To learn about history is to learn about war, or so it can feel when you go far back enough in time. And in any era of antiquity, few could have matched Alexander the Great's mastery of that art.
Finding a piece of the elusive cosmic body that devastated a Siberian forest a century ago could help save Earth in the centuries to come
The 23rd letter of the English alphabet is called a “double u” because it was originally written that way in Old English.
The modern world uses shocking amounts of steel.
Could the prevalence of flood myths around the world tell us something about early human migration or even the way our brains work?
The 1950s-era Soviet mission to first photograph the far side of the moon.
The legal decision that fostered the idea of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, and why it still sticks around even though that decision was overturned.
The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler [Hager, Thomas] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific…
His daring raids in World War I made him a legend. But in the Middle East today, the desert warrior’s legacy is written in sand
In the dusty plains of present-day Sindh in southern Pakistan lie the remains of one of the world's most impressive ancient cities that most people have never heard of.
The Great Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Khufu, has fascinated scholars and tourists alike for centuries. Located on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt, it is the largest of the three pyramids that form the Giza Pyramid Complex. Built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of…
Scientists are grasping for any example that could help anticipate the future of Covid, even a mysterious respiratory pandemic that spread in the late 19th century.
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Over the course of his chariot racing career, Gaius Appuleius Diocles won almost 60,000 lbs of gold. What did he do with it? Who knows.
If you think you know one thing about the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, then, chances are, you probably think that the epic is the oldest surviving work of literature in the whole world. This claim pervades basically all non-academic discussion of the epic. I was…
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A new film stars Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey
Some early rulers were so iconic that their names and works passed into legend and influenced others for centuries.
Before the industrial revolution, there had been a significant increase in machinery use in Europe. Why not in China?
How could tiny nations such as Portugal and the Netherlands challenge vast empires like China and India in the age of sail?
If YOU ASKED PEOPLE WHAT body part you would associate with Anne Boleyn, most would probably say her head. Logical, of course. It was the part famously detached from the rest of her body on May 19,…
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The story of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table has captivated us for a thousand years. But is there any truth behind the tales?
Movable type was not invented by Gutenberg but in China and later advanced in Korea, so why didn't Asia have a printing revolution?
The most important lessons from history are the takeaways that are so broad they can apply to other fields, other…
The Sumerians, Maya and other ancient cultures created texts that have lasted hundreds and even thousands of years. Here's what they can teach us about crafting an immortal message.
The story of Josephine Baker.
The world's oldest toys date back thousands of years – but determining whether ancient children played with them, and how, remains a mystery archaeologists are piecing together.
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It has often been described as a “miracle” that most of Denmark’s Jews escaped the Holocaust. Now it seems that the country’s Nazi rulers deliberately sabotaged their own operation.
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Back in the 19th century, coal was the nation's newfangled fuel source—and it faced the same resistance as wind and solar today
Since antiquity people have harnessed sound as a weapon, and the practice continues – in new high-tech ways – today.
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Linear Elamite, a writing system used in what is now Iran, may reveal the secrets of a little-known kingdom bordering Sumer
Fifty years ago, a minor league game in Midland was postponed for the rarest of reasons—a swarm of grasshoppers biblical in its proportions.
In this collection, you can see some of the worst album covers of all time. Everything from rock, metal bands, country, gospel comedy, jazz, etc.
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The tiny photo processing kiosks could be found everywhere in the 1970s and 1980s. And that was the problem.
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There’s ancient evidence for the custom of shaking hands, but did it mean the same thing then as it does today?
“I’ll Have What She’s Having,” a traveling exhibit on the Jewish delicatessen, looks back at a vibrant institution fueled by immigration and irresistible food.
15 years on, Winamp “still lives”—but mismanagement blunted its llama-whipping.
Raise a glass of bubbly to the count of Champagne.
From the trolley parks of the early 20th century to the theme parks of today, these spaces of shared pleasure have been both a reflection of urban life, and an escape from it.
The Sanaa Palimpsest has a number of unique characteristics, not least as an enduring artefact of Quranic scribal methods and of Islamic heritage within Yemen. Yet deciphering the text poses theological quandaries surrounding Quranic tradition.
The Antico Setificio Fiorentino, which relies on looms from the 18th and 19th centuries, has been producing precious textiles since 1786.
From a salt substitute in China’s impoverished southwest to a fixture on tables nationwide, chili peppers have come a long way over the past 400 years.
At the crossroads of south and central Asia lies one of the world’s most multilingual places, with songs and poetry to match
The singular form of 'they' has been endorsed by writers like Jane Austen and William Shakespeare.
The centuries-old texts were erased, and then written over, by monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt
Hidden in the tusk of a 34-year-old mastodon was a record of time and space that helped explain his violent death.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems is a Chinese essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, and civil interaction.