José Meiffret’s 200km/h Bike Ride
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 6, 2024
This strange looking bike with an enormous chain wheel was designed for speed, and speed it did achieve. On July 19, 1962, French cyclist ...
Showing posts with the label History
Makaiko Kheti: Why a Book on Maize Cultivation Provoked The Nepalese Govt.
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 2, 2024
Nobody knows the true motive behind Krishna Lal Adhikari's writing of Makaiko Kheti ("The Cultivation of Maize"). Was it mere...
The Nuclear Flask Train Crash Test
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 21, 2024
Nuclear reactors in power stations use fissile radioactive isotopes to produce heat, which powers turbines to generate electricity. When the...
4 Odd Events That Appeared At The Olympics
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 19, 2024
Since the inception of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, this global sporting event has continuously evolved, introducing fresh and dynamic ...
5 Airline Crashes Resulting from Tomfoolery
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 12, 2024
Aviation is an industry that thrives on precision, discipline, and adherence to strict protocols. However, there have been tragic instances ...
Inês de Castro: Portugal’s Posthumous Queen
Kaushik Patowary
Aug 6, 2024
In European history, few love stories are as poignant and politically charged as that of Inês de Castro and King Pedro I of Portugal. Their ...
Prokop Diviš And The Lightning Rod
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 30, 2024
In 1754, Prokop Diviš, a Czech priest, attempted to control the weather but ended up inventing the lightning rod instead. Diviš was a past...
A Short History of Supernova Observations
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 25, 2024
The Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion is a fascinating star. It’s a red supergiant more than six hundred times the diameter of the Su...
The Largest Man-Made, Non-Nuclear Explosion in History
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 16, 2024
After the end of World War II in 1945, until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was intense geopolitical tension between the...
Narcisse Pelletier: The French Boy Who Lived 17 Years With The Aboriginals
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 9, 2024
On April 11, 1875, a pearling schooner named John Bell anchored off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The captain, Joseph Frazer, sent so...
Panjandrum: A Wacky WW2-Era Failed Weapon
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 5, 2024
In 1941, the Government of the United Kingdom established a temporary wartime body called the Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Developmen...
The Jews of Verteba Cave
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 3, 2024
In the early 1940s, when the Nazi government began systematically hunting down Jewish people, many Jews across Europe sought refuge to avoid...
Robert Cocking’s Fatal Parachute Jump
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 28, 2024
On October 22, 1797, a sizeable crowd gathered at Parc Monceau in Paris to witness a daring spectacle. Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin was...
How The Soviets Stole And Copied The American Sidewinder Missile
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 24, 2024
After the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, which saw the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the banishment of the ...
The Bizarre Death of a Keeper at The Eddystone Lighthouse
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 19, 2024
Off the coast of Cornwall, on the English Channel, about 14 km south of Rame Head, lies a group of rocks, half submerged and half exposed, k...
The Dozen Times Humans Have Tried to Communicate With Extraterrestrials
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 13, 2024
The question of whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe has intrigued humanity for centuries. As our technological capabil...
The Nişan Taşı of Istanbul
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 11, 2024
Scattered throughout the old neighborhoods of Istanbul, particularly in an area known as Okmeydanı , are several stone steles erected in the...
The Reclusive John Bentinck And The Welbeck Abbey
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 5, 2024
In the village of Welbeck, in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire, England, sits a large country mansion within an expansive 17,000-ac...
Brandtaucher: World’s Oldest Surviving Submarine
Kaushik Patowary
May 28, 2024
At the German Armed Forces Museum of Military History in Dresden, there is a big fat iron submarine on display. Built in 1850, this pioneeri...
Priss Fotheringham: London’s Second Best Whore
Kaushik Patowary
May 14, 2024
At the corner of Whitecross Street and Old Street in East London, on the walls above Jane Roe Kitchen, you’ll see a commemorative blue plaqu...
