Posts by

If not for the events of Nov. 22, 1963, Jack Ruby may have lived out the rest of his life as he did most of the first 50-plus years of it: as a nobody, an outsider looking in, a small-time crook desperately seeking to belong. As it happened, though that day in Dallas changed a lot…

Researchers discovered 1.2 billion-year-old groundwater inside a mine in South Africa. (Image credit: Dr. Oliver Warr/University of Toronto) Groundwater that was recently discovered deep underground in a mine in South Africa is estimated to be 1.2 billion years old. Researchers suspect that the  groundwater is some of the oldest on the planet, and its chemical interactions…

Carbon is one of the most fascinating elements in all of nature, with chemical and physical properties unlike any other element. With just six protons in its nucleus, it’s the lightest abundant element capable of forming a slew of complex bonds. All known forms of life are carbon-based, as its atomic properties enable it to…

This map shows the short-lived Republic of West Florida. Taken from the map ‘The British Colonies in North America, 1763-1775.’ RATTYRATTERY/WIKIPEDIA/CREATIVE COMMONS CC0 1.0 The good old U.S. of A. wasn’t always made up of the 50 states that we know today. It took a lot of battles, bloodshed and negotiations to get to this point. Some states…

For many of us, taking a daily shower is part of our everyday routine. Approximately half (49%) of people living in the UK have a shower or bath at least once a day and one in five (20%) have a shower four to six times a week*. That’s a lot of time spent in the…

lmost everyone travel everyday and you must pass any bridge along your way. Bridges are the connecting link between two lands separated with water body. Do you ever think how the pillars are build in the water bodies to construct the bridge? Welcome to Engineering Master. In this article, we will tell the answer… Bridges…

This painting shows Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Benjamin Franklin presenting the first draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress. Less than a week later, on July 4, 1776, the colonial delegates signed the document. If asked to come up with a fact or two about the…

Expansion westward seemed perfectly natural to many Americans in the mid-nineteenth century. Like the Massachusetts Puritans who hoped to build a “city upon a hill, “courageous pioneers believed that America had a divine obligation to stretch the boundaries of their noble republic to the Pacific Ocean. Independence had been won in the Revolution and reaffirmed…

Even with all of the water in Earth’s oceans, we satisfy less than half a percent of human water needs with desalinated water.* We currently use on the order of 960 cubic miles (4,000 cubic kilometers) of freshwater a year, and overall there’s enough water to go around. There is increasing regional scarcity, though. So why…

Burr’s political achievements are largely overshadowed by his duel with Hamilton.The rivalry between Founding Fathers Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton stretched much further than the legendary duel where sitting Vice President Aaron Burr shot and fatally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Both were orphans. Both fought in the American Revolution. And both found political success at an early…

By: Melanie Radzicki McManus  |  Mar 25, 2021 Black mold is shown on this wall. Regardless of color, you want to remove mold from your house. You don’t want mold in your home. Black, green, orange, yellow — no matter the color, it’s all undesirable. Yet you don’t necessarily have to panic if you see it growing on your walls…

Banana Republic refers to a politically unstable nation economically dependent on the exportation of a limited resource product (bananas, for example). In 1901, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring countries under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company (today known as Chiquita Brands International). Typically, a…

  We use glass all the time, it is practically everywhere. They can be used from enhancing vision, to building bridges. But what is it about glass, that we love it so much? Why is it so important, and why was it revolutionary? Because it is transparent. This is the most important property of glass. We…

On 1 October 331 BC, Alexander the Great won a definitive victory at Gaugamela against the Persian empire. Alexander’s charismatic leadership and brilliant use of cavalry secured his immortality, and signalled the end for his wily foe, the Persian ruler Darius III. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was the son of Philip, King of Macedon,…

In Washington, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos sign a treaty agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at the end of the 20th century. The Panama Canal Treaty also authorized the immediate abolishment of the Canal Zone, a 10-mile-wide, 40-mile-long U.S.-controlled area that bisected the Republic of Panama. Many…

It is quite usual for motorists to stop at a petrol station or rest and recreation area to take a nap in their vehicle if they feel drowsy after driving for a number of hours. Is it safe to sleep in the car? It can be deadly if the windows are all wound up and…

It’s hard to credit a single person with inventing the automobile. Not only did an estimated 100,000 patents lead to cars as we know them, but people also disagree on what qualifies as the first true automobile. For historians who think that early steam-powered road vehicles fit the bill, the answer is Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a…

In the United States, American schoolchildren grow up learning all about their Founding Fathers, their Revolutionary ancestors, and some unfortunate realities of American history like slavery and indentured servitude. To a large extent, however, they learn myths about the founding of America, and those myths get recycled and amplified with each generation. Moreover, the recitation of those myths isn’t…

Alexander the Great is well known for leading his armies to many victories as he battled through Europe. His armies weaponry however, differed from his enemies in its use of one particular weapon, the sarissa. The sarissa was a type of pike that was wielded with both great ability and efficiency by Alexander’s armies, and…

