Welcome to Language Day! If you haven’t read the introduction yet, please do it here. Let’s start with something fun! Some Disney characters, and more precisely, the three nephews of Donald Duck. How do you say Huey, Dewey and Louie in some other languages? Would you expect them to be like in English, or just something that would sound just as fun? Let’s see! Let’s take first the country of origin, the United States. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_5887” align=“alignleft” width=“355”]The Louisiana Territory spread over 15 present-day U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.[/caption] In the year 1803, the Swiss Confederation replaces the Helvetic Republic (Feb 19), the Louisiana purchase, involving much more than just Louisiana, is made from France by the United States with $15 million (Apr 30), the Napoleonic Wars between France and the United Kingdom begin (May 18), the first public railway line in England, the wagonway, is opened (Jul 26), major breakthroughs in chemistry occur - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Congratulations United Nations for turning 73 years today! A good day to go through here in Journeys of Life all the people who have hold the position of Secretary General of the United Nations. The original text intended for this article somehow disappeared - in an odd way reflecting the ever changing nature of our world and the politics and conflicts of its countries and other areas. Which the United Nations tries to mediate between. Continue reading

Another one in First Names First! A chronological list of persons with their first names here. Your “task” is to pick one, follow the Wikipedia link and see what if anything the person in question could contribute your life with. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us – let them! This time it is all about Jane! Jane Seymour* third wife of King Henry VIII (1508) Jane Austen* novelist – Steventon Rectory, Hampshire, England (1775) Jane Digby* aristocrat famed for her remarkable love life and lifestyle - Holkham Hall, Norfolk, England (1807) Calamity Jane* frontierswoman/scout – Princeton, MO USA (1852) Jane Joseph* composer/arranger – Notting Hill, London, England (1894) Jane Wyman* actress/ philanthropist – Saint Joseph, MO USA (1917) Jane Russell* actress – Bemidji, MN USA (1921) Jane Goodall* primatologist/ anthropologist - London, England (1934) Jane Fonda* actress – New York, NY USA (1937) Jane Fortune* author/journalist/philanthropist - Indianapolis, IN USA (1942) Jane Hawking* (b Wilde) author/teacher/1st wife of Stephen Hawking – St. Continue reading

Once again, Streets and Squares is providing you with some interesting background information on street signs around the world - a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we go through Budapest, the capital of Hungary. The street signs there often end in utca. Or just út. _Híd _means bridge, park is park, tér is square, and rakpart is wharf. Continue reading

If you’d like to start with a new TV-series that you haven’t seen yet, Tyrant is definitely something worth recommending. The first episode aired in the United States back in 2014, but it doesn’t get antiquated. Not with the way things keep going in the Middle East. The premise of this series is that Bassam “Barry” Al-Fayeed, a married pediatrician living in the United States, with son and daughter, is also the son of a Middle-Eastern tyrant. Continue reading

Here’s yet another piece in Who Said That! Depicting what we people have uttered in a moment of elation, insight, inspiration, wisdom, despair - or any other emotion. Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll s l o w l y. Who said: “THE QUESTION ISN’T WHO IS GOING TO LET ME; Continue reading

In the year 1300, money from Florence in Italy becomes the world’s first international currency, Amsterdam is officially declared a city, census in Imperial China reveals that it has around 60 million inhabitants, Aztec culture starts in Mesoamerica around this time - and all these fine people were born: 1300-xxxx Jeanne de Clisson* Breton privateer - Belleville-sur-Vie, France (1359) 1301-0723 Otto, Duke of Austria* and Styria - Vienna, Austria (1339/37) Continue reading

Let’s have another piece in our series Monthly Latin! Our fascination of this old language may very well keep it alive for centuries to come as there is no end to the wise and for ever applicable phrases in Latin. And the next Latin phrase is just as eternal as any other - and very easy, although possibly painful, to relate to. Ex nihilo nihil fit The literal translation of this would be Out of nothing, nothing comes. Continue reading

This time in First Names First it is about John! Being such an old and common name, this list gets to be pretty long. But take your pick, and find some inspiring stories behind the names. Give this a couple of minutes for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Let them! King John of Denmark* Aalborghus Castle, Aalborg, Denmark (1455) John of Avila* apostolic preacher/saint – Almodovar del Campo, Spain (1500) John Calvin* theologian – Noyon, France (1509) John Abernethy Sr* minister – Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland (1680) John Michael Rysbrack* sculptor – Antwerp, Belgium (1694) John Adams* politician/2usp – Quincy, MA, British America (1735) John Soane* architect – Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England (1753) John Dalton* chemist/meteorologist – Eaglesfield, Cumberland, England (1766) John Quincy Adams* politician/6usp – Braintree, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America (1767) John Walter* newspaper editor at The Times – London, England (1776) John Galt* political novelist/entrepreneur – Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland (1779) Johns Hopkins* entrepreneur/ philanthropist – White’s Hall, Maryland, USA (1795) John Keats* poet – Moorgate, London, England (1795) John Brown* abolitionist – Torrington, CT USA (1800) John Deere* blacksmith/inventor – Rutland, VT USA (1804) John Pemberton* pharmacist/developer and founder of Coca-Cola – Knoxville, GA USA (1831) John Singer Sargent* portrait painter – Florence, GD of Tuscany (1856) John Dewey* philosopher/ educational reformer – Burlington, VT USA (1859) John T. Continue reading

