Old Tom Parr

In Westminster Abbey, there lies the body of Old Tom Parr in an incredible place of honor resting in the hall of nobles and princes. Of these he was none; he was an oddity. He lived to be 152 years old.

That is right this old man told you to shut your mouth.

Born: 1483
Died: November 1635

No one is really sure how old he really was at his death but he prescribes 
"keep your head cool by temperance and your feet warm by exercise. Rise early, go soon to bed, and if you want to grow fat [prosperous] keep your eyes open and your mouth shut."1

1.Westminster Abbey: Thomas Parr 

; http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/thomas-parr

2. Darwin Country: Parr, Thomas (1483-1635) 'Old Parr'; http://www.darwincountry.org/explore/001716.html

Portrait Lives: Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia

It's Portrait Lives Wednesday!
Every Wednesday features a Portrait Lives, which is a weekly post showing the age progression in specific historical figures through contemporary portraits of them. Way more fun than it sounds.

Her family:
In order from left to right: Olga, Maria, Czar Nicholas II,
Alix or Alexandra, Anastasia, Alexi, and Tatiana 

Anastasia along with her family was executed during the 1918 Revolution in Russia. She was part of the royal family, the youngest and fourth daughter of the Czar Nicholas II. Her brother was born about 4-5 years after her and he was killed when 13 years old.
For years after her execution, there were rumors that Anastasia was supposedly still alive. People even claimed that they were in fact the supposed Duchess, the most famous was Anna Anderson. Not until Anastasia's body was found did the rumors die down.
She was just a young woman aged 17 when she was killed violently. It is sad that her and her sisters and young brother had to die to surmount a revolution.

A Portrait Lives for Grand Duchess Anastasia:

1. about 1 year old

3. about 4

2. about 3 years old

4. about 5 years old with her siblings 

5. about 6 years old

6. about 8 years old with her brother

7. about 10

8. about 13 years old

9. about 14 years

10. about 14 years 

11. about 15 years

12. 15 years old, now in home arrest with her siblings. She is
the second most to the right with the dog.

13. aged about 16 years old 

14. about 17 still in captivity

15. forensic facial reconstruction at 17 years old

Maria and Anastasia making funny faces

Some Bonus Informal and Funny Photos:

her father letting her take a smoke

Anastasia with her brother, Alexi 

Check out

Sources:
Livadia.org
Romanov Collection, General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

All the Shocking Secrets of the Mona Lisa.

Gone are the days where you are fooled by false colors!
This is the true Mona Lisa.

Not only is the Mona Lisa the most secretive painting, it is also the most famous.
Who knew paintings could keep secrets?

Somehow Mona Lisa's mysterious smile is her most attractive feature. The stare of this painted woman is never the less creepy, though, people
have said  Mona Lisa follows them with her eyes.

This is what happens when you become a
famous painting

Throughout the centuries, daunting facts have been discovered about the Mona Lisa.

I have listed all
the discoveries I know of below:

She has no eyebrows.
I always thought they were invisible. They were actually worn down by time.

There is an earlier version.

The Other Earlier Version

This version may or may not have been created by da Vinci. It is a younger and way less detailed Mona Lisa.

Her smile used to be wider.
But time made her unhappy.

There is a code of numbers and letters in her eyes.
I don't what that means Leonardo was doing, but it freaks me out. Leonardo is not and was not James Bond., so why? 
Can you see the letters and numbers in the left picture? Actually you can't, they're microscopic. 

Sources:

'Solved: Why Mona Lisa doesn't have eyebrows' by Richard Holt: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3668700/Solved-Why-Mona-Lisa-doesnt-have-eyebrows.html
The real-life Da Vinci Code: Historians discover tiny numbers and letters in the eyes of the Mona Lisa: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1337976/Real-life-Da-Vinci-Code-Tiny-numbers-letters-discovered-Mona-Lisa.html

The Mona Lisa Foundation: http://monalisa.org
Contribute to them. I don't know them but I bet they would really appreciate it.

Digital scans reveal Mona Lisa secrets: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/22/artnews.france

Check out 

Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered by Dianne Hales

She was really a man all along!

 Just kidding, click on the picture.

I couldn't resist putting this here

Portrait Lives: Abraham Lincoln and Did you Know?

It's Portrait Lives Wednesday!
Every Wednesday features a Portrait Lives, which is the showing of age progression in specific historical people through contemporary portraits of them. Way more fun than it sounds.

Every American knows about President Abraham Lincoln, he is widely outlawing slavery in the South and his Gettysburg Address.

Plus Lincoln was the messy hairdo master.

Assume all his ages typed below are preceded by the word 'about.' There are no pictures of Lincoln before he was 37.

aged 37

aged 51

aged 52

aged 52

aged 52

aged 54

aged 54

aged 55

aged 57

aged 57

aged 58

His Last Days: Aged 58 to 59

him with his son called Tad

He is actually holding his spectacles 

He had a slight smile

Research by Doctor Zebra suggests with probability that Lincoln was dying of cancer when he was shot.

