Ipod Nano Spotted in 3 Women (1977)

Velvet as a Luxury

For a long time velvet was considered to be the ultimate luxury fabric. King Richard II of England requested upon his death that he should be covered in only velveto. Here is an example of velvet with the Medici coat of arms

Now with this notion in our minds let's take a look at the use of velvet in contemporary society

If the European royalty from the Renaissance knew what connotations velvet would acquire in the future they would've stuck to wearing ermine fur furever.

What do we do when the future seems scary? We eat.

an artist's rendering of the First Thanksgiving.

Long ago man discovered America. It was a land of plenty, a land of freedom, and then these Pilgrims showed up. Learning to share the bounty was difficult, and the only power greater than the tension was fear. Many Pilgrims didn't think they could make it through the Winter, and many of them were correct. Some Indians at last decided to help out the poor settlers and all parties put aside their differences and feasted together. This simple act assuaged many fears the Indians may have had about the New World that was developing. Of course they were right the first time, and never should have let those Pilgrims lull them away from suspicion. But regardless, for the duration of that historic meal, all seemed safe and all seemed right. We should remember the lesson of this story: when the future seems bleak, it's probably just because you are hungry. Or is it food cures all?

Electric Dreams

New technology has scared people throughout history. A fairly recent example of scary technology was the PC. In the 1984 romantic comedy Electric Dreams the fear of the PC was what drove the plot of the movie.

I won't do much explaining because the trailer will do everything:

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Woman's Suffrage, Men Suffering

spreading the gospel.

You might not believe it, but women were not always allowed to vote in this fine country of ours. It seems pretty safe to let ladies vote today, but in 1920 it was looking pretty frightening for the men. Here are some of the arguments given by the Anti's:

- Women would be corrupted by politics and chivalry would die out.

- If women became involved in politics, they would stop marrying, having children, and the human race would die out.

- It is dangerous to change a system that works.

Despite the opposition, women were finally given the chance to cast their votes. We may think this episode has ended, but some say chivalry has died... does that mean we're next?

1993 Kindle, GPS, and iPhone Dream

James Burke, one of my favorite historians, links the past, present, and future through a series of inventions and related events in his series, "Connections".