In the late 1970s, a crew of thrill-seeking Oxford University students grew bored of rigid, bureaucratic sports and formed their own club seeking adventure.
In December of 1944, as American forces were battling their way across the Pacific and closing in on Japan, a young Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer named Hiroo Onoda landed on the small island of Lubang in the Philippines.
Picture a typical French scene in your mind's eye. Perhaps you envision the iconic Eiffel Tower piercing the Parisian skyline. You may also imagine strolling through the lavender fields of Provence. While these images are quintessentially French, they only scratch the surface of what truly constitutes the French Republic.
Ada Lovelace is often referred to as the world's first computer programmer, yet her contributions to science and technology have been overshadowed by her gender and her famous father, the poet Lord Byron.
Astrophysicists have long known that the universe is full of surprises, but even our own Solar System can make our head spin. It turns out that the center of the Solar System is not the Sun and so Jupiter doesn't orbit the Sun. In fact, none of the planets revolve around the Sun.
Today high heels bring impressions of female elegance and sexuality. Yet stilettos actually originated in 10th century Persia worn by male horseback warriors, not court ladies. Throughout history, uncomfortable heels denoted wealth and status across genders and cultures from chopines in Venice to lotus shoes in China.
In the remote mountains of Turkey and Nepal, there's a buzz in the air. It's not your average bee activity, though. These bees create a unique kind of honey - a honey so potent it’s earned the nickname "Mad Honey."
Imagine a world entirely encased in ice, from pole to pole, with glaciers flowing even in the heart of the tropics. This may sound like a scene from a post-apocalyptic science fiction movie, but it's a scenario that many geologists believe occurred not just once, but multiple times during Earth's history, long before humanity walked the planet.
At quitting time on March 25, 1911, a spark caught in a scrap bin on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in New York's Greenwich Village. The bin sat in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, a bustling garment workshop employing hundreds of immigrant youths.
When the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber first took to the skies in World War II, it carried the weight of a nation's hopes on its wings. The United States desperately needed a long-range, high-speed bomber capable of striking deep into the heart of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. On paper, the B-24 seemed perfect for the job.
Do you remember floppy disks? Those big, squarish items that your parents probably used to save their work on computers? While they might seem archaic now, floppy disks were at the heart of a revolution that had little to do with storing your school assignments.