Brilliant Maps

The Black Death, a devastating pandemic caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.

Here’s an overview of its spread, origins, transmission, and decline:

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As someone who’s had 3 of their 4 wisdom teeth vey painfully removed, they are not something I really like to think about.

However, the Spanish name of judgement tooth or molar of judgment (depending on your translation) is too good not to share.

Interesting in Catalan it’s molar of sense, in Basque it’s tooth of wisdom but in Galician we’re back to molar of judgment.

Here’s a full list of the name in various European languages with a literal translation:

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The map above shows some of the funnier names for Candy Floss (aka Cotton Candy if you’re American) across Europe. And might even prove to be useful if your kids are anything like mine.

Here’s a full list by country?

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The map above shows the difference pretty clearly:

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As of 2023, over 56,000 km (35,000 mi) were completed.

It is coordinated by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) to promote bicycle touring and local cycling. The routes include a mix of existing national bike paths, general-purpose roads, and newly constructed segments.

The network began in 1995 with 12 routes and has since expanded. Notable additions include the Iron Curtain Trail (EV13) and the Rhine Cycle Route (EV15).

A new Iberian Cycle Route (EV16) is planned for completion by 2028.

A summary of the routes:

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The map above shows the number of unique spider species by European and country and makes a very strong case for me to move from the UK to Ireland.

To put those numbers into some perspective, Canada has 1,379 species, the US has more 3,500 species and Australia has over 10,000!

The data for Europe appears to come from araneae Spiders of Europe website, here’s the full list:

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Here’s a full list by country:

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