I have one thing to say about that: Oh. My. God.
He was shot on April 14, 1865 in Ford's Theater in the head and died the following day.

Check out

Chasing Lincoln's Killer

I have read it, it's very good and easy to read so click on the picture!

Sources:
President Abraham Lincoln: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/abraham-lincoln.html
Health and Medical History of President Abraham Lincoln http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g16.htm

10 Misconceptions and Facts You Don't Know About Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII

It's so easy to obsess about Anne Boleyn. She is the most mysterious and questionable wife of all of the six of Henry VIII, who is the king you might recall I wrote before (see the post here).  There are so many fascinating facts and misconceptions about her, no wonder people are interested in her. 

Here is a little summary of her: She was the 2nd wife of Henry VIII of England who left his first for Anne because she could provide him with a heir.  The Catholic Church declared his marriage to Anne void and Henry separated England from the Church and declared himself as head of the Church of England. In this Church his marriage to Anne was legal and now Henry was able to receive a legitimate heir from Anne. However Anne was not able to give him a male heir. She was executed for adultery by the King. Henry went on to have six wives.

First are the 5 misconceptions:

1. Portraits of her are without a doubt accurately showing her.  

The coin showing Anne Boleyn.

The famous portrait of her

This is not true. Almost all of her portraits are debated and it is not even known if any of them actually portray her. The most famous painting is anonymous and is thought to be a copy of a lost original. It is the one pictured on the right. The only surviving official likeness of Anne is the badly damaged 1536 metal coin of her inscribed 'most happi'. Here are some of speculated portraits of her.

2. Anne Boleyn had an extra finger and in fact it was said by a contemporary she had "on her right hand six fingers."

This claim can be written off as a rumor by her political enemies because when her body was found in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula it showed no deformities. 

3.  Anne was guilty of adultery.
Some have protested this, but the overwhelming evidence says to the contrary.

4. Anne was Henry's one true love.
Though it is a romantic theory, Henry VIII chose to be buried with the 3rd wife, his 'one true love.'

5. Anne Boleyn was ugly.
She was not ugly but just pretty. She had a long neck and dark hair and beautiful eyes she knew how to use.

Here are the facts about Anne you don't know:

1. Anne had a pet dog called Urian.
Urian was a greyhound which Anne had a brought from France.


2. Thomas Wyatt wrote a poem about her, here is a excerpt.
'Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.'

3. Anne was feisty.
Enough said.

4. Princess Mary, later bloody Mary hated Anne and Anne hated her.
Here is a quote by the Spanish Ambassador that mentions their relationship:
'Your Majesty must root out the Lady and her adherents.... This accursed Anne has her foot in the stirrup, and will do the Queen and the Princess all the harm she can.  She has boasted that she will make the Princess her lady-in-waiting, or marry her to some varlet.' 

5. Anne Boleyn was mother of Queen Elizabeth I, often called the virgin queen.

Elizabeth I

If want more check out 
The Lady in the Tower: the Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir! Click on the Image.

Anne Boleyn

Sources:
-Lives of the Queens of England by Agnes Strickland
-Could the Real Anne Bolyen Come Forward: http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2011/02/07/would-the-real-anne-boleyn-please-come-forward/
-The Rise and Fall of Anglican Schism
 http://archive.org/stream/riseofschism00sanduoft/riseofschism00sanduoft_djvu.txt
-http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/boleyn-poems.html
-http://englishhistory.net/tudor/annedesc.html
-Notices of the Historic Persons Buried in the Chapel of St. Peter Ad Vincula by Doyne Courtney Bell

Anne Greene: An Alleged Murderess

Anne Greene may have killed her own child (in the eyes of the law) but despite this her own execution could not kill her.

She had just been a housemaid and now she had become a murderer. Her master's grandson had seduced her and she had had his child. But because of him and his grandfather pushing a conviction of her murdering this child (a stillborn), Anne was going to die.

Like all common women in 17th century England who were found guilty of infanticide, she was to die. She was took out to the 'Cattle yard' in Oxford in 1650. She said her last words, complaining of the obscenity of her former employer and she was hung. While she was hanging unconscious maybe her friends pulled and tugged her to try to give her a faster death as a good parting gift. When they thought that she was dead they put her in a coffin and sent her off to Surgeon William Petty for an autopsy.

Dr. Petty then opened the coffin and saw in wonder that she had taken a breath.
He tried to revive her and used some 17th medicine (want to learn more, see source 1 note). Anne recovered after Dr. Petty's treatment. She could remember everything except her execution and revival by the doctor and his assistant.

People claimed that God had saved her and her fame spread wide. She had been pardoned by the county justices.
People around the area went to see Anne when she was recovering and admission was charged.

Sources:
1. Miraculous deliverance of Anne Green by J. Hughes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov....pdf
note: for more medical information about Anne's revival look under 'the resuscitation' in this source

2. Oxford ODNB, Anne Greene (c.1628-1659): http://www.oxforddnb.com

Check out 

Murder in Shakespeare's England

by Vanessa McMahon
Click on the image. No regrets.