How a Georgian Princess’s Cookbook Helped Build a Celebrated Restaurant

This is for friends who fantasize about food all day long.

The book, entitled Georgian Cuisine and Tried Housekeeping Notes, was published in 1874 by a Georgian princess named Barbare Jorjadze. Today, Princess Jorjadze is a national hero: She is considered the first feminist of the country, and is famous for her advocacy of women’s rights in Georgia. In her decree, she wrote about the damning expectations placed on women: “From a very young age, we are told, ‘since god made you a woman, you must sit silently, look at nobody, go nowhere, shut your ears and your eyes, and just sit there. Education and learning of languages is none of your concern.” Now, the Georgian National Library has dedicated a full room to her, in honor of her advocacy efforts. A copy of Georgian Cuisine and Tried Housekeeping Notes is on display at the Georgian Literature Museum and the Georgian National Library, too.

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Will McGough — Atlas Obscura

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The Once-Common Practice of Communal Sleeping

Would you be comfortable sleeping on the same bed with a stranger? Communal sleeping sounds such a weird idea today. But, today’s needull discusses how communal sleeping used to be a common practice till very recently.

It was not uncommon for strangers and traveling companions to share a bed while on the road. Etiquette dictated that to ensure relative tranquility when sharing a bed with strangers, a bedmate was to lie still, not hog the blankets, and generally keep to one’s self. But that didn’t always work. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams spent a night sharing a bed at a New Jersey inn which was largely passed bickering over whether to keep the window open or closed.

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Adee Braun — Atlas Obscura

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Breathtaking Photos of Ancient Trees Against Starry Skies

This one is more of a photo needull. Beautiful trees! Sometimes it is the simplicity of nature that amazes us the most.

A sequoia can live for over 3,000 years. There’s one baobab tree specimen that has been dated at over 6,000 years old. These are some of the world’s most ancient trees—trees that have lived through countless generations of humans, under an infinite number of night skies. The timelessness of these trees and their starry backdrops inspired Beth Moon’s new photography book, Ancient Trees Ancient Skies.

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Anika Burgess — Atlas Obscura

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