Times of Suffering and Times of Joy — I was always intrigued by the human soul and life as it is. And amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I started to read and write about historical figures who suffered like any of us. It’s amazing that the most distinguished people in history had heroic personal struggles. Also, many of them…

Ötzi has the same DNA as 19 Austrian men — Most of us can trace our ancestors back to a great-grandparent, not further. But what if the whole world knew about your predecessor from over 5,000 years ago? What if you could find out how he looked, what he ate, and even his disease risk factors? History is made of…

Old Japanese erotica is hedonistic, obscene, and exceptional — We’ve all seen a penis or two in classical art. But shunga? Oversized genitals, pink, brown, and hairy pulsate from the paintings. Drawn with incredible detail, they look almost real… Except they are sometimes as big as the characters’ heads. Portrayed people are in unnatural positions. …

Milunka Savić was the most-decorated woman in the history of warfare — When French President Emmanuel Macron visited Serbia in July 2019, he wanted to see the grave of Milunka Savić. At the time, 46 years had passed since she died in the small country in southeastern Europe but the French did not forget her. Funnily enough, Serbs forgot Milunka while she…

Or How Not To leave your wife for love — Why does someone betray their partner? And why is it such a cliché that a married guy gets in bed with another woman? When Albert Camus slept with María Casares, he was already famous while she had barely come of age. …

In 2004, one letter sold for £240,800 — How could the guy who changed the course of 20th-century literature write porn so well? James Joyce defined modernism. He experimented with language, symbolism, and style. In Ulysses (1922), he established parallels with Homer’s Odyssey. He even played with the interior monologue and invented new words. In Finnegans Wake (1939)…

It helps “to do nothing much”. — “Your kids are away and you’re cleaning the fridge?! Why don’t you do something for yourself?” She has FOMO and Tommy Hilfiger shoes. She surely meant shopping, trying a new hairstyle, or at least skydiving. But I was pleased with scraping ice and dirt off my red 6.5 ft cooler…

The raunchy widow and the greatest general in history had an explosive romance — He was stocky and sloppy. She was popular but seen as an “easy woman” and a gold digger. Together they became one of the most influential couples in France — Napoleon and Joséphine. Nothing in their relationship was ordinary — even the first time they met. Influential politician Paul Barras…

He happily wore them for 30 years. — In November 2009, there were 600,000 people at his funeral in Belgrade, Serbia (Southeastern Europe). The small nation, deeply divided between believers and atheists, came to say their last goodbye to Patriarch Pavle. …