Nowadays, most film studios rely on CGI and green screens, either entirely or as a supplement, to accomplish ambitious stunts. Technology, of course, hasn’t always been advanced enough for such immersive illusions, and yet films from the early 20th century still managed to feature spectacular cinematic effects. They say a magician should never reveal their tricks, but a recent YouTube video by Lost in Time does just that. The video catalogues how Hollywood legends like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd created dazzling acts of daring on the 1920s movie screen.

As an homage to technical ingenuity, the video juxtaposes real footage of each movie stunt with 3D animations, offering a behind-the-scenes analysis of how they were achieved. Lost in Time begins with Sherlock Jr. from 1924, in which Buster Keaton dives into a briefcase hanging from a man’s neck during a chase scene. Once the man walks away from his perch by a wooden wall, with his briefcase still clutched to his chest, Keaton has vanished, nowhere to be found. Even now, the visual trick is baffling as the solution is innovative: the man was resting his feet on a support hidden behind the wall and holding onto two handles below him, with only his head sticking out. A trap door had also been carved out of the wall, which allowed Keaton to seemingly jump through the briefcase.

In the 1923 film Safety Last!, starring Harold Lloyd, there’s a moment in which the actor scales the Bolton Building in Los Angeles and, in an attempt not to fall, swings perilously from the hand of a massive clock mounted on the building. Below him, there are cars, pedestrians, concrete, and, most alarmingly, dozens of feet of empty air. Lloyd was, in fact, hanging above L.A.’s streets, but from the safety of a rooftop. There, the film team produced a full set of a building facade and a camera tower to maintain a convincing angle. If anything were to go wrong, Lloyd would’ve landed directly onto a mattress, not far beneath him.

As for Charlie Chaplin, the video focuses on Modern Times, in which the actor’s character gets a job as a night watchman in a department store. He finds a pair of roller skates and, in an effort to impress the girl he brought with him, skates around blindfolded, not noticing the broken rail and steep ledge beside him. Here, there is no deadly drop, but instead a “matte painting,” a technique that creates the illusion of an environment that isn’t actually present at the filming location. If we were to zoom out, we would discover a glass plate in front of the camera, where the team painted the floor below.

“Even with all the technology we have today, it’s still hard to believe what these legends pulled off a century ago,” Lost in Time concludes. “They didn’t have visual effects to fall back on. Every stunt was real. Every risk was real. And maybe that’s why, 100 years later, we still hold our breath watching them.”

To watch the full video, visit the Lost in Time channel on YouTube.

A new video by Lost in Time explores how Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd created dazzling 1920s movie stunts.

Source: The Genius Tricks Behind 1920s Movie Stunts

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READ: Watch How Hollywood Legends Pulled off Their Wild Stunts in Iconic 1920s Films

Left: Greatbaconbits via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0) | Right: ArchaiOptix via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0)

Since euro coins first went into circulation in 2002, people have marveled at their designs. While one side of the coin is the same in every member state, the national side is where the different European countries showcase their unique cultures. From famous historical figures to beloved monuments, the coins demonstrate the diversity of the European Union. One particularly interesting design choice comes from Greece, which decided to highlight its ancient roots on its one-euro coin.

It features an owl that might be familiar to ancient coin collectors, as it is modeled after one side of a 5th-century BCE coin. Called a tetradrachm, this large silver coin became the de facto standard throughout the ancient world, spreading it far beyond Greece. Because they were large, they provided ample ground for artwork, with politicians often using them to make a statement. This has made them a favorite among coin collectors, who are attracted by their high level of artistry.

This was also apparently a lure for Georges Stamatopoulos, who designed Greece's coins. Stamatopoulos is an artist and engraver at the Bank of Greece. While tetradrachms had different designs according to the time period and mint where they were struck, Stamatopoulos focused on an Athenian tetradrachm. The coin's distinct design features the Greek goddess Athena on one side and an owl next to an olive branch and crescent moon on the other.

