At Work in the Congress Gold Mine Near Wickenburg, Arizona in 1890

At Work in the Congress Gold Mine Near Wickenburg, Arizona in 1890
Originally uploaded by The Nite Tripper

This is a photo that I took of an old photograph of four miners hard at work in the Congress Gold Mine near the town of Wickenburg in the Arizona Territory in 1890. Mining in the late 19th century was one of the most dangerous occupations in existence.

Miners usually worked 12 hour shifts in dark and dangerous conditions. Gold and silver deposits lie in angular positions unlike coal that lies in generally flat deposits. Gold miners spent the majority of their time tunneling down and then up underneath the vein. This involved the use of hammering metal spikes into the solid rock to place dynamite for blasting. However, before dynamite was placed, the miners used a type of jack hammer that was powered by compressed air and was known as the "widow maker." This machine was not only deafening, it also created huge clouds of rock dust and sent millions of tiny shards of broken rock into the air that was breathed in by the miners. These tiny shards scraped the insides of the miners' lungs; causing them to hemorrhage and cough up blood....this was known as "miner's consumption."

Once the holes were ready, the dynamite was placed and the miners got about 50 feet away (they thought this was a safe distance). When the dynamite was lit, someone yelled "Fire in the hole!!" Once most of the smoke cleared, they picked up the rubble and started all over again. These miners were plagued with deafness, miner's consumption, missing fingers, sore backs, and headaches from the smoke and darkness (they were given only four small tallow candles per shift.....once these were done, they had to work in darkness).

When their 12 hour shift was over, they passed through a room where sat a mining official and a man armed with a shotgun.....the miners were strip searched to see if they were sneaking gold out.....if they were found to not be carrying gold, they could go home and rest up for the next 12 hour shift, if they were found to have gold, they were taken to the town square and promptly hanged.......the average lifespan for a miner in the Old West was 34 years.

There were hundreds of mines such as this in the Arizona Territory.....many produced huge amounts of gold and personal tragedy.

Church On the Mount in Goldfield, Arizona

Church On the Mount in Goldfield, Arizona
Originally uploaded by The Nite Tripper

This is a photograph that I took of the Church On the Mount in Goldfield, Arizona just outside of the city of Mesa. At one time, Goldfield was a prosperous gold mining town with a population larger than that of Phoenix, Arizona. However, that boom time was short lived, lasting only from 1893 until 1897. After the mines flooded, the place became a ghost town until a brief revival in the 1920's, after which the town busted again.

The Church On the Mount is located at the foot of the Superstition Mountain (in the background). It is a Baptist Church and services are held there every Sunday throughout the year.

Britain’s best and the places to experience them

Whether they’re true, just good stories or somewhere in between, we all love a juicy myth or legend. Here are some of Britain’s best and the places to experience them.

Tintagel, Cornwall
Head to the wild and unspoiled cliffs of Tintagel to discover the mythical birthplace of King Arthur. It was medieval historian Geoffrey of Monmouth who first proposed the theory that Arthur was born here and that the wizard Merlin lived in a cave nearby. Ruined Tintagel Castle, set on the blustery cliff top, is a wonderfully romantic setting from which to explore the legend.

- Find out more about Cornwall

Robin Hood, Nottingham
We all know this one. Or do we? The outlaw hero and expert archer who robs the rich to feed the poor is about as English as tea and crumpets. But surprisingly little is known about the man himself. So don your suit of green, assemble some merry men and head to Nottingham to see if you can discover this elusive chap yourself. You might find him at the Major Oak, the ancient tree in Sherwood Forest rumoured to be his hideout.

- Find out more about Robin Hood

Glastonbury, Somerset
Glastonbury is knee-deep in supernatural associations. It stands at the junction of ley lines, the supposed mystical motorways of spiritual energy and is said to be the final resting place of King Arthur. Many believe a young Jesus Christ visited the site and that the town’s Chalice Well is the hiding place of the Holy Grail. A visit from Jesus is not as far fetched as it sounds - Joseph of Arimathea, a relation of Mary, owned a mine in the area.

