Posts by Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met and a historian of early modern Britain & the Atlantic world. She holds a BA in History and Mathematics from Brown University and an MA in European & Russian Studies from Yale University. Madeleine has worked in archives and museums for years with a particular focus on photography and arts education. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, film photography, and studying law while cuddling with her cat Georgia.
Good News
February 17, 2022

Norwegian Student Discovers Boat Set Afloat by New Hampshire Students 8,000 Miles Away

Though traveling the world became more difficult since the pandemc closed borders and raised risks in 2020, some young adventurers found a way to explore the world and connect with other cultures while remaining safely at home. Several classes of fifth graders from Rye Junior High School in New Hampshire spent two years crafting a small boat filled with mementos and loaded with a GPS tracker.

Read Article

History
February 15, 2022

3,200-Year-Old Egyptian Tablet Shows They Took Attendance at Work and Recorded Absences

Calling in sick to work is apparently an ancient tradition. Whether its the sniffles or a scorpion bite, somedays you just can't make it. As it turns out, Ancient Egyptian employers kept track of employee days off in registers written on tablets. A tablet held by The British Museum and dating to 1250 BCE is an incredible window into ancient work-life balance.

Read Article

Archeology
February 13, 2022

There’s a “Ship Graveyard” in the Black Sea With 2,500 Years of Wrecked Vessels

The Black Sea is the body of water that lies at the intersection of Europe and Asia. Bordered by Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania, it's connected by the Strait of Istanbul and a series of waterways to the Mediterranean. The Black Sea has long been important to the powerful empires which have occupied the region.

Read Article

Birds
February 8, 2022

Sweden Is Using Clever Crows To Clean Up Litter Around the City

It's no secret that crows are clever. Like other members of the corvid family, crows live in communities known as roosts and are known to scavenge their food. Researchers are fascinated by the birds—even discovering that they can understand the concept of zero. A Swedish entrepreneur named Christian Günther-Hanssen, founder of Corvid Cleaning, is harnessing this avian brilliance to save his city money.

Read Article

My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.