On This Day
1748 – Denmark adopts the characteristic Nordic Cross flag later taken up by all other Scandinavian countries.
The Nordic cross flag is any of certain flags bearing the design of the Nordic or Scandinavian cross, a cross symbol in a rectangular field, with the center of the cross shifted towards the hoist.
All of the Nordic countries except Greenland have adopted such flags in the modern period, and while the Scandinavian cross is named for its use in the national flags of the Scandinavian nations, the term is used universally by vexillologists, in reference not only to the flags of the Nordic countries but to other flags with similar designs.[1]
The cross design represents Christianity,[2][3][4] and the characteristic shift of the center to the hoist side is early modern, first described the Danish civil ensign (Koffardiflaget) for merchant ships in a regulation of 11 June 1748, which specified the shift of the cross center towards the hoist as “the two first fields must be square in form and the two outer fields must be 6⁄4 lengths of those”. The Danish design was adopted for the flags of Norway (civil ensign 1821) and Sweden (1906), both derived from a common ensign used during the Union between Sweden and Norway 1818–1844, as well as Iceland (1915) and Finland (1917); some of the subdivisions of these countries used this as inspiration for their own flags. The Norwegian flag was the first Nordic cross flag with three colours. All Nordic flags may be flown as gonfalons as well.[citation needed]
Born On This Day
1909 – Natascha Artin Brunswick, German-American mathematician and photographer (d. 2003)
Natascha Artin Brunswick, née Jasny (June 11, 1909 – February 3, 2003) was a German-American mathematician and photographer.
St. Petersburg and Hamburg
Natascha Artin Brunswick was the daughter of Naum Jasny [ru], a Russian Jewish economist from Kharkiv. Her mother was a Russian orthodox aristocrat and dentist. Since at the time Russian orthodox Christians were prohibited from marrying Jews, she converted to Protestantism. They were married in Finland.
Naum Jasny was an adherent of the Mensheviks and fled to Tbilisi after the October Revolution in 1917. Natascha, her sister, and her mother followed in 1920. After the Bolsheviks took control of Georgia, the family lived in Austria from 1922 to 1924, for a brief period in 1924 in Berlin, and finally moved to Langenhorn, Hamburg, where they remained until 1937. Natascha Jasny attended the progressive Lichtwark school. While still in school, she photographed with a simple box camera and processed her own pictures in the bathroom at home, which served as a makeshift darkroom.
Natascha graduated in 1928. She hoped to study architecture at the Bauhaus Dessau, but the family’s financial situation made this impossible. She instead studied mathematics at the University of Hamburg, where she also took courses in art history from Aby Warburg and Erwin Panofsky. She graduated from the university in 1930 with a Magister degree.
On August 29, 1929 she married her mathematics professor Emil Artin, who had been teaching in Hamburg since 1923. In 1933, the Artins had a daughter, Karin, and in 1934 a son, Michael.
Because his wife was half Jewish, Emil Artin was forced into early retirement from his teaching position under the Nazi Party Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. On September 27, 1934, Artin already had to sign a declaration that his wife was not “Aryan”.[1] The Artin family managed to leave Germany for the United States on October 21, 1937. Since they were prohibited from taking larger sums of money with them, the Artins shipped their entire household, which reflected their modernist sensibilities.
Life in the United States
Natascha’s husband first obtained a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame, and in 1938 moved to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The Artins had their third child, son Thomas (Tom), in 1938. During World War II, Natascha Artin was classified an enemy alien. The United States Army nevertheless hired her in 1942 to teach Russian to soldiers under Army Specialized Training Program at Indiana University.
In 1946, Emil was hired by Princeton University, and the Artins moved to Princeton, New Jersey. They divorced in 1958, after which Emil Artin returned to Hamburg. Natasha Artin remarried in 1960. Her second husband was composer Mark Brunswick.
Artin Brunswick returned to Hamburg as an official guest of the City of Hamburg in 1998, on the occasion of Emil Artin’s 100th birthday. She lived in Princeton until her death in 2003.
Work as a mathematician
After her move to Princeton, Natascha Artin joined the group around Richard Courant at the mathematics department of New York University. She became the technical editor of the journal Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics, founded at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences in 1948, and in 1956 became the primary translation editor for the journal Theory of Probability and Its Applications, a position she held until 1989.[2] In recognition of her long-standing membership of over 50 years, she was made an Honorary Member of the American Mathematical Society.
Work as photographer
Artin Brunswick never saw herself as a professional photographer. She considered it a “private passion, nevertheless, it was a bit more than just taking snapshots.”[3]
After they married in 1929, Emil Artin, who shared her passion for photography, gave her a Leica compact camera. She was encouraged in her photography by the painter Heinrich Stegemann, a family friend. She first took pictures of family members, friends, and landscapes, but later explored Hamburg and photographed scenes such as the Port of Hamburg, the Jungfernstieg, and the main railway station. She was particularly interested in architecture, and, influenced by the ideas of the Bauhaus, preferred clear, bright lines in her photographs.