- Discover more about Glastonbury

The Loch Ness Monster, Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands
Few things shout Scotland louder than the mythical monster that skulks in Loch Ness, Britain's longest body of fresh water. Sightings of Nessie have declined over recent years and despite high-profile submarine searches and much-disputed photographs, the beast seems quite content to maintain its low profile. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t catch a glimpse of Nessie, though. The loch itself is beautiful enough and the Highlands have sufficient mystery and magic for anyone.

- To learn more about Loch Ness, visit our Loch Ness destination guide

Rosslyn Chapel, Roslin, Scotland
This medieval church outside Edinburgh has long-standing links to the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. Carvings, rich in symbolism, sprout from every surface in an astonishing ‘essay in stone’ and many believe the Chapel is the repository for the Holy Grail – as speculated in The Da Vinci Code. Whatever you believe, Rosslyn’s forest of carvings is inspiring, mystifying and truly unique.

- To find out more about Rosslyn visit the chapel website

Jack the Ripper, East London
The serial killer known as Jack the Ripper was scarily real and the fact that 5 London prostitutes were brutally murdered in 1888 is beyond dispute. More mysterious is the identity of the killer with suspects ranging from artist Walter Sickert to author Lewis Carroll. Tour the fog-cloaked streets of East London to review the evidence for yourself. While Whitechapel retains something of the night, by day it has a great mix of hip boutiques, designer bars and, on Brick Lane, curry houses as far as the eye can see.

- Discover London with our destination guide

St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall
St Michael's Mount at Penzance is a small tidal island just off the coast of Cornwall. Legend has it the Mount was the work of Cornish giant Cormoran who built a fortified home from where he could terrorise the locals living in the coastal village of Marazion. But one night, local lad Jack crept over to the island and dug a hole disguising it with straw. When Jack woke him, Cormoran blundered into the hole never to escape. Walk up St Michael's Mount, see Jack’s hole and put your head against the nearby rock. It is said you can still hear the giant's heart beating.

- Learn more about Cornish legends at Visit Cornwall

Stonehenge, Salisbury
Stonehenge is the most famous megalithic (literally meaning ‘big stone’) monument in the world. Dating back an amazing 50,000 years, it’s drawn visitors for literally millennia. A place of ritual sacrifice and sun worship or a massive calendar? Nobody really knows its purpose, but no one who has ever been there will deny, it is truly awe inspiring.

- Get more information on Stonehenge

Wookey Hole Witch, Wookey Hole Caves near Wells
Deep within the dank, underground caves of Wookey Hole lived the fearsome Wookey Hole Witch. Long ago, the villagers of Wookey implored the Abbot of Glastonbury to send a protector against this malevolent hag. Enter Father Bernard, Benedictine monk and crack exorcist. Bernard scooped up some water, quickly blessed it and threw it over the witch turning her to stone. You can still see the witch’s petrified form deep in these extraordinary caves.

- Find out more about the Wookey Hole Witch

Cerne Abbas Giant, Cerne Abbas near Dorchester
A gigantic figure etched in a chalk hillside guards the village of Cerne Abbas near Dorchester. Naked apart from a huge club he’s certainly an arresting sight. But his true meaning and even his age are in dispute. Is he an ancient fertility symbol, a cheeky 17th-century joke or something else entirely? The only time he’s been clothed is during World War II when he was disguised to prevent the enemy from using him as an aerial landmark.

