Wife + Husband

6th plate daguerreotype from around 1850

Louis Daguerre called his invention "daguerreotype." His method consisted of treating silver-plated copper sheets with iodine to make them sensitive to light, then exposing them in a camera and "developing" the images with warm mercury vapor. The fumes from the mercury vapor combined with the silver to produce an image. The plate was washed with a saline solution to prevent further exposure.

Crown Prince Alexander Day !

Prince Alexander in 1875

Prince Alexander (25 August 1851 – 21 June 1884) became the crown prince after the death of his brother William in 1879. He wasn't in good health, which deteriorated after the death of his dearloved mother (in 1877) and brother (in 1879). He lived the live of a hermit in his house near the parliament in The Haghue, where he ignored his father the king and the king's new wife. In contrast with his father he was interested in politics so he would have been a good king probably...

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Casper van Wittel - St. Peter's Square

Casper (Caspar) van Wittel: St. Peter's Square (Rome).

Born in Amersfoort in 1653 he was schooled by Matthias Withoos (1620-1703) in the matter of painting. Matthias was so impressed by his skills he decided to offer Casper the hand of his daughter. But Casper stayed in Rome and married an Italian girl.

Council of War

Crimean War: At dawn on 6 June 1855, photographer Roger Fenton was given the privilege of attending the war council between the three allied leaders - Lord Raglan, Marechal Pélissier and Omar Pacha - at Lord Raglan's headquarters, the morning before the successful attack on the Mamelon (a mamelon is small fortified hill), one of the decisive battles won by the allied forces at the cost of heavy casualties, including one of Fenton's many officer friends. Although Pélissier had the utmost respect for Raglan, he treated Omar Pasha so contemptuously that the Ottoman commander became increasingly eager to remove his army from the Crimea.

Steven van der Hagen

Steven van der Hagen King John III of Portugal, 1535

Steven van der Hagen (or Haghen) (Amersfoort, 1563 – Utrecht, 1621) was the first admiral of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He made three visits to the East Indies.

Napoleon Day !

Napoleon Bonaparte (French: Napoléon Bonaparte, Italian: Napoleone di Buonaparte) 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821.

a blog about Napoleon

Alfons Mucha

Alfons Mucha around 1901.

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New York (Times Square) in 1914

Street view of New York (Times Square), 1914.

(click to enlarge)

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