Abdel Kader Haidara is a Malian librarian whose story is recounted in Joshua Hammer’s essay, “The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts).” In 2012, along with his colleagues, he organized the rescue of more than 350,000 ancient manuscripts of Islamic culture from the destructive violence of fundamentalist […]
The Birth of LEGO The LEGO Group traces its origins back to 1932 when Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter, founded the company. Initially, Ole Kirk produced wooden toys, household goods, and practical items like stepladders and ironing boards. However, during the Great Depression, he began creating miniature versions of his products, which sparked his […]
The Christian tradition of celebrating the prophet St. John the Baptist coincides with the summer solstice. In Northern Europe, the date is still celebrated with bonfires and festivities. Swedes began raising and dancing around a Midsummer pole in the late Middle Ages. Decorating it with flowers and greenery is called ‘maja,’ also known as a […]
April Fools’ Day, which falls on April 1st each year, has been celebrated for centuries by various cultures, though its exact origins are unknown. Traditions associated with April Fools’ Day include playing hoaxes or practical jokes on others, often followed by shouting “April Fools!” to reveal the prank. Despite its mysterious history, the media and […]
In the early 1500s, King Christian II of Denmark and Norway added Sweden to his “union” through brutal battles. In 1520, Christian was crowned King of Sweden by Swedish archbishop Gustav Trolle, who was pro-Danish and helped by an army of German and Scottish mercenaries. After the coronation, Trolle demanded compensation from those who opposed […]
Introduction In 1929, Italy’s largest publisher, Mondadori, began publishing yellow-covered paperbacks for Italian readers. These were primarily stories of horror, the supernatural, slashers, sexploitation, and crime thrillers. These books and the genre explored within them soon became known as “Giallo” meaning “yellow,” due to their covers. Often, they were Italian translations of famous British and […]
On Saturday, the Pride parade in Stockholm, our neighboring macronational capital, was a star-studded event with many celebrities in attendance. Most of the political party leaders were also present, along with a puppet that represented the Turkish President Erdogan. This puppet caused controversy in Ankara last spring. Turkey has observed that the Erdogan doll has […]
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Let the title swirl on the tongue and feel how it cuts against today’s inflamed political dogmas. For the ideologically sensitive, it burns. The film giant Disney has decided to make a feature film out of the whole thing, and emotions have caused a heated debate. It wouldn’t have […]
Today Sweden celebrates its 500th anniversary. It is 500 years since Gustav Vasa was elected King of Sweden on June 6 at the national assembly in Strängnäs. Then and there, Sweden became independent and has been so ever since. That’s why our macronational neighbors celebrate Sweden’s National Day on June 6 yearly. This year there’s […]
On average, we spend four hours on screens and only half an hour on books and magazines. When children learn to write, they do not make spaces between words but line up the letters in close succession, one after the other. It looks strange but is natural. Because when we speak, we don’t pause between […]
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