Happy New Year! I’m looking forward to another year of rolling up our sleeves and digging into history. Last year we swam through prehistoric seaways with Xiphactinus, braved the treacherous journey through the Egyptian afterlife, cranked out books with Johannes Gutenberg, shook our pelvis with Elvis, ran a marathon with Joan Benoit, and so much more.
In the year ahead, I’ll be hitting the road and exploring new museums and historical sites. Together we’ll discover more quirky and little-known bits (bites!) about famous and not so famous people, places, artifacts, and events. Since I’ll be featuring more museums, I’ve upgraded this blog’s name to Museum Bites. Feel free to drop me a line or suggest a particular museum or piece of history at museumbites@gmail.com or in the Comments section below.
I’m looking forward to the journey ahead and I hope you are too 🙂 Next week we’re crossing the pond and taking a castle run through the Scottish Highlands. Scotland is known for its bagpipes, kilts, and haggis, but do you know what creature is Scotland’s national animal? Tune in next week to find out.
Fun A-Muse-Ing Fact: Museums date back several thousand years to the Ancient Greeks. The word museum comes from the Greek word, mouseion meaning “seat of the muses”. These ancient Greek buildings were more about honoring the muses than exhibiting a collection of artifacts. Mouseion were filled with offerings of art, literature, and scientific invention. Click on this entertaining and brief (5 minutes!) animated TedTalk by J.V. Maranto about the history of museums.
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Museum Bites 
How cool that you’re doing this! I already have learned the origin of museums, which I never thought about. Have a great time in Scotland, it’s someplace I’d love to visit, and you’re picking an excellent time to leave the U.S. Happy new year!
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