Monday, December 30, 2024

Today’s History newsletter uncovers the truth of Rasputin’s death, stares into the face of a 7,000-year-old woman, finds clues to the Dead Sea Scrolls ... and plumbs the mystery behind ‘Auld Lang Syne’

MARY EVANS/PHOTOSTOCK 

Intense. Mesmerizing with those piercing blue eyes. Said to have supernatural powers.

The peasant mystic Rasputin riveted and manipulated Russia’s royal family—until his mysterious assassination. Did he survive poison, drowning, gunshots before his final demise? Now we have the real story. 

Related: What made Catherine The Great so great?

PHOTOGRAPH  BY JODI COBB

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEFF J MITCHELL, GETTY IMAGES 

Like lemmings, millions of people sing Auld Lang Syne when the clock strikes midnight at the start of a new year. Why? The words come from a poem by Robert Burns, but they showed up decades earlier from another poet. Who was it? 

A. Francis Bacon
B. Christopher Marlowe
C. Allan Ramsey
D. Oscar Wilde

Today’s Soundtrack: Samson, Regina Spektor

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter. Don’t miss our adventures in 2025; sign up here. David Beard edited and curated this issue;
Alisher Egamov produced it.