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colo. (AP) — A quarter-century has passed since the end of the nuclear standoff between the United States and the former Soviet Union, but the famous U.S. military command center inside Colorado’s Cheyenne Mountain is still alive, tracking new threats from new enemies. The U.S. blasted a warren of tunnels…

Born a child prodigy in the late 19th century, William James Sidis had an estimated IQ of 250 to 300. But his intelligence couldn’t save him from his demons. In 1898, the smartest man who ever lived was born in America. His name was William James Sidis and his IQ was eventually estimated to be…

There’s never been a more clear-cut case for reparations than that of Haiti. What France did to the Haitian people after the Haitian Revolution is a particularly notorious examples of colonial theft. France instituted slavery on the island in the 17th century, but, in the late 18th century, the enslaved population rebelled and eventually declared…

Until the September 11th attacks, the tragedy in Jonestown on November 18th, 1978 represented the largest number of American civilian casualties in a single non-natural event. It is unfathomable now, as it was then, that more than 900 Americans – members of a San Francisco-based religious group called the Peoples Temple – died after drinking poison at…

On Wednesday, the Treasury Department announced that a portrait of Harriet Tubman will grace future $20 bills starting in 2030. It’s a fitting, and long overdue tribute to a genuine hero of American history who helped end the gravest evil this nation ever perpetrated. But the department also announced that the man currently on the bill —…

If you had been in Pompeii in 79 AD, you might have tried to hunker down or escape by sea. This would be a mistake. But there is a way to safety.  LET’S SAY YOU were visiting the Roman town of Pompeii on the morning of August 24, 79 AD. And let’s say you arrived sometime…

Discovering Chlorine Karl Wilhelm Scheele, the seventh of eleven children, born December 9, 1742, to a Swedish couple in Stralsund, was an apprentice to an apothecary in Gothenburg by the age of 14. A dozen years later he was working in a Stockholm pharmacy, studying and experimenting in his spare time with the pharmacy’s salts,…

Liberty Enlightening the World. That’s the meaning of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island off the coast of New York City. But this iconic statue of a green woman outstretching a torch while clasping a tablet to her chest holds much more history and significance than you may think. The story of building the Statue of…

  The iconic bridge spans over the East River and thousands of people cross the bridge every day to get between Manhattan and Brooklyn. It opened to the public on May 24, 1883 and was designed and constructed over two generations of the Roebling family by John, Washington, and Emily Roebling. The design is a…

What happens if you don’t sleep? Not getting enough sleep can lower your sex drive, weaken your immune system, cause thinking issues, and lead to weight gain.  When you don’t get enough sleep, you may also increase your risk of certain cancers, diabetes, and even car accidents. If you find yourself part of this no-sleep…

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” That rhyme has long been how American students were introduced to Christopher Columbus in elementary school. Students are taught that Columbus is the one who discovered the Americas, sailing across the Atlantic in his three ships: The Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. The Italian explorer is even celebrated…

During the economic boom of the Roaring Twenties, the traditional values of rural America were challenged by the Jazz Age, symbolized by women smoking, drinking, and wearing short skirts. The average American was busy buying automobiles and household appliances, and speculating in the stock market, where big money could be made. Those appliances were bought…

On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great…

  Four of the many moons orbiting Jupiter are shown. Why does this planet have so many moons? STOCKTREK/GETTY IMAGES Earth only has one moon, but dozens of natural satellites revolve around Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system. And new members in the Jupiter posse are still being discovered. On July 16, 2018, it was announced that a…

Early Years Samuel F. B. Morse was the first child of clergyman Jedidiah Morse and Elisabeth Finley Morse. His parents were committed to his education and instilling in him the Calvinist faith. After a mediocre showing at Phillips Academy, save for a strong interest in art, his parents sent him to Yale College. Samuel’s record…

Are you team Mac or team PC? It used to be that if you were to wade into the middle of any large technology conference and shout out “Macs are whack” or “Apple rules, Microsoft stinks,” you could start a riot. The conflict between Apple supporters and Windows fans raged on college campuses, social networks and…

One of the fascinating mysteries of Ancient Rome is the impressive longevity of some of their concrete harbour structures. Battered by sea waves for 2,000 years, these things are still around while our modern concoctions erode over mere decades. Now scientists have uncovered the incredible chemistry behind this phenomenon, getting closer to unlocking its long-lost…

Stephen Cockroft was stung 42 times after accidentally disturbing a wasps’ nest in his back garden. Here is what you should do if you are attacked by an angry swarm. “Initially I thought I had brushed my arm against a stinging nettle but suddenly wasps were all around my upper torso and face. “I dropped…

Greek mythology tells of a mortal seamstress named Arachne. Her extraordinary talent was matched only by her ego — and in a moment of pure hubris, she challenged the goddess Athena to a high-stakes weaving contest. Suffice it to say this didn’t go well for Arachne. After the showdown, she was transformed into a spider. At least she…

Following the failure of a French construction team in the 1880s, the United States commenced building a canal across a 50-mile stretch of the Panama isthmus in 1904. The project was helped by the elimination of disease-carrying mosquitoes, while chief engineer John Stevens devised innovative techniques and spurred the crucial redesign from a sea-level to…