Symbolically, the owl refers back to Athena, as it was part of her iconography. In fact, Athena is the goddess of knowledge and wisdom, and her association with owls is what created the connection between the bird and wisdom.

So the next time you happen across a €1 coin, be sure to flip it over to see what history lesson it will give. You may just be surprised by what you learn.

Greece's interesting design for the national side of its €1 coin has an interesting history.

Photo: Greatbaconbits via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0

The design is based on a large silver coin known as a tetradrachm, which was prevalent in the ancient world.

Silver tetradrachm , c. 450-400 BCE, München, Staatliche Antikensammlung (Photo: ArchaiOptix via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0)

One side of the coin showed Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and the other her symbol—an owl.

Silver tetradrachm , c. 450-400 BCE, Berlin, Münzkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Altes Museum (Photo: ArchaiOptix via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0)

Source: European Central Bank – Greece

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READ: Greece’s Euro Uses the Same Design Found on Ancient Coins 2,500 Years Ago

Photo: Nico Smit via Unsplash

In recent years, adults have gravitated toward some more youthful means of relieving stress: fidget cubes, slime, life simulator and sandbox games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley, and, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, coloring books. Though typically leaning into abstract themes like math, these adult coloring books are still nostalgic reminders of our childhoods—and when we vied for the crayon box with more confidence. But what most don’t know is that coloring books were, in fact, originally designed for adults, long before they began catering to children.

In the 17th century, for instance, Michael Drayton’s 15,000-line poem, Poly-Olbion, was interspersed with illustrations of engraved maps of English counties, complete with sea creatures, nymphs, and royal figures, among other fantastical elements. These maps were rendered in black-and-white and, according to specialist mapseller Tim Bryars, hand-colored copies do exist from the time. Art historian Anne Louise Avery, who edited a reprinted edition of Poly-Olbion for Unicorn Press, echoed the sentiment, adding that it became “quite fashionable to hand-color [the book] yourself.” Even Henry Peacham’s Compleat Gentleman, from 1634, outlined the possible benefits of coloring such maps, allowing aristocrats to develop artistic skills like movement control and color selection.

“I could wish you now and then, to exercise your Pensill in washing and colouring, which at your leasure you may in one fortnight easily learne to doe: for the practise of the hand, doth speedily instruct the mind, and strongly confirme the memorie beyond any thing else,” Peacham argued.

By the 18th century, these volumes became even more explicit in their missions, actively encouraging their readers to hand-color the illustrations found within them. One such book was Robert Sayer’s The Florist from 1760, containing 60 engraved flower illustrations alongside detailed descriptions of how to mix colors and paint with accuracy. Notably, Sayer specifically aimed the book for the “use & amusement of Gentlemen and Ladies Delighting in that Art,” showcasing how coloring was an exercise geared toward cultivating an aristocratic sensibility and mind. Sayer’s The Compleat Coloring-Book is similar to The Florist, but encompassed a greater variety of subject matter, including engravings of faces, animals, birds, and landscapes.

That coloring in these books was considered an elite activity can mostly be attributed to their value. Creating and printing these editions was expensive and time-consuming, as was maintaining a substantial library of art supplies. It was only once the lithograph was widely adopted in the 19th century that coloring books became more accessible, seeing an increase in titles geared toward a younger generation.

Often considered the first coloring book for children, the Little Folks’ Painting Book was first released in 1879, featuring line illustrations by Kate Greenaway and published by the McLoughlin Brothers. The book spanned playful drawings of everything from mushrooms and princesses to farmhouses and walking tea kettles, pairing each composition with nursery rhymes, parables, and other whimsical stories. The McLoughlin Brothers published several Little Folks’ coloring books, popularizing the genre for a broader audience even if they weren’t necessarily the first to begin printing them. Now, of course, coloring books have once again returned to their roots, appealing not only to kids but to adults.

For those curious about Little Folks, and about comparing it with the coloring books of today, the volume can be viewed and downloaded via the Internet Archive.

The history of the coloring book is more unexpected than people may think—it was first reserved for aristocrats, only later coming to kids.

