David W Brown

Joined: Nov 21, 2012

David Brown is coauthor of The Command (John Wiley & Sons, 2012) and Deep State (Wiley, 2013). He is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a contributor to The Week and mental_floss. He can be found online at http://dwb.io.

This Blue Marble Earth montage shows many stunning details of our home planet.

8 Amazing Facts About Earth

The Lyrid meteor shower lights up the sky over the ancient city of Aizanoi in Kutahya, Turkey.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks on Earth Day in 2023

A map of the world's undersea cables in 2015.

10 Deep Facts About the Internet’s Undersea Cables

Women register to vote following the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

12 World-Shaping Events That Happened in 1920

getty images (churchill) / istock (flag)

The 8 Honorary Citizens of the United States

Honorary citizenship is granted by Congress and the president, and has only ever been bestowed upon eight people. Here's what they did to deserve it.

An artist's rendering of the dwarf planet Eris

10 Facts About the Dwarf Planet Eris

Eris was once thought to be larger than Pluto.

11 Things You Might Not Know About the Marine Corps

On November 10, 1775, the first Marines enlisted at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia.

The Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend

Look up!

Autumn Equinox: The Science Behind the First Day of Fall

Happy first day of fall! The season of colorful foliage, frosty mornings, and pumpkin-spice everything is upon us, thanks to the autumn or fall equinox.

NASA's Perserverance rover takes a photo of Mars.

11 Riveting Facts About Mars

Few celestial objects have fascinated humankind throughout history more than the Red Planet. Here's what you need to know about Mars.

5 Goals of the OSIRIS-REx Mission to the Asteroid 'Bennu'

The spacecraft will use a robotic arm to scoop up a sample of Bennu and then return it to Earth.

10 Facts About the Dwarf Planet Makemake

The entire planet is only three times as long as the Grand Canyon.

10 Facts About the Dwarf Planet Haumea

It's named for a Hawaiian goddess.

Winter Meteors, Valentine's Day Star, and a Black Moon: A Guide to the February Night Sky

There are a few wonders in the winter sky worth making time for.

The Secret Cold War History of the Missile That Launched America's First Satellite

Sixty years ago today, on January 31, 1958, the United States became a space-faring nation with Explorer-1.

10 Astonishing Things You Should Know About the Milky Way

Here are a few things you might not know about our spiraling home in the universe.