- Find out more about the Cerne Abbas Giant

jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

Jesus im Garten Gethsemane / Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Originally uploaded by josephdesarre

Picture window / Paulus Church / Neunkirchen / Saarland / Germany
by György Károly László Lehoczky (* 30. August 1901 in Vihnyepeszerény, Hungary;†
16. Januar 1979 in Saarbruecken) he was an architekt an painter for stained glasses

man with marbles

man with marbles
Originally uploaded by oldbearchris

Guardian of The Temple of Dawn

Guardian of The Temple of Dawn
Originally uploaded by c4rn1val

Wat Arun, Bangkok

Joanna of Aragon and Philip "the Handsome"

Joanna of Aragon and Philip "the Handsome"
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

probably made before their marriage. Joanna was the interesting one: Philip was just an unfaithful asshat. Joanna was the daughter of Isabella of Spain (a lady-asshat) and the mother of Emperor Charles V. She was called "Juana la Loca" or "Joanna the Mad".
He likely drove her to it!

c. 1490s, from the Chapel of the Holy Blood, Bruges

pre-feminism wifehood immortalized

pre-feminism wifehood immortalized
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

"Mary Salome and Zebedee (wtf?!)", German, c. 1520

Warner van Norden and members of the Holland Society

Warner van Norden and members of the Holland Society
Originally uploaded by Jay Heritage Center

Warner van Norden (top left with white mustache) and members of the Holland Society aboard the replica Half Moon in 1909.

Featured in the JHC "Legacy of Sailing" exhibit about yachting--the word "yacht" is Dutch in origin

Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria

Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

Mary was a notable beauty who died tragically early in a horseback-riding accident. I'll probably upload some portraits of her at some point.

Bruges, 1490s, from the Chapel of the Holy Blood.

Bomarzo - Parco dei mostri

Bomarzo - Parco dei mostri
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Bomarzo - Parco dei mostri

Bomarzo - Parco dei mostri
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Sutri 167

Sutri 167
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Runestone of the week

Runestone of the week
Originally uploaded by catarina.berg

This stone looks different from the other
ones with its sparse runes. It stands outside of the Cathedral of Uppsala.
It was rediscovered in a grave chapel inside the church in 1975 and then came to its present place.
The translation of the text reads:
"Ring and Hulte and Fastger had the stone raised after Vigmar, their father,
a good ship chieftain. Likbjörn carved."
The number of the stone is
Fv1976:104. - 1100th century A.D.

Glyptothek - Munich 13

Glyptothek - Munich 13
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

A neoclassic portrait of King Ludwig I Wittelsbach of Bavaria (grandfather of the more famous King Ludwig II, the "Marchenkönig"), the man whose passion for the Greek civilisation transformed the traditional and rural Munich into the cosmopolite metropolis that still is.

Linke Portaltür der Bauakademie Berlin / Left portal door, Academy of Architecture Berlin

Linke Portaltür der Bauakademie Berlin / Left portal door, Academy of Architecture Berlin
Originally uploaded by josephdesarre

Currently installed in the so-called Schinkel Klause

Berlin Academy of Architecture: Built according to plans of the Prussian Chief Building Director Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1832 to 1836. In the 2nd World War heavily damaged the building was build up again in 1953.
In 1961, demolished to create space for the construction of the building to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR . Following the demolition of the Ministry in 1996 decided to re-establish the Berlin Academy of Architecture on the plans of Schinkel.

Detail Linke Portaltür der Bauakademie Berlin / Detail Left portal door, Academy of Architecture Berlin

Detail Linke Portaltür der Bauakademie Berlin / Detail Left portal door, Academy of Architecture Berlin
Originally uploaded by josephdesarre

Hercules and the nemean lion
Currently installed in the so-called Schinkel Klause

Berlin Academy of Architecture: Built according to plans of the Prussian Chief Building Director Karl Friedrich Schinkel from 1832 to 1836. In the 2nd World War heavily damaged the building was build up again in 1953.
In 1961, demolished to create space for the construction of the building to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR . Following the demolition of the Ministry in 1996 decided to re-establish the Berlin Academy of Architecture on the plans of Schinkel.

Staatliche Antikesammlungen München

Staatliche Antikesammlungen München
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Staatliche Antikesammlungen München

Staatliche Antikesammlungen München
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Tarquinia - Archaeological Museum

Tarquinia - Archaeological Museum
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Egyptian vase that depicts a monkey eating from a palm, an iconography that evidences the contacts of the Aetruscan civilisation with the Egyptian one.
It belongs to the Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia (Latium, Italy).

