@VincenzoOliva It certainly would have been in character for him. As I mentioned here back on the 19th, the Rosetta Stone was only discovered by a French soldier because Napoleon had sent out the word to be on the lookout for antiquities worthy of being taken back to France.

If not for that, it would probably still be holding up a building somewhere in Rural Egypt.

For a while he had his brother installed as king of Naples and Sicily. Since the islands are between the two (considered part of Sicily now?) it would have been tough for the English to 100% protect them from Joseph without a permanent local presence of some kind of their own.

@VincenzoOliva Well, something like that could easily happen if they made it into the homes of wealthy collectors, rather than museums. OTOH, I was unable to find any evidence of such a thing ever existing online, so it being a made-up story still seems a possibility too.

@T.E.D. Indeed, thanks for your help!

Everywhere I found the term "anthropomorphic cliff" used, it was a large rock formation that happened to get weathered to look a bit like a face (from the right angle). That doesn't seem to be the kind of thing that would transport (or display) well in a small museum or house.

Generally, that's the thing. However, if I recall correctly, these ones had also a mythological value or something. If I ever get to know more about it, I'll let you know here.

@VincenzoOliva Cool.

Also, if the island of Stromboli has any relation to the food of the same name, next time you go back, tell them I thank them for their service to humanity.

@T.E.D. The only relation is that the food is named after the Italian film "Stromboli" unfortunately. But I'm sure you would love (because everyone does) the real local food, try to visit Stromboli & co. sooner or later!

The Google Doodle today is about the "44th Anniversary of Hip Hop".

For those of you curious, the first HH DJ was DJ Kool Herc in New York City. I've heard this from multiple sources for years, so I believe the claim in uncontroversial.

There were instrumental portions of the songs he played that people particularly liked to dance to. He called it the "break" (which he said was slang at the time for "getting excited"). He'd developed a technique to artificially extend that part of the song of swapping between two record players playing the same record.

What specifically happened on this day in 1973 was a party where he first started emceeing (or "rapping") while playing the break.

Of course "emceeing" is where the title "MC" comes from, and dancing during the break was where the term "breakdancing" comes from.

As often happens with innovators, Herc didn't really see the wider possibilities of what he was doing, so it was left to those who did, like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash to commercialize the new developing style.

I believe the first rap song I personally ever heard was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's The Message in 1982. I did know someone (girlfriend of a friend) in 1981 who was a rap fan, via mostly bootlegged cassettes.