Cathedral Santa Vergine Maria Assunta in Palermo Streets & Squares visits this time Palermo, the Sicilian city with an extremely colorful history. The capital of Kingdom of Sicily (1130-1816), the capital and then a city in Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816-1861), then a part of the Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) and now the Italian Republic. Some vocabulary: giardino (garden), via (streets) GIARDINO GARIBALDI - Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) Italian general and nationalist who helped bring about the Kingdom of Italy. Continue reading

Another one in First Names First! A chronological list of persons with their first name here. Pick one, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them! This time it is all about Colin! Colin Campbell* co-founder of the Swedish East India Company – Edinburgh, Scotland (1686) Continue reading

Picture credit: Luc Latulippe Time for another quote! Things that people have uttered in a moment of elation, insight, inspiration, wisdom, despair – or any other emotion. Try to guess or remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of this article. These pieces are there to lift your spirits, brighten your day, increase your tolerance of fellow human beings – or just give you a temporary relief from whatever you were doing a moment ago – or what is going around you. Continue reading

This time in Language Day we take on a more general approach to what it is to use a language, any language, in our daily lives. And we take on a specific item there, i.e. the simple expression “Language!” And the idea that it is a good idea to once in a while - and in some very specific circumstances - to check ourselves as speakers of a language. How do we express ourselves, how do we say things in ways that may be interpreted by others as offensive? Continue reading

This time in **First Names First **it is all about Laura! So, take your pick! 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! Laura Mancini* the eldest of the five Mancini sisters/part of the Mazarinettes at the court of Louis XIV of France – Rome, Papal States (1636) Laura Bassi* Italian physicist/academic/the first woman to have a doctorate in science – Bologna, Papal States (1711) Continue reading

Uddens gränd in Visby, Gotland This time in Streets &Squares we visit Sweden, and the island of Gotland. And even more precisely the Hanseatic city Visby on the western shore of the island. Visby has been on the map since the 10th century. So, lots of history here, and we get right on it! But before that, perhaps you want to get to the feeling of it all with this video about the medieval Visby: Visby’s Last Stand Continue reading

Another one in our series First Names First! Your “task” – should you accept it – is to pick one of the names below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about the person, and to see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them! This time it is all about Larry, derived from Lawrence or Laurence, but here about people mainly known as Larry! Continue reading

This time in Language Day we concentrate in a very common item, in use all around the world - the pencil! The English word for it comes from Old French pincel, from Medieval Latin pincellus, and from Latin penicillus “painter’s brush, hair-pencil,” literally “little tail,” being diminutive of peniculus “brush,” itself a diminutive of penis “tail”. In 1565 a large deposit of graphite was discovered in England. Extremely pure and solid, it could easily be sawn into sticks. Continue reading

As you may have noticed, we tend to pick each month here in the **First Names First **male and female names that both start with the same letter. We had Clint two weeks ago, now it’s time for Claire. So, take your pick! 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! Claire Waldoff* (b Clara Wortmann ) cabaret singer – Gelsenkirchen, Westphalia, German Empire (1884) Continue reading

Angela Field - Nov 1, 2024There are conflicting views as to the irigin of the name “Penny Lane”. And there are so many famous names of Liverpudlians not mentioned in that list.

This article in our article series Streets & Squares is about Liverpool, a coastal city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside in western England. In the 19th century, Liverpool was a major port of departure for English and Irish emigrants to North America. With the metropolitan area it has today a population of well over two million people. Besides the port, Liverpool is of course world famous for its ardent football supporters - and the Beatles! Continue reading

This time in First Names First we will concentrate on the name Clint, often the short form of Clinton. So take your pick, and find some inspiring stories behind these names. Give this a couple of minutes – for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Let them! Only the year of birth given here. 1828-1208 Clinton B. Fisk* Temperance Movement leader – York, NY USA (1890/61) 1881-1022 Clinton Davisson* physicist/N – Bloomington, IL USA(1958/76) Continue reading

Three gypsy ladies in the 1930’s Helsinki You readers of Language Day have come to see that this article series can contain most anything to do with languages. The lingual possibilities are countless and how could it be otherwise - there are thousands of languages and nations in the world. This time in Language Day, we concentrate on the language spoken by the Romanis. And more precisely, Romanis living in Finland and Sweden. Continue reading

As you may have noticed, we tend to pick each month here in the First Names First male and female names that both start with the same letter. So as we had Abraham two weeks ago, it is now time forAbigail ! Often shortened as Abby. So, take your pick! Find some inspiring stories behind the names. Give this a couple of minutes – for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Continue reading

This article in our article series Streets & Squares is about Houston, the most populous city of Texas, founded by land investors on August 30, 1836, and incorporated as a city the following year. It is named after General Sam Houston, who was also president of the Republic of Texas, having won Texas’s independence from Mexico. Let’s see who are the people behind the eponymous street signs of Houston! 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. Continue reading

This time in **First Names First it is all aboutAbraham! **An archaic name still in use, and very popular in the 17th century. Often shortened as Abe. So 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! Abraham Ortelius* Flemish cartographer/cosmographer/creator of the first modern atlas – Antwerp, Habsburg Netherlands (1527) Continue reading

Time for another quote! Things that people have uttered in a moment of elation, insight, inspiration, wisdom, despair – or any other emotion. Try to guess or remember first who said that, and if you don’t know, you’ll see who it was at the very end of this article. These pieces are there to lift your spirits, brighten your day, increase your tolerance of fellow human beings – or just give you a temporary relief from whatever you were doing a moment ago - or what is going around you. Continue reading

Bula bula! This time in Language Day we have a special treat for all you Survivor fans out there! Some titbits of the Fijian language! An Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken by some 350,000–450,000 ethnic Fijians (i.e. less than half the population) as their first language, and as their second, some 200,000 more. The traditional Fijian language is made up of a number of dialects, with the official interpretation being Bau Fijian. Continue reading

This time in the **First Names First **we will have Barbara/Barbra ! So, take your pick and choose at least one of the names below to read more about the person ! Find some inspiring stories behind these names. Give this a couple of minutes – for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Let them! Barbara Fugger* German businesswoman/banker – Augsburg (1419) Barbara Strozzi (B) (b Valle) singer/composer – Venice, Republic of Venice (1619) Continue reading

The city we go this time in Streets & Squares is Basel, a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. The official language of Basel is German - the Swiss variety of Standard German. As always, clicking on the address links leads you to Google Maps, and clicking on the names to the person’s Wikipedia page. Achilles Bischoff-Strasse - Achilles Bishoff (1795-1867) was a politician born in Basel, Swiss Confederacy. Continue reading