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How to Make a Citizen’s Arrest
On January 10, 2024 by ElyseWe’ve all been there: the guy sitting next to you on the bus isn’t wearing deodorant; you’re rushing to check out at the store, but there’s a Karen in front of you; or my personal hell, someone is walking too slowly on the sidewalk ahead of you. Who you gonna call? Not the Ghostbusters—you’ll have
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Clip of the Week: December 27, 2023
On December 27, 2023 by ElyseGreetings from the future! This week, I’m blogging from The Land Down Under and preparing to ring in 2024 a few hours earlier than normal. Along with the usual champagne, dancing and hat ticklers, I’m celebrating with killer spiders, fish and snakes, copious amounts of vegemite and inexplicably, haunted church bells: A practical joker at
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Just Like Us, Part 1
On November 15, 2023 by Elyse“Stars—They’re Just Like Us!” Long before tabloid magazines started catching the rich and famous eating sandwiches and getting haircuts, the newspapers of yesteryear were already following them around. In an era when celebrity culture was just taking off, the subjects of these hard-hitting exposés were more often than not European royalty. It turns out they
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Mind Your Manners
On October 18, 2023 by Elyse“Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals,” the politician Horace Mann is said to have declared. While the stories below suggest otherwise, there’s no denying that good manners can make all the difference in just about any situation. If you follow the etiquette you (hopefully) learned in preschool, you’ll go far—into the judicial system, that
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Clip of the Week: October 4, 2023
On October 4, 2023 by ElyseReason #37,852 not to wander into the wilderness alone: Mr. Farrier, the Colonial Secretary of Honduras [present-day Belize], while exploring the interior of the colony, was overtaken by a drove of peccaries, and was compelled to scramble up a tree, dropping his rifle in the performance. The whole pack gathered around his perch, grunting and
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The Un-Odyssey
On September 20, 2023 by ElyseWhat would’ve happened if, after the Trojan War, Odysseus had simply given up and not made the long, perilous journey home? The answer might lie in an anecdote from Scotland. . . Some short time ago, in one of the villages on the Firth of Forth, lived a lady whose husband had long before gone
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Insights in Iceland
On August 9, 2023 by ElyseAnother Wednesday, another post coming to you from a random corner of the world. You could be forgiven for thinking Second Glance History has turned into a travel blog. I promise we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming of poison-detecting guinea pigs and singing dogs soon. But for today, join me in discovering how much more there
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Ambling around Amsterdam
On July 26, 2023 by ElyseOne of the most misunderstood cities in Europe is Amsterdam. For some reason or other this bright capital of the cut diamond has failed to make a vivid impression on the consciousness of the tourist world, yet it has an extraordinary beauty and variety all its own. – The Evening Post, April 11, 1935 Having
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Crêpe and Punishcake
On June 28, 2023 by ElyseWhat’s better for defending your home than an assault rifle? Why, a-syrup rifle, of course! A Paris message says: An elderly lady, Mme. Mouillebois, was engaged in frying pancakes in her rooms in the Rue de la Maison Blance on Saturday, when she was alarmed by hearing the door of her flat open. A man