Art Nouveau: The Stylish Rebellion
Art Nouveau didn't ask for permission. It waltzed in at the end of the 19th…
Roman religion: The gods and rituals
The gods and rituals of Roman religion