Plus, 158 years of U.S. mail-in voting
| | Tuesday, November 8, 2022 | | | | |
 | IMAGES COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
| | It cost a lot to maintain the world’s greatest empire. A new story finds a clue to Rome’s decline can be found in the smallest of its artifacts as well as its majestic walls and columns.
Rome’s coins tell a story of a strapped empire faced with plague, enhanced military spending, and mob riots. Rome had to reduce the amount of silver in those coins it minted to cover expenses. Over the decades, that led to crippling inflation, one factor in its fall (along with invading Goths, corruption, and overreliance on slave labor).
The empire eventually split in two—and was never the same again.
Read the full story of Rome’s small artifacts here.
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| | The coin of the realm: This silver denarius serratus (shown above) was cast in 106 B.C. Later versions of these coins had less silver. At top, an engraving on this scarab from the second or third century B.C. shows a seated Prometheus creating life. Read more. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM | | | Case solved: Sharon Estill Taylor was only seven years old when she promised to find her missing father. Her dad, Shannon Estill, was a pilot during WWII and went missing only three weeks after Sharon was born. His plane and body were never found—until his love letters to Sharon’s mom, Mary Taylor Estill, helped Sharon track him down 60 years later, Nat Geo reports. (Pictured above, the Estills in 1943, on their wedding day.) | | | |
| | Hello, Winnifred! She’s a red-backed bearded saki whose image by photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Joel Sartore has led to more than 567,000 likes on our Instagram. All members of this species, which live in groups of up to 55, have thick beards and buns on their heads. Their favorite foods? Nuts and seeds. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS | | Most divisive U.S. election? Stuffed ballot boxes, tossed ballots, voter intimidation, and a call for a “peaceful army” to march on Washington. The election of 1876 rivals the 2020 election as the most divisive in U.S. history—but the 1876 “fix” dealt a setback to Black rights and democracy that had been gained after the Civil War. Rutherford B. Hayes (pictured above, left, with his running mate) was named president in the seamiest of back-room deals. Congress later created safeguards to protect democracy that are still in place today—including the January 6th proceedings.
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Today’s soundtrack: “For the Good of Your Country,” by Jimmy Rushing and Count Basie & his Orchestra
We hope you liked today’s newsletter. This was edited and curated by Sydney Combs, Jen Tse, Heather Kim, and David Beard. If you’re an adult American citizen, did you cast a vote? What was your first election? Let us know. Happy trails!
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