The Straight Mind and Other Essays

The "Xiaohe Mummy", exhibited in Xinjiang Museum, is one of the oldest Tarim mummies, dating more than 3800 years ago. Another mummy from the same place is the " Princess of Xiaohe ".

Spanish bullfight in Las Ventas in Madrid

The immortal Zhang shooting at the Tiangou

The Straight Mind and Other Essays

Monique Wittig's 1980 essay declared that 'woman' only exists in relation to 'man' — and that lesbians, escaping that relation, are therefore not women at all. The room reportedly went silent when she read it aloud.

Killing of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki

Sixteen-year-old Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen eating dinner in Yemen, was killed by a drone two weeks after his father. The Obama administration later said it was a mistake. His grandfather asked why.

Tarim mummies

Xinjiang's Tarim Basin gave up Bronze Age mummies with red and blonde hair, plaid textiles, and features no one expected in 2nd-millennium-BCE China — their genetic origin is still genuinely contested.

Bullfighting

Minoan frescoes show unarmed athletes vaulting over charging bulls in rituals that predate the Spanish corrida by 3,000 years. The matador's suit of lights is Bronze Age costume with a modern tailor.

Taichang Emperor

The Taichang Emperor reigned 29 days before dying — reportedly after swallowing red pills supplied by a court official named Li Kezhuo, whose formula was never fully disclosed.

Ron Athey

HIV-positive Ron Athey carved ritual patterns into collaborator Divinity Fudge's back, blotted the blood onto paper towels, and hoisted them over the audience on a clothesline. The NEA lost funding over it.

1995 Tour de France

In 1995, Casartelli's skull cracked on a roadside concrete block during stage 15; he was dead before the helicopter landed. The race continued. Miguel Induráin won overall in silence.

CIH (computer virus)

CIH triggered on April 26 — Chernobyl's anniversary — flashing BIOS chips into permanent silence. Written by Taiwanese student Chen Ing-hau in 1998, it destroyed hardware, not just files.

Dogs in Chinese mythology

In Chinese myth, the celestial dog Tiangou stole fire from heaven and delivered it to humanity, arriving with his tail scorched permanently black. He also devours the sun and moon during eclipses — drums must be beaten to make him spit them out.