3748 Items Tagged

History

space exploration

Why It's Still a Struggle to Put Women in Space in 2016

The German search for its first female astronaut is only latest in long string of fits and starts.

Megan Gannon April 18, 2016

Why the Last Words of Anne Boleyn Remain a Mystery

What she said depends on who's telling the story.

Hadley Meares April 14, 2016

There's Only One State Where You Can Marry Without God as a Witness

The surprisingly sweet and tolerant uses of a 330-year-old law.

Dan Nosowitz April 14, 2016

The Historical Reenactor Accuracy Wars

How to get ostracized at a Civil War reenactment: use bug repellant.

Romie Stott April 13, 2016

Tesla in his lab.

Victorians Wanted to Contact Aliens Using Giant Mirrors

It would have been very, very expensive, though.

Sarah Laskow April 12, 2016

A recreation of a duel's aftermath, by photographer Katharine Sheward Stanbery and circa 1900.

The Long Quest to Get Southerners to Stop Dueling

To convince gentlemen to holster their pistols, legislators had to turn dueling into social suicide.

Cara Giaimo April 8, 2016

Solving the Nutritional Mystery of Historical Food at Sea

Was the food really as bad as sailors claimed? There’s only one way to find out.

Matthew Braga April 7, 2016

Windows For Peace

Vienna, Austria

Windows For Peace

On a winding Vienna side street, one museum has turned their windows into a monument to history’s peace-minded heroes.

A painting of the city of Canton circa 1800, where Ching Shih lived before she became a pirate.

The Chinese Female Pirate Who Commanded 80,000 Outlaws

Ching Shih, who lived and pillaged during the Qing Dynasty, has been called the most successful pirate in history.

Urvija Banerji June 15, 2022

The 'Beautiful' Dirac Equation on the floor of Westminster Abbey

London, England

Dirac Equation

The "beautiful" equation predicting the movement of all electromagnetic particles is engraved in front of Newton's tomb.

Permanently Closed

The center of 19th-century camp life was this octagon-frame building, now turned into the present museum

Scarbro, West Virginia

Whipple Company Store

Smack in the midst of coal country, this collection provides a peoples' history of Appalachian miners' heritage.

Are You Popular? This 1947 Video Has the Answer

Key point: Don't park in cars with boys.

Tao Tao Holmes April 4, 2016

The Illegal Birth Control Handbook That Spread Across College Campuses in 1968

A group of Canadian teenagers wrote the first popular text on contraception.

Tao Tao Holmes March 31, 2016

Where Should Robots Go When They Retire?

Behind the push to create a robot museum in Pittsburgh.

Sarah Laskow March 31, 2016

The Demonic Origins of Ventriloquism

It may not surprise you to know that the popular entertainment has some very dark roots.

Andy Wright March 28, 2016

How Did One of Ireland's Most Historic Flags End Up in New York?

The winding story of the tricolor flag that flew over Dublin's 1916 Easter Rising.

Sarah Laskow March 25, 2016

Wragge brisbane home 1902

Tropical Storms Were Once Named After Wives, Girlfriends, and Disliked Politicians

Want a storm named after you? Well, it's complicated.

Tao Tao Holmes March 23, 2016

Entrance to the Cork Butter Museum

The Butter Museum

This Irish museum in a historic 19th century market pays tribute to the glory of butter.