Irving Wexler, a.k.a. Waxey Gordon (1886 or 1889 - 1952)

He was a bootlegger. More about him here.

Madeleine Carroll (1906-1987)

The Scott Polar Research Institute

If you are ever in Cambridge, the Scott Polar Research Institute is an extremely enjoyable place to visit. If you are not in Cambridge, you can (from 4.3.2009) get a taste of the place via their collection of digitised photos of polar exploration.

Olga Grlic

More about her here.

Иван Майский (1884-1975)

Portrait of Ivan Maisky (1942) by Oscar Kokoschka (1886-1980)
More about Maisky here (and in the exhaustively researched edition of his diary which an employer of mine will shortly be publishing, hence all the Maisky-mania). More about Kokoschka here.

Lambuel

Every now and then you come across something so far outside your normal range that you lack the capacity to decide if it is a joke or not. This is just one of those things.

So Now You Know

Barnacle goose:

Goose barnacle:

Simple, isn't it?

Current Favourite Sentence

'Asked his main fault, Putin responded that he regarded himself as being "too trusting" - a striking response from a former KGB colonel who worked in East Germany.'

Beatrix Potter (1866-1943)

Абрам Ефимович Архипов (1862-1930)

Dame Myra Hess (1890-1965)

The Gazprom Anthem

This has to be seen to be believed. And maybe, not even then.

Current Favourite Sentence

The world has raised its whip; where will it descend?

Dumitru Tsepeneag (1937- )

Beard

This is John Ruskin in 1894.

This is (life mirroring art) Charles Cameron in the role of King Lear in 1872.

I suppose that this is the time to share my favourite Victorian fact with you, which is that Ruskin and Nietzsche both went mad and stopped writing in 1889, and both died in 1900.