The Epic Story of El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar)

Read on to learn all about El Cid, one of the most revered figures in European history.

7 Unusual Saints of the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, Christian saints with unusual backstories gained large followings. Their appeal can help us understand medieval culture, values, and beliefs.

Medieval Battles Where Archers Ruled the Field | TheCollector

Cavalry, armored and using superior mobility, dominated the medieval battlefield. That is, until archers with powerful bows and better military tactics won key battles, demonstrating otherwise.

The Real Story of the Legendary Ninja Hattori Hanzo | TheCollector

The shinobi are legendary in Japanese history for their skills in subterfuge and stealth; one name, in particular, rings out when discussing ninjas: Hattori Hanzo.

7 Medieval Weapons & Armor | TheCollector

The Medieval period was a time of constant innovation, with a wide array of weapons and armor developed to give warriors an edge on the battlefield.

Age of Invention: All Fired Up

The mystifying, centuries-long failure of the coal briquette

How the Hittites Used Fear & Strategy to Create a Bronze Age Empire | TheCollector

The Hittites built a successful empire in the ancient Near East. Their military success was based on their religion, technology, and military tactics.

Knights Templar & the Creation of Modern Banking | TheCollector

The foundations of our modern banking system owe much to the Knights Templar. How did they go from protecting pilgrims to brokering land purchases for kings?

The Siege Warfare That Shaped Ancient Greece & Rome | TheCollector

While battles got the most attention, sieges were an important warfare tactic in ancient Greece and Rome. It took time and ingenuity to breach city walls.

Firewood in the American Economy: 1700 to 2010 - Marginal REVOLUTION

Despite the central role of firewood in the development of the early American economy, prices for this energy fuel are absent from official government statistics and the scholarly literature. This paper presents the most comprehensive dataset of firewood prices in the United…

Hannibal’s Master Class in Ambush Tactics at the Battle of Trasimene | TheCollector

On June 21, 217 BCE, an entire Roman army marched into an ambush set by the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca.

The First Crusade: Pope Urban II and the War for the Holy Land | TheCollector

The First Crusade was a pivotal event with lasting consequences on the political and religious relations of the medieval world.

Collections: Why Archers Didn’t Volley Fire

This week we’re looking at a specific visual motif common in TV and film: the arrow volley. You know the scene: the general readies his archers, he orders them to ‘draw!’ and then…

Lost and Found: The Unexpected Journey of the MingKwai Typewriter | Made in China Journal

It began as an innocuous inquiry on Facebook. Nelson Felix, a resident of New York State, posted in the group ‘What’s My Typewriter Worth?’ about a curious find he made while clearing out the basement of his wife’s grandfather. He shared a few photos. The keys on the typewriter…

What Are the Lost Libraries of Timbuktu?

The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu. are a collection of books numbering in the hundreds of thousands that were lost following the decline of Timbuktu in the 19th century.

How a Forgotten Battle Created a More Peaceful World

The legacy of Solferino is in more danger than ever

Acids to Ashes: The crash of Pan Am flight 160 - Admiral Cloudberg - Medium

On the 3rd of November 1973, the crew of a Pan Am cargo plane lined up to land at Boston’s Logan International Airport, struggling desperately to reach the runway as a fire raged in the cargo deck…

The Origins of Adjuvants

More than a century after the invention of vaccines, a veterinarian stumbled across a technique to boost their efficacy in an unlikely way — by observing wounded horses.

The Secret History of America’s Involvement in the Ukraine War

This is the untold story of America’s hidden role in Ukrainian military operations against Russia’s invading armies.

The Chinese Communist Party’s Ultimate Taboo

Fang Fang’s newly translated novel uncovers the brutal, buried history of land reform in China.

The Dingo’s Fate

The convoluted story of how a species of dog first arrived in Australia and subsequently took over the Outback challenges fundamental notions about what it means to be “native.”

North America’s First and Only da Vinci Museum is Coming to CO

Coming to Pueblo, CO, this fall, the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of North America will be the first and only museum of its kind in the continent.

Opinion | He Cut a Secret Deal That Cemented U.S. Economic Power — And He Has a Lesson for Donald Trump

A forgotten Nixon-era negotiation offers urgent lessons for our new age of economic warfare.

Not everyone could have made the fraught decision to ration gasoline, that American lifeblood, and allocate scarce oil supplies to factories over motorists. But that’s what Simon did.

Excalibur: The Legendary Sword of King Arthur

Excalibur was the legendary sword of King Arthur. But what do we know about this sword, and how did the legend evolve over the years?

