John Tenniel’s White Rabbit from the original illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, from which the concept of going down the rabbit hole derives. In case you were wondering.

A few days ago, I found an interesting history sight in an unexpected place: Electric Speed, a newsletter from a writing expert named Jane Friedman[1]. In addition to sharing resources for writers and musing about all things writing, she often shares other resources that she has enjoyed. In this issue in addition to a source for a rum cake that she swears by, she offered a link to a dangerous site called Any Human Ever.

The idea is that history is a collection of stories, something I heartily agree with. Basically, you click through a series of buttons which create a random human from a random time and place. (You make no choices, other than to keep going.) It then gives you a snapshot of the statistical odds they faced—with links to sources for the information. And finally, it tells their story, complete with sources for the details, and a few images to bring their world to life.

My first draw was a girl named Li, born in 523 CE in the Yangzte River basin near Changsha, China, who died at the age of 11 from malnutrition. The site filled in what her family ate, what toys she payed with, what religion her family practiced, and what language they spoke. Fascinating.

I could spend a lot of time playing with this if I’m not careful!

[1] She also produces a paid newsletter called The Bottom Line, in which she analyzes trends n the writing business. I subscribed briefly, but it made me anxious.