Valdivia, Chile. May 22, 1960. Magnitude 9.5. 1,655 killed. Prince William Sound, Alaska. March 26, 1964. Magnitude 9.2. 128 killed. Sumatra, Indonesia. December 26, 2004. Magnitude 9.1. 227,898 killed. Tohoku, Japan, March 11, 2011. Magnitude 9.1. 15,700 killed. These are the four most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. If you keep up with the news,… Read More »
If ever there was an ultimate weapon of war, it would have to be the nuclear submarine. For more than 60 years, ballistic missile-armed submarines have prowled the world’s oceans, ready to unleash nuclear armageddon at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, fast attack boats track and stalk the missile-armed ‘boomers’, the two rivals locked in a… Read More »
If ever there was a poster child for human-caused extinction, it was the Dodo. This odd-looking flightless bird, native to the remote island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, was first encountered by Dutch sailors in 1598. Barely six decades later, the Dodo was all but extinct, wiped out by hungry sailors and invasive species… Read More »
Before we get started today, we’d just like to send a quick shoutout to one of our most prolific and best authors here, Gilles Messier, who if you liked his few hundred videos here the last few years, please do check out the link in the description below to his channel Our Own Devices, where… Read More »
The business of giving birth has long been a dangerous one. For most of human history, an estimated 4% of all women died in pregnancy or childbirth due to infections, haemorrhages, and other complications. Starting in the mid-19th century, improvements in sanitation and new medical techniques steadily began to improve these odds, such that today… Read More »
The City of London – a one-square-mile enclave on the north bank of the River Thames, is the oldest borough in the UK capital – and one of the strangest. Though surrounded by and part of the sprawling metropolis known as Greater London, the City of London is in fact its own, semi-independent ceremonial county,… Read More »
Study the history of science and technology long enough, and you will discover that – contrary to what popular culture would have you believe – few inventions are the product of a single brilliant mind. Instead, technological progress is the result of incremental discoveries and refinements made by multiple people. But once in a while,… Read More »
On January 23, 1943 at the Battle of Stalingrad, the Red Army captured a Luftwaffe Lieutenant, one Leo Raubal. That name did not ring any particular bell amongst the Soviet interrogators, just another POW. Except he wasn’t. Lieutenant Raubal himself revealed to his captors the identity of his infamous uncle: Adolf Hitler. Now, Hitler could… Read More »
Arlene, Cindy, Emily, Farrah, Katia. These are not, as you might expect, the names of women who were considered for Mambo No. 5, but rather the names of hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, and other tropical storms. The practice of giving storms human names is now an accepted part of life, with the names of particularly destructive… Read More »
Of all belligerent nations in the Second World War, few were as creative and prolific in their pursuit of exotic weapons technology as the Third Reich. From jet aircraft to ballistic missiles, air-independent submarines, and infrared detection, German scientists and engineers pioneered many of the key technologies that would shape the course of late 20th-century… Read More »
In all but four of the 25 James Bond films so far, the titular super spy starts his adventure with a visit to Q, MI6’s brilliant but grumpy creator of spy gadgets. From a briefcase full of weapons to a safe-cracking cigarette case to a watch with a built-in laser, Q always has exactly what… Read More »