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Discovery of Troy
In his epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Greek poet Homer (c. 750 BCE) told the story of the Trojan War, a ten-year siege of the city of Troy by an alliance of Greek city-states. Troy was also known by its Latinised name of Ilium...
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Skadi & Njord
Artist's depiction of the Norse goddess Skadi and her husband, the god Njord, on their way to Njord's home of Nóatún. Although Skadi enjoys the mountains where she hunts and skis and Njord likes his dark, damp cave by the water, they try...
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Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German polymath who became well-known across Europe for his work, particularly in the fields of science, mathematics, and philosophy. Leibniz's rationalist philosophy attempted to reconcile traditional...
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Crystal Palace Interior, Great Exhibition
An illustration by J. McNeven showing a section of the interior (the Grand Entrance) of the Crystal Palace in London which hosted the Great Exhibition of 1851. Printed by Ackermann & Co., 1851. (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)
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Wilhelm Dörpfeld
German architect and archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld (1853-1940), who excavated Troy with Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) and carried on Schliemann's work after his death in 1890.
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German organist and composer whose work is today regarded as amongst the finest of mature baroque music (c. 1600-1750). More famous as an organist than as a composer in his own lifetime, Bach's rich...
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Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) was a Dutch philosopher who combined rationalism and metaphysics to create a unique system of thought. Spinoza was held up as an atheist philosopher in the 18th century, but this is not an entirely accurate representation...
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King's Evil
The king’s evil (from the Latin morbus regius meaning royal sickness), more commonly known as scrofula or medically tuberculous lymphadenitis, was a skin disease believed to be cured by the touch of the monarch as part of their inherited...
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Loki's Punishment
Painting by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg from 1810 CE depicting a scene from Norse mythology in which Loki is punished by the gods for his hand in the death of Baldr. A serpent is suspended above his head, dripping poison onto him, but...
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Yggdrasil
The World Tree Yggdrasil from Norse Mythology, as envisioned and depicted by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine in 1886.