Tag Archives: History
WTF Fun Fact 13343 – Saverland v Newton
WTF Fun Fact 13342 – Lithium in 7-Up
WTF Fun Fact 13340 – T30 Building
Voltaire’s Fortune: Mastering the French Lottery and Empowering Enlightenment
Voltaire, the famed French philosopher and writer, amassed considerable wealth by exploiting a flaw in the French lottery system of the early 18th century. Alongside mathematician Charles Marie de La Condamine and a group of collaborators, they seized a lucrative opportunity presented by the French national lottery, which was designed to promote bond purchases. In… Read More »
Celtic Druids: Esteemed Arbiters and Spiritual Leaders
The revered Celtic druids enjoyed numerous privileges, including exemption from taxation and military conscription, and were held in such lofty regard that they possessed the authority to halt conflicts between clashing armies. In addition to their roles as spiritual leaders, these Druids were also responsible for preserving cultural knowledge, maintaining the oral tradition, and serving… Read More »
How Does Nuclear Waste Disposal Work?
31 countries currently use some form of nuclear power, with the 455 currently operational reactors generating some 393,000 Megawatts of electricity – nearly 20% of the world’s total energy production. Despite high-profile disasters such as Chernobyl, Three-Mile-Island, and Fukushima, nuclear power is actually among the safest and cleaner forms of electricity generation, placing dead-last in… Read More »
The Greatest Air Race of All Time Which Helped Give Us the Global Airline Industry
It was a dark, stormy night in October 1934 when the residents of Albury, a small town in New South Wales, Australia, were awakened by the drone of an aeroplane droning overhead. Endlessly it circled above the iron grey clouds, searching for a place to land. Any aeroplane lost in a storm was cause for… Read More »
The Surprisingly Long and Determined Effort to Create a Literal Flying Tank
The Great War of 1914-1918 has been described as the first “industrial war”, and saw the battlefield debut of a number of advanced weapons, including the aeroplane, poison gas, the tank, the flamethrower, and the submarine. Of these, the tank and the aeroplane would go on to completely revolutionize modern warfare. The post-war years saw… Read More »
WTF Fun Fact 13324 – History of Peonies
Harry Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Crusade Against Spiritualism
Erik Weiss, better known by his stage name Harry Houdini, was one of the greatest entertainers in history, and among the first modern mega-celebrities. Over a 35-year career spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Houdini thrilled audiences the world over with his headline-grabbing feats of stage magic and death-defying escapology, making entire elephants… Read More »