Cricket cage

Keeping Crickets for Luck, Song, and Bloodsport

Design can facilitate the worst of human instincts, including forcing animals into servitude and violence. Cricket cages tell stories about how people have treated the insects throughout time.
Fireworks Brooklyn Bridge

When Fireworks Told Stories

In Europe between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, fireworks displays were performances that told a story or symbolized real-world battles.
Viking sword runes

The Secrets of Viking Sword Making

New research scans three Viking swords and finds that, while well-made, they were not strong enough to withstand a fight.
brass sundial

Sundials, Sentiments, and S-Town

The immensely popular podcast S-Town features some memorable sundial inscriptions. But where did the slightly morbid tradition come from?
"England monastery in Lacock Abbei 1844 by Talbot" by Henry Fox Talbot - books (источники: Сергей Александрович Морозов. Творческая фотография. М.:Изд-во «Планета», 3-е изд., 1989, ISBN 5-85250-029-1). Licensed under Public Domain via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:England_monastery_in_Lacock_Abbei_1844_by_Talbot.jpg#/media/File:England_monastery_in_Lacock_Abbei_1844_by_Talbot.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a>

Art, Technology, & Early Photography: William Henry Fox Talbot

The 175th anniversary of William Henry Fox Talbot's calotype photography.
A gloved hand reaches out for a falcon

F is for Falconry

Since so few do falconry in the U.S. today, and hawking hasn't made it to the wide world of TV sports, some background is probably in order here.
The head and torso of the Adam sculpture by Tullio Lombardo

The Fall of Adam, Reversed

The 15th century marble statue of Adam, by Venetian sculptor Tullio Lombardo has been restored by the Metropolitan Museum.