Showing posts with the label USA

Casimir Zeglen: The Priest Who Invented The Bulletproof Vest

Feb 14, 2024

On October 28, 1893, the tranquility of Chicago was shattered with the assassination of its mayor, Carter Harrison, who was shot on the door...

Eulogy of The Dog: The Story of ‘Old Drum’

Jan 19, 2024

George Graham Vest spent twenty-four years in the United States Senate, serving from 1879 to 1903. However, his most notable legacy stems fr...

The Ill-fated Jeannette Expedition to The Arctic

Jan 13, 2024

In the mid-19th century, explorers and geographers were seized by an idea that was first floated in the 16th century by the English cartogra...

Mobro 4000: The Infamous Garbage Barge

Dec 22, 2023

Americans generate an enormous amount of trash. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA, the average U.S. residen...

Bloody Island: Missouri’s Infamous Dueling Ground

Dec 14, 2023

In the late 1790s, a large sandy island emerged in the middle of the Mississippi River, across from St. Louis, Missouri, as a result of the ...

A Piece of Sputnik in Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Oct 30, 2023

In the early 1960s, before the Soviets sent Yuri Gagarin to space, they began their Vostok programme with a series of unmanned test flight...

Holmdel Horn Antenna: Where The Big Bang Was Discovered

Oct 26, 2023

Physicists and astronomers believe that the universe began with the Big Bang—a cataclysmic event that occurred roughly 13 billion years ago ...

Boynton’s Bicycle Railroad

Oct 6, 2023

For a brief two years during the 1890s, there was a rail service between Gravesend and Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. The railway was u...

William Rankin: The Man Who Fell Through a Thundercloud

Oct 2, 2023

Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Rankin gently pulled back the stick of his F-8 Crusader to put the single-engine supersonic fighter jet on ...

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...

Glacier Girl: The P-38F Lightning That Was Rescued From Beneath The Ice

Sep 13, 2023

During the Second World War, the United States initiated a massive movement of aircrafts and ground troops across the Atlantic and into the ...

The Daredevil Wing Walking Pioneers

Jul 26, 2023

It took less than two decades from the Wright Brothers’ initial modest flight for stunt flying to become a phenomenon. It started after the ...

The Sad Tale of Ethelbert The Orca

Jul 18, 2023

Orcas or killer whales have an enormous range, inhabiting all of the world's oceans. In the northeast Atlantic, they appear in abundance...

Penelope, The Platypus Who Faked a Pregnancy And Fooled The Zoo

Jul 5, 2023

In 1947, there were only two platypuses in America—Penelope and Cecil. They were brought to New York’s Bronx Zoo all the way from Australia ...

Cold Water Geysers

Jun 28, 2023

A typical geyser expels hot water and steam when an underground spring comes in contact with hot rocks heated by magma, causing the water to...

The Willamette Meteorite

Jun 21, 2023

One of the treasures of the American Museum of Natural History’s permanent collection is a large piece of extra-terrestrial rock called the ...

The Ether Monument in Boston

Jun 19, 2023

In a corner in Boston's Public Garden, near the intersection of Arlington Street and Marlborough Street, stands an obscure monument that...

Andy, The Goose Who Wore Sneakers

Jun 14, 2023

In 1988, Gene Fleming, a farmer and livestock equipment manufacturer from Hastings, Nebraska, was visiting his sister-in-law’s farm in Harva...

That Time When The Supreme Court Had to Decide Whether Tomatoes Are Fruits or Vegetables

Jun 8, 2023

Is tomato a fruit or a vegetable? It is a trick question, because the answer depends on who you ask. A botanist will tell you that it’s a fr...

Crocker Land: An Expedition To a Non-Existent Island

Jun 1, 2023

In 1906, Robert Peary had just returned from an unsuccessful trip to the Arctic. The veteran explorer had hoped to reach the North Pole, but...