Monday, September 9, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we examine the brief, shining rise of a teenage leader, find out how Russia’s Catherine became ‘The Great’; check out a claim to quell snoring, calculate alcohol’s toll on the body ... and see a ’Goonies’ discovery.

She was 18. A peasant. The British called her The Maid.

And she improbably led the French to a major victory. Who was Joan of Arc—and why did this national hero end up executed, burned alive, her ashes scattered upon the Seine? Why did her captors want—and fail— to erase her from history?  

Other stirring heroines: 

- How Catherine really became ‘The Great’'

- The warriors of this West African kingdom were formidable—and female

-Pirate queen Zhen Yi Sao, with 70,000 raiders, tormented the South China Sea 

The point: Obelisks, like the two pictured above, were invented and built in this ancient land, but surprisingly few exist here today. Where are we? 

A. Egypt 
B. Greece 
C. Modern-day Syria
D. Massachusetts

Related: Why the Washington Monument was once a national embarrassment

Today’s Joan of Arc soundtrack: The Man, Taylor Swift 

Missed yesterday’s Photo of the Week? You can sign up here for the next one. Today’s newsletter was edited and curated by David Beard. Let us know if you have any suggestions or a favorite obelisk.