There was more to Beatrix Potter than bunny books. She was also a serious fan of fungi and later in life, a sheep farmer.
Category: Women
Mary Anning’s Curious Fossils
Mary Anning was only 12 years old when she and her brother discovered the fossilized skeleton of a 17-foot-long prehistoric ichthyosaurus. Mary went on to become one of the greatest fossil collectors of the 19th century.
Jane Austen: Prescription for a Troubled Soul
Could reading Jane Austen calm a troubled soul? Maybe. After World War I, her books were prescribed for solders suffering from PTSD…
Florence Nightingale: The Lady with the Lamp and Pie Chart
Florence Nightingale, the lamp-carrying nurse who cared for wounded soldiers, also wrote and used infographics to get her point across.
Ten Curious Women
This is a list of ten women that I’ve written about over the years. Some are famous and others less so, but they are all extraordinary in their own way…
Boudica : A British Queen, Mother, Warrior, and Folk Hero
Boudica was a British Queen who took on the Roman army in 60 AD. – and she almost won…
Best of Enemies: Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli
Coco Chanel was queen of fashion until Elsa Schiaparelli rolled into town…
Saint Martha and the Tarasque in Provence
Saint Martha washed up in Provence and wandered into a village with a dragon problem. The Tarasque was terrorizing the town, but Martha wasn’t afraid. ..
Madame Tussaud: Ahead of Her Time
During the French Revolution, Marie Tussaud was forced to make wax casts of severed heads. Later she took them to England and set up her Wax Museum…
Marie Antoinette’s Adopted Children
Marie Antoinette is usually characterized as aloof and uncaring. However, she was very motherly and adopted several children…
The King is no Match for the Women of Paris
At the beginning of the French Revolution, when the Parisians had nothing to eat, several thousand women took things into their own hands…
Bob was a Woman of Many Talents
In early 1900s Paris, Madame Bob was a thoroughly modern woman: She had many professions, but is best remembered for helping young lovers elope…
Legally Fashionable
In fourteenth-century Florence, opulent dress was outlawed. But Florentine ladies continually changed their fashions to keep them just barely legal…
Queen Victoria in Nice
Queen Victoria spent her winters on the French Riviera. While there, she could let her hair down and relax, often touring around in a little donkey cart.
Catherine Ségurane: Niçoise Laundress Saves the Day
A 16th century Niçoise laundress chased away the Turkish army and saved the city of Nice, France…