Portal:Society

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A society (/səˈsaɪəti/) is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.

Human social structures are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the specialization of labor via social roles. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. So far as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis.

Societies vary based on level of technology and type of economic activity. Larger societies with larger food surpluses often exhibit stratification or dominance patterns. Societies can have many different forms of government, various ways of understanding kinship, and different gender roles. Human behavior varies immensely between different societies; humans shape society, but society in turn shapes human beings. (Full article...)

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The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds of livestock. Founded in 1977 through the efforts of livestock breed enthusiasts concerned about the disappearance of many of the US's heritage livestock breeds, the ALBC was the pioneer livestock preservation organization in the United States, and remains a leading organization in that field. It has initiated programs that have saved multiple breeds from extinction, and works closely with similar organizations in other countries, including Rare Breeds Canada. The ALBC maintains a conservation priority list that divides endangered breeds of horses, asses, sheep, goats, cattle, rabbits, pigs and poultry into five categories based on population numbers and historical interest. The organization has published several books, and works with breed registries and other groups on several aspects of breed preservation, including genetic testing, historical documentation, animal rescue and marketing. Preservation of genetic material is of special interest to the ALBC, and for a period of time it maintained a gene bank that was later transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture. It has also developed and published several heritage definitions, including parameters for heritage breeds of cattle and poultry.

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Credit: Bain News Service; Restoration: AutoGyro

Two workers, c. 1908, use plaster to create a mold of a deceased person's face. This mold will then be used to make that person's death mask. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, used for creation of portraits, or placed on the face of the deceased before burial rites. The best known of the last are those used by Ancient Egyptians as part of the mummification process, such as the one for Tutankhamun.

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Did you know...

... that an 1851 match between Voltigeur and The Flying Dutchman (see painting) drew 100,000 spectators, the largest crowd at the Knavesmire since 1759?
... that in Egyptian mythology, the Eye of Ra slaughtered masses of people, got drunk, ran away from her owner, and was brought back by her husband?
... that over three million Chinese military and civilian personnel served in Korea during the Korean War?

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Anniversaries this month

4 April 1930 - Foundation of the American Rocket Society, originally named the American Interplanetary Society
13 April 1564 - Pope Pius IV approved the Society of the Holy Name
19 April 1866 - First anti-cruelty law was passed since the founding of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Brooklyn chapter pictured)
22 April 2008 - IEEE Power Engineering Society changed its name to IEEE Power & Energy Society

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“

At present there is no distinction among the upper ten thousand of the city.

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— Nathaniel Parker Willis, Necessity for a Promenade Drive

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Harriet Arbuthnot

Harriet Arbuthnot was an early 19th-century English diarist, social observer and political hostess on behalf of the Tory party. During the 1820s she was the "closest woman friend" of the hero of Waterloo and British Prime Minister, the 1st Duke of Wellington. She maintained a long correspondence and association with the Duke, all of which she recorded in her diaries, which are consequently extensively used in all authoritative biographies of the Duke of Wellington. Born into the periphery of the British aristocracy and married to a politician and member of the establishment, she was perfectly placed to meet all the key figures of the Regency and late Napoleonic eras. Recording meetings and conversations often verbatim, she has today become the "Mrs Arbuthnot" quoted in many biographies and histories of the era. Her observations and memories of life within the British establishment are not confined to individuals but document politics, great events and daily life with an equal attention to detail, providing historians with a clear picture of the events described. Her diaries were themselves finally published in 1950 as The Journal of Mrs Arbuthnot. (Full article...)

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1860 – Au Clair de la Lune

This 1860 phonautogram by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville is the earliest known recording of the human voice, though it was never intended to be played back.

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List of awards and nominations received by Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

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20151030 Syrians and Iraq refugees arrive at Skala Sykamias Lesvos Greece 2
Bertillon, Alphonse, fiche anthropométrique recto-verso
Cicatrices de flagellation sur un esclave
Daisy (1964)
DurbanSign1989
Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-Portrait (as "New Woman"), 1896
Jane Addams - Bain News Service
Marine da nang
Nanook of the North
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United States President Barack Obama bends down to allow the son of a White House staff member to touch his head
W.E.B. Du Bois by James E. Purdy, 1907
Xiahe mandible

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Definition of Society from the OED.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution
"The Day the World Took Off" Six part video series from the University of Cambridge tracing the question "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin when and where it did."
BBC History Home Page – Industrial Revolution
National Museum of Science and Industry website – machines and personalities
Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living by Clark Nardinelli - the debate over whether standards of living rose or fell.

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