Photo: Kelly Brito via Unsplash

Many consider the Little Folks’ Painting Book as the first coloring book dedicated to kids, featuring illustrations by Kate Greenaway and published by the McLoughlin brothers.

Cover of the “Little Folks’ Painting Book,” from 1879, with illustrations by Kate Greenaway. The book is often considered to be the first true coloring book. (Photo: Bib Bild, Public domain)

The Little Folks’ Painting Book popularized the genre to a wider audience, pairing playful illustrations with nursery rhymes and stories.

Sources: 17th-century adult colouring-in book ready for modern hues; The Surprising Function of the First Coloring Books; The “Little folks” painting book: a series of outline engravings for water-colour painting; The Dark, Forgotten History of Coloring Books; The Very First Coloring Book, The Little Folks’ Painting Book (Circa 1879); Forgotten, rare coloring book, 257 years old, found in Missouri Botanical Garden’s library

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READ: How the Coloring Book Boomeranged From Adults to Children and Back Again

 

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Facing the past can help pave the way for a more equitable future. While there are many ways to do so, storytelling is among the most powerful and emotionally resonant. One former plantation in Harpersville, Alabama, is using arts, education, and cultural programming to promote reconciliation, healing, and repair. Now known as the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation, the institution is working with 1504, a narrative studio based in Birmingham, to recenter the stories of Black descendant communities through storytelling.

The center's name comes from Samuel Wallace, a man who enslaved as many as 95 persons and used the people he enslaved to build his plantation home in 1841. It was passed to various family members after his death and, in 2018, was inherited by Nell Gottlieb, his second great-granddaughter. Gottlieb, along with co-founder Theoangelo Perkins, established the non-profit organization Klein Arts & Culture. The organization was deeded the house in 2019 and in 2023, changed its name to the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation.

Together, the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation and 1504 have—and continue to—work with designers, historians, and local leaders to produce content and exhibitions inviting visitors to go beyond intellectual understanding and to feel the weight of what happened at the former plantation.

“Seeing members of the descendent community step into the Wallace House and encounter artifacts and hold photographs from their family history was a reminder of the power of storytelling,” Tyler Jones, who is part of 1504, told NPR, “to stitch together memory, to make history personal, and to reflect human dignity.”

The current exhibition on display is Out of Whole Cloth: Marking History & Making Home, 1865 – 1910. Curated by Dr. Elijah Gaddis and designed by Robert Finkel from Auburn University, it displays everyday objects to tell the stories of three families of free people in post-Emancipation Alabama as they try to make their way in life, in which they were finally granted their freedom—and little else.

Previous projects include The Praise House, which documented the making of a site-specific sculpture by multi-disciplinary artist Tony M. Bingham. His work is a tribute to the clandestine history of “hush harbors,” which were gathering places where enslaved persons worshipped, grieved, and resisted. In Healing History, descendants of enslavers and the enslaved engaged in honest and often difficult conversations. “Those exchanges revealed a deep hunger for acknowledgment,” Jones shared, “and the importance of not minimizing the horrors of racial violence while also not reducing the Black experience to stories of trauma.”

Out of Whole Cloth is open to the public through November by appointment to the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation.

The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation is a former plantation in Harpersville, Alabama, that uses arts, education, and cultural programming to promote reconciliation, healing, and repair.

 

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A post shared by Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation (@wallacearts1841)

The institution collaborates with 1504, a narrative studio based in Birmingham, to recenter the stories of Black descendant communities through storytelling.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by 1504 (@1504.co)

Its latest exhibition is titled Out of Whole Cloth: Marking History & Making Home, 1865 – 1910. It displays everyday objects to tell the stories of three families of free people in post-Emancipation Alabama as they try to make their way in life, in which they were finally granted their freedom—and little else.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by 1504 (@1504.co)

Previous projects include The Praise House, which documented the making of a site-specific sculpture by multi-disciplinary artist Tony M. Bingham.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation (@wallacearts1841)

In Healing History, descendants of enslavers and the enslaved engaged in honest and often difficult conversations.

