The Drama of Point d’Alençon Needle Lace
In its heyday, lace was beautiful, expensive, and handmade. Naturally, lace smuggling became the stuff of legend.
The Nimatron
The world’s first video game made its debut at the Westinghouse pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1939. Read all about it!
Hot Air Balloon Launch Riot!
In the early days of ballooning, launches were prone to failure. When failure looked imminent, the crowd’s mood would begin to turn.
Our Writers’ Favorite Stories of 2021
Without our writers (and editors and fact checkers and producers) and you, we're nothing.
Message in a Button
A dive into the the University of Connecticut Pins and Button Collection gives a wearable history of progressive causes.
The Cabarets of Heaven and Hell
In 1890s Paris, cabarets in bohemian Montmartre gave visitors a chance to tour the afterlife.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: A History in Pictures
In 1927, the parade replaced live animals with helium balloons designed by puppeteer Tony Sarg.
The Early History of Human Excreta
When humans stopped being nomadic, we could no longer walk away from our waste. We’ve been battling it ever since.
A Short History of the Public Restroom
How come it's so hard to go in sweet privacy when you're out and about?
The Evolution of the Mad Scientist
The crazed caricature of genius was largely inspired by now-debunked late-Victorian ideas about how species change.