← Calm Web Culture Essays, Philosophy, Literary Arts & Cultural Criticism In This Issue Watch Rome Rise, Fall, and Rise Again in a Three-Minute 3D Timelapse — Open Culture Scholars disagree on when, exactly, Rome fell. Teaching Students to See What They Miss — JSTOR Daily A classroom exercise in slow looking uses art to sharpen observation skills and encourage more attentive listening. Christopher Lee Reads Edgar Allan Poe: “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” & More — Open Culture Sir Christopher Lee and Edgar Allan Poe went way back. The Art of the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum — JSTOR Daily How do horticulturists coax more than 1,000 flowers from a single plant? The answer lies in a centuries-old Japanese tradition. What Ancient Latin Sounded Like, And How We Know It — Open Culture Latin is a language As dead as dead can be; It killed the Romans long ago, And now it’s killing me. In 1897, London’s Lampposts Dispensed Hot Coffee, Tea, and “Fluid Beef” — Open Culture Any reader of Victorian literature will wonder how much a ha’penny was actually worth in those days. The Forgotten Stories Behind Presidential Campaign Buttons — JSTOR Daily The race for the White House has always inspired unusual publicity stunts. A vast collection shows just how strange they could get. Sears Sold 75,000 DIY Mail Order Homes Between 1908 and 1939, and Transformed American Life — Open Culture Two of the books that most shaped American culture both happened to bear the nickname “The Big Book.” Frankenstein, The Vampyre, and the Spirit of the Humanities — JSTOR Daily How one ghost story competition continues to haunt the humanities—just in time for Halloween. Why Washing Machines Took Decades to Catch On — JSTOR Daily Early electric laundry appliances promised to make housework easier. But convincing American households to buy them was another matter. Ghosts, Witches, and Other Halloween Stories — JSTOR Daily A spine-tingling roundup of historical mysteries, supernatural folklore, and the strange things that have frightened us for centuries.