Exhibition Information:
Out of Whole Cloth: Marking History & Making Home, 1865 – 1910
Ends November 30, 2025
The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation
35184 Highway 25, Harpersville, AL, United States, Alabama

The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Source: A former plantation becomes a space for healing, art and reparative history

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READ: Former Plantation Is Transformed Into a Cultural Space for Healing, Art, and Repair

Photo: AnnaNepaBO/Depositphotos

Big, complex venues and meticulously crafted entertainment are two things that may feel very modern, but somehow they aren't. At the Colosseum in Ancient Rome, dazzling shows and and epic fights took place, bringing the masses together. But don't be fooled by the looks of this landmark today. As an animated video by Deconstructed shows, based on thorough research, the Colosseum was an engineering marvel that was well ahead of its time.

To truly capture the grandeur of this building, Deconstructed recreated the entire Colosseum from the ground up, digitally. Rather than looking at the actual gladiatorial games and performances, the animators devote their time to showing how they happened, from how crowds were controlled on the way in and out, to the way animals and gladiators were holstered onto the arena—seemingly out of nowhere.

More so, the team makes a deep dive on two points that prove how advanced the Colosseum was. The first is the naumachia, or naval battles staged at the Colosseum. To bring these to life with boats and all, the arena was turned into a lake with water supplied by nearby aqueducts and then drained by a channel system connected to the city's sewers. The other is the velarium, a sweeping retractible awning made of 240 separate parts that protected guests from the bright sun, as being there for hours on end during the sun would have been unpleasant.

“To bring this Roman masterpiece back to life, we've meticulously remodeled the Colosseum using historical texts, archaeological evidence, and a touch of educated guesswork,” writes the team from Deconstructed. “While some details are lost to history, this recreation offers the closest glimpse yet into how this ancient marvel truly worked—a testament to the ingenuity of Roman engineering.”

The team put so much effort into their video that it has become their Roman empire, prompting them to turn it into an infographic poster, which you can pick up from their webstore. You can watch their insightful Colosseum video below, and follow them on YouTube for more animated explanations on how the world works, and worked before us.

This video offers a reconstruction of the Colosseum to highlight how it was an engineering marvel well ahead of its time.

Deconstructed: YouTube

Sources: Inside the Colosseum: Hidden Mechanisms of Ancient Rome

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Cross section of a road in England (A303 road)
by inAncientCivilizations

A stratified cross-section of a highway in the United Kingdom tells a fascinating history of the country. The image, which has been circulating online for several years, shows millennia of material from a Bronze Age trackway to modern asphalt. All the more interesting is the fact that the road represented is the A303, which runs through the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

Starting with a chalk foundation, the cross-section slowly builds up, creating a visual representation of England's history. Following the Bronze Age, the ancient Romans, whose territory extended throughout England, are represented by a signature stone-paved road. There are then several more layers of rocky materials as we pass from the medieval period to modern times.

A look at these materials is also interesting from an engineering perspective. As technology and transportation evolved, so did the roads that transported people and goods. The cross-section is also a reminder that history is not erased, but often simply buried, and that we are walking on a palimpsest that is waiting to be discovered.

While it's not clear what portion of the A303 this cross-section comes from, and if it's a real specimen or reproduction, we do know that the highway has been in use for thousands of years. One portion of the road even followed the Harrow Way, an ancient trackway that is one of the UK's oldest roads, estimated to be in use from 3,000 BCE. Another area matches the Fosse Way, a Roman road dating back to 49 CE.

Real or representative, this fascinating display of history is an invitation to dig a bit deeper and think about the world right beneath our feet (or wheels).

A cross-section of a British highway is an invitation to think about how civilizations like the Romans constructed their roads.

Interestingly, the display shows the A303, a roadway running past Stonehenge which has been in operation for millennia.

