Roundabout History

Welcome to Roundabout History Dear History Enthusiasts, I'm thrilled to welcome you to the inaugural edition of Roundabout History, your weekly journey through the fascinating corridors of the past. Whether you're a seasoned history buff or just beginning to explore the annals of time, this newsletter is your ticket to uncovering the hidden gems, untold stories, and remarkable figures that have shaped our world. Roundabout History, seeks to show how history is more than just dates and...

Lesson Seventy-Three The First Handshake Dear History Enthusiasts, In this edition of Roundabout History, we turn our attention to a remarkable moment in early 20th-century diplomacy: the historic meeting between U.S. President William Howard Taft and Mexican President Porfirio Díaz. This meeting not only reflected the shifting currents of North American relations but also revealed how diplomacy can serve as both a bridge and a mask for deeper tensions brewing beneath the surface. Taft Meets...

Lesson Seventy-Two Vinyl Dear Readers, In an age of digital media, there is something magical about the crackle of a needle meeting a spinning, physical record. In that brief moment, time seems to warp, and the past whispers through music etched in grooves. This week, we wil explore the origin of vinyl records, the media that once ruled the soundscape of the twentieth century and continue to captivate collectors and audiophiles today. The story of vinyl records begins not with vinyl itself,...

Lesson Seventy-One The Royal Game of Ur Dear History Enthusiasts, This week, let us journey back to the cradle of civilization, to a dusty corner of ancient Mesopotamia where one of the world’s oldest known board games was once played. The Royal Game of Ur, as it is now called, is more than just an artifact. It is a testament to humanity’s enduring love for play, competition, and connection across time. Unearthed in the City of Kings The game was rediscovered in the 1920s by British...

Lesson Seventy Land of Fire Dear History Enthusiasts, This week, we sail to the edge of the known world, or at least what it once was. At the southernmost tip of South America lies a windswept archipelago known as Tierra del Fuego, or “Land of Fire.” For centuries, it stood as a place of mystery, a borderland between ocean and continent, myth and map. But its discovery, name, and strategic location would make it one of the most significant maritime waypoints in history. The Naming of the Land...

Lesson Sixty-Nine Mapuche Dear History Enthusiasts, This week, we travel to the southern point of the Americas to examine the story of a people who have endured, adapted, and resisted across centuries: the Mapuche of present-day Chile and Argentina. While many Indigenous societies were quickly overwhelmed by European colonial powers, the Mapuche stood their ground, becoming one of the few Indigenous groups in the Americas to resist Spanish conquest for over 300 years successfully. A Nation...

Lesson Sixty-Eight Inca Chasqui Dear Readers, This week, lace up your sandals—we’re hitting the trails of the Andes to explore one of the greatest communication systems of the ancient world: the Inca chasqui runner network. Long before postal codes or digital maps, the Inca Empire built a relay system so advanced that messages could travel hundreds of miles in just a day. It was swift, silent, and essential to holding together the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The Backbone of the...

Lesson Sixty-Seven Water Mirrors Dear Readers, This week, we’re reflecting (literally) on one of the lesser-known marvels of Incan ingenuity: the water mirrors of the Andes. In a civilization famed for its architecture, terraces, and imperial road systems, these shallow, reflective pools offer a quieter, more contemplative glimpse into the Inca relationship with the heavens, the earth, and time itself. Still Waters and Starry Skies Scattered across ancient Incan sites like Machu Picchu and...

Lesson Sixty-Six Il Porcellino Dear Readers, This week, we look not at an empire or event, but at a sculpture; solid, silent, and yet full of motion: Wild Boar (1925), carved in marble by Italian sculptor Pietro Bazzanti. With lifelike detail and mythic resonance, this piece embodies centuries of artistic tradition, Florentine identity, and the symbolic strength of an untamed creature. A Beast with a Pedigree Bazzanti’s Wild Boar is not an isolated creation, it is a refined replica of a much...