10 Reconstructions of Historical Figure’s Faces

 

A set of bones found under a parking lot several years ago that were suspected to be Richard III have been confirmed as the lost king, and forensic artists have reconstructed the man’s face from a mold of the skull and DNA from his bones. The face shows a 32 year old man with a pleasant face, unlike Shakespeare’s portrayal of him that casts him as a child-murdering villain.

 

 

That brings us to Shakespeare himself, whose face was reconstructed using a death mask found in Germany. This, of course, may not be him, since the death mask has not been absolutely proved to be him, but the model shows a possible Shakespeare as a much more quiet and less passionate figure than he is portrayed today. His face also hints that he may have suffered from cancer.

 

 

This is the King Tutankhamun, the famous 19 year old “boy king” who had buckteeth, a receding chin, and a slim nose, all traits of his Irish DNA.

 

 

Queen Nefertiti, another famous Egyptian, was tentatively discovered by archaeologist Johann Fletcher. To make sure, two British forensic experts took models of the skull, and, working blindly, produced this model. If you are familiar with the history of Queen Nefertiti, it strongly resembles the bust of the queen, proving without a doubt that Johann Fletcher had found Nefertiti’s tomb.

 

 

Cleopatra and her half-sister Arsinoe IV hated each other so much that Cleopatra had her sister murdered. When archaeologists found her tomb, they took DNA samples which showed that she was more European that African. Her face was digitally reconstructed using laser scans of her skull.

 

 

Nicolaus Copernicus, a famous philosopher, astronomer, and scientist, died in 1543 at age 70 in an unmarked grave. Scientists found his body in a Polish church by comparing his bones’ DNA to a hair found in one of his books, and Polish police made a model of his head, making sure to include his broken nose and scar above his left eye.

This is a forensic expert’s blind model of J.S. Bach, famous musician and composer. As you can see, the head and the bust made during his lifetime are very similar (the nose is a little off), showing the incredible accuracy and workmanship of today’s forensic artists.

Dante Alighieri is most famous for writing The Divine Comedy. Depictions of the man show him as being very ugly, with a pointy chin, buggy eyes, and an enormous hooked nose. This image of him, made from his measurements taken in 1921, paint a much milder portrait of Dante.

 

King Henri IV’s disembodied and mummified head had been lost to history until just a few years ago, when a tax collector found the horrifying thing up in his attic. Good thing he didn’t throw it out, because with the head, we are able to recreate what he looked like when he was killed in 1610 at the age of 56.

 

Stolen in 1087 and placed in a church in Bari, Italy, the remains of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, have kept their secrets as to what this famous figure looked like. The reproduction reveals a small man – maybe only 5’6″ – but with a huge, masculine head and a strong jaw. It appears that he also had a broken nose, possibly from a Roman soldier.

 

(via Mental Floss)

 

Fun and Unusual Golf Balls

 

Tim Rowett, a collector of unusual and funny toys, shares his collection of golf balls, showing that anyone can bring a joke into just about anything, including the very serious and often long game of golf.

 

(via Youtube)

Another Link Dump

Edmund Blair Leighton “A Little Prince Likely in Time to Bless a Royal Throne”

This is a very stunning painting, but what makes it even more special is the unique way Edmund Leighton signed his art. Note in the lower right corner by the stairs is his name etched into the stone banister with the date underneath. How very clever.

 

Here’s an article talking about the fifty year old theory of bees being attracted to flowers from an electric charge formed between the two objects. The positive and negative charges increase as the bee comes closer to the flower, causing the pollen to stick to the bee through static electricity. Researchers noted that under high speed cameras, they could see that the pollen would jump towards the bee even before it had landed. To learn more, click here.

 

During WWII, food became less scarce and more expensive, and so new recipes had to be invented that were edible, cheap, and would last a long time in the fridge without drying out or rotting. Enter Jell-O, the best thing since sliced bread to those living during WWII. (sliced bread was also a WWII thing). And enter all those Jell-O recipes, which may not be the best thing for Laura Shapiro and her husband, who set out to make and taste-test every single recipe desperate housewives invented, including Shrimp Aspiric Mold, Chicken Mousse, and Pork Cake.