The A303 with Stonehenge in the background. (Photo: Ashley Columbus via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: A Slice of England's Iconic A303 Road Shows How It Changed Over Thousands of Years

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Photo: MichaelVi/Depositphotos

Visitors to national parks across the United States are now encountering new signage. Installed following an instruction by the Department of the Interior, the signs ask guests for their feedback on information or displays that depict American history and landscapes in a negative way. Additionally, all parks across the country must complete an audit of public-facing content, such as exhibits, plaques, and visitor films, to vet any disparaging notions by July 18.

The signs, which have already gone up in many national parks, feature a QR for patrons to flag “any signs or information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features,” as well as reporting areas that need repair or services that need improvement amid a staffing crunch that has hit national parks ahead of the busy summer season.

“This order reaffirms the NPS mission by emphasizing the importance of accuracy in how we tell stories of American history,” Rachel Pawlitz, spokesperson for the NPS, told NPR. “Our visitors come to national parks to celebrate the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of America's landscapes and extraordinary multicultural heritage. This allows them to personally connect with these special places, free of any partisan ideology.”

The order to post these signs was sent to regional directors by National Park Service (NPS) comptroller Jessica Bowron, giving a June 13 deadline to have them ready. These actions follow a March executive order by President Donald Trump called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order dictates federal sites, such as the Smithsonian, must review interpretive materials to highlight achievement and unity—a vision that Organization of American Historians describes as a “glorified narrative that downplays or disappears elements of America’s history.”

While many associate national parks with nature, there is much more at play. According to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), more than two-thirds of the 433 national park sites are dedicated to preserving and interpreting the nation’s history and culture. For example, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, known for its bison and rugged terrain, is credited for inspiring the former president's conservation efforts. Drawing from this, park rangers offer nuanced explanations of the site's historical importance, featuring the consequences of expansion and clashes with Native tribes in the region.

The directive has also raised concerns among former NPS directors, as well as NPCA president and CEO Theresa Pierno. “The signs are asking people to contradict crucial scientific and historical facts that have been vetted for accuracy by experts at the National Park Service,” Pierno says via a statement. “These signs are the latest in a long line of disturbing administration efforts to rewrite American history and undermine the Park Service. Forcing rangers to post these signs is an outrage and shows deep contempt for their work to preserve and tell all American stories.”

Pierno also praised how rangers have brought American history to life for over a century. This has long earned them the admiration and reverence of the American people, regardless of whether the teachings are uplifting or sobering. “Rangers should be able to talk about the history of Japanese American incarceration at Amache, or the history of slavery at Fort Monroe, without looking over their shoulders in fear,” says the NPCA director. “If our country erases the darker chapters of our history, we will never learn from our mistakes.”

Sources: National Park signage encourages the public to help erase negative stories at its sites; New Park Signs Undermine Rangers, Aim to Erase History; Theodore Roosevelt National Park to ask tourists to report unpatriotic content; From research to restrooms: Summer staffing crunch hits national parks after Trump cuts; Statement on Executive Order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History”

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READ: National Parks Ask Public for Feedback on Information That Paints American History in a Negative Light

By the time Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke, and Mano were rescued from the remote Tongan island of ‘Ata, the six teenagers had managed to create a community vastly different from the one in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. They built a permanent, continuously-burning fire. They stored rainwater in hollowed-out tree stumps. They fashioned a makeshift guitar from a piece of driftwood, half a coconut shell, and six steel wires. They caught feral chickens and tended a garden. They sang to each other, prayed with one another, every day for 15 months, until they were discovered by an Australian sea captain who happened to be passing by the island in 1966.

Before becoming the Tongan castaways, the six boys were all students at St. Andrews, a strict Catholic boarding school in Nuku‘alofa, the capital and largest city of Tonga. They had grown hopelessly bored, so they hatched a plan: they would sail away to Fiji, or even New Zealand, both hundreds of miles away from their tiny Pacific island.

