1.
The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)
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The Last Supper is a late 15th-century mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. It is one of the worlds most famous paintings, the painting represents the scene of The Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, as it is told in the Gospel of John,13,21. Leonardo has depicted the consternation that occurred among the Twelve Disciples when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him. The Last Supper measures 460 cm ×880 cm and covers an end wall of the hall at the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The theme was a one for refectories, although the room was not a refectory at the time that Leonardo painted it. The main church building had recently been completed, but was remodeled by Bramante. The painting was commissioned by Sforza to be the centerpiece of the mausoleum, the lunettes above the main painting, formed by the triple arched ceiling of the refectory, are painted with Sforza coats-of-arms. The opposite wall of the refectory is covered by the Crucifixion fresco by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano, Leonardo began work on The Last Supper in 1495 and completed it in 1498—he did not work on the painting continuously. The beginning date is not certain, as the archives of the convent for the period have been destroyed, one story goes that a prior from the monastery complained to Leonardo about the delay, enraging him. The Last Supper specifically portrays the reaction given by each apostle when Jesus said one of them would betray him, all twelve apostles have different reactions to the news, with various degrees of anger and shock. The apostles are identified from a manuscript with their names found in the 19th century, from left to right, according to the apostles heads, Bartholomew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Andrew form a group of three, all are surprised. Judas Iscariot, Peter, and John form another group of three, Judas is wearing green and blue and is in shadow, looking rather withdrawn and taken aback by the sudden revelation of his plan. He is clutching a bag, perhaps signifying the silver given to him as payment to betray Jesus. He is also tipping over the salt cellar and this may be related to the near-Eastern expression to betray the salt meaning to betray ones Master. He is the person to have his elbow on the table. Peter looks angry and is holding a knife pointed away from Christ, the youngest apostle, John, appears to swoon. Jesus Apostle Thomas, James the Greater, and Philip are the group of three. Thomas is clearly upset, the index finger foreshadows his incredulity of the Resurrection
2.
Leonardo da Vinci
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He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the Universal Genius or Renaissance Man, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination. Much of his working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded to him by Francis I of France, Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait, Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle, concentrated power, an adding machine. Some of his inventions, however, such as an automated bobbin winder. A number of Leonardos most practical inventions are nowadays displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, geology, optics, and hydrodynamics, today, Leonardo is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 at the hour of the night in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci. He was the son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense – da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci, his birth name was Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci, meaning Leonardo. The inclusion of the title ser indicated that Leonardos father was a gentleman, little is known about Leonardos early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother and his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who loved Leonardo but died young in 1465 without children. When Leonardo was sixteen, his father married again to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini, pieros legitimate heirs were born from his third wife Margherita di Guglielmo and his fourth and final wife, Lucrezia Cortigiani. Leonardo received an education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents, one, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face
3.
Last Supper
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The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is commemorated by Christians especially on Maundy Thursday, the Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion or The Lords Supper. The First Epistle to the Corinthians contains the earliest known mention of the Last Supper, during the meal Jesus predicts his betrayal by one of the Apostles present, and foretells that before the next morning, Peter will deny knowing him. Scholars have looked to the Last Supper as the source of early Christian Eucharist traditions, others see the account of the Last Supper as derived from 1st-century eucharistic practice as described by Paul in the mid-50s. The term Last Supper does not appear in the New Testament, most Protestants use the term Lords Supper, stating that the term last suggests this was one of several meals and not the meal. The term Lords Supper refers both to the event and the act of Holy Communion and Eucharistic celebration within their liturgy. Evangelical Protestants also use the term Lords Supper, but most do not use the terms Eucharist or the word Holy with the name Communion, the Eastern Orthodox use the term Mystical Supper which refers both to the biblical event and the act of Eucharistic celebration within liturgy. The last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples is described in all four canonical Gospels and this meal later became known as the Last Supper. The Last Supper was likely a retelling of the events of the last meal of Jesus among the early Christian community, after the meal, Jesus is betrayed, arrested, tried, and then crucified. In Matthew 26, 24-25, Mark 14, 18-21, Luke 22, 21-23 and John 13, 21-30 during the meal and it would be better for him if he had not been born. In Matthew 26, 23-25 and John 13, 26-27, Judas is specifically identified as the traitor. In the Gospel of John, when asked about the traitor, Jesus states, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish. ”Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him, in the course of the Last Supper, Jesus divides up some bread, says a prayer, and hands the pieces of bread to his disciples, saying this is my body. He then takes a cup of wine, offers another prayer, and hands it around, saying this is my blood of the everlasting covenant, finally, according to Paul and Luke, he tells the disciples do this in remembrance of me. This event has been regarded by Christians of most denominations as the institution of the Eucharist, there is recorded celebration of the Eucharist by the early Christian community in Jerusalem. The institution of the Eucharist is recorded in the three Synoptic Gospels and in Pauls First Epistle to the Corinthians, the words of institution differ slightly in each account. In addition, Luke 22, 19b-20 is a text which does not appear in some of the early manuscripts of Luke. Some scholars, therefore, believe that it is an interpolation, a comparison of the accounts given in the Gospels and 1 Corinthians is shown in the table below, with text from the ASV
4.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
5.
