The Secret of Coade Stone
Kaushik Patowary
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
Kaushik Patowary
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
Kaushik Patowary
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
Kaushik Patowary
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 ...
The Green-Haired Mary River Turtle
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 9, 2020
The Mary River turtle lives exclusively in the waters of the Mary River in south-east Queensland, Australia. Despite being one of Australia’...
Operation Tat-Type: Why Some American Kids Got Tattooed With Blood-Type
Kaushik Patowary
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
Kaushik Patowary
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...
Nyepi: Bali’s Day of Silence
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 3, 2020
Every year, towards the end of March, the entire island of Bali in Indonesia, goes into standstill. Flights are grounded, shops remain close...
Digitally Reconstructed Medieval Castles
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 3, 2020
Europe is known for its magnificent castles and fortresses, but only a few survive in their original form. Since reconstructing them would b...
The Guillotine Haircut
Kaushik Patowary
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...
Forgotten Jobs: Dog Whipper And Sluggard Waker
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 30, 2020
Photo: Nelson Antoine/Shutterstock.com In 16th-century England, stray dogs disrupting church service became such a big problem that many...
Joseph Bell, The Real Sherlock Holmes
Kaushik Patowary
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...
The Quarantine Quarters of Dubrovnik
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 26, 2020
Social distancing and quarantine are not new concepts. During the Middle Ages, when Europe and Asia were devastated by deadly outbreaks of p...
Run Out of Toilet Paper? Use a Stick
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 25, 2020
Hoarding toilet paper. Photo: DigitalMammoth/Shutterstock.com Chances are, you’ve run out of toilet paper, unless you are the type who b...
Fatal Familial Insomnia: The Disease That Kills by Sleep Deprivation
Kaushik Patowary
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...
How Coronavirus Emptied The World’s Streets
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 22, 2020
As millions of people around the world lock themselves indoors in order to prevent transmission of the dreaded coronavirus, the world outsid...
The Mulberry Harbours of Normandy
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 22, 2020
When the sea goes out in Arromanches-les-Bains, a small village on the coast of Normandy in northwestern France, the large concrete pontoons...
Barnacle Goose: The Bird That Was Believed to Grow on Trees
Kaushik Patowary
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
Kaushik Patowary
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
Kaushik Patowary
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...
