HISTORY

Artificial Hand by Ambroise Paré

A design from a rare work by one of the most innovative surgeons in Renaissance medicine.

Metropolitan Museum of Art // The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection

Met Museum to Display Hundreds of Early American Baseball Cards

Items in the 400-piece collection date back to the 1800s.

A 13-Year-Old Spotted a Mistake in This Al Capone Museum Exhibit

Antiques enthusiast Joey Warchal noticed all was not right in Capone’s cell on a recent trip to the Eastern State Penitentiary.

King Tut Was Entombed With a Meteorite Dagger

A recent study of the dagger's composition reveals its cosmic origins.

Getty Images // iStock (hats) // Chloe Effron

10 Famous Birthdays to Celebrate in June

Have some cake this month on behalf of these historical figures, all of whom were born in June.

In the Victorian Era, You Could Get a Job Delivering Meat to Cats

London's 19th century cats had it pretty good.

13 Offbeat Ancient Recipes from Around the World

Porpoise porridge, anyone?

Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster

A 1909 fire at the Cherry mine in Illinois killed 259 men and three dozen mules.

Michio Kushi, Natural Foods Pioneer

The natural foods movement of the 1960s and 1970s ushered in a new way of eating—and one of its pioneers was Michio Kushi.

Watch a Gutenberg Printing Press in Action

In a video, the Crandall Printing Museum demonstrates how the world's only functional Gutenberg printing press actually operated.

6 Legendary Poisons and 1 Legendary Antidote

Before toxicology tests and forensic pathology, stories of mysterious poisons with chameleon-like properties abounded.

The Man with a Window in His Stomach

What does a doctor do when a patient presents with a hole blown into his abdomen? Lower food tied to a string into it, of course.

12 Long-Spanning Facts About the George Washington Bridge

Connecting New Jersey and Manhattan, the George Washington Bridge remains one of the longest suspension bridges in the United States and is responsible for transporting millions of people into and out of New York every year.

Who Was Old King Cole? (And Why Was He Such A Merry Old Soul?)

No matter how fine his fiddlers’ fiddles might have been, and no matter how merry the king himself may have been, one question remains: Who on earth was Old King Cole?

Floating Parade Brings the Works of Hieronymus Bosch to Life

Each June, artists reeneact the Dutch artist's bizarre paintings while cruising down a river in the Netherlands.

An 1892 drawing of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, published in The Strand Magazine

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Tried Solving a Real Mystery

Usually it was Sherlock Holmes solving cases—this time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle played a real-life detective.

Battle Between Clovis and the Visigoths // National Library of the Netherlands, Public Domain

11 Rome-Sacking Facts About the Original Goths

Though “savages” and “barbarians” to the Romans, they were actually complex, intelligent, and misunderstood people.

Declassified Photos Show the Early Days of Soviet Rocket Testing

One of Russia's oldest missile testing sites just turned 70.

English Nonprofit Will Preserve WWI Conscientious Objectors' Jail Graffiti

The Richmond 16 were imprisoned in England in 1916 for refusing to aid the war effort.

Caricature of the Chevalier D'Eon a.k.a. Mademoiselle de Beaumont

A diplomat, spy, and celebrated fencer, D'Éon lived the first half of life as a man and the second half as a woman.

Watch a Vintage Candy Maker Churn Out Old-Fashioned Sweets

These machines are hard to find.

Nyttend via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

100 Years Ago, You Could Buy a House From a Sears Catalog

The company sold housing designs and pre-cut materials from 1908 to 1940.

Altar Cloth in Rural Church May Be Rare Segment of Elizabeth I’s Gown

The fabric, woven with strands of real silver, may have been a gift from the queen to one of her favored ladies-in-waiting.

Why Do Diamonds Cost So Much?

Two words: monopoly and propaganda.

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