Aristotle
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Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, at seventeen or eighteen years of age, he joined Platos Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, teaching Alexander the Great gave Aristotle many opportunities and an abundance of supplies. He established a library in the Lyceum which aided in the production of many of his hundreds of books and he believed all peoples concepts and all of their knowledge was ultimately based on perception. Aristotles views on natural sciences represent the groundwork underlying many of his works, Aristotles views on physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, some of Aristotles zoological observations, such as on the hectocotyl arm of the octopus, were not confirmed or refuted until the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic. Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as The First Teacher and his ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics. All aspects of Aristotles philosophy continue to be the object of academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues – Cicero described his style as a river of gold – it is thought that only around a third of his original output has survived. Aristotle, whose means the best purpose, was born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice. His father Nicomachus was the physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was orphaned at a young age, although there is little information on Aristotles childhood, he probably spent some time within the Macedonian palace, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Platos Academy and he remained there for nearly twenty years before leaving Athens in 348/47 BC. Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor, there, he traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Aristotle married Pythias, either Hermiass adoptive daughter or niece and she bore him a daughter, whom they also named Pythias. Soon after Hermias death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander in 343 BC, Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time he gave not only to Alexander
6.
Washing machine
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A washing machine is a machine used to wash laundry, such as clothing and sheets. The term is applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning or ultrasonic cleaners. Laundry detergent is used to clean clothes, and is sold in either powdered or liquid form. Laundering by hand involves soaking, beating, scrubbing, and rinsing dirty textiles, Water for the laundry would be hand carried, heated on a fire for washing, then poured into the tub. That made the warm soapy water precious, it would be reused, first to wash the least soiled clothing, removal of soap and water from the clothing after washing was originally a separate process. First, soap would be rinsed out with clear water, after rinsing, the soaking wet clothing would be formed into a roll and twisted by hand to extract water. The entire process often occupied an entire day of hard work, Clothes washer technology developed as a way to reduce the manual labor spent, providing an open basin or sealed container with paddles or fingers to automatically agitate the clothing. The earliest machines were hand-operated and constructed from wood, while later machines made of metal permitted a fire to burn below the washtub, the earliest special-purpose mechanical washing device was the washboard, invented in 1797 by Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire. By the mid-1850s steam-driven commercial laundry machinery were on sale in the UK, technological advances in machinery for commercial and institutional washers proceeded faster than domestic washer design for several decades, especially in the UK. In the United States there was emphasis on developing machines for washing at home, though machines for commercial laundry services were widely used in the late 19th. The rotary washing machine was patented by Hamilton Smith in 1858, as electricity was not commonly available until at least 1930, some early washing machines were operated by a low-speed, single-cylinder hit-and-miss gasoline engine. After the items were washed and rinsed, water had to be removed by twisting, to help reduce this labor, the wringer/mangle machine was developed. As implied by the term mangle, these machines were quite dangerous, especially if powered. A users fingers, hand, arm, or hair could become entangled in the laundry being squeezed, resulting in injuries, unwary bystanders, such as children, could also be caught. Safer mechanisms were developed over time, and the more hazardous designs were eventually outlawed, the mangle used two rollers under spring tension to squeeze water out of clothing and household linen. Each laundry item would be fed through the wringer separately, the first wringers were hand-cranked, but were eventually included as a powered attachment above the washer tub. The wringer would be swung over the wash tub so that extracted wash water would fall back into the tub to be reused for the next load, the modern process of water removal by spinning did not come into use until electric motors were developed. Spinning requires a constant high-speed power source, and was originally done in a device known as an extractor
7.
