Articles (26)
Whatever happened to Eastern Air Lines? (1926-1991)
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...? Eastern Air Lines was for decades one of the largest airlines in the United States, a major carrier along the East Coast and a household name in American air travel. DETAILS
7 July 2005 London bombings
TERRORIST ATTACKS 7 July 2005 London bombings On 7 July 2005, Islamist terrorists carried out four coordinated suicide bombings targeting commuters travelling on London's public transport during the
A hunter with heat-exchange muscle
Wild Earth White sharks are endothermic for a fish: networks of vessels keep swimming muscle warmer than the water. Warmer muscle means stronger, longer hunts in cool temperate seas. Juveniles eat
Expensive Lesson: MF Global collapse
🔁🔁 WHO SAID IT Expensive Lesson: MF Global collapse THEY SAID (before the cost showed: investors and risk managers): The trade or market looked manageable while prices, liquidity, or confidence were
First Machine translation
🧯 First Machine translation The bet: The first versions were bulky, slow, expensive, confusing, limited, or useful only to specialists. What happened: Later iterations got smaller, cheaper, more
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
⚙️⚙️ WHO BUILT THE WORLD Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz WHO THEY WERE: German polymath. WHAT THEY BUILT: Built calculus notation and a vision of symbolic reasoning. WHY IT MATTERED: His notation and logic
The smallest sea turtle
Wild Earth Kemp’s ridley is the smallest sea turtle and one of the most endangered. Most nesting is concentrated on a few beaches in the western Gulf of Mexico. Females often nest in daylight in mass
Love Canal (neighborhood) (1978)
VANISHED PLACE Love Canal, a Niagara Falls neighborhood, was declared a federal emergency in 1978 after buried chemical waste leaked into homes and a school. The U.S. EPA relocated hundreds of
How electricity splits water
How It Works Electrolysis is the reverse of what a hydrogen fuel cell does. An electric current splits water into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. If the electricity comes from wind or solar, the hydrogen
Saigon Execution (1968)
FAMOUS STILL Eddie Adams photographed General Loan shooting a Viet Cong prisoner in a Saigon street. Adams later said the photo simplified a war, but it still defined the Tet aftermath in U.S. papers.
Gold Reserve Act (1934)
LAW THAT STUCK The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 nationalized gold and devalued the dollar against gold. It ended domestic gold coin circulation and reset the U.S. monetary base. DETAILS U.S. Treasury /
Eastern Air Lines (1991)
LAST RUN Eastern Air Lines shut down in 1991 after strikes and bankruptcy. The Department of Transportation and a bankruptcy court oversaw the end of the carrier. DETAILS DOT / bankruptcy court KEY
African fish eagle
BIRDS African fish eagle The African fish eagle or the African sea eagle is a large species of eagle found throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever large bodies of open water with an abundant food
Abyssinian roller
BIRDS Abyssinian roller The Abyssinian roller, or Senegal roller, is a member of the roller family of birds which breeds across tropical Africa in a belt south of the Sahara, known as the Sahel. It is
First Elevator
🧯 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 The bet: The first practical versions were noisy, fragile, slow, expensive, unsafe, or hard to control. What happened: Later engineering made the same idea reliable
Armero (1985)
VANISHED PLACE A lahar from Nevado del Ruiz destroyed Armero on 13 November 1985, killing about 23,000 people in the Colombian town. USGS and Colombian government accounts treat the site as a memorial
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
LAW THAT STUCK The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is the civil-rights statute for disability in employment, public services, and public accommodations. It forced ramps, job accommodations,
Afghan Hound
DOGS Afghan Hound The Afghan Hound is a hound distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat, and a tail with a ring curl at the end. The breed originates in the cold mountains of Afghanistan . Its
First Airship
🔁🔁 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 THEY SAID (early version: early riders, drivers, and regulators): The first practical versions were noisy, fragile, slow, expensive, unsafe,
Bush v. Gore (2000)
COURT CASE With the 2000 presidential election hanging on a few hundred disputed Florida ballots, the Supreme Court effectively decided the presidency itself by halting an ongoing statewide manual
Enron's accounting collapse (2001)
GREATEST MISTAKES IN HISTORY Enron, once one of America's largest energy companies, collapsed into bankruptcy after regulators uncovered a vast web of accounting fraud used to hide billions of dollars
Nobody Wanted It, Then Everyone Did: Personal computers
🔁🔁 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗡𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗱: 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 THEY SAID (early adoption: early users, reviewers, and
Conspiracy That Became Real: Camp Lejeune Water Contamination (1953–1987)
WHAT HAPPENED: For decades Marines and families at Camp Lejeune drank water contaminated with solvents from leaking fuel and dry-cleaning waste. EPA, ATSDR, and later Congress documented the
Conspiracy That Became Real: Enron Accounting Fraud (1990s–2001)
WHAT HAPPENED: Executives used hidden partnerships and manipulated accounting to make the company appear healthier than it was. C. The important point is what the public record later showed: this was
The Art of War by Sun Tzu (-500)
Never had the time to read some of the books you've been meaning to? Here's a quick summary of: The Art of War by Sun Tzu Book Highlights This ancient Chinese strategy classic presents war as a matter
Caño Cristales, Meta Department, Colombia — one of the strangest places on earth
Caño Cristales is listed among the strangest places on earth. It is in Meta Department, Colombia. The Caño Cristales (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɲo kɾisˈtales]; English: "Crystal Channel") is a river