Showing posts with the label Featured

The Shortest Rivers in The World

Apr 21, 2020

Most people imagine rivers to be long meandering waterways flowing down faraway mountains, through the valleys and the plains until it reach...

The Secret of Coade Stone

Apr 16, 2020

The large lion statue that stands at the east end of Westminster Bridge, near the Houses of Parliament, holds a secret—it is made neither of...

Rettungsbojen: The Floating Rescue Buoys of The Luftwaffe

Apr 13, 2020

During World War 2, both the RAF and the Luftwaffe lost a large number of pilots at sea. The British used a couple of high speed boats that ...

The Historic Meeting on Elbe River

Apr 10, 2020

April 25, 1945, is a date few remember. But it was a significant day in the history of the world. On this day, American troops sweeping in...

The Grain Race

Apr 9, 2020

By the end of the 19th century, steam-powered vessels had almost completely replaced sailing ships in the commercial shipping business. But ...

Operation Tat-Type: Why Some American Kids Got Tattooed With Blood-Type

Apr 7, 2020

Photo: Hole in the Clouds The paranoia during the early years of the Cold War was so great that many American school children were made ...

The Caprivi Strip

Apr 6, 2020

The country of Namibia has a sizeable landmass with an enviable coastline by the South Atlantic Ocean. Yet, a thin sliver of land, no more...

The Guillotine Haircut

Apr 1, 2020

Women traditionally wore their hair long. So when did short hair become the vogue? Some say it became fashionable only about hundred years...

Joseph Bell, The Real Sherlock Holmes

Mar 28, 2020

An illustration of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson that appeared in a stamp printed in Alderney, circa 2009. Photo: Olga Popova/Shutterstoc...

Fatal Familial Insomnia: The Disease That Kills by Sleep Deprivation

Mar 25, 2020

Everybody suffers from a little insomnia once in a while, but what if you were unable to sleep for months? Early studies conducted on do...

Barnacle Goose: The Bird That Was Believed to Grow on Trees

Mar 18, 2020

In the days before it was realized that birds migrate, ancient scholars struggled to explain why some species of birds appeared and disapp...

The Kettle War

Mar 17, 2020

Photo: B toy Anucha/Shutterstock.com The Kettle War of 1784 was a quintessential David versus Goliath story. A formidable naval fleet of...

The Earliest Depiction of Jesus Was a Mocking Tribute to Christianity

Mar 13, 2020

In the Palatine museum in Rome there is a collection of ancient graffiti etched on slabs of marble and limestone that once defaced the wal...

The Hanging Cages of St. Lambert's Church in Münster

Mar 12, 2020

If you crane your neck and look up while standing in front of St Lambert's Church in Münster, Germany, you can make out three iron cages...

Sweating Sickness: The Forgotten Epidemic

Mar 10, 2020

The Sleeping Beauty, by John Collier During medieval times, diseases were a constant threat to people’s health, brought about by lack of...

Bathysphere: The World’s First Deep-Sea Exploration Vessel

Mar 7, 2020

On the afternoon of September 22, 1932, listeners across America and the UK tuned their radio sets to an extraordinary live broadcast that w...

The Indian Perfume That Smells Like Rain

Mar 3, 2020

Rainwater flows down a roof. Photo: Anna Nikonorova/Shutterstock.com Love that musky, fresh smell of earth that permeates the air when t...

Cornfield Bomber: The Fighter Plane That Landed Without Its Pilot

Mar 2, 2020

One of the strangest aviation mishaps that ended happily happened on February 2, 1970. That morning, three F-106 Delta Darts took off from t...

The Soviet Census Debacle of 1937

Feb 26, 2020

In 1937, the Soviet Union conducted its first population census in eleven years. Soviet leaders, especially Stalin, had great expectations...

Where is Ground Zero in Nagasaki?

Feb 24, 2020

On the morning of August 9, 1945, six B29 bombers took off from Mariana Islands, located more than 2,100 kilometers north of Tokyo. One of t...