In the year 1718, English pirate Blackbeard blockades the port of Charleston, South Carolina (May), New Orleans is founded (May 7), Voltaire’s first play, Oedipus, premiers in Paris (Nov 11), Blackbeard is killed in action in North Carolina (Nov 22), King Charles XII of Sweden dies (Nov 30) whereupon Ulrika Eleonora proclaims herself Queen regnant of Sweden (Dec 5) - and all these fine people were born: 1718-0213 George Brydges Rodney (B) nobleman/naval officer - Walton-on-Thames, Sussex, England (1792/74) 1718-0226 Johan Ernst Gunnerus* bishop/botanist - Christiania, Norway (1773/55) 1718-0301 1718-0310 1718-0331 Mariana Victoria of Spain* Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Joseph I - Madrid, Spanish Empire (1781/62) 1718-0407 Hugh Blair* minister/ author/rhetorician - Edinburgh, Scotland (1800/82) 1718-0420 David Brainerd* Presbyterian minister/missionary to Native Americans - Haddam, Connecticut Colony (1747/29) 1718-0424 Nathaniel Hone the elder* portrait and miniature painter - Dublin, Ireland (1784/66) 1718-0427 Thomas Lewis* pioneer of early Virginia - County Donegal, Ireland (1790/71) 1718-0531 Jacob Christian Schäffer* dean/botanist/inventor - Querfurt, Germany (1790/71) 1718-0601 Anders Odel* (b Odhelius) industrialist/painter/composer - Skövde, Sweden (1773/55) 1718-0605 Thomas Chippendale* furniture maker - Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England (1779) 1718-0731 John Canton* physicist - Stroud, Gloucestershire, England (1772/53) 1718-1002 Louisa Catharina Harkort* ironmaster/entrepreneur - Hattingen, Germany (1795/76) 1718-1101 1718-1110 1718-1113 John Montagu* 4th Earl of Sandwich/military leader/statesman after whom sandwich is named - Chiswick, Middlesex, England (1792/73) 1718-1120 1718-1128 Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht* poet/feminist/salon hostess - Stockholm, Sweden (1763/44) 1718-1130 1718-0 1718-0 1718-0 Updated 2025-0420 Helsinki Search for more years here

[caption id=“attachment_5672” align=“alignleft” width=“278”]Not three, but four monkeys[/caption] Incredible! Or credible? You know how people say that “I believe it when I see it!” and that that right there is thought by many as a sound approach to reality. And it is also considered okay to not to believe it once it is seen by someone else. As long as it isn’t you who’s doing the seeing. But how is it when you do see it, and still don’t believe it - even when it is you yourself who saw it? Continue reading

In the year 1849, James Knox Polk becomes the first U.S. President to have his photograph taken (Feb 14), regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States via South America’s Cape Horn begins (Feb 28), the first Kennedy arrives in America (Apr 22), French troops occupy Rome; the Roman Republic surrenders (Jul 3), the French scientist Hippolyte Fizeau measures the speed of light, using a beam of light reflected from a mirror 8 kilometers away (Jul 23), the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 ends, with no independence yet for the Magyars - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_4842” align=“alignleft” width=“374”]Saturn’s moon Enceladus compared to Earth and to Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Europa[/caption] In the year 2006, NASA’s Cassini-Huygens discovers a possible presence of water on Saturn’s moon Enceladus (Mar 9), Serbia and Montenegro are divided into two separate states (Jun 5), Italy wins the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Berlin (Jul 9), Pluto is demoted to a dwarf planet (Aug 24), Ban Ki-moon is elected the new UN Secretary-General (Oct 13) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Let’s have another piece in Who Said That! Try to guess/remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of the article. Remember to scroll s l o w l y. Who said: “INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THING, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BUT EXPECTING DIFFERENT RESULTS” A hint: This could of course apply to anybody who has understood the insanity of repeating something that just doesn’t work. Continue reading

Hi! From this day on Journeys of Life will have another featured series, namely Language Day. Every 29th of a month. This blog is entirely in English, but partly due to the multilingual background of the blogger, and partly due to the world being increasingly international, these sort of articles fall naturally in place here. And languages, well, they are a big part of our lives. Even if you only speak your mother tongue, you’re still gonna hear other languages as well. Continue reading

The first cornerstone of Notre Dame de Paris is laid in the year 1163 Here individual years will be few and far between unless we will get plenty of requests from genealogists. But down below there will be a few for you to pick - a year or decade between 1101 and 1200. If you have ancestors born during this century that you know of, you can have them added here in Journeys of Life simply by leaving a comment in the box below. Continue reading

Once again, First Names First! A chronological list of persons with their first name here, and your task is to pick one. Then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and to see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us – let them! Continue reading

What would we do without music? The world would be a bleaker place, that much is for sure. To honor and commemorate our great composers, we present here a list that consists of composers of classical music, but also of more modern music, such as film music. It is nowhere near perfect, but attempts nevertheless to give the timeline of composers through ages. Some of these composers are perhaps better known as conductors, but they still composed their own music as well. Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_5400” align=“alignleft” width=“375”]A Tale from the Decameron by John William Waterhouse, 1916[/caption] In the year 1350, supporters of William V, Count of Holland, found the Cod League (May 23), an English fleet commanded by King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet at Winchelsea, but trouble along the English coast is ongoing (Aug 29), conservative noblemen in the County of Holland found the Hook League (Sep 5), the Hook and Cod wars in Holland go on until 1490, the Black Death (peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351) first appears in Scotland, Giovanni Boccaccio starts writing the Decameron - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading