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The Kauri Gum Diggers of New Zealand

Two Māori gum-diggers pose with a substantial pile of kauri gum, representing a week’s labour. Photo credit: Museum at Te Ahu

In the middle of the 19th century, New Zealand’s South Island struck gold. Gabriel Read, an Australian prospector who had previously searched for gold in California and Australia, discovered the precious metal in a creek bed near Lawrence. News of the find spread quickly, drawing thousands of prospectors from the dwindling goldfields of Australia, as well as from Europe, the United States, and China. Boomtowns such as Dunedin, Lawrence, Hokitika, and Thames expanded rapidly, with some populations quadrupling within just a few years.

Less than a thousand kilometers away, in New Zealand’s North Island, a different kind of gold rush was on. At its peak, at the turn of the 20th century, some 20,000 fortune-hunters were spread across some 800,000 acres of land looking not for metallic gold, but a treasure that closely resembled it—dried gum from kauri trees. Known as kauri gum, this natural treasure ranged in colour from chalky white to reddish-brown to deep black, but the most coveted was a rich, golden hue that could be polished to a glass-like finish. Kauri gum became one of New Zealand’s most striking and valued natural products.

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Chandu Numerology Pada April 30, 2025 Komentar

The 1916 Jersey Shore Shark Attacks

Travel

Crowds throng the beach at Atlantic City, New Jersey. circa 1908. Photo credit: Detroit Publishing Company

The town of Beach Haven, on the southern end of Long Beach Island off the coast of New Jersey, has been a popular summer resort for more than a hundred years. Located just twenty miles north of Atlantic City, Beach Haven has been the favourite destination for couples and families from New Jersey and Pennsylvania looking for a seaside escape.

The summer of 1916 was one of the hottest in recent memory, and Beach Haven was packed with vacationers. To provide shade to visitors, more than two hundred trees were planted and a new express train from Philadelphia shortened the travel time to just under two hours.

Among the vacationers was Charles Vansant, a 25-year-old stockbroker from Philadelphia. On July 1, 1916, he arrived in Beach Haven and, after checking in at the Engleside Hotel, headed straight to the beach for a late-afternoon swim in the Atlantic. Vansant waded into the surf just beyond the breakers, where the water reached his chest, and began calling out to a large Chesapeake Bay retriever that was playing on the beach. The dog, however, seemed uninterested in joining him.

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Chandu Numerology Pada April 23, 2025 Komentar

Harold Gillies: The Father of Plastic Surgery

Travel

This is Walter Yeo, an English sailor who was injured while manning the guns aboard the battleship HMS Warspite during the Battle of Jutland on May 31, 1916. Although the exact cause of his injuries is not documented, he was likely struck by flying shrapnel from an exploding shell and suffered burns from the accompanying hot gases. The blast left Yeo severely disfigured, with the loss of both his upper and lower eyelids.

Yeo was first treated at Plymouth Hospital before being transferred to Queen Mary’s Hospital, where he came under the care of Harold Gillies. Thanks to Gillies’ pioneering work in reconstructive surgery, Yeo received a ground-breaking facial graft. A flap of skin was transplanted across his face and eyes, and after several months of recovery, he was declared fit for active service once again.

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Chandu Numerology Pada April 09, 2025 Komentar

Valencia’s Water Tribunal is The World’s Oldest Court

Travel

It’s Thursday, and a sizeable crowd has gathered at the corner of Plaza de la Virgen in Valencia, Spain, near the Apostles Gate of the city’s central cathedral. Mostly tourists, they have come to witness the Tribunal of Waters—an ancient court that convenes to resolve disputes over water distribution in the plains of Valencia. What makes this open-air tribunal remarkable is its continuous operation for over 1,000 years, making it the world’s oldest court and the oldest democratic institution in Europe.

The Tribunal de las Aguas of Valencia in session in 2006. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Chandu Numerology Pada April 03, 2025 Komentar

Aqua Tofana: The 17th Century Husband Killer

Travel

Sometime in the summer of 1791, or perhaps even earlier, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart fell ill. His biographer, Franz Niemetschek, described him as pale and melancholy. Despite his declining health, Mozart remained dedicated to his work, focusing on completing his Requiem. He even conducted the premiere of The Magic Flute on 30 September. However, by late November, his condition worsened dramatically. He became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and persistent vomiting. Around two weeks later, on 5 December, he died at his home in Vienna.

The cause of Mozart’s death has been the subject of much speculation and debate. With few eyewitness accounts and no thorough medical examination, researchers have proposed various possibilities, including streptococcal infection, rheumatic fever, kidney failure, and even poisoning. Mozart himself was deeply troubled by his deteriorating health and feared he was being poisoned. “I feel definitely,” he confided to his wife, Constanze, “that I will not last much longer; I am sure I have been poisoned. I cannot rid myself of this idea.”

“Death Comes to the Banquet Table” by Giovanni Martinelli, circa 1635.

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Chandu Numerology Pada April 01, 2025 Komentar

Hating Henry Symeonis: An Oxford University Tradition

Travel

The University of Oxford—one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world—has a wealth of traditions, which is unsurprising given its long history. Some, like "trashing," where students have their uniforms doused in confetti and foam after their final exam, are relatively modern, dating back only about 50 years. Others stretch back centuries, their origins obscured by time. Some traditions are so ancient and mysterious that even the University itself has no record of their beginnings. The Bodleian Library’s Archives and Manuscripts blog discusses about one such mystery: the curious case of Henry Symeonis.

The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, and one of the oldest libraries in Europe. Photo credit: Deposit Photos

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Chandu Numerology Pada March 21, 2025 Komentar