 

Mathematicians worked out how many moves it would take to play a complete game of Monopoly. Turns out, they cut the usual hours, if not days long game of passing go into four moves. Now that’s my kind of game! (via)

 

 

Have you ever looked at pictures of magnified viruses and wondered at their perfect symmetry and beauty? Well, so has Luke Jerram, who determined to recreate some of these deadly killers in hand blown glass with the help of a virologist and a glass blower. The results are quite amazing.

 

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished two bags of M&M’s and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.”
—Dave Barry

 

Actual selections from John Williams’ sheet music for orchestra. (via)

 

Here’s some more lighthearted websites.

Here Is Today is an interactive website that lets you put the Earth’s history into perspective.

Rubik’s Cube House tells you exactly how many Rubik’s cubes it would take to build your house.

And to close today’s link dump, here’s a very helpful video of how to tie a bow tie, without any hands to get in the way.

 

London Traffic in 1932

 

Absolutely terrifying. Of course the film is sped up because of the difference in technology, but it’s still very hectic. I’m surprised more people didn’t die from the lack of road markings and traffic lights.

 

(via Youtube)

New York City’s Lost Subway Station

Right in the heart of New York’s subway station lies an untouched and forgotten subway station, complete with the station that inspired Grand Central Station. Incredibly ornate Tiffany windows, tall tiled arches, skylights, and brass fixtures, all built in 1904 to be a grand success.

However, it was anything but that. The cars weren’t big enough for all the people they needed to transport, the tracks and unsafe cars made travel dangerous, and too many people got hurt in the cramped quarters to allow the station to continue to run. In 1945, the station was boarded up and forgotten as a failure.

Today, plans have come and gone to reopen the station as a museum to show off the wonderful artistic work that went into making the place beautiful, but the only activity that happens under there now are street artists practicing graffiti on the walls.
To see more photos of this lost station, click here.

 

(via Travelettes)

19th C. Lock Key Pistol

 

 

These are 19th century European lock key Caplock pistols that were used by jailors as a safe way to keep some sort of weapon with them at all times without alarming the inmates. These guns served both as keys and as a 9 mm calibre pistol.

 

(via The Soul is Bone and Oobject)

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Just a little extra post for all those mothers out there. Have a great day!

 

Wages, Work, and Monkeys

 

This is an excerpt from a TED talk by Frans de Waal on the “Moral behavior in animals.” The video will explain everything else.

 

(via TYWKIWDBI)

 

There Are Whales Today That Were Born Before Moby Dick Was Written

 

In Alaska’s North Slope lives a population of bowhead whales with a remarkable life span. Some whales in the water are over 200 years old, and were alive even before Moby Dick, the famous novel about the white whale, was written. This population is the made up of the few survivors that made it through the commercial whaling spree from 1848 to 1915, which killed all the whales except 1,000 or so animals. These whales, some with barbed steel points still imbedded in their 17-19 inch blubber, rebuilt the population.

The bowhead whale gets its name from its definitive bow-shaped skull that measures over 16.5 feet long and is about 30-40% of their total body length. The bow shape helps the animal break through thick ice in the winter time when it needs air.

 

(via The Smithsonian)

The Only Footage of Mark Twain

 

Samuel Clemens, a.k.a Mark Twain, was great friends with American inventor and businessman Thomas Edison. Edison once said, “An average American loves his family. If he has any love left over for some other person, he generally selects Mark Twain.”

In 1909, Edison visited Twain’s home in Redding, CT, and filmed the famous author, creating the only known recording of the man in existence. Twain, very interested in the inventions Edison showed him, tried to record himself reciting his short story “An American Claimant” in a phonograph, but after 48 tries to get it perfectly, he gave up, and his attempts were lost. He tried again later at Edison’s laboratory in New York, but those cylinders were destroyed in a fire in 1914.

 

(via Mental Floss)