Preparations began, but they were meager. The boys packed only two sacks of bananas, some coconuts, and a small gas burner, and, since none of them owned a boat, they decided to “borrow” one from Taniela Uhila, a fisherman they all disliked. Once evening fell, the group piled into the boat and set off across the calm waves, a mild breeze circling above them. It was only later that night that the storm began, violently tearing apart the boat’s anchor rope, sail, and rudder.

“We drifted for eight days,” Mano told Rutger Bregman, who wrote a book about the group’s experiences. “Without food. Without water.”

Eventually, the boys landed on ‘Ata, a remote and uninhabited island about 100 miles away from Nuku‘alofa. There, they were determined to survive, exercising tremendous patience, cooperation, and resilience. When there was too little water, they satiated their thirst by drinking blood from seabirds. If there were any quarrels, they squashed them quickly or imposed time-outs. One day, when Stephen slipped and broke his leg, the other boys set the limb with sticks and leaves—and, miraculously, he recovered.

“We [were] not happy where we [were],” Mano said in a 2020 interview with the Guardian. “If you were somewhere, you didn’t know where it was, and also you did not see any part of your family, I don’t think you’d be happy to be there.”

Fifteen months passed like this, and by then, funerals had already been held for the missing boys. On September 11, 1966, however, the tide had finally shifted. Peter Warner, the Australian sea captain, noticed patches of burnt grass on ‘Ata’s cliffsides as he sailed past.

“In the tropics, it’s unusual for fires to start spontaneously,” he explained to Bregman.

Warner decided to scope it out, only to discover a boy, naked with hair down to his shoulders, swimming toward the boat. The other five boys from the group quickly followed, screaming with joy and relief. With his two-way radio, Warner called in to Nuku‘alofa, announcing he’d come across six boys. Twenty minutes later, a tearful response arrived from the other end: “You found them! These boys have been given up for dead. Funerals have been held. If it’s them, this is a miracle!”

Upon their return to Tonga, the boys were arrested: Uhila, whose boat the boys had stolen over a year earlier, had pressed charges. Luckily, Warner also had a plan. He sold the Australian rights to the group’s story and, using that money, bought Uhila a replacement boat, thus securing the release of the six boys. At that point, Warner also hired the boys as crew members on his new fishing boat, offering them the opportunity to experience a world beyond Tonga—which was their original mission when they set out to sea all those months prior.

Though their stories are harrowing, these Tongan castaways and their remarkable teamwork prove that Golding’s Lord of the Flies is less true to life than we might think at first.

In 1965, a group of six boys were left stranded on the remote and inhabited Tongan island of ‘Ata, and, against all odds, worked together to survive for 15 months.

The Tongan castaways, as they’ve come to be known, managed to create fire, tend to a garden, and fashion makeshift instruments before they were rescued by an Australian sea captain in 1966 and brought back home.

A sandy beach in southern Tongatapu. (Photo: Uhooep via Wikimedia Commons, CC 4.0)

Although the Tongan castaways effectively cooperated and survived, many have called their story a real version of William Golding’s 1954 novel The Lord of the Flies.

“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Sources: The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months; The ‘real Lord of the Flies': a survivor's story of shipwreck and salvation

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READ: In 1965, Six Boys Were Stranded on a Deserted Island for 15 Months, and They All Survived

Left: Mozart at age 14 (Photo: attributed to Giambettino Cignaroli via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain) | Right: Interior of the Sistine Chapel (Photo: Snowdog via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

We all know that Mozart was a genius, but did you know that his musical memory helped smuggle a secret song out of the Vatican? Originally composed for Pope Urban VIII during the 1630s, Gregorio Allegri's “Miserere mei, Deus” (“Have mercy on me, Oh God”) was a closely guarded secret. It was only played in the Sistine Chapel during Tenebrae services of Holy Week, and it gained fame for the use of a particular ornamentation that was largely unknown outside the Vatican.

It's said that, to preserve this secrecy, the pope forbade the transcription of the song at the risk of excommunication. Later, rumors circulated that only three transcriptions existed, one for the Holy Roman Emperor, one for the king of Portugal, and one for Mozart's mentor, Padre Martini. A popular story states that when a young 14-year-old Mozart visited Rome in 1770, he went to the Sistine Chapel with his father for Holy Week services and listened to Allegri's song.

