Catherine's Encyclopedia

Locations

• The Palace. an internet chatroom; on The Palace you can be anyone you want to be. Also check out this article The Palace by Nicole Carpenter.
• Chicago's Wooden Alley. In 1871 the streets were literally on fire.

Experiences and Events

• Postcards from Timbuktu. Yes, it is a real place. Also, this cool interview on Atlas Obscura.
• The Illusion of Kate Moss.
• The Secret: A Treasure Hunt. 12 treasures were buried across the United State by Bryon Preiss. Since 1982 only three have ever been found.
• Armchair treasure hunts.
• Pirate Radio. Radio stations broadcasting in international waters.

Objects

Historical

• The Catalan Atlas. A beautiful illuminated manuscript from 1375.
• The Battersea Shield.
• The Book of Kells. A Celtic illuminated manuscript.
• The Voynich Manuscript.
• Ammassalik wooden maps.

Modern

• Les Horribles Cernettes. The first image on the internet.
• Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles.

Psychology

• The Overview Effect. A profound cognitive shift in astronauts.

People

Historical

• Ub Iwerks, the creator of Mickey Mouse. Alos famous for inventing Minnie Mouse, Peg-Leg-Pete, Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar.
• The Siberian Ice Maiden 2,000 years have done wonders for her complextion. Check out her tattoos of horses!
• Denis Diderot spent most of his life struggling to put food on the table, until Catherine the Great bought his encyclopedia.
• Catherine The Great. As the Tsar of Russia she was asked by the King of England to send Russian troops overseas to fight the American Colonists. Ultimately she refused, but what may have happened if she didn't?
• The Lady of the Dark! She is the most-decorated female combatant in the history of human warfare. Her brother who was ill with tuberculosis received call-up papers for mobilization for the First Balkan War. She chose to go in his place — cutting her hair and donning men's clothes and joining the Serbian army. She was wounded in battle nine times, and because of her immense courage and leadership, the French called her the "Serbian Joan of Arc".
• Julia Margaret Cameron got her first camera at the age of 48.
• Elizabeth Lyon and Jack Sheppard. Lyon broke Jack free from prison no less than 4 times.
• Arib al-Ma'muniyya, The Madonna of ancient Baghdad. Often considered 'the most famous slave singer to have ever resided at the Baghdad court'. She lived to the age of 96, and her career spanned the courts of five caliphs.
• Lucie Stern, a child prodigy piano player. She made her debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of 13 and rose to fame before her death at the age of 24.
• Alexandra Kollontai.A key figure in Marxist feminism.
• Anders Jensen-Urstad. Also find more of her work on her website.
• The Varangian Guard; bodygaurds of the Byzantine emperors.

Mysteries

• The Lost Girls of Panama. In 2014 Two college girls from Amstredam go missing in Panama. A blog post by Scarlet.

Modern

• JenniCam. Created by Jennifer Ringley, the internet's first camgirl. The 30th Anniversary.
• Caroline Calloway became infamous for scandals as a student at Cambridge.

Language

Literature

• Bildungsroman. For example: The Name of the Wind.

Slang

• Alpine Divorce, the death of Kerstin Gurtner.

Media

• Run, Lola, Run (1998)
• Strange Days (1999) You know you want it?
• 101 Reykjavík (2000)

Out Links

• The 100 Strangers Project.Mostly done by photographers as a way to overcome their fear of talking to strangers. Hear that mom! Talking to strangers is a good thing. The goal is to find 100 people out in public and talk to them, get to know a bit about their life, and take a photo of them. A retrospective of 100 strangers a year later. The project undertaken by the Digital Photography School. Here is another great article on talking to strangers.
• Perfectly Normal Site. A website for someone who made some of the first video games ever back in the 80s.
• The Museum of Broken Relationships. A museum containing used underwear and other objects donated by strangers around the world after breaking up. It's honestly quite sad.
• Landlines that connect to your cell phone via Bluetooth. They look just like the phones from the 70s and 80s still mounted to the wall with stretchy extension cords. When someone calls your cell you can answer this instead.
• Mickey Mouse Monopoly. Realeased in 2004 for the 75th anniversary of Mickey, the game features references to historical Disney cartoons like Building a Building and Steamboat Willie.
• The Origin of Internet Dollz.
• Northern Lights Search Engine.