A Brief History On July 10, 1040, Lady Godiva is supposed to have ridden naked on horseback to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes. Digging Deeper Before and since Lady Godiva’s legendary ride, many other women have made great impressions on culture, society and history mainly because they were in the buff. This article lists Medieval women (those who lived from about 476-1517) famous for being naked or who, at one point in their lives, had famously been naked. The order they will be presented in is not a ranking, but merely a chronological listing. Please…
Author: Beth Michaels
Beth Michaels
Beth Michaels attended a private college in Northeast Ohio from which she earned a Bachelor’s degree in German with a minor in French. From there she moved to Germany where she attended the University of Heidelberg for two years. Additional schooling earned her certifications as a foreign language correspondent and state-certified translator. In her professional career, Beth worked for a leading German manufacturer of ophthalmological medical instruments and devices as a quality representative, regulatory affairs manager, and internal auditor.
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A Brief History Historian Linda Hall asks, “Were Ancient women powerful or powerless?”1 One might refine this question to ask, “Were Ancient women famous for being naked powerful or powerless?” The women listed below unquestionably wielded power on men and women alike despite and in some cases because of their physical attributes. This article therefore explores some of Antiquity’s most famous women known for being naked and their influence on history. Digging Deeper 1) Nefertiti (c. 1,370 B.C. – c. 1,330 B.C) Known primarily for the beautifully sculpted bust that is on display at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, Nefertiti, wife of…
A Brief History On September 25, 1996, the last of the Magdalene asylums for prostitutes closed. Named after Mary Magdalene, a former prostitute who had repented her sins upon meeting Jesus, these asylums housed ” fallen” and wayward women. Digging Deeper After the first Magdalene asylum founded in Whitechapel, England in 1758, the concept quickly spread across Europe and to the United States, with the first American Magdalene asylum there being the Magdalen (sic.) Society of Philadelphia founded in 1800. For over for 200 years, these asylums, or laundries as they were also called because the women were often kept busy…
A Brief History On August 7th, 1908, the Venus of Willendorf, one of the earliest depictions of female nudity, was discovered in Austria. In our previous article in this series, we had listed the top ten women famous for being naked, or who, at one point in their lives, had famously been naked. Of course there are many more prominent ladies who have disrobed in a public setting or who have been artistically represented in a state of undress. In this article, we examine eleven more such women. For the latest installment in this series, the “Top 10 Black Women Famous…
A Brief History On August 20, 2008, the results of the internet voting of which top locations should be included in Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition were announced. Of those selected, the Polish city of Gdynia was especially notable. The original Monopoly game is famously believed to have been created by Charles Darrow, but this was simply not the case. Here we list 10 people believed to have done something they did not do. (Note: These are mostly mistaken historical beliefs of laypeople, not historians.) Digging Deeper 10. Al Gore Claimed He had Invented the Internet. Often ridiculed for…
