My favourite ocean liner dome is the one that was in the first class drawing room of the RMS Mauritania (1907). Whereas the White Star Line put theirs above the grand staircases, Cunard decorated luxury sitting areas with theirs.

Ocean liners were rather like buses mixed with hotels.

Titanic was far from the only ship with a glass dome. The White Star Line's SS Laurentic (1908) had a dome and grand staircase which already bore a number of features which the Olympic trio would later have as well, although it's certainly not as heavily decorated.

Gouache on cardboard painting of Carpathia's rescue of Titanic survivors, painted by Colin Campbell Cooper, who was a passenger of the Carpathia when this infamous historic event took place.

Carpathia's mad dash through the night and Captain Rostron's efforts are awe inspiring.

Return of the cows! Here they are along the Maas, near Dordrecht. By Aelbert Cuyp, of course, because it's been his birthday today.

The colour orange was named after the fruit. The French like to name colours after fruits that appear in the same colours, like marron (chestnut), olive, and abricot (apricot). The town Orange predates 🍊 in Europe.

The colour orange was referred to as red, hence "red hair".

The Dutch wear orange because of a coincidence. Prince William of Orange (1533-1584; NOT his great-grandson William III) was prince of the town of Orange in Southern France, at the time inexplicably part of not France but the Holy Roman Empire (blame Barbarossa).

My professor for medieval manuscript studies used this as a special teaching moment (our classes took place almost a year after it happened), reminding us that digital doesn't mean forever.

We'd do well to still have our books ready. We're studying books, after all.

In October 2023, the website of the British Library was hacked and history enthusiasts and academics worldwide lost access to one of the best sources of Western manuscripts in existence.

They still haven't restored full functionality, as scanning the pages takes ages.

Victorian women could wear chatelaines, which were used for carrying keys and tools and the like.

Not only do they seem quite fashionable, but they also have more utilities than the average skirt or dress we can buy today (which often don't come with pockets).

This portrait of a young Elizabeth I shows how curiously Tudor corsets were shaped: straight down, elongating the body and practically removing breasts. The girdle further accentuates the lengthening of the torso.

(Side note: some ladies preferred a closed collar gown.)

According to one of my art history professors, Michelangelo was angry the entire time he painted the Sistine Chapel, because he considered himself a sculptor – considered by many to be the ultimate art form at the time.

Rather amusing, considering how we view his frescoes today.

Who wore it better: Elizabeth I (born this day 1533) in the Ditchley Portrait in 1592, or Glenda Jackson playing Elizabeth in 1971?

- it perishes. This obviously left carnage in the home, so when the knight comes home, he assumes his dog k*lled his son. They k*ll Guinefort before they discover the truth. As a result, Guinefort becomes sort of a martyr for loyalty in dogs, but also as a protector of infants.

The story shares its motif with that of the Welsh Saint Gelert. Guinefort's master was said to be a knight who goes out hunting, leaving his dog and his infant son home. A snake approaches the crib where the child is sleeping, and Guinefort violently attacks the snake until -

Christian saints of old often have amazing backstories (or hagiographies, as we call them), especially the folk saints. One of my favourites is the legendary Saint Guinefort, a French greyhound who was said to have saved his master's son from a snake.

Yes, this saint is a dog.

The Great Fire of London ended today in 1666. Among the many buildings that were destroyed was Old Saint Paul's Cathedral.

This is a typographic etching made in 1875, as shown in Early Christian Architecture by Francis Bond (1913). (Includes the spire destroyed in a 1561 fire.)

It's on humid days like these that I remember Dutchies used to wear multilayered clothing during the Little Ice Age.

This is a portrait by Frans Hals of Aletta Hannemans (1625). Don't make fun of her bridal stomacher; the extended effect is intended. Also, the lace is superb.

This event is often marked as the end of the Western Roman Empire, but the historical process was much longer than this. It had started to crumble for many decades before this (at least), and after the fall, there was no complete shift in culture as is often imagined.

Romulus Augustus surrendered his crown to Odoacer on this day in 476 AD.

Don't let it distract you from how Theodoric ended Odoacer's reign in 493. Empires won through conquest *might* be short-lived.

19thC illustration from 'Cyclopedia of Universal History Volume 11'. 🧵

Natural disaster du jour: Mount Vesuvius erupting, as seen from Posilippo, 1788. By Joseph Wright of Derby, born OTD 1734.

Almost failed to realise that today, September the 3rd, was the day Oliver Cromwell died (1658). Cromwell was of course famous for being Lord Protector of England during its brief stint without a monarch.

This is an anonymous portrait, copied after an original by Samuel Cooper.

John Staveley, wonderfully portrayed in an oil sketch by Joseph Wright of Derby, who was born on this day in 1734.

Thank you so much!