History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Why Tetris keeps appearing everywhere
From bulky calculators to fancy modern dashboards, developers refuse to let this puzzle fade. It has been successfully shoehorned into virtually every…
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Vinyl records were pressed entirely from shellac
Before switching to the durable plastic we know today, audio enthusiasts were listening to fragile discs formulated from the resin secreted by the female lac…
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When synthesizers sounded like a bad joke
Traditional musicians initially viewed electronic keys with utter disdain, dismissing them as talentless toys incapable of real expression. It took visionary…
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Why carrots became orange
Before the 17th century, carrots were mostly purple, white, or yellow. So why are we doomed to eat aggressively orange root vegetables? Pure political…
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Why the US kept trying to buy Greenland
The American instinct to just throw cash at a map until it belongs to them is practically genetic. In 1867, 1946, and again in 2019, the United States…
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Roman soldiers carved phalluses into Hadrian's Wall
Defending the edge of the civilized world is apparently incredibly boring work. Archaeologists examining Hadrian's Wall have discovered dozens of phalluses…
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The Venus de Milo once held an ordinary apple
The incredibly iconic marble depiction of beauty that is famously missing her upper limbs wasn't deliberately designed to look tragically incomplete.…
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The Scream exists in four different versions
The incredibly anxious painting that has defined existential dread for over a century is actually just one of a whole batch. The artist was apparently so…
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Pretzels may have started as monks’ baked knots
Rather than focusing entirely on pure spiritual enlightenment, some deeply bored cloistered men twisted leftover dough into shapes resembling crossed arms.…
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The cricket match that lasted twelve days
In an absolutely stunning display of athletic stubbornness, a historical test match dragged on for almost two entirely full weeks. The incredibly exhausting…
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Romans Considered Undiluted Wine Barbaric
While modern sommeliers would aggressively faint at the idea of watering down a vintage red, historical elites considered drinking pure wine absolute…
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Why Michelangelo's David looks cross-eyed
Despite being heralded as the ultimate pinnacle of flawless physical proportion, the massive marble masterpiece possesses a glaring visual defect. The…
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Early space meals were squeezed directly from tubes
Before incredibly complex dehydrated pouches were entirely perfected, dining in zero gravity was a totally deeply depressing culinary experience. Highly brave…
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A World Cup trophy was hidden under a bed in a shoebox
During intense historical global instability, a highly paranoid sports official decided the absolute safest place for the most incredibly valuable solid gold…
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Vermeer's famous pearl may be polished tin
Art historians love to obsess over the stunning luminosity of the jewelry in that massively iconic portrait, completely ignoring the fact that it is…
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Gummy bears began as dancing bears
The little brightly colored gelatin snacks were originally created to mimic the captive performing animals that were extremely popular at European street…
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Tiny green beetle destroys American ash
The deeply invasive emerald ash borer is a brilliantly colored metallic insect that completely decimated millions of trees across North America. The larvae…
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China river caused a massive 1887 flood
The Yellow River earned a highly unfortunate reputation for jumping its banks and completely reshaping the landscape. During an intense surge over a century…
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Historic Chinese earthquake shook cities
The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake remains the most devastating seismic event ever logged in terrestrial history. Striking a densely populated region where many…
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How a kingpin's abandoned hippos took over Colombia
When a notorious South American kingpin abandoned his luxurious Colombian estate, nobody bothered to relocate his private zoo's hippopotamuses. Left entirely…
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The whale that sings at 52 hertz
Since the late 1980s, sensors have tracked a single marine mammal broadcasting its songs at a unique 52-hertz frequency. Because no other known whales operate…
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California was once drawn as an island
Early explorers possessed all the confidence in the world and absolutely none of the navigational accuracy. For nearly two centuries, mapmakers stubbornly…
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The giant snails that invaded Florida
A few giant land snails were casually smuggled into the humid southern environment, quickly resulting in an absolute biological disaster. Capable of growing…
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California houses the most massive tree
General Sherman is a giant sequoia so incredibly dense and wide that it holds the title for the largest single-stem tree by pure volume. Standing like a…
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