The third Spencer Tiara formerly belonged to Marie Antoinette. It is pictured here with the Sutherland necklace. (The Sutherlands are a branch of the Spencer family who are also associated with the Churchill”s and the Dukes of Marlborough. Thery”re all the same family.) The Sutherland necklace is comprised of 17 of the largest diamonds from a necklace that was owned by Marie Antoinette AND is the necklace that helped spark the French Revolution.
(via queen-marieantoinette)
Calculation of solar and lunar eclipses
from: Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing, by al-Qazwini
(copy manuscript, 14th century)
Zakariya’ ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (1203 -1283), was a Persian physician, astronomer, geographer and proto-science fiction writer. Born in the Persian town of Qazvin, he served as legal expert and judge (qadhi) in several localities in Persia and at Baghdad. He travelled around in Mesopotamia and Syria, and finally entered the circle patronized by the governor of Baghdad.
he also wrote a futuristic proto-science fiction tale entitled Awaj bin Anfaq, about a man who travelled to Earth from a distant planet
(via scientificillustration)
