When we talk about famous heists, maybe our minds go to the Antwerp diamond robbery of 2003, or the brazen Lufthansa heist at JFK in 1978. We may even remember the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft of 1990. Not only did these heists garner headline news, but some of them were adapted into movies or… Read More »
First introduced in 1954, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter looked like something out of science fiction. Designed by legendary aircraft designer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, mastermind behind the U-2, A-12, and SR-71 spy planes, the F-104 was built around the powerful General Electric J79 jet engine and featured an unusually slender, needle-shaped fuselage and short, stubby wings,… Read More »
We’ve all heard of him. Alexander the Great has been for many centuries a household name in much of the world- an impressive feat for a king who’s been dead for two millenia and reigned only for a little over a decade. In western countries, his defeat of the Persian Empire in the 320s BC… Read More »
When we think of Germany and genocide, we typically think of the Holocaust, wherein some 15 million Jews, Roma, homosexuals and others deemed “undesirable” by the Third Reich were systematically exterminated between 1941 and 1945. But policies of mass murder go back much further in German history than many dare admit. For some 30 years… Read More »
Inheriting is rarely as fun as films and books would have you believe. Instead of a previously unknown great-aunt who just so happens to deem you the sole heir to her surprisingly large fortune, it usually comes with the death of a close relative and more often than not, strife among the surviving parties. The… Read More »
There’s an old joke told in natural history museums about a new tour guide showing around a group of visitors. Stopping before a dinosaur skeleton, he informs the group that the fossil remains are 80 million years and three weeks old. “How do you know that?” asks one of the visitors. “Because it was 80… Read More »
In the winter of 1944-45, the people of the Netherlands teetered on the brink of starvation. As the Allied advance through the south stalled in wake the ill-conceived Operation Market Garden, the Dutch Government in Exile ordered a nationwide railway strike in an attempt to cripple the occupying German Army. In retaliation, the Nazis cut… Read More »
Bacon, eggs, toast, and a tall glass of orange juice: it’s a breakfast as traditionally American as apple pie. And it’s not hard to see why: after all, bacon and eggs are chock-full of protein while orange juice provides a healthy dose of vitamin C. Packing the calories and nutrients needed to fuel our busy… Read More »
From an early age, we are all taught the fundamental rules of the road: don’t run out into traffic, look both ways before crossing, and only cross at traffic lights or a designated crosswalk. Even as adults, few of us would ever think of crossing a road just anywhere, lest we commit the risky –… Read More »
When a man loses his testicles it causes a variety of medical issues, and thus, hormone replacement therapy is common when possible. In contrast, most of us bring our male pets to the vet to have their balls removed, and after the pain of the surgery is gone, they seem to do just fine. So,… Read More »
One day in April 1929, a Moscow newspaper editor was handing out assignments when he noticed that one of his reporters wasn’t taking any notes. The editor pulled the reporter aside to question him, only for the man, one Solomon Shereshevsky, to reveal that he never took notes because he had a perfect memory. Then,… Read More »