Steam networks - Works in Progress

New York's skyscrapers soar above a century-old steam network that still warms the city. While the rest of the world moved to hot water, Manhattanites still buy steam by the megapound.

The Uneasy Origins of Caste

An Unpleasant Story Triangulated from Scripture, Genetics, and Archeology

WWII Bombers: The Aircraft That Shaped the War

World War II is when the bomber came of age, and such aircraft could impact the course of war. All the powers would field planes whose names would become synonymous with this conflict.

The Mystery of the World's Oldest Writing System Remained Unsolved Until Four Competitive Scholars Raced to Decipher It

In the 1850s, cuneiform was just a series of baffling scratches on clay, waiting to spill the secrets of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia

When Louis Armstrong Conquered Chicago

Grammy-winner Ricky Riccardi tells the story of a milestone moment in American music in this extract from his new book

My Quest to Find the Owner of a Mysterious WWII Japanese Sword

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by a traditional katana my grandfather had brought home from Japan in 1945. Years later, I decided it was time to find the heirloom’s rightful owner.

Signs Of Life In A Desert Of Death | NOEMA

In the dry and fiery deserts of Central Asia, among the mythical sites of both the first human and the end of all days, I found evidence that life restores itself even on the bleakest edge of ecological apocalypse.

Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze

How did retro sounds, dance moves, and vintage suits come to dominate before suddenly disappearing?

The Harpies: Beasts of Vengeance in Greek Mythology

The Harpies appear throughout Greek mythology as part-human and part-bird mythological beasts that conjure feelings of dread and disgust in their victims.

A Spy Satellite You’ve Never Heard of Helped Win the Cold War

Engineers at the Naval Research Lab launched a spy satellite program called Parcae and revolutionized signals intelligence at the height of the Cold War. The program relied on computers to sift through intelligence data, providing a technological edge at a pivotal moment in the…

Song Hunter: The Life of Alan Lomax

Alan Lomax was a legendary collector of folk music, author, broadcaster, oral historian, musicologist, and filmmaker who raised the profile of folk music worldwide.

The Derelict • Damn Interesting

A series of accidents and errors amass into disaster at sea. But that's not the end of the story.

How Jukeboxes Made Memphis Music

Nashville is where you go to make a hit that sounds like everyone else. Memphis is where you make a …

The Skeleton Dance, Voted the 18th Best Cartoon of All Time, Is Now in the Public Domain (1929)

The final lines of this strong recommendation add that 'all takes place in a graveyard.

How to Stage a Coup

"I'm now going to offer you a megalomaniac explanation of the course of events"

The secret reason the USA beat the USSR to the Moon

Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union was way ahead of the USA in the space race. Then one critical event changed everything.

Inside the Vatican’s secret saint-making process

The long read: Canonisation has long been a way for the Catholic church to shape its image. The Vatican is preparing to anoint its first millennial saint, but how does it decide who is worthy?

The Smartphone of the Middle Ages

An accident of lighting uncovers Jewish, European, and Islamic origins.

Can a stuffed bird solve a 150-year-old Arctic murder mystery?

The Polaris explorer Charles Francis Hall has long been rumoured to have been poisoned in 1872. A preserved snow bunting might be crucial evidence for the theory

Evidence of oldest known alphabetic writing unearthed in ancient Syrian city

Findings suggest alphabetic writing may be some 500 years older than other discoveries

The Influence of Bell Labs

We’ve talked previously about Bell Labs’ long, storied history as an innovation engine and a generator of new technology.

An uncivil civil war

Civil war is in the air. Why not revisit one that has already taken place?

Meet the Italian 'Fruit Detective' Who Investigates Centuries-Old Paintings for Clues About Produce That Has Disappeared From the Kitchen…

Renaissance paintings, medieval archives, cloistered orchards—how one Italian scientist is uncovering secrets that could help combat a growing agricultural crisis

The Forgotten Pandemic

Humans have suffered from tuberculosis for thousands of years and, even today, the disease kills more than 1 million people each year. Yet diagnosing cases remains a challenge. Why?

Iconic Bird of American Horror Stories Faces Its Own Terrifying Fate

The Whip-Poor-Will’s shrill, death-proclaiming song populates the works of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. But the bird itself has fallen on hard times. Could it become a ghost of Halloweens past?

The Rise and Fall of Matchbox's Toy-Car Empire - Hagerty Media

John Cena's not a small guy, but he—and Mattel's movie—have some big shoes to fill if they're telling the origin story of Matchbox.