The World's Columbian Exposition, commonly known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a significant international event held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893. It commemorated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 14…
In 1972, a plane crashed into the Andes and the survivors resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. This is the story of the 16 survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which was chartered to take an amateur rugby team from Montevideo to Santiago, Chile, and …
Before modern air travel and first-class suites, the grandest thing in luxury air travel was the German Zeppelin airship. The Hindenburg was designed to ferry passengers across the Atlantic in serenity, with the dirigible floating smoothly through the c…
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. Training for an engineering career, he attended …
The once-impoverished region of Landes in southwestern France consisted of very flat and marshy terrain and barely even had any roads to speak of, which made moving around somewhat problematic. To navigate the soft and unsteady heathlands, shepherds dev…
Prohibition was the attempt to outlaw the production and consumption of alcohol in the United States. The call for prohibition began primarily as a religious movement in the early 19th century – the state of Maine passed the first state prohibition law …
Beneath the layers of ancient soil and forgotten ruins lie relics that have captivated and mystified historians for centuries. From the colossal stone statues of Easter Island to the intricate lines carved into the Peruvian desert, these rare archaeolog…
The Norwegian Carl Størmer, a respected figure in mathematics and physics, had an intriguing side passion: amateur photography. He'd wander Oslo's streets with a cleverly hidden, bulky camera, snapping impromptu pictures of passersby. These snapshots mos…
In 1937, the International Exposition in Paris dedicated to Art and Technology in Modern Life brought together 44 countries in the city of light, allies, and enemies alike. The Exposition Internationale would be the final European enactment of the ritual of…
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, farms started to use new machinery and fertilizers that transformed them from small-scale enterprises into food factories. Entrepreneurs selling products designed to increase a farmer’s production were anxious …
Here's a weird relic from the past: a 1979 calendar dedicated to cocaine. Yes, you read it correctly, to cocaine. While the substance was illegal, it wasn’t considered all that bad (and it was normal to advertise cocaine gadgets in magazines). Each month…