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Australia's worst court murders (1980-5) took 35 years to solve
Leonard Warwick and his daughter on a hunting trip, c1982Guns in Australia were not illegal back then, but they were not a good look.In a progressive programme of the Whitlam Federal Government, the...
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Devastation of Ukraine's cultural sites by Russian bombs: a war crime.
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyivstill intact,, sofar!There were plenty of articles about Russia’s worst war crime i.e the slaughter of civilians. Now UNESCO’s Director-General has added a lesser war...
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Will a powerful man ever have to face justice? Ted Kennedy, Mary Jo Kopechne...
Sen Edward Kennedy in a neck brace, after Chappaquiddick July 1969,SmithsonianU.S senator from Massachusetts Ted Kennedy (1932–2009) was the last surviving son of Joseph Kennedy. After the wartime...
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Dutch artist who migrated to Australia as a great landscaper - Jan Scheltema
Jan Hendrik Scheltema (1861–1941) was the youngest child of Lieut-Col Nicolaas Scheltema and his wife Anna Maria, who had 4 surviving children. This patrician family lived in Haarlem and Rotterdam,...
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Was Vienna the most cultured city in the world? 1873 World Exhibition.
Rotunda and gardenson the 1873 posterMarc MaisonThe 1851 World Fair in London had been vitally important, because it was the first! Until then, there had been national expositions in Paris every 4...
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Why capital punishment is immoral - Dr Hawley Crippen (1910)
Crippen features on the front of the Mirror in 1910 The title Dr is in inverted commas.Executing a criminal is murder, by hanging, gas chamber, injection or firing squad. Firstly the executioner...
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Czech town of Zlin - Bata shoes, UK Garden City town planning and Le Corbusier
Map of Czech Republic,note Zlin near the eastern border with SlovakiaPress to expandThe small town of Zlín in SE Moravia dates back to the late C14th. More recently industries appeared in the...
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Artist Rosa Bonheur starred in France & UK. Now a Musée d’Orsay exhibition!
Rosa Bonheur's Château de ByIs becoming Musée de l'atelier Rosa BonheurRosa Bonheur (1822–1899), born in rural Bordeaux, soon moved with her family to Paris....
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Cellini: stunning Renaissance artist & close papal friend. Oops and a murderer
gold and enamel table salt cellar.made for Francis I of France, 1543Cover image on Cellini's AutobiographyBenvenuto Cellini (1500-71) was a famous Florentine goldsmith and sculptor, a passionate...
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What caused the Japanese-Russian War (1904-5)?
Purple = Russian Empire, brown = Japanese Empire and yellow = Chinese EmpirePress to see Port Arthur and Sakhalin Island marked in blackThe Russians entered the region...
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What a doctor! What a famous author! Tobias Smollett.
Years ago I was surprised to meet three Melbourne doctors (my husband's colleagues) who wanted to work, at least part time, in the arts eg theatre, painting or novels. Each of these arts-focused...
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One of Australia's best composers-conductors, Felix Werder
Felix Werder with music score, date?Arts Centre MelbourneFelix Bischofswerder (1922-2012) was born in Berlin. He received his first music lessons from his father, the Jewish cantor Boas...
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Old Parliament House Canberra. Now a great museum, gallery and gardens.
Old Parliament House, CanberraThe need for a national capital city arose when the colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new Australian capital city of Canberra would soon...
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Marjorie Merriweather Post's magnificent art house-museum, Washington DC
Portrait of Marjorie Merriweather Post, Frank Salisbury, 1934I was very interested in Hillwood house-museum in Washington DC. The first half of this story, of the Hillwood collection and of Marjorie...
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Neil Diamond, the Kennedy family and "Sweet Caroline".
John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, and CarolinetownandcountryNeil Diamond’s interest in music began at 16, when he got his first guitar. He studied at...
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Enrico Caruso, Italy's greatest gift to the opera world
Enrico Caruso as The Duke in Rigoletto, 1904. WikiBorn in Naples, Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) was said to be one of many babies of a poverty-ridden machinist. Caruso’s father thought his son should...
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Russian Chinese Jewish history: Harbin
Far N.E China, close to Russia and Mongolia.Often -30CJews have lived in China for centuries. But the story of Harbin, in a remote province of NE China between Siberia and North Korea, began with a...
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Ernst Kirchner's Self Portrait (1907): hated by Nazis and now valued again.
Kirchner Self-portrait with a pipe, 1907. Photo credit: Sotheby's.German Expressionist Ernst Kirchner (1880-1938) painted Self-portrait as Soldier with Pipe (1907) while involved with the avant-garde...
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Fish and chips - iconic British and Australian favourites.
Fish and chips, wrapped in newspaper Eaten with mayonnaise, salt and pepper, lemonBritainThe development of the steam powered trawler brought fish from all over the North Atlantic and Iceland, then...
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Charles Voysey's showpiece - Broad Leys country house-hotel Cumbria
Broad Leys, built in 1898Looking down from the terrace to Lake WindermereThe origin of the Arts & Crafts movement can be found in the True principles of Augustus Pugin (1812-1852), the Seven...
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