Was George Washington Tall?
Mar 19
In an earlier posting, I explained that at approximately 5 foot 4 inches tall, Napoleon was not short. Now let’s go in the other direction. At approximately 6 foot 3 inches tall, George Washington (1732 – 1799) was not tall. Well, not that tall. I stand 5 foot 10 and a half inches, so 6 foot three sure sounds tall to me. Considering that Washington and Napoleon were more or less...
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Quick, name an Irish food favorite…
Mar 17
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Quick, name an Irish food favorite… You said Corned Beef and Cabbage, didn’t you? Corned Beef and Cabbage is considered the quintessential Irish food. But it isn’t exactly Irish in origin. When the Irish emigrated to the United States, like every other ethnic group to make that journey, they brought their favorite foods with them. But what they brought...
Why did Michelangelo sculpt Moses with horns?
Nov 12
Pope Julius II, famous to modern TV viewers as the Cardinal della Rovere on the popular miniseries The Borgias on Showtime or as the frustrated Pope in the 1965 movie The Agony and The Ecstasy (played by Rex Harrison) who constantly questions of Michelangelo when will he make an end of the painting of the Sistine Chapel, commissioned the sculpting of Moses to adorn his tomb. Today this statue...
Napoleon was NOT short!
Sep 21
This is a very common misconception. This is so much a part of the folklore that in 1908 the noted psychologist Alfred Adler used Napoleon as an example of an inferiority complex felt by short people that led to aggressive behavior as a compensation for their lack of height. This became known as the Napoleon Complex. So how tall was Napoleon and why was that not short? His exact height is a...