Tag: history
The Sword-wielding soldier of WWII
Lieutenant Colonel Jack Churchill, or "Mad Jack," was no ordinary soldier during World War II. This British Army officer made a name for himself by using unusual weapons like a longbow, arrows, and a Scottish broadsword.
These three countries are surrounded by their neighbor
Across nearly 200 countries checkering the globe, exactly three extraordinary lands claim status as fully enclaved nations - meaning completely surrounded by another country enclosing its borders on all sides. Two micro-states nestled within neighboring Italy and one mountain kingdom swallowed up inside South Africa comprise Earth's sole national entities qualifying for such geopolitical quirk of geography.
Caffeine: The Natural Pesticide
That morning cup of coffee jumpstarting your workday also traces back to compounds plants employ in their own daily battles - as stealth pesticides. The caffeine enriching popular beverages actually helps vegetation fend off hungry insects and destructive infestations.
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...
Kevlar Was Originally Made for Car Tires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.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese: not from Philly?
Its familiar silver-wrapped bricks dominate refrigerator shelves nationwide. Beloved for spreading on bagels or baking into cheesecakes, Philadelphia Cream Cheese has cemented its status as an icon of American cuisine. Yet behind the brand’s household familiarity lies an origin story filled with clever deception, immigrant ingenuity, and enduring myth.