Elizabeth Needham- famous madam (or 'bawd') in England, early 1700s. pretty classic archetypal character- vicious to her girls, with an artful, charismatic exterior. She ran the most famous and elite brothel of her era.
Sally Salisbury- the most famous prostitute of early 1700s England, died approx 1732. beautiful and witty. she stabbed one of her clients after an insult, but she regretted it and he forgave her. these two articles really remind me of how, men really had it Much better than women, to an insulting degree, in this era. the consistent theme of these articles is that the women were considered criminals or disgraces, when caught, but the men were given a slap on the wrist or completely forgiven/brushed off
Khmer Empire- reigned from around 800 to 1300 or so, in southeast asia. Capital region was Angkor, the largest pre-industrial urban center in the world, larger than present-day New York. This empire had great economic prosperity- three rice harvests a year- plus excellent infrastructure, great waterworks, etc. and beautiful buddhist temples, most famously Angkor Wat. Reading the history of the Empire makes me think, appropriately, of Age of Empires. fighting with these little nations at its borders, pushing back and forth. ultimately it seems that economic and infrastructure decline led to the empire's decline. interesting to see if this society comes up when I read Collapse by Jared Diamond.
James J. Howard- New Jersey congressman from the mid 1960s to the late 1980s. Famed highway safety advocate. He's the guy who proposed the 55 mph speed limit.
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