Le Pétomane: The Man Who Could Fart Melodies
Kaushik Patowary
Oct 1, 2024
In the vibrant world of Parisian cabaret, where extravagant performances captivated audiences every night, few acts were as peculiar or as u...
Showing posts with the label France
Ernest Duchesne: The Forgotten Discoverer of Penicillin
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 19, 2024
In 1897, a young French medical student named Ernest Duchesne submitted a ground-breaking doctoral thesis titled Contribution to the Study o...
Paris Gun: World War One’s Greatest Weapon
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 11, 2024
At quarter past seven on the morning of March 23, 1918, the people of Paris were jolted by a powerful explosion near the Quai de la Seine. F...
José Meiffret’s 200km/h Bike Ride
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 6, 2024
This strange looking bike with an enormous chain wheel was designed for speed, and speed it did achieve. On July 19, 1962, French cyclist ...
Narcisse Pelletier: The French Boy Who Lived 17 Years With The Aboriginals
Kaushik Patowary
Jul 9, 2024
On April 11, 1875, a pearling schooner named John Bell anchored off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The captain, Joseph Frazer, sent so...
Robert Cocking’s Fatal Parachute Jump
Kaushik Patowary
Jun 28, 2024
On October 22, 1797, a sizeable crowd gathered at Parc Monceau in Paris to witness a daring spectacle. Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin was...
5 Times Weather Played Foul For An Invading Army
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 1, 2024
Throughout history, weather has played a significant role in military campaigns, sometimes altering its course and reshaping the destiny of ...
Claude Ruggieri: Master of Pyrotechnic Brilliance
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 27, 2024
Fireworks have accompanied celebrations and festivities for at least a thousand years. They were first used in China during the Song dynasty...
Horizontal Collaboration: Sleeping With The Enemy
Kaushik Patowary
Mar 7, 2024
The historic D-Day landing by Allied forces on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of a crucial phase in World War...
Olivier Levasseur’s Lost Treasure
Kaushik Patowary
Feb 20, 2024
On the 7th of July 1730, the notorious French pirate, Olivier Levasseur, faced his final moments on the scaffold. His crimes, which had inst...
Ernest Bazin: The Ship That Rolled on Wheels
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 23, 2024
Between 1892 and 1893, French inventor Ernest Bazin filed patent for an unusual ship design. Instead of gliding through water, which had hit...
The L'Aigle Meteorite Shower And The Birth of Meteoritics
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 17, 2024
Prior to the 1800s, scientists were skeptical about the existence of meteorites. Despite historical reports of meteorite sightings dating ba...
Musée des Plans-Reliefs
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 9, 2024
In the Hôtel des Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, is a museum dedicated to detailed military models of important towns ...
Paul-Félix Armand-Delille: Europe’s Rabbit Killer
Kaushik Patowary
Jan 3, 2024
In the 1950s, Australian sheep and cattle farmers decided to tackle the country’s rabbit problem by unleashing a biological weapon—the myxom...
Louis Le Prince, The Father of Cinematography
Kaushik Patowary
Nov 15, 2023
In any casual conversation regarding the history of film, the name of Louis Le Prince seldom arises. Yet, this legendary French artist and i...
The Red Ball Express
Kaushik Patowary
Sep 21, 2023
During World War II, one of the most significant logistical challenges faced by the Allied forces during their invasion of Europe was ensuri...
The Tragic Death of Sophie Blanchard, The First Woman Balloon Pilot
Kaushik Patowary
May 30, 2023
Ever since Sophie Blanchard stepped into the basket with her husband, the famous balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard, she knew she belonged to ...
The World’s Oldest Optical Illusion
Kaushik Patowary
May 10, 2023
In the October 1892 issue of Fliegende Blätter , a German humor magazine, there appeared an image depicting an optical illusion. The image w...
How The Beast Of Gévaudan Terrorized 18th-Century France
Kaushik Patowary
May 1, 2023
For three years in the mid-1760s, inhabitants of Gévaudan in Southern France were terrorized by a mysterious beast. The creature preyed most...
Marching Soldiers And Collapsing Bridges
Kaushik Patowary
Apr 19, 2023
All suspension bridges are prone to vibration and swaying caused by moving traffic and wind. These vibration are not a problem as long as th...
