Silk: The History of a Fabric That Was Civilization’s First Burial Cloth, Body Armor, and Much More
Silk—prized for its lightness, luminosity, and beauty—is also one of the strongest biological materials ever known. More than a century ago, it was used to make the first bulletproof vest, and yet sci...
7 Mars 202441min
Frank Lloyd Wrong – When America’s Greatest Architect Created His Masterpiece While Written-Off as a Has-Been
Nobody blossomed late in life like Frank Lloyd Wright. He was written off as a has-been by middle age after a promising start. Between 1909 and 1929, Wright’s career was marked by personal turmoil and...
5 Mars 202446min
Frederick Rutland, Britain’s Most Beloved WW1 Pilot, Became a Spy for Imperial Japan
Frederick Rutland was an accomplished aviator, British WWI war hero, and real-life James Bond. He was the first pilot to take off and land a plane on a ship, a decorated warrior for his feats of brave...
29 Feb 202436min
The Rise and Fall of the Global Age of Piracy (17-19th Centuries)
Piracy didn’t spring into existence in the 18th century Caribbean. It has existed as long as there has been commercial shipping and people to steal the goods. There were medieval pirates. Vikings love...
27 Feb 202444min
A WW2 Polish Diplomat Forged Thousands of Paraguayan Passports to Save Jews from the Holocaust
Between 1940 and 1943, Polish diplomats based in Bern, Switzerland, engaged in a remarkable – and until now, almost completely untold – humanitarian operation. This operation was one of the largest ac...
22 Feb 202448min
Stories From Captives on The Last Slave Ship to America
The Clotilda was the last slave ship to land on American soil, docked in Mobile Bay, Alabama, in July 1860—more than half a century after the passage of a federal law banning the importation of slaves...
20 Feb 202429min
Was Union Support in the Confederacy Actually Widespread? The Alabamans Who Fought for Sherman Say 'Yes'
As the popular narrative goes, the Civil War was won when courageous Yankees triumphed over the South. But an aspect of the war that has remained little-known for 160 years is the Alabamian Union sold...
15 Feb 202449min
The Heroes, Legends, and Liars Who Fought in WW2
Veterans of World War 2 are called the Greatest Generation for their uncommon courage and self-determination. Whether this descriptor is true or part of America’s self-mythologizing during the 20th ce...
13 Feb 202435min
