Amphorae

Though probably little known to the rest of the world, the sinking of the Monitor during the American Civil War is an item of great interest to those of us stateside. It was, after all, one of the first armored ships and presaged the end of wooden ships in warfare. The sad end of the Monitor, and 16 members of her crew, is being memorialized today with the interment of two bodies found amongst the wreckage during excavations. For facial reconstructions of the two seamen and more on this story you can read on here .

Well, I am a little late with the trivia question this week due to a holiday on Monday and the busyness of working two jobs at present. Last week's query was:- What 17th century composer was portrayed by Gerard and Guillaume Depardieu in the movie Tous Les Matins du Monde? Solene, in France, correctly answered that it was Marin Marais. If you haven't seen the movie, Solene and I both highly recommend it. This week I'll give you an easy one since there is less time to guess:- What famous artisan is honored by today's Google Doodle, seen above?

Did you know that the word "sabotage" may be related to shoes? Supposedly during the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution gained force and factories full of machinery sprang up across France and elsewhere, the people who worked in the factories feared that the machines might replace them (not without a certain amount of truth). In response to these fears they would throw their wooden shoes, called "sabots" into the devices to break them. Probably the only people this helped were the repairmen.