Thanks to a letter that his father, Leopold, wrote to his wife, we know what happened next. “You have often heard of the famous Miserere in Rome, which is so greatly prized that the performers in the chapel are forbidden on pain of excommunication to take away a single part of it, to copy it or to give it to anyone. But we have it already. Wolfgang has written it down.”

In a follow-up letter, perhaps to ease his wife's worries, Leopold clarified that “even the Pope knows” that he transcribed it and that there was no cause for concern. While this makes Mozart's transcription the first unauthorized version of the song, there is actually evidence that “Miserere” wasn't completely a secret by this time. Scholars believe there were already authorized copies of the song circulating in Europe, with Mozart possibly even hearing the piece in London several years earlier.

What we do know is that Mozart's version was eventually published in 1771 by British music historian Dr. Charles Burney and that this version does not include the ornamentation the piece was known for. The piece is still performed today, but what we currently hear is not the same as Allegri's original version, and not even the same as what was performed before 1900, according to author Graham O'Reilly. Today's version combines aspects of later transcriptions and includes the difficult “top C” note that was not in the original. Even with these changes, Allegri's “Miserere” remains a popular a cappella choral work with a fascinating past.

Listen to “Miserere mei, Deus” performed by the King's College Choir in Cambridge, England.

Source: ‘Allegri's Miserere' in the Sistine Chapel; Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere mei

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READ: When Mozart Was a Teen, He Pirated a Secret Song From the Sistine Chapel

Photo: Yun Bing via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

With increasing urbanization, countries like China have seen pet ownership skyrocket, and cats have become especially popular. One of the nation’s most well-known native cats is the líhuā māo, or “leopard cat patterned cat,” a breed featured in Chinese folklore and now called the Dragon Li. This breed, developed from a common landrace of cats in China, raises a natural question: how did cats first arrive in the region?

Domestic cats first began living alongside humans around 10,000 years ago in what is now Turkey, and later spread to Europe through trade. However, their eastward migration has long remained a scientific mystery—until recently, when researchers corrected a previous misidentification.

In a recent study published on bioRxiv, researchers identified the first known cat in the region, dating from 706 to 883 CE during the Tang Dynasty. Genetic analysis shockingly revealed that the cat was genetically linked to a domestic cat from Kazakhstan and likely arrived via a dispersal route along the Silk Road.

This finding led scientists to correct earlier assumptions. For years, scientists believed that domestic cats lived in China by the late Neolithic Era, based on the remains of a felid found at a 5,400-year-old site in Western China. However, further genetic and morphological research showed those remains instead belonged to leopard cats, non-domesticated felids native to South, Southeast, and East Asia.

To uncover the origins of true domesticated cats in China, researchers intensely studied 22 feline bones from 14 archeological sites spanning 5,000 years. All domestic cats in the study carry a genetic marker known as clade IV-B, also identified in a medieval cat from Kazakhstan (775–940 CE)—the oldest-known house cat found along the Silk Road. Scientists were then able to conclude that Chinese domestic cats originated in the Middle East and arrived through the Silk Road trade.

This research not only clears up the longstanding question of when exactly cats like the ones we know today began living with humans, but also emphasizes the significance of cultural exchanges and how animals moved with humans across continents.

A recent study has shown that domestic cats likely arrived in China during the Tang Dynasty via the Silk Road.

Photo: Su Hanchen via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Earlier remains presumed to be house cats were found to be wild leopard cats.

Photo: Yi Yuanji via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Researchers found a genetic marker linking Chinese cats to the Middle East, suggesting they originated there.

Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

Sources: A New Study Finds That Domestic Cats Traveled the Silk Road to China About 1,400 Years Ago; Silk Road merchants may have introduced cats to China 1400 years ago

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READ: Research Reveals That Ancient Trade Routes Delivered Domestic Cats to China