3 tall ships visit Plymouth Mass

708901251_4qUJA-O
Originally uploaded by jimcurran5

Roma - Pantheon - Tomba di Raffaello

Roma - Pantheon - Tomba di Raffaello
Originally uploaded by Andrea Duranti

Pergamon Altar Nordfries / The great Altar of Pergamon North frieze

Pergamon Altar Nordfries / The great Altar of Pergamon North frieze
Originally uploaded by josephdesarre

Great Altar of Pergamon / North frieze
An unidentifiable giant in the struggle against Aphrodite, goddess of love, her mother Dione “The Earth Mother” and her son Eros, god of sexual love and beauty

London by night

London by night
Originally uploaded by foreyesonly

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

women playing a game with knucklebones

women playing a game with knucklebones
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

Made in Campania
340-330 BC
Terracotta

a view of heaven Hampton Court

a view of heaven
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

Earthquake damaged Taiwan

Earthquake damaged Taiwan
Originally uploaded by squitten

The Japanese built this railway bridge when they occupied Taiwan, it was destroyed in 1991 by an earthquake

Erotische Szene geschnitzt in eine Erbsenschote / Erotic scene carved into a pea pod

Erotische Szene geschnitzt in eine Erbsenschote / Erotic scene carved into a pea pod
Originally uploaded by josephdesarre

Erotic scene in a Amulet
Carving, Germany, 15th Century
Arts and Crafts Museum / Hamburg / Germany

'shabti' ipay (rmo leiden egypt 18d)

'shabti' ipay (rmo leiden egypt 18d)
Originally uploaded by koopmanrob

Ophelia

Ophelia
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

Thomas Francis Dicksee, 1875

detail of the Annunciation

detail of the Annunciation
Originally uploaded by rosewithoutathorn84

Runestone of the week

Runestone of the week
Originally uploaded by catarina.berg

This is stone nr Vs 13, Vs stands for Västmanland, which is a province in Sweden. The stone stands in front of
a gravemound, the so called Anunds-
mound, which domnates a large grave-
field. The stone dates from 1000-1050 AD. - The text reads:
"Folkvid raised all of these stones in memory of his son Heden, Anunds brother. Vred cut the runes."

Prehistoric horse

Prehistoric horse
Originally uploaded by blaat70

The Meditation Garden At Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion In Memphis, Tennessee

The Meditation Garden At Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion In Memphis, Tennessee
Originally uploaded by The Nite Tripper

Flußgott Acheloos / River god Achelous

Flußgott Acheloos / River god Achelous
Originally uploaded by josephdesarre

Mask of the river god Achelous, attic, 470 BC, found in Marathon

Vatican City 2007 - St. Peter's Square

Vatican City 2007 - St. Peter's Square
Originally uploaded by \W/intermute

The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace".

Athens 2006 - The Parthenon

Athens 2006 - The Parthenon
Originally uploaded by \W/intermute

The Parthenon has stood atop the Acropolis of Athens for nearly 2,500 years and was built to give thanks to Athena, the city's patron goddess, for the salvation of Athens and Greece in the Persian Wars. The building was officially called the Temple of Athena the Virgin; "Parthenon" comes from the Greek word parthenos, "virgin."

WORLD RENOWNED SCIENTISTS REVEAL A REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC FIND THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING

From the beginning, Ida's unveiling has been a master class in ballyhoo. A week ago, the first breathless press releases began to arrive, portending the presentation of the now famous 47-million-year-old primate fossil from Germany: "MEDIA ALERT," the notice shouted in all caps. "WORLD RENOWNED SCIENTISTS REVEAL A REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC FIND THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING."

The press releases were followed by an international press conference at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the publication of a book, The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor (Little, Brown), an ABC News exclusive and on May 25 a primetime television special on the History Channel. Of the avalanche of media-related promotion, Jorn Hurum, a Norwegian paleontologist involved in Ida's discovery, told the New York Times, "Any pop band is doing the same thing." (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2008.)

