2025-12-11 07:13:41
New evidence suggests that Neanderthals were making fire in the UK 400,000 years ago. The previous earliest date of human fire-making was a mere 50,000 years ago.
2025-12-11 06:18:31
From the archives of London’s V&A Museum, a selection of items that were used by Victorian-era mourners to remember and pay tribute to loved ones who had died, including jewelry with human hair, black dresses, jet black jewelry, mourning cards, and postmortem photography. Victorian fashion was heavily influenced by Queen Victoria, who mourned the death of her husband for decades and set off a trend in Britain (more here):
Victoria’s grief wasn’t only personal but influenced the entire nation. Her strict adherence to mourning attire and jewelry set the tone for the era. Until around 1880, she mandated that only mourning jewelry could be worn in the court. The Queen’s dedication to mourning created what has been described as “the Cult of Mourning,” where societal conventions, fashion, and daily life were infused with the solemnity of loss.
During the Victorian era, mourning jewelry transformed into sentimental tokens for the departed, featuring symbols like willows, angels, clouds, and initials. Women adhered strictly to mourning dress codes, wearing black for the initial “deep mourning” phase lasting two to three years, later transitioning to darker colors. Incorporating the deceased’s hair was common, using materials like jet, vulcanite, and gutta percha. White enamel symbolized the death of an unmarried female or a child, while pearls represented children, signifying tears. Turquoise conveyed the sentiment of “thinking of you,” and affluent families adorned mourning jewelry with precious stones for their loved ones.
A+ to the curators in the video, who understood the fashion assignment in presenting these objects.
Also, I love every opportunity to share one of my favorite Victorian phrases: “got the morbs”, which is defined as being in a state of temporary melancholia. (via colossal)
Tags: death · fashion · museums · Queen Victoria · V&A Museum · video
2025-12-11 05:02:54
The trailer for It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, a documentary film about the late singer/songwriter.
2025-12-11 04:15:07
Timothy Snyder: “What comes next? For the Nazis, the deportation and the pogrom of autumn 1938 were steps towards creating a centralised national police agency. In the US, something similar is unfolding with ICE.”
2025-12-11 03:39:40
Size of Life, a visual comparison of living things from DNA to a quaking aspen clone. Lovely illustrations.
2025-12-11 02:06:51
I hate how good this is: Radiohead sings Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (There I Ruined It).