The History of Chocolate
Around 3,500 years ago, the people of Central America discovered something marvelous: the cacao bean could be used to create a fermented beverage that was unlike anything they had experienced. For ce...
19 Sep 202212min
How The United States Congress Came to Be
When the 13 American colonies decided to form a proper constitution, the single largest question which confronted them was how their legislature would be organized. This question was really the crux ...
18 Sep 202215min
Carthago Delenda Est: The Third Punic War
In 201 BC, the Romans were victorious over their archrivals, the city-state of Carthage, in the Second Punic War. This was was the closest which Rome had ever come to defeat and almost spelled the en...
17 Sep 202215min
The Babbage Analytical Engine (Encore)
Computers have obviously transformed our world. You wouldn’t be listing to my voice right now if it wasn’t for computers. However, the first computers, a device that could perform arbitrary calculati...
16 Sep 202212min
The Wonderful World of Tin
In the ancient world, only seven metals were identified and named: gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, mercury, and tin. Tin probably doesn’t rank up there with the other metals in terms of how interes...
15 Sep 202212min
The Berlin Airlift
On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union placed a blockade on Berlin's American, British, and French-occupied zones. No food, fuel, or supplies could enter the area known as West Berlin. Many people thoug...
14 Sep 202214min
All About Sushi
You can find restaurants serving Japan’s greatest cultural export all over the world: sushi. While many people enjoy sushi, most people have no idea of the origins of sushi beyond the fact that it co...
13 Sep 202214min
The Telemark Raids
During World War II, one of the biggest concerns of the Allies was the development of an atomic bomb. As such, the allies and various partisan groups in occupied countries made the destruction of any...
12 Sep 202213min
