Showing posts with the label France

Ernest Bazin: The Ship That Rolled on Wheels

Jan 23, 2024

Between 1892 and 1893, French inventor Ernest Bazin filed patent for an unusual ship design. Instead of gliding through water, which had hit...

The L'Aigle Meteorite Shower And The Birth of Meteoritics

Jan 17, 2024

Prior to the 1800s, scientists were skeptical about the existence of meteorites. Despite historical reports of meteorite sightings dating ba...

Musée des Plans-Reliefs

Jan 9, 2024

In the Hôtel des Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, is a museum dedicated to detailed military models of important towns ...

Paul-Félix Armand-Delille: Europe’s Rabbit Killer

Jan 3, 2024

In the 1950s, Australian sheep and cattle farmers decided to tackle the country’s rabbit problem by unleashing a biological weapon—the myxom...

Louis Le Prince, The Father of Cinematography

Nov 15, 2023

In any casual conversation regarding the history of film, the name of Louis Le Prince seldom arises. Yet, this legendary French artist and i...

The Red Ball Express

Sep 21, 2023

During World War II, one of the most significant logistical challenges faced by the Allied forces during their invasion of Europe was ensuri...

The Tragic Death of Sophie Blanchard, The First Woman Balloon Pilot

May 30, 2023

Ever since Sophie Blanchard stepped into the basket with her husband, the famous balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard, she knew she belonged to ...

The World’s Oldest Optical Illusion

May 10, 2023

In the October 1892 issue of Fliegende Blätter , a German humor magazine, there appeared an image depicting an optical illusion. The image w...

How The Beast Of Gévaudan Terrorized 18th-Century France

May 1, 2023

For three years in the mid-1760s, inhabitants of Gévaudan in Southern France were terrorized by a mysterious beast. The creature preyed most...

Marching Soldiers And Collapsing Bridges

Apr 19, 2023

All suspension bridges are prone to vibration and swaying caused by moving traffic and wind. These vibration are not a problem as long as th...