As she was classified an enemy alien during World War II, her camera was provisionally confiscated by police in 1942. By the time it was returned to her, she had lost her passion for photography. Her prints from the time in Hamburg, however, survived through her emigration. Her son Tom rediscovered them about forty years later in a cabinet. He recognized their importance and contacted galleries in Hamburg. Artin Brunswick’s photographs were first shown at the Kunstgenuss gallery in Hamburg-Eppendorf in 1999. In 2001, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe organized an exhibition of 227 original prints under the title Hamburg, As I Saw It. Photographs from the 1920s and 30s.[4] Despite her advanced age of 91 years, Natascha Brunswick took the trip from New York to attend the opening. The museum now holds 230 original prints; the negatives are in the possession of the Artin family.
FYI
By Anna Herod: Bill Wittliff, renowned writer and co-founder of the Wittliff Collections, dies at 79
William D. Wittliff (January 1940 – June 9, 2019), [1] sometimes credited as Bill Wittliff, was an American screenwriter, author and photographer who wrote the screenplays for The Perfect Storm (2000), Barbarosa (1982), Raggedy Man (1981), and many others.
The Passive Voice: The All Party Parliamentary Writers Group Calls for Immediate Action to Reverse Steep Decline in Writers Incomes; The Complete Guide to Attracting a Loyal Audience for Your Writing and more ->
Atlas Obscura: The intimacy of crime scene photos in Belle Epoque Paris; Pygmy Rabbits; Ladybug Swarm and more->
Gastro Obscura: The surprising, overlooked artistry of fruit stickers; Louisiana Mirliton and more ->
Fast Company Katharine Schwab: One of tech’s most prolific design studios just reinvented the coffee maker Argodesign works with companies like Magic Leap and designs interfaces for AI. But its latest project is pure low-tech.
Bad for business?
By Emily Zanotti: CEOs From 180 Companies, Including Twitter And H&M, Pen Letter Opposing State Abortion Laws
CEOs from 180 companies signed on to a full-page ad in The New York Times released Monday, claiming recent restrictive abortion laws passed in states like Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri are “bad for business.”
By Jason Davis: NASA’s Artemis program will return astronauts to the moon and give us the first female moonwalker It’s a bold plan — and success isn’t certain. Artemis faces political, budgetary and technological hurdles.
By Scott Myers: Joseph Campbell word for word on The Hero’s Journey
Reuters Diane Bartz, David Shepardson: Ten U.S. states sue to stop Sprint-T-Mobile deal, saying consumers will be hurt
Attorneys general from the ten states have been investigating the deal, which would reduce the number of nationwide wireless carriers to three from four. The companies have pledged not to boost rates for three years.
The reduced competition would cost Sprint and T-Mobile subscribers more than $4.5 billion annually, according to the complaint.
“Direct competition between Sprint and T-Mobile has led to lower prices, higher quality service, and more features for consumers. If consummated, the merger will eliminate the competition between Sprint and T-Mobile,” the states said in the complaint.
By AJ Willingham, CNN: Seals with antennas on their heads helped scientists solve an Antarctic mystery
Hypebot.com Guest post by James Shotwell of Haulix: Everything A Site Requires To Premiere A Song Or Video
By Andy Nathan: If I knew then what I know now … I would have moved even faster Fortnight Collective founder says ‘nothing good ever happens when you stand still’
The Kitchn: 7 Fresh and Filling Drop Dinners That Make Themselves; Brighten Up Your Morning Routine; The Only Cleaner I’ll Use on My Refinished Hardwood Floors and more ->
The Rural Blog: Malheur Enterprise investigates how Ore. state legislator has scored multiple gov’t contracts for his private business; Project helps rural teens in news deserts, who feel ignored by news media, learn more about journalism; USDA promises quick disaster aid for Southern farmers and forest owners hit in 2018; the latter may take some finagling and more ->
Week In Weird: Meet Devin Person, a Real-Life Wizard Who Grants Wishes on the New York City Subway
Colossal: Thick Brushstrokes Form Plump Songbirds in Oil Paintings by Angela Moulton; Shadowy Animals Infiltrate Desolate Spaces in Illustrations by Jenna Barton and more ->
Barn Finds: Latest Barn Finds!
Ideas
By Penolopy Bulnick: Easy Ribbon Wand
By Penolopy Bulnick: Ribbon Chain Necklace
By 47designco: Dye Sublimation Printing
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for October 13 October 13, 2024Picture of the day In 1909, US Navy engineer Robert Peary completed an expedition that he claimed was to the North Pole. Although this is heavily disputed by modern historians, he was credited for the achievement at the time.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for October 12 October 12, 2024Picture of the day View of the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida with the walkway called "Passarela da Fé", connecting the old and the new church, in the foreground. Today is the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida and public holiday in Brazil.
Recipes
The Kitchn: Recipe: Sheet Pan Ranch Quesadillas
By In The Kitchen With Matt: Easy Homemade Bagels
By In the Kitchen With Matt: Easy Eclairs
By Michael’s Test Kitchen: Protein Popsicles
Widget not in any sidebars
Widget not in any sidebars