Joan Burstein
Joan Burstein has owned and run London’s most influential boutique Browns since she founded it in 1970.
Kuru
Kuru is a very rare, incurable neurodegenerative disorder that was formerly common among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea. Kuru is also known as the "laughing sickness" due to the pathologic bursts of laughter which are a symptom of the disease. It is now widely accepted that kuru was transmitted among members of the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea via funerary cannibalism. Deceased family members were traditionally cooked and eaten, which was thought to help free the spirit of the dead. Women and children usually consumed the brain, the organ in which infectious prions were most concentrated, thus allowing for transmission of kuru. The disease was therefore more prevalent among women and children.
Voyager Golden Record
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for future humans, who may find them. The Voyager spacecraft are not heading towards any particular star, but Voyager 1 will be within 1.6 light years of the star AC+79 3888 in the Ophiuchus constellation in about 40,000 years.
Camel wrestling
Camel wrestling is a sport in which two male Tülu camels wrestle in response to a female camel in heat being led before them. It is most common in the Aegean region of Turkey, but is also found in the Marmara and Mediterranean regions of that country. There are an estimated 1,200 camel wrestlers in Turkey, bred specially for the competitions.
Saul Steinberg
Saul Steinberg is best known for his work for The New Yorker. He described himself as a writer who draws.
Voisin III
The Voisin III was a French two-seat bomber and ground attack aircraft of World War I, among the earliest of its kind. It is also notable for being the first aircraft in the war to win an aerial fight and shoot down an enemy aircraft.
Purple Rain Riot
Purple Rain Riot was an anti-apartheid protest held in Cape Town on September 2, 1989, four days before South Africa's racially segregated parliament held its elections. A police water cannon with purple dye was turned on thousands of Mass Democratic Movement supporters who poured into the city in an attempt to march on South Africa's Parliament. White office blocks adjacent to Greenmarket Square were sprayed purple four stories high as a protester leapt onto the roof of the water cannon vehicle, seized the nozzle and attempted to turn the jet away from the crowds.
Maison Louis Carré
The Maison Louis Carré is one of the most important private houses designed by Alvar Aalto.
Carlo Tononi
Carlo Annibale Tononi was a luthier who trained and worked with his father in the Tononi family workshop in Bologna, Italy. Before his death, Tononi modified his will to provide for his funeral. He requested that the proceeds from the sale of one of his cellos be used to pay for a mass to be said for his soul. On 21 April 1730, his executors published his will after his death. A genuine Tononi violin ranges in value from $45,000 to $450,000 depending on condition and provenance.
Agarwood
Agarwood is created when Aquilaria trees, which were traditionally planted around villages for their Feng Shui properties, are damaged, allowing a mould to attack the timber. When harvested, the infected, dark, resinous wood is pared away from the healthy, scentless, cream-coloured wood. The resin is especially coveted for its use in perfume and incense. Agarwood resin is distilled to create Oud oil, which is an essential ingredient in high-end perfumes.