Ragtime
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Ragtime – also spelled rag-time or rag time – is a musical genre that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or ragged, rhythm, the genre has its origins in African-American communities like St. Louis years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Ernest Hogan was a pioneer of music and was the first to compose ragtime into sheet music. The composition was called LA Pas Ma LA and it was released in 1895, Hogan has also been credited for coining the term ragtime. The term is derived from his hometown Shake Rag in Bowling Green. Ben Harney, who is also a Kentucky native has often credited for introducing the music to the mainstream public. His first ragtime composition Youve been an old wagon but you done broke helped popularize the musical genre. The composition was published in 1895 but released in 1896, Ragtime was also a modification of the march made popular by John Philip Sousa, with additional polyrhythms coming from African music. For at least 12 years after its publication, Maple Leaf Rag heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its melody lines, Ragtime fell out of favor as jazz claimed the publics imagination after 1917, but there have been numerous revivals since the music has been re-discovered. First in the early 1940s, many bands began to include ragtime in their repertoire. A more significant revival occurred in the 1950s as a variety of ragtime styles of the past were made available on records, and new rags were composed, published. In 1971 Joshua Rifkin brought out a compilation of Joplins work which was nominated for a Grammy Award, in 1973 The New England Ragtime Ensemble recorded The Red Back Book, a compilation of some of Joplins rags in period orchestrations edited by conservatory president Gunther Schuller. This also won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance of the year and was named Billboards Top Classical Album of 1974, subsequently, the motion picture The Sting brought ragtime to a wide audience with its soundtrack of Joplin tunes. The films rendering of The Entertainer, adapted and orchestrated by Marvin Hamlisch, was a Top 5 hit in 1974. Ragtime – with Joplins work at the forefront – has been cited as an American equivalent of the minuets of Mozart, Ragtime also influenced classical composers including Erik Satie, Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky. Ragtime originated in African American music in the late 19th century and descended from the jigs and march music played by African American bands, referred to as jig piano or piano thumping. By the start of the 20th century, it widely popular throughout North America and was listened and danced to, performed. A distinctly American musical style, ragtime may be considered a synthesis of African syncopation and European classical music, some early piano rags are entitled marches, and jig and rag were used interchangeably in the mid-1890s
8.
Orpheus
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Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. For the Greeks, Orpheus was a founder and prophet of the so-called Orphic mysteries and he was credited with the composition of the Orphic Hymns, a collection of which only two have survived. Shrines containing purported relics of Orpheus were regarded as oracles, some ancient Greek sources note Orpheus Thracian origins. The earliest literary reference to Orpheus is a fragment of the sixth-century BC lyric poet Ibycus. He is not mentioned in Homer or Hesiod, most ancient sources accept his historical existence, Aristotle is an exception. Pindar calls Orpheus the father of songs and identifies him as a son of the Thracian king Oeagrus, Greeks of the Classical age venerated Orpheus as the greatest of all poets and musicians, it was said that while Hermes had invented the lyre, Orpheus had perfected it. Poets such as Simonides of Ceos said that Orpheus music and singing could charm the birds, fish and wild beasts, coax the trees and rocks into dance, and divert the course of rivers. Orpheus was one of the handful of Greek heroes to visit the Underworld and return, his music, Orpheus was an augur and seer, he practiced magical arts and astrology, founded cults to Apollo and Dionysus and prescribed the mystery rites preserved in Orphic texts. Pindar and Apollonius of Rhodes place Orpheus as the harpist and companion of Jason, Orpheus had a brother named Linus, who went to Thebes and became a Theban. He is claimed by Aristophanes and Horace to have taught cannibals to subsist on fruit, Horace believed, however, that Orpheus had only introduced order and civilization to savages. Bertrand Russell noted, The Orphics were a sect, wine, to them, was only a symbol, as, later. The intoxication that they sought was that of enthusiasm, of union with the god and they believed themselves, in this way, to acquire mystic knowledge not obtainable by ordinary means. This mystical element entered into Greek philosophy with Pythagoras, who was a reformer of Orphism as Orpheus was a reformer of the religion of Dionysus, from Pythagoras Orphic elements entered into the philosophy of Plato, and from Plato into most later philosophy that was in any degree religious. Strabo presents Orpheus as a mortal, who lived and died in a close to Olympus. Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him. He made money as a musician and wizard – Strabo uses agurteúonta, agúrtēs most often meant charlatan and always had a negative connotation. Pausanias writes of an unnamed Egyptian who considered Orpheus a mágeuse, according to Apollodorus and a fragment of Pindar, Orpheus father was Oeagrus, a Thracian king, or, according to another version of the story, the god Apollo. His mother was the muse Calliope, or, a daughter of Pierus and his birthplace and place of residence was in Pimpleia, Olympus
9.
