The Eagle Made Out of Lincoln's Hair

Feb 23, 2022

In a small dimly lit back room of the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, New York, is a unique and priceless treasure—a civil-war ...

The Clink: England’s Oldest Prison

Feb 22, 2022

The oldest prison in England and the country’s most notorious was owned not by the reigning monarch but the Bishop of Winchester. Now why wo...

The First Airmail Was Delivered During The Siege of Paris

Feb 22, 2022

When Prussian forces had Paris under siege during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the beleaguered Parisians had only one hope to get messag...

Thomas Harriot: The Scientific Genius Who Eschewed Fame

Feb 21, 2022

Four hundred years ago, on July 2 1621, a remarkable Englishman named Thomas Harriot died in London. He left behind some 8,000 pages of scie...

Ashford v Thornton: The Last Challenge to Trial by Battle

Feb 18, 2022

Many personal disputes in the past have been settled by one-to-one combat. When a crime was committed, or a complainant accused a person of ...

The Donkey Wheel of Carisbrooke Castle

Feb 16, 2022

After King Charles I of England surrendered to Scottish forces following his defeat in the English Civil War (1642–1651), he was captured an...

The Pneumatic Clocks of Paris

Feb 15, 2022

When French-born but London-based civil and electrical engineer, Jules Albert Berly, traveled to Paris for the 1881 International Exposition...

Wood Gas Vehicles: Cars That Run on Firewood

Feb 14, 2022

In the early 19th century, in addition to coal and natural gas, a new kind of fuel became available to people. It was called synthetic gas (...

The Great Meteor Procession of 1913

Feb 11, 2022

On the night of February 9, 1913, inhabitants of a large portion of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada witnessed a meteo...

The Pyramid of Cestius

Feb 10, 2022

Although we associate pyramids with Ancient Egypt, these four-sided structures with a tapering top are found all over the world, built by ma...