were the first agriculturists/farmers because men were out hunting, I think, because of the same reason, it is reasonable to assume that women created this tool.

(via university at buffalo)

gingerhaze:

gotagirlcrush:

Got A Girl Crush Obsession On: The Forgotten Lumberjills of WWII

Like the many other amazing heroines of their time, the ladies of the Women’s Timber Corps, aka the Lumberjills, stepped into unconventional britches in order to keep the industry, and country, moving while the men were off at war. Of course, there was also some major stereotypes being chopped down along the way:

They faced prejudice from the male forestry workers, as this was pure manual labor and they weren’t expected to be tough enough. Needless to say, they proved them wrong. Their hands became calloused, they developed strong muscular arms and legs - not traits of a “real lady” at the time, but they relished the freedom and fresh air even if it did cause many aches and pains! I can imagine that many were unwilling or uncomfortable to return to indoor-domestic lives IF their husbands returned. For those who joined when young, or if widowed and having to start afresh, I believe it gave them a strong core confidence, and the toughness to go on alone.

Seriously, though. When someone inevitably makes a movie out of this, will someone please get a hold of me? I need to raid the wardrobe (I also can throw a mean knife).

Read more about the Lumberjills here!

Lumberjills! Dang!

swegener:

fitnessandbodybuilding:

This post is not fitness related per se, if badassery is a healthy trait, then get inspired by this guy, Joseph Medicine Crow High Bird, the last war chief of the Crow and 2009 Medal of Honor recipient.
He will turn 100 years old this year, God willing.

From www.badassoftheweek.com:

“War Chief of the Crow Indians” isn’t a title that’s just randomly thrown around to any jackass who happens to own a gigantic, awesome-looking headdress and a really bitchin’ traditional-style wooden bow made out of the bark of dead Treants. You don’t become a War Chief just because you’re the oldest dude in the tribe, or the most badass hunter, or the only guy in your zip code capable of bench-pressing an automobile. It’s an ancient, prestigious honorific bestowed only upon the bravest, the strongest, and the most hardcore asskickers around, and the only way to attain this hallowed title is by proving yourself in combat and unlocking the four achievements the Crow believed to be the most insanely-difficult things a warrior can attempt in battle – leading a successful war party on a raid, capturing an enemy’s weapon, touching an enemy without killing him, and stealing an enemy’s horse. None of this shit is easy, and pretty much all of it requires you put your life on the line by voluntarily bringing yourself face-to-face with at least one warrior who is presumably in the process of actively trying to rip you limb from limb with a bowie knife and then splatter your corpse across the countryside with a well-placed headbutt. It’s like the Crow Indians’ way of making sure they don’t have any suckass weaklings leading their tribe into combat.

At 98 years old, Joseph Medicine Crow-High Bird is the last surviving War Chief of the Crow Indians. He is a hardcore, fearless, neck-snapping warrior who has accomplished all of these tremendous feats of bravery in combat and has proven himself a step above the majority of humanity on the badassitude scale.

And he did it in World War II… http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=7193340809

Joseph Medicine Crow High Bird features prominently in Ken Burns THE WAR documentary. His stories and personality are delightful.

annachronism:

dontcrosscross:

thegeekyblonde:

renkris:

I tell this story to everyone, ever since I heard it in a documentary on Art Nouveau. Stop fucking up pretty hats, you bastards!

(via elinadontcare)

detenebrate:

0xymoronic:

theeyesinthenight:

volpesvolpes:

sarahvonkrolock:

them-days-was-olden-as-fuck:

The spread of the black death.

Poland, tell us your secret.

If I remember correctly, Poland’s secret is that the jews where being blamed all over europe (as usual) as scapegoats for the black plague. Poland was the only place that accepted Jewish refugees, so pretty much all of them moved there. 

Now, one of the major causes of getting the plague was poor hygiene. This proved very effective for the plague because everyone threw their poop into the streets because there were no sewers, and literally no one bathed because it was against their religion. Unless they were jewish, who actually bathed relatively often. When all the jews moved to Poland, they brought bathing with them, and so the plague had little effect there.

Milan survived by quarantining its city and burning down the house of anyone showing early symptoms, with the entire family inside it.

Also, this might have something to do with it: from what I understand, O blood type is uncommonly… common in Poland. Something to do with large families in small villages and a LOT of intermarriage. The black plague was caused by a bacterium that produced, in its waste in the human body, wastes that very closely mimic the “B” marker sugars on red blood cells that keep the body from attacking its own immune system. Anyone who has a B blood type had an immune system that was naturally desensitized to the presence of the bacterium, and therefore was more prone to developing the disease. Anyone who had an O type was doubly lucky because the O blood type means the total absence of ANY markers, A or B, meaning that their bodys’ immune system would react quickly and violently against the invaders, while someone with an A may show symptoms and recover more slowly, while someone with B would have just died. Because O is a recessive blood type, it shows in higher numbers when more people who carry the recessive genes marry other people who also carry the recessive gene. Poland, which has a nearly 700 year history of being conquered by or partnering with every other nation in the surrounding area, was primarily an agricultural country, focused around smaller, farming communities where people were legally tied to, and required to work, “their” land, and so historically never “spread” their genes across a large area. The economy was, and had been, unstable for a very long period of time leading up to the plague, the government had been ineffective and had very little reach in comparison to the armies of the other countries around for a very very long time, and so its people largely remained in small communities where multiple generations of cross-familial inbreeding could have allowed for this more recessive gene to show up more frequently. Thus, there could be a higher percentage of O blood types in any region of the country, guaranteeing less spread of the illness and moving slower when it did manage to travel. Combine this with the fact that there were very few large, urban centers where the disease would thrive, and with the above facts, and you’ve got a lovely recipe for avoiding the plague.

Interestingly enough, as a result from the plague, the entirety of Europe now has a higher percentage of people with O blood type than any other region of the world. 

When Tumblr teaches you more about the plague than 12 years of school ever did.

Just to throw a nod in, as a medieval historian, this is all credible, and is the leading theory as to the plagues effectiveness at this point. So. Enjoy your new knowledge!

(via thatsjustpaint)