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Marie Curie

Marie Curie Kept Vials of Radium in Her Pocket and on Her Nightstand Because She Liked How They Glowed.

Radium is a chemical element with the atomic number 88 and the symbol Ra. It is the sixth element in Periodic Group 2, also known as alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but when exposed to air, it readily reacts with nitrogen, forming a black surface layer of radium nitride. Radium isotopes are all […]

Marie Curie Kept Vials of Radium in Her Pocket and on Her Nightstand Because She Liked How They Glowed. Read More »

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Castle

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Built an Entire Castle in Secret. It was Near a Castle He Had Put Under Siege. After 80 Days, He had the Trees Covering Cut Down, Which Made it Seem Like a Castle Had Sprung Up Overnight.

Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle was a Japanese castle built in the late Sengoku period in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s most famous castles and the site of his first meeting with Date Masamune. In 1959, the ruins were designated a National Historic Site. But why was it built in the first

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Built an Entire Castle in Secret. It was Near a Castle He Had Put Under Siege. After 80 Days, He had the Trees Covering Cut Down, Which Made it Seem Like a Castle Had Sprung Up Overnight. Read More »

Lysistrata

Lysistrata is an Ancient Greek Comedy Where Women Withheld Sex to End a War.

From the 6th century BCE, ancient Greek comedy was a popular and influential form of theater performed throughout ancient Greece. Aristophanes and Menander were the genre’s most famous playwrights, and their works, as well as those of their contemporaries, poked fun at politicians, philosophers, and fellow artists. But did you know there’s an ancient Greek

Lysistrata is an Ancient Greek Comedy Where Women Withheld Sex to End a War. Read More »

Marie Currie Coffin

Marie Curie is Buried in a Lead-Lined Coffin. Her Body and Notes are Highly Radioactive because She Worked with Radium.

Marie Salomea Sklodowska-Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who pioneered radioactivity research. She was the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, the first and only woman to receive the prize twice, and the only person to receive the prize in two scientific fields. Do you know what kind of coffin was

Marie Curie is Buried in a Lead-Lined Coffin. Her Body and Notes are Highly Radioactive because She Worked with Radium. Read More »

Resolute Desk

The Resolute Desk was Built from the Scrap of the HMS Resolute. It Has Been Used by Most Presidents Since the Year 1880.

Sometimes a piece of furniture comes along and completely transforms our surroundings. Furniture is meant to be lived in, slept in, worked in, sat in, just as a painting is meant to be looked at, and fashion is meant to be worn. It governs how we interact with our surroundings. But did you know how

The Resolute Desk was Built from the Scrap of the HMS Resolute. It Has Been Used by Most Presidents Since the Year 1880. Read More »

Caligula

Caligula is Known as the Most Mad Roman Emperor. His Name was Given to Him By His Father’s Soldiers While Being on Campaign with Them in Germania. His Name Means “Little Boots”.

Mad, evil, and bloodthirsty. These are a few epithets attributed to men traditionally considered the worst Roman emperors. Ironically, these miscreants are among the best-known Roman rulers for all the wrong reasons. The list of their misdeeds is vast, from flinging people off cliffs to naming a horse a consul to playing an instrument while

Caligula is Known as the Most Mad Roman Emperor. His Name was Given to Him By His Father’s Soldiers While Being on Campaign with Them in Germania. His Name Means “Little Boots”. Read More »

Cigarettes

Cigarettes were Intended to be a Woman’s Cigar Since Smoking a Cigar was Considered Unladylike.

In general, men tend to use tobacco products at a higher rate than women. Cigarettes were smoked by 35% of adult males and 6% of adult females. Such disparities could be attributed to physiological, particularly ovarian hormones, cultural, and behavioral factors. But did you know why the cigarette was invented?  Cigarettes were intended to be

Cigarettes were Intended to be a Woman’s Cigar Since Smoking a Cigar was Considered Unladylike. Read More »

Spitfire WWII

World War II Spitfires Only Had 20 Seconds Before Running out of Ammo. Its Representation in Movies was Wildly Inaccurate.

Warplanes play an essential role in warfare. Having an advantage in the air may change the course of the battle. The Spitfire was a front-line fighter during World War II. But did you know that the machine guns loaded onto these planes didn’t perform accurately as depicted in the movies? Most film representations of World

World War II Spitfires Only Had 20 Seconds Before Running out of Ammo. Its Representation in Movies was Wildly Inaccurate. Read More »

City of Srivijaya

The City of Srivijaya Ruled Indonesia and Most of Southeast Asia for Over Six Centuries but Disappeared without a Trace. Its Location was Recently Uncovered by Some Fishermen Who Found Golden Artifacts in Their Nets.

Srivijaya was a maritime and commercial kingdom that rose to fame in the 7th century. The city was mainly located in what we know as Indonesia today. They are known to be the first unified kingdom to dominate most of the Malay islands. But did you know it was considered a lost city? Srivijaya was

The City of Srivijaya Ruled Indonesia and Most of Southeast Asia for Over Six Centuries but Disappeared without a Trace. Its Location was Recently Uncovered by Some Fishermen Who Found Golden Artifacts in Their Nets. Read More »

Jacklyn Lucas

Jacklyn H. Lucas Joined the Marines at 14. He Snuck Aboard a Ship Bound to Iwo Jima, Stormed the Beach without a Rifle, and Threw Himself on Top of Two Grenades to Protect His Team. He Survived and Earned the Medal of Honor at 17.

The Medal of Honor can be earned by acts of personal bravery or self-sacrifice above and beyond the call of duty, only while a member of the American Armed Forces is engaged in actual combat with an enemy of the Nation. But did you know how Jacklyn H. Lucas got his Medal of Honor? Jacklyn

Jacklyn H. Lucas Joined the Marines at 14. He Snuck Aboard a Ship Bound to Iwo Jima, Stormed the Beach without a Rifle, and Threw Himself on Top of Two Grenades to Protect His Team. He Survived and Earned the Medal of Honor at 17. Read More »