HISTORY

Here's How Engineers Plan to Stop the Flow of Niagara Falls

When you want to stop Niagara Falls from flowing, install a cofferdam. The New York State Parks Commission is hoping to do just that as early as 2019.

Ancient Babylonians Used Geometry to Track the Planets

Calculations etched onto four stone tablets change the timeline of astronomy.

A 'Lost' Beatrix Potter Story Will Be Published for the First Time

“The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots” had gone undiscovered for over a century.

10 Lesser-Known Shakespeare Plays

Shakespeare’s cultural position is pretty secure. He doesn’t need to be rescued from obscurity. Yet certain plays tend to dominate bookshelves, stages, and classrooms, leaving many others largely unread and unperformed.

15 Gladiatorial Facts About the Colosseum

The landmark was almost turned into a wool factory.

The 1899 Kissing Bug Epidemic That (Probably) Wasn't

8 Facts About John Logie Baird, Who Invented the Mechanical Television 90 Years Ago

In a way, you have this Scottish engineer to thank for all your favorite TV shows.

25 Magnificent Facts About Oregon

Learn more about the home of the world's largest mushroom, America's deepest lake, and the only leprechaun colony west of Ireland.

25 Things You Should Know About Hartford, Connecticut

Mark Twain once said, "Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see, this is the chief."

10 Facts For John Hancock's Birthday

You won’t find his likeness anywhere on American currency. Instead, we’ve given this founding father a linguistic tribute—thanks to one revolutionary document, his very name is now a synonym for signature.

Penny Lane on Nuts!, Her Documentary About 'Goat Gland Doctor' John Brinkley

John Romulus Brinkley made a name for himself by implanting goat testicles into the testicles of impotent human men, seemingly curing them. But that was just the beginning for Brinkley.

Watch This Long-Lost Anti-Pornography Film From 1962

The work is an important historical find, shedding light onto 1960s views on pornography, sexuality, and censorship.

A Rare Ottoman Atlas Was Rediscovered in Norway's National Library

With a little help from Reddit, the librarian who unearthed the work identified it as a copy of the rare Cedid Atlas.

The Time New York Banned Women From Smoking

At least one woman was arrested during this law’s short two-week life.

7 Antique Forgeries Made in Antiquity

Forgery of art and antiquities is far from a modern phenomenon.

Georges Seurat via National Gallery, London

15 Revealing Things About Seurat's 'Bathers at Asnières'

The oil on canvas painting was the first of French Neo-Impressionist Georges Seurat's large-scale compositions.

Show & Tell: An 18th-Century Cemetery Gun

Grave-robbers, beware!

7 Fascinating Facts About the First American Novel

On this date in 1789, Boston bookseller Isaiah Thomas and Company published The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature, which is generally considered to be the first American novel.

A British Antiques Roadshow Fan Cracked a Centuries-Old Secret Code

The numerical cipher might have been used by two lovers to encrypt illicit messages.

9 Figure Skating Moves From a 1921 Ice Skating Manual

A step-by-step photographic guide to hitting the ice, courtesy of an early skating champion.

An 1862 engraving showing a skeleton gentleman at a ball asking a skeleton lady to dance, meant to represent the effect of arsenic dyes and pigments in clothing and accessories.

7 Ways Victorian Fashion Could Kill You

Whether it's poisonous dyes, pestilential fabrics, or flammable skirts, here are some reasons to be glad you're not getting dressed in 1837.

7 Fascinating Facts About Obelisks

A new book offers an absorbing account of the obelisk’s place in human civilization.

Keep digging. (bogdanhoda/shutterstock.com)

The Hole Truth About Why We 'Dig to China'

Digging to China is a favorite pastime of American children, not to mention a classic parental joke, but where exactly did this fanciful notion spring from?

8 Lesser-Known Miracles of Christian Saints

While stories about the deeds of some holy healers and leaders remain popular decades or centuries after they were inspired, many of the most surprising miracles have been forgotten.

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