The Atomium in Brussels This article in our article series Streets & Squares is about Brussels. The capital of Belgium, and also the center of the world’s attention, being de facto capital of the European Union. Because of this, its name is sometimes used metonymically to describe the EU and its institutions.The secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of NATO are also located in Brussels. Brussels was historically Dutch-speaking (using the Brabantian dialect), but over the two past centuries French has become the predominant language of the city. Continue reading

In the year 1546, Trinity College in Cambridge is founded by Henry VIII of England (Dec 19), Michelangelo is made chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Spanish conquest of Yucatán is completed , Antonio Musa Brassavola of Ferrara publishes the first definitely recorded successful tracheostomy - and all these fine people were born: 1546-xxxx Sancho Dávila Toledo* bishop – Ávila, Old Castile (1625/79) 1546-0127 Joachim Frederick* (House of Hohenzollern) Elector of Brandenburg - Cölln, Margraviate of Brandenburg (1608/62) Continue reading

Talk shows are an interesting piece of television, and there are of course thousands of them across the globe. Here you have some of the major American talk shows, and more specifically, the hosts and hostesses of those shows. Many of them worked with something else originally before embarking on their careers as talk show hosts. Such as in the fields of acting, journalism, law, literature, macadamia farming, psychology, stand-up comedy, and television production. Continue reading

Outer Hebrides In the year 1266, the Moors yield Murcia to King James I of Aragon (Jan 31), peace settlement between Scotland and Norway results in the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Man being ceded to Scotland, and Scotland acknowledging Norwegian sovereignty over Shetland and Orkney (Jul 2), Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, father and uncle of Marco Polo, reach the Mongol capital Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing], setting the stage for Marco’s famous expedition 5 years later, in the modern-day United States, a decades long period of drought begins in the Four Corners Region, putting an end to the ancient Puebloans Civilization - and all these fine people were born (as indicated by the xxxx after the year, none of the birthdates here are certain, but let’s go with this): Continue reading

The name this time around in our series First Names First will be Edward! Ed, the short form of Edward, will be given later on for men exclusively known as Ed. Why not pick one of these Edwards here below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and to see what if anything he could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Give a couple of minutes to this for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Continue reading

Every now and then, you get to hear the question: where were you when… a critical /major event in human history - happened? And you wind back and might remember too, where you were for example when United States Capitol attack took place, on January 6th, 2021. But let us look at this much further back, and in an altogether different way. Let’s see who was born on the same day that some major event in the world occurred. Continue reading

The Lighthouse of Genoa In the year 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, offering mathematical arguments for the existence of the heliocentric universe, and dies shorty after (May), King Henry VIII of England gets married for the sixth and last time (Catherine Parr), with princess Elizabeth attending the wedding (Jul 12), Mary Stuart is crowned the Queen of Scots at nine months old (Sep 9), the Lighthouse of Genoa is completed in present form, Mikael Agricola publishes his first book, Abckiria - the first book that was published in the Finnish language - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1550, Helsinki, the future capital of Finland, is founded by Gustav Vasa (Jun 12), chocolate is introduced to Europe (Jul 7), the first grammatical description of the French language is published by Louis Maigret, Nostradamus' first almanac is written (1550) - and all these fine people were born: 1550-xxxx William Barentsz* Dutch navigator/ cartogapher/Arctic explorer (Barents Sea) - Terscheling, Seventeen Provinces (1597/c.47) 1550-xxxx Matti Heikinpoika Seppälä** Finnish farmer/father of Jooseppi Matinpoika Seppälä - Sweden-Finland (after 1598) Continue reading

If we were to pick people born during the 20th century - not relatives, but (other) public figures - that we most follow, respect, adore, look up to etc, it would most certainly, more than anything else, reflect who we ourselves are as people. Our choices would reflect our interests in life, our values, our likings, our origin. And no one list would look the same, but they would all differ depending on the aforementioned differentials. Continue reading

Every fourth year we have the Summer Olympics. Which happens to always be the same year that the leap year occurs. So, next one will be in 2024, then 2028, and so on. For those of us who are into sports, it is an easy memory rule, easy to remember. But would you know how to say leap year in some other language? Or leap day? Let’s take here the word Leap Day, and then the sentence: I was born on a leap day. Continue reading

If you are one of those people who enjoy making jigsaw puzzles, then here is one word for you: Jigidi. An online puzzle producing company created in Denmark in 2007. A family-owned business, run by Magnus and Mette. In the beginning it had of course just a few active users, but it has grown a lot since those days. Maybe something for you as well? Let’s hear what the creators say about this plentiful site: Continue reading

Betty Lou Oliver, who had recently turned twenty, was working as an elevator operator for the Empire State Building that fateful day July 28, 1945. She was on the 80th story as a B-25, piloted by Captain William Smith, was heading straight for the building through the heavy fog over New York. At the time, the Empire State Building was the tallest in the world. The plane would crash into the 79th floor, one floor from where Betty was at that moment. Continue reading

Marcia is the name this time around in our series First Names First! A very common name in the 1940s seems like. Why not pick one of the Marcias that you see below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and to see what if anything she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, passion, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Give a couple of minutes to this for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Continue reading

There is an online service that this site has found very helpful, but which many of you might be pretty unfamiliar with. Namely Find a Grave. With literally millions of cemetary records! Now, some of you might find it distasteful and/or uninteresting to even write/read about this, but the fact is that we all die, and the millions of people who have died before us have left a mark of some sort behind them - memories, inventions, books written, companies started, places named after them - descendants born. Continue reading

Today Streets & Squares takes you to Lima, the capital and largest city of Peru. As always in Streets & Squares, clicking on the address links leads you to Google Maps, and clicking on the names to the person’s Wikipedia page. AVENIDA INCA GARCILASO DE LA VEGA - Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616) was born as Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman. He was a chronicler and writer who is known primarily for his chronicles of Inca history, culture, and society. Continue reading

In the year 1551, the first officially established university in the Americas, the National University of San Marcos, is founded in Lima (May 12), Ottoman Turks and Barbary pirates invade the island of Gozo (Malta), enslave all inhabitants and transport them to the modern-day Libya (Jul), the Siege of Tripoli ends as the Knights of Malta surrender the town to the Ottoman Empire (Aug 15), Portugal founds a sugar colony at Bahia - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Saint Basil’s Cathedral, built on orders from Ivan the Terrible, commemorating the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan In the year 1554, São Paulo in Brazil is founded (Jan 25), after claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason (Feb 12 ), the future queen, Princess Elizabeth, is imprisoned in the Tower of London (Mar 18), Queen Mary I of England marries King Philip of Naples (Jul 23), Mikael Agricola becomes the bishop of Turku, work begins on Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1260, Kublai Khan becomes a claimant to the Mongol Empire, after the death of Möngke Khan (May 5), the Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France (Oct 24), Croatia is divided into two sub-regions by King Béla IV of Hungary, the Japanese Shōgen era ends, and the Bun’ō era begins, and the German musical theorist Franco of Cologne advances a new theory of musical notation, in which the length of a musical note is denoted by the shape of that note, a system still used today. Continue reading

Ever wondered who is behind the product you just bought? Or behind the company, disease, phenomenon? Well, wonder no more for here you have a long list of eponymous products, concepts, hotel chains, etc that bear the name of their creator, founder or co-founder, or what not. The companies shown here are given with either their original or more popular names. You see the date of foundation - if known - in brackets. Continue reading

Mark is the name this time around in our series First Names First! A very common male name, and a form of the name Marcus (click here for that name). It is related to the Latin word Mars, meaning “consecrated to the god Mars”, and also may mean “God of war” or “to be warlike”. Below is a chronological list of some of them. Pick one name, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about the person, and see what if anything he could contribute your life with. Continue reading