London’s River Became So Smelly In 1858 That It Forced The City To Rebuild Its Sewers
In the summer of 1858, London had a problem that was impossible to ignore. The River Thames, already carrying enormous quantities of human waste and industrial pollution,…
In 1637, Tulip Prices Collapsed. But Did Tulip Mania Really Crash The Dutch Economy?
In the winter of 1637, some tulip bulbs in the Dutch Republic were trading for extraordinary sums. The rarest varieties could command thousands of guilders, enough to…
Thomas Midgley Solved Two Problems For Cars And Refrigerators. Then Both Inventions Became Environmental Problems
Thomas Midgley Jr. spent his career solving practical problems with chemistry. In the 1920s, he helped develop tetraethyl lead, a fuel additive that dramatically reduced engine knock…
Why Did The Dutch Let England Keep Manhattan? The Answer Was A Tiny Island Full Of Nutmeg
Today, Manhattan is one of the most valuable and recognizable pieces of land in the world. But in 1667, its future was tied to a tiny Indonesian…
In 536, The Sun Seemed To Lose Its Light. Then The World Turned Cold
In the year 536, people across parts of Europe and Asia looked toward the Sun and noticed something was wrong. Contemporary writers described a strange, persistent haze…
Three Lighthouse Keepers Disappeared From A Scottish Island In 1900. The Lighthouse Was Still Running
In December 1900, three lighthouse keepers disappeared from a remote Scottish island without leaving an obvious explanation behind. When a relief vessel finally reached Eilean Mòr on…
An Ancient Civilization Built Thousands Of Earthworks In The Amazon. Most Were Hidden Beneath The Trees
For centuries, the Amazon rainforest looked to outsiders like one of the world’s great untouched wildernesses. Then scientists began flying laser-scanning equipment over the trees. Beneath the…
This 15th-Century Manuscript Is Filled With Strange Plants And An Unknown Script
For more than a century, scholars have studied a medieval manuscript filled with strange plants, astronomical diagrams, human figures and hundreds of lines of unfamiliar writing. The…
In 1971, Alan Shepard Took A Golf Club To The Moon. NASA Almost Said No
In February 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard stood on the Moon in a bulky pressure suit, reached into a tube sock and pulled out something nobody…
In 1859, A Solar Storm Set Telegraph Wires On Fire. Today, We Depend On Much More
On September 1, 1859, British astronomer Richard Carrington was studying a cluster of dark sunspots when he suddenly saw two brilliant patches of white light erupt across…