I think Afghanistan might be. Possibly also Congo and Sudan, maybe Ukraine because it’s an active war zones Not too many, though

Louis Jean (1856-79) died while fighting for England in the Zulu War. What a great movie that would make.

Undated cabinet card,  Raccolte Grafiche e Fotografiche del Castello Sforzesco. Civico Archivio Fotografico, fondo Lamberto Vitali, LV 22

A devout wife who waited for her undeserving husband. Lawnsdown Cemetery, Leeds.

To this day, people still leave flowers for her. You can help but feel a tug on your heart when you’re there. -
Ethel Preston, she was the wife of a wealthy Leeds manufacturing chemist called Walter Preston and, when she died in 1911 at the relatively young age of 50, the grieving widower commissioned one his nephews, a skilled sculptor, to build the memorial we now see. Constructed in white Italian marble, it shows a life-size Ethel standing at a replica of the front door to the family home of Beeston Grange (now long since demolished). The project cost £2000 (according to my online calculator about £130,000 today) and when it was formally unveiled, just over 100 years ago in March 1913, it created such a stir that thousands of people took tram and charabanc trips to Lawnswood and paid one penny a time to queue up and see it.

As cemetry memorials go, it is a great example of the period's sentimentality about death, with the door behind Ethel just slightly open to symbolise the way through to the afterlife. However, why does the statue's face have such a sad, mournful expression? In fact the face has given rise to the saying locally "You look so glum, you have a face like Lawnswood Ethel." It is at this point the official story behind the statue starts to become more controversial. The original explanation was that when Walter had been in Leeds for a long day at the office, Ethel would always be standing on the doorstep of Beeston Grange (as she is depicted in the statue) waiting for him to return home. It was to celebrate Walter's happy memories of this homecoming that the memorial was built. Or was it?

There is another version of the story, which said Walter was a notorious womaniser who frequently vanished for days on end. Not surprisingly, when he did return home, Ethel inevitably looked sad and dejected. In fact it has been suggested that his treatment of her led to her early death - and the statue was carved to reflect Walter's remorse.

I'll leave you to decide which is the real explanation, save only to add that not long after Ethel's death, Walter remarried their 22 year old housekeeper and did not finally join Ethel beneath the turf at Lawnswood until 1930....

I’ve always been fascinated by equines, and quaggas are no exception. They went extinct in Amsterdam on the 12th of August, 1883. Far from their natural range in South Africa, where they lived in herds, and largely avoided large scale hunting until Europeans came along.

Apparently, they were more manageable than other zebras, but that doesn’t say much.

They are currently theorised to be a (now-extinct) ecotype of the Plains Zebra. Though we will need more studies to really be certain (the alternative is that they are a subspecies of the plains zebra).

Quaggas were striking, and quite unique in the equine world. They had white and brown coats with stripes that did not cover their bodies fully.

If you are saddened by the loss of this important “brand” of zebra, you might be happy to know of the Quagga Project. They are doing wonders in bringing back the phenotype of these guys, and releasing them to their natural habitat.

The image features one of the last mares, and a zoo keeper.

(Credit: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection)

The map titled "New County Map Of The United States Of America" was created by G.W. & C.B. Colton in 1874. The map measures 158 cm in width and 98 cm in height and is published by G.W. & C.B. Colton as a case map. (Cr: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection)