The Zeppelin Spy Basket

Nov 19, 2019

One of the most perilous positions in the crew of a German Zeppelin during the First World War was that of the aerial lookout, whose job was...

Caligula’s Pleasure Ships of Lake Nemi

Nov 18, 2019

Two thousand years ago, the debauched Roman emperor Caligula ordered the construction of two large floating pleasure barges on the relativel...

Cinder Lake Crater Field: The Simulated Moon NASA Created to Train Astronauts

Nov 15, 2019

Two Apollo 15 crew members, riding a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) simulator, participate in geology training at the Cinder Lake crater field ...

The Rainhill Trials

Nov 13, 2019

Nearly two centuries ago, a small hamlet lying between Liverpool and Manchester became host to one of the strangest competitions ever held. ...

Communal Coffins And Burial Clubs

Nov 12, 2019

The St John and All Saints Church in the town of Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, England, dates to the 13th century, or perhaps even earlier...

The Last Victim of Smallpox

Nov 12, 2019

In the summer of 1978, the World Health Organization stood on the brink of a remarkable achievement—smallpox, the disease that terrorized pe...

Kongo Gumi: The 1,400-Year-Old Company

Nov 9, 2019

Less than two months ago, the renowned British travel agency Thomas Cook laid off more than 21,000 employees the world over and liquidated i...

The Historic Hanford Reactor That Made Plutonium For The Nagasaki Bomb

Nov 7, 2019

Sitting squarely in the middle of the now decommissioned Hanford Site, a nuclear production complex on the Columbia River near Richland, Was...

The Century Old ‘Dream Mine’ That’s Yet to Produce Gold

Nov 6, 2019

On the foothills of Wasatch Mountains, east of Salem, in the US state of Utah, is a mine waiting for a miracle. The mine was first excavate...

Bridges With Buildings—Part 2

Nov 5, 2019

During the Middle Ages, it was common to have buildings built on top of bridges. These spaces were rented out to shopkeepers and merchants, ...