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Salvator Mundi: The Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold

In November 2017, the art world was stunned when an enigmatic painting of Christ called Salvator Mundi sold for a record-shattering $450 million at auction.

How the Eiffel Tower Was Built: The Marvel of 1889

In the winter of 1887, Parisian journalists gathered at a curious construction site on the Champ de Mars. There, amid wooden scaffolding and the rhythmic clang of hammers, they witnessed what one reporter would describe as men "reaping lightning bolts in the clouds."

Alan Smithee: The Worst Director in Hollywood

For over 30 years, one name appeared again and again as the director of some of the worst movies ever made - Alan Smithee. But Alan Smithee wasn't a real person. He was a pseudonym used by Hollywood directors who wanted to disavow their finished films.

Emmanuel Nwude: The Man Behind the $242 Million Nigerian Airport Scam

In the late 1990s, a brazen fraudster named Emmanuel Nwude pulled off one of history's most outrageous cons - selling a fictional airport to a gullible Brazilian bank director for a whopping $242 million.

The Oldest Customer Complaint: A 4,000-Year-Old Complaint to Ea-Nasir

The next time you find yourself composing an angry email to customer service, take comfort in knowing you're participating in a tradition nearly four millennia old. Long before Yelp reviews and Twitter rants, an irate customer named Nanni etched his frustrations into clay, creating what would become the world's oldest documented customer complaint. His target? A copper merchant named Ea-Nasir...
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Why Most Canadians Live Near US Border

Gaze north from America across the Great White North and Canada appears a boundless land brimming with rugged wilderness, sawtooth mountains and remote tundra plains. But in fact just 10% of Canada's nearly 40 million populace resides in those iconic frigid hinterlands. A full 90% instead clusters within a narrow strip along the southern border - often not far north of U.S. territory at all.

Why Lemons float, but Limes sink

At first glance, lemons and limes appear quite similar - two bright green citrus fruits packing a tart, zesty bite. Their flavors infuse countless refreshing foods and drinks from sorbets to cocktails. Yet subtle differences set them deliciously apart beyond simply swirling yellow and green.

Da Vinci’s Famous Mural Once Showed Christ’s Feet

Like a lot of masterpieces from centuries past, “In Milan’s unassuming Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery, millions flock to glimpse Leonardo da Vinci’s spellbinding mural The Last Supper - Jesus’ final gathering alive with drama moments before betrayal. Though now an iconic masterpiece of the High Renaissance, it may shock tourists to learn the painting once moldered decrepit and vandalized for centuries, its innovations lost on contemporaries.The Last Supper” has undergone significant changes since it first saw the light of day. Perhaps most significantly, Leonardo da Vinci’s...

Everyone’s tongueprint is unique to them

In a future not so far off, your smartphone, computer, or front door may feature advanced biometric security to confirm your identity before granting access. But rather than pressing a finger or peering into a retinal scanner, authenticating yourself could one day be as easy as sticking out your tongue!

Why does this animal have rectangular pupils?

Out on the rugged rangelands, a herd of vigilant goats monitors the scrubby hills for any lurking threats. Suddenly, a mountain lion explodes from cover. But using their unique rectangular pupils, the goats detected the hunter before its lethal rush. Now the herd scrambles away using vision uniquely adapted to escape predators and navigate rocky slopes at speed.

Kevlar Was Originally Made for Car Tires

In a Delaware laboratory one fateful afternoon in 1965, a young chemist noticed something peculiar. A batch of polymers emerged from solution runny instead of syrupy, unlike the typical experimental output. Though colleagues advised discarding the apparent failure, Stephanie Kwolek instead saw promise in this cloudy concoction’s curious qualities.
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