Violin
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The violin is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use, smaller violin-type instruments are known, including the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused in the 2010s. The violin typically has four strings tuned in fifths, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings. Violins are important instruments in a variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical tradition and in varieties of folk music. They are also used in genres of folk including country music and bluegrass music. Electric violins are used in forms of rock music, further. The violin is sometimes called a fiddle, particularly in Irish traditional music and bluegrass. The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with further modifications occurring in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Europe it served as the basis for stringed instruments used in classical music, the viola. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, many of these trade instruments were formerly sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers. A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker, the parts of a violin are usually made from different types of wood and on the use of a pickup and an amplifier and speaker). Violins can be strung with gut, Perlon or other synthetic, the earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked. Similar and variant types were probably disseminated along East-West trading routes from Asia into the Middle East, the first makers of violins probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine lira. These included the rebec, the Arabic rebab, the vielle, the earliest pictures of violins, albeit with three strings, are seen in northern Italy around 1530, at around the same time as the words violino and vyollon are seen in Italian and French documents. One of the earliest explicit descriptions of the instrument, including its tuning, is from the Epitome musical by Jambe de Fer, by this time, the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe. The violin proved very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility, the French king Charles IX ordered Andrea Amati to construct 24 violins for him in 1560, one of these noble instruments, the Charles IX, is the oldest surviving violin. The Messiah or Le Messie made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 remains pristine and it is now located in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford
10.
Lyre
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The lyre is a string instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later periods. The lyre is similar in appearance to a small harp but with distinct differences, the word comes via Latin from the Greek, the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning lyrists and written in the Linear B script. The lyres of Ur, excavated in ancient Mesopotamia, date to 2500 BC, the earliest picture of a lyre with seven strings appears in the famous sarcophagus of Hagia Triada. The sarcophagus was used during the Mycenaean occupation of Crete, the recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by lyre playing. The lyre of classical antiquity was ordinarily played by being strummed with a plectrum, the fingers of the free hand silenced the unwanted strings in the chord. However, later lyres were played with a bow in Europe, one example from Wales that has been resurrected recently is the crwth. In organology, lyres are defined as yoke lutes, being lutes in which the strings are attached to a yoke which lies in the plane as the sound-table. A classical lyre has a body or sound-chest, which. Extending from this sound-chest are two raised arms, which are hollow, and are curved both outward and forward. They are connected near the top by a crossbar or yoke, an additional crossbar, fixed to the sound-chest, makes the bridge which transmits the vibrations of the strings. They were stretched between the yoke and bridge, or to a tailpiece below the bridge, according to ancient Greek mythology, the young god Hermes stole a herd of sacred cows from Apollo. In order not to be followed, he made shoes for the cows which forced them to walk backwards, Apollo, following the trails, could not follow where the cows were going. Along the way, Hermes slaughtered one of the cows and offered all, from the entrails and a tortoise/turtle shell, he created the Lyre. Apollo, figuring out it was Hermes who had his cows, Apollo was furious, but after hearing the sound of the lyre, his anger faded. Apollo offered to trade the herd of cattle for the lyre, hence, the creation of the lyre is attributed to Hermes. Other sources credit it to Apollo himself, locales in southern Europe, western Asia, or north Africa have been proposed as the historic birthplace of the genus. The instrument is played in north-eastern parts of Africa. Some of the cultures using and developing the lyre were the Aeolian and Ionian Greek colonies on the coasts of Asia bordering the Lydian empire, some mythic masters like Musaeus, and Thamyris were believed to have been born in Thrace, another place of extensive Greek colonization
11.
