Why the people of the 2nd global era had their confidence and optimism: melding fact & fantasy.

http://aeon.co/magazine/society/how-the-victorians-imagined-and-invented-the-future/

A way of doing global history that is even bigger than the trade/econ thread we followed

http://www.publicbooks.org/nonfiction/changing-climates-of-history

By the second half of this piece, you'll see why it's so key for me to post it!

http://m.chronicle.com/article/SlaveryCapitalism/150787/

Dropping the f-bomb in 1885

Usually the first recorded sound in considered to be from 1888. This one from 1885, 3 years earlier, has been coaxed into being audible with good scientific technique. The fact that it has an f-bomb in it highly amuses me.

http://firstsounds.org/sounds/volta/observations.php

Right before the amazements of the "coal city." Pretty grim.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/books/review/dirty-old-london-by-lee-jackson.html?referrer=

A marvel of the 2nd global economy

http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/4/flesh-made-wood-the-invention-of-artificial-refrigeration