Topic

History

A collection of 430 issues

Beneath the Waves of Revolution: The Story of America's First Combat Submarine

Long before nuclear stealth, America's first military submersible debuted during the Revolution. In 1776, the hand-cranked, one-man Turtle attempted to bomb a British flagship in New York Harbor. Though the mission failed, this wooden marvel marked the audacious dawn of submarine warfare.

History Military Technology & Strategy Inventions & Discoveries

The Name in Your Toolbox: Unfastening the True History of the Allen Wrench

Ever wondered why it's called an Allen wrench? The name comes from the Allen Manufacturing Company's 1910 patent for safety screws with a hexagonal socket. But this humble tool's origin is a global story of competing patents, industrial safety, and a name that simply stuck.

History Inventions & Discoveries Technology & Innovation

The Triple Crown of Television: Unpacking the Rarest Feat in Emmy Awards History

In the prestigious history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, achieving a 'perfect season' is almost mythical. Only three shows have ever managed to sweep all seven major categories: the groundbreaking miniseries 'Angels in America,' the beloved sitcom 'Schitt’s Creek,' and the royal drama 'The Crown.'

Entertainment & Media History Art, Culture & Design

The $40 Billion Miscalculation: How Yahoo! Fumbled the Deal of a Lifetime

In 2008, Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for a staggering $44.6 billion. Convinced they were worth more, Yahoo's board rejected the deal. Eight years later, after a long decline, they sold their core business to Verizon for a mere $4.83 billion—a fraction of the original offer.

Business & Economics Technology & Innovation History

An Invented Tradition: The Surprising Truth Behind the Ploughman's Lunch

The Ploughman's Lunch feels like a timeless British pub classic, a meal for labourers stretching back centuries. While its core ingredients are indeed ancient, the name itself is a modern invention, created in the 1950s by a marketing board to sell more cheese after wartime rationing ended.

History Food & Lifestyle Business & Economics

The Room Locked in Time: A WWI Soldier's Bedroom Preserved for 500 Years

In a small French town, the bedroom of a WWI soldier has been left untouched since his death in 1918. Kept as a time capsule by his grieving parents, a unique stipulation in the property's deed intends for this private memorial to remain preserved for an astonishing 500 years.

History Wars, Conflict & Heroes Biography & Personal Stories

Time's First Chapter: Unearthing the 10,000-Year-Old Lunisolar Calendar of Warren Field

In a field in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, lies the world's oldest known calendar. Created by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers around 8,000 BCE, the Warren Field monument consists of 12 pits that track lunar phases and align with the midwinter solstice, predating Mesopotamian timekeeping by millennia.

History Science & Nature

The Terminator and The Bolshevik: Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Kept a Statue of Lenin

Arnold Schwarzenegger, a staunch Republican and icon of capitalism, once owned a collection of Marxist busts. After his wife, Maria Shriver, asked for their removal, he kept one: a statue of Vladimir Lenin. He famously said he kept it in his office as a reminder of failure to "show losers".

Biography & Personal Stories History

The Saxophone's Identity Crisis: Why This Brass-Bodied Beauty Is Actually a Woodwind

Despite its metallic shine, the saxophone is a woodwind instrument. Its classification comes not from its body material, but from its sound source: a vibrating wooden reed. This simple fact places it in the same family as the clarinet, not the trumpet, challenging our visual assumptions.

Music Science & Nature History

Before Purple Rain, There Was the Prairie: Prince's Unlikely Role in The Oregon Trail's First Journey

Before he was a music legend, Prince Rogers Nelson was an 8th grader in Minneapolis. In 1971, his history class became the first-ever playtesters for a new teletype computer game designed by his teacher to teach about pioneer life. That game was The Oregon Trail.

Sports & Games History Music

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