This isn't exactly the stamp of approval most scientists look for, though, and in this case the puffery is especially unfortunate because the actual scientific finding, described in a paper published on Tuesday in the online journal PLoS One, really is important. First, the young mammal, which would have looked like a cross between a lemur and a small monkey, is astonishingly complete. "Most of what we understand about primate evolution is pieced together from bits of teeth and jaws," says Michael Novacek, curator of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. Ida, by contrast, has pretty much every bone, from the skull to the tip of the tail, and they're all in place. Not only that: You can also see impressions of its fur in the surrounding material, and there are even the remains of what was presumably Ida's final meal (leaves and fruit) still visible where the digestive tract used to be.

The fossil is so perfectly preserved because Ida probably died quickly and nonviolently: Her resting place was an abandoned quarry called the Messel Pit, near Frankfurt. At the time she lived, the pit was a lake out of which poisonous volcanic gases probably belched from time to time. Likely felled by such an outburst, she tumbled into deep, oxygen-poor water where she would have been buried by sediments before she could decompose. Indeed, the Messel Pit is such a rich source of well-preserved fossils that it's been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Read about China's fossil trade.)

The second reason the discovery is so important is its age. Ida — her scientific name is Darwinius masillae — dates to about 47 million years ago, when temperatures were warmer than they are today and when mammals underwent a burst of evolutionary diversification. In particular, that's when the primates began splitting off into two branches. One became the anthropoids, whose descendants are monkeys, apes and humans. The other turned into prosimians — lemurs and their kin.

Ida is intriguing because she has some characteristics of both branches, which suggests that she could be a transitional animal that gave rise to the prosimians and, ultimately, to us. "How transitional it is," says Novacek, "is a matter of debate and further study. I expected that from the beginning. The ratio of vertebrate paleontologists to actual specimens is high, which makes for a lot of theorizing." A specimen like this will reduce the theorizing, but in the end it may not settle anything at all.

For their part, the authors of the new paper clearly lean toward the idea that Ida is one of our distant ancestors. They don't claim they've proved it, though — in fact, they carefully include a disclaimer that "we are not advocating this here." Even if they were, though, and even if paleontologists all agreed on the matter, Ida could at best be considered a first step on an evolutionary pathway that took another 40 million years to reach the divergence point between chimps and our earliest hominid ancestors.

All of which renders the press release touting a "revolutionary scientific find that will change everything" absolutely true — as long as by "everything," you mean "whether the branch of the primate family that includes monkeys, apes and humans comes from the suborder strepsirrhinae or the suborder haplorrhinae," according to the PLoS One paper. And by "change," you mean "adds information that may or may not help settle the question, but whose implications won't be known for a long time in any case."

Most paleontologists roll their eyes at that sort of overhyped nonsense, especially given that there's real science lurking underneath. After wading through the false advertising, though, most people might have a hard time finding it. source:

The Argo. Price: $295.00

The Argo. Price: $295.00
Originally uploaded by bobster855

John Mulliken, Jr., 1920

John Mulliken, Jr., 1920
Originally uploaded by bobster855

Athlete, between 1918-20

Athlete, between 1918-20
Originally uploaded by bobster855

On the beach, 1920

On the beach, 1920
Originally uploaded by bobster855

Hoopsters

Hoopsters
Originally uploaded by bobster855

Friends Select School basketball team. Taken in 1919 or '20.

Marie Smith, 1920

Marie Smith, 1920
Originally uploaded by bobster855

Rescue me

Rescue me
Originally uploaded by bobster855

Calvin Coolidge and Mother Jones, 1924

Unlikely pair
Originally uploaded by bobster855

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (August 1, 1837 – November 30, 1930), born in Cork, Ireland, was a prominent American labor and community organizer, a Wobbly, and a Socialist.

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. (July 4, 1872 – January 5, 1933) was the 30th President of the United States (1923–1929). A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the national spotlight. Soon after, he was elected as the 29th Vice President in 1920 and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of Warren G. Harding. Elected in his own right in 1924, he gained a reputation as a small-government conservative.