Was the Holy Roman Empire, Holy, Roman, or an Empire?
In the 18th century, the French writer and philosopher Voltaire said, "This body which was called, and which still calls itself, the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire." ...
21 Maj 202212min
The History of Rice
For thousands of years, rice has been one of the most important agricultural crops in the world. It has fed billions of people, has been crossbred into tens of thousands of variants, and is now grow...
20 Maj 202211min
Trofim Lysenko and Lysenkoism
In the early 20th century, a Soviet agronomist named Trofim Lysenko developed some unique theories of biology and genetics. He rose to the top of the Soviet hierarchy in his field, and Stalin himsel...
19 Maj 202212min
The Petrodollar System
On August 15, 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended the gold convertibility of the US Dollar and simultaneously ended the Bretton Woods System, which had governed international monetary policy since ...
18 Maj 202211min
How Worried Should We Be About Asteroids?
About 66 million years ago, a massive asteroid collided with the Earth near the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This impact ended the era of the dinosaurs and resulted in one of the greatest species exti...
17 Maj 202213min
Saint Peter's Basilica
In the early 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantine ordered the construction of a church on the burial site of Saint Peter. It was the greatest church in Christianity. Centuries later, that build...
16 Maj 202213min
Pitcairn Island (Encore)
On April 28, 1789, the crew of the HMS Bounty engaged in a mutiny against their despotic captain, William Bligh. After sending the captain out on a rowboat, the rest of the crew sailed to an uninhabit...
15 Maj 202211min
The Library of Alexandria
Sometime during the reign of Ptolemy I or Ptolemy II, the Egyptian state decided to build an institution dedicated to accumulating all human knowledge in the City of Alexandria. As the city grew, thi...
14 Maj 202213min
