Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2024 July 4

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July 4

History of pre-electricity lighting in India

I couldn't find any info on the History of pre-electricity lighting in India, Indoor Lighting, Outdoor Lighting, Street lighting, Commercial Building lighting, Royal Residence lighting, Residential lighting, the various equipment used, fuels used, historic records, illustrated historic references like engravings. 2405:201:F00B:3879:D464:2331:428A:6F4D (talk) 07:28, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Ordinary people often used Oil lamps, as was done in various parts of the world, though an Indian variation on the theme was that Ghee was often used in the lamp. See Diya (lamp), Nilavilakku, and Nachiarkoil lamp... AnonMoos (talk) 16:41, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Bombay Lights: Gas Light and the Transition to a Modern City (for access, ask at Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request or you may be able to access through the The Wikipedia Library)

Contested nightscapes: Illuminating colonial Bombay

Alansplodge (talk) 22:05, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

You may also be interested in the Journal of Gas Lighting (p. 139) which has a report of an 1855 proposal by the Oriental Gas Company to install the first gas lighting in Calcutta. It points out that "public and private" exterior oil lamps in the city cost over £65,000 annually. Alansplodge (talk) 22:18, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Did/does India have candles? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:34, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

Are bears catholic? Does the pope... nah. Try "History of Wax-Candles in India (AD 1500–1900)" (ex-jstor) or our History of candle making. MinorProphet (talk) 22:59, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

I just wondered, because no one had mentioned something so obvious as candles. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:35, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Death by jogging at a literary conference

In this interview, at the end of 1982, Anthony Burgess mentions having been to "a big magazine conference in Puerto Rico. I had to address the audience there, and being Americans they had to begin every morning with a jog. Two people died of heart failure on this jog who were younger than I. They tried to persuade me to go along on this jog. But in the tropics? In the tropics, even at 6.30 am? Oh no. A couple of people collapsed and apparently died, at least they disappeared. Whether they’re being artificially supported somewhere I don’t know." So what was the conference and who died, or was disappeared? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 19:08, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

The inventory of the Anthony Burgess Papers held at the Harry Ransom Center mentions, under "Index of Correspondents", "American Magazine Conference".^[1] Online sources mention an American Magazine Conference, held in October 2005 in Puerto Rico. These annual conferences were organized by the Magazine Publishers Association, founded in 1919. Perhaps an earlier installment was also held in Puerto Rico.  --Lambiam 07:17, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

I just want to point out that "death by jogging" was a huge meme in the 1980s. I think it started way before that, but given the historical popularity of jogging as a cultural phenomenon, it was widespread. If you’re too young to know what I’m even talking about, then watch Forrest Gump. Viriditas (talk) 01:26, 10 July 2024 (UTC)

A famous example is Jim Fixx, 1984, who (iirc) took up running – and promoting running – because multiple relatives died young of heart disease. —Tamfang (talk) 20:11, 15 July 2024 (UTC)