On February 20, 1816, Gioacchino Rossini's most famous opera, The Barber of Seville, premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. Its libretto being written by Cesare Sterbini and based on Pierre Beaumarchais's 1775 comedy Le Barbier de…
Italy and other European countries celebrate today, on February 17, National Cat Day. The Day started being promoted back in 1990, when the readers of the Italian magazine "Tuttogatto" were given the opportunity to vote…
Today, February 16, marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Being based on both solar and lunar elements, the Chinese calendar is considered to be a lunisolar calendar - similarly to the Hebrew calendar:…
Folia Magazine joins in today the celebrations for International Darwin Day! Ever since publishing his history-making book, On the Origin of Species, in 1852, Darwin has evolved - pun intended - from being a "simple" scientist…
"Young girl being courted during a meal", illumination from the manuscript "Decretum Gratiani", ms. 0558, f. 323v, ca. 1288-1289, Bibliothèque Municipale, Tours. The illumination portrays a girl being seduced by the guest of a banquet in her father's house.…
On February 7, 1497 (Mardi Gras day), Girolamo Savonarola's bonfire of the Vanities took place in Piazza della Signoria, Florence. Inspired by the Dominican friar's predicaments against Florence's artistic and cultural mundanity during the time of…
The Church celebrates today the feast of Candlemas, commemorating the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. The origin of the feast lays in the very Torah: the Law prescribes, in fact, the redemption of…
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” On January 29, 1845, Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poem, "The Raven", was published for the first time on the pages of New York's The Evening Mirror. Poe's signature dark, supernatural atmosphere,…