Top hat
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As of the early 21st century, top hats are still worn at some society events in the UK, notably at church weddings and racing meetings attended by members of the royal family, such as Royal Ascot. They remain part of the uniform of certain British institutions, such as Eton College. They are usually worn with morning dress or white tie, in dressage, the top hat was frequently associated with the upper class, and was used by satirists and social critics as a symbol of capitalism or the world of business. The top hat also forms part of the dress of Uncle Sam. The top hat is associated with stage magic, both in traditional costume and especially the use of hat tricks. According to fashion historians, the top hat may have descended directly from the sugarloaf hat, otherwise it is difficult to establish provenance for its creation. Gentlemen began to replace the tricorne with the top hat at the end of the 18th century, the first silk top hat in England is credited to George Dunnage, a hatter from Middlesex, in 1793. The invention of the top hat is often credited to a haberdasher named John Hetherington. Within 20 years top hats had become popular with all social classes, at that time those worn by members of the upper classes were usually made of felted beaver fur, the generic name stuff hat was applied to hats made from various non-fur felts. The hats became part of the worn by policemen and postmen, since these people spent most of their time outdoors. The 1840s and the 1850s saw it reach its most extreme form, with ever-higher crowns, the stovepipe hat was a variety with mostly straight sides, while one with slightly convex sides was called the chimney pot. It is said that Lincoln would keep important letters inside the hat, one of Lincolns top hats is kept on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Whether it directly affected or was coincidental to the decline of the trade is debatable. James Laver once observed that an assemblage of toppers resembled factory chimneys, in England, post-Brummel dandies went in for flared crowns and swooping brims. On May 5,1812, a London hatter called Thomas Francis Dollman patented a design for a round hat supported by ribs. His patent was described as, An elastic round hat, which may be made of beaver, silk, or other materials. The top of the crown and about half an inch from the top as well as the brim and about an inch, wide sewed on each side of the crown in the inside in an upright position. Then packed up for travelling, the double ribbon fastened under the band is to be pulled over the top of the crown to keep it in a small compass
12.
Quill
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A quill pen is a writing implement made from a moulted flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the pen, the fountain pen, and, eventually. The hand-cut goose quill is rarely used as a tool, because many papers are now derived from wood pulp. However, it is still the tool of choice for a few professionals, in a carefully prepared quill the slit does not widen through wetting and drying with ink. It will retain its shape adequately and only requires infrequent sharpening, the hollow shaft of the feather acts as an ink reservoir and ink flows to the tip by capillary action. The strongest quills come from the flight feathers discarded by birds during their annual moult. Generally the left wing is favored by the majority of writers because the feather curves away from the sight line. The quill barrel is cut to six or seven inches in length, additionally, writing with the left-hand in the long era of the quill was discouraged, and quills were never sold as left and right-handed, only by their size and species. Goose feathers are most commonly used, scarcer, more expensive swan feathers are used for larger lettering, on a true quill the barbs are always stripped off completely on the trailing edge. Later a fashion developed for stripping partially and leaving a decorative top of a few barbs, the fancy, fully plumed quill is mostly a Hollywood invention and has little basis in reality. Most, if not all, manuscript illustrations of scribes show a quill devoid of decorative barbs, quill pens were used to write the vast majority of medieval manuscripts, the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence. Quill pens are used today mainly by professional scribes and calligraphers. Quills are also used as the material in string instruments. Quills were the writing instrument in the Western World from the 6th to the 19th century. The best quills were usually made from goose, swan, quills went into decline after the invention of the metal pen, mass production beginning in Great Britain as early as 1822 by John Mitchell of Birmingham. Quill pens were the instrument of choice during the medieval era due to their compatibility with parchment, prior to this the reed pen had been used, but a finer letter was achieved on animal skin using a cured quill. Other than written text, they were used to create figures, decorations. The variety of different strokes in formal hands was accomplished by good penmanship as the tip was square cut and rigid and this has been done since the earliest sessions of the Court
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The dictionary definition of anachronism at Wiktionary
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Anachronism". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the