Holy robbery
In 9th century CE France, a monk went undercover in a rival monastery for ten years to steal a holy relic.
Month: June 2021
Featured category: Weights and measures
The measure of a one-in-a-million death, the problem with Australian tablespoons, counting prayers, and why an ounce of gold weighs more than an ounce of feathers.
From the archives: Electricity
Electric cars of the 19th century, an unjustly electrocuted elephant, the electrified corpse of George Forster, and the river mouth with year-round lightning.
Flying submarine
In the mid-20th century, several countries had plans to construct a flying submarine.
Lasso snake
The brown tree snake can climb trees and power poles by looping itself into a lasso.
The Year 2038 problem
The Y2K problem threatened to bring down computers worldwide twenty-one years ago. In another seventeen years, the Year 2038 problem may do the same.
Mercenary despot of the Comoros
The French mercenary Bob Denard overthrew the government of the Comoros four times: in 1975, 1978, 1989, and 1995.
Red alert at the circus
If you’re at a circus and you hear the band play “The Stars and Stripes Forever” – you better run.
Featured category: Prehistory
Prehistoric surgery, prehistoric mathematics, the first undisputed dog, and a preserved prehistoric brain.
From the archives: Ice
Battleships made of ice, the death of a glacier, electric viral space ice, and how ice helps aircraft punch holes in the clouds.
Orangutan nests
Orangutans, like all great apes, build nests. Sometimes these include pillows, blankets, and bunk beds.
Farthest mountain
The summit of Chimborazo, a volcano in Ecuador, is two kilometres farther from the Earth’s centre than Mount Everest.
Drunken graduation
“Gaudeamus igitur” is a solemn Latin song commonly sung at Western graduation ceremonies. Two hundred and fifty years ago, it was a bawdy student drinking song.
Jean Shrimpton’s white dress
When Jean Shrimpton walked out onto Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, in 1965, she didn’t know she was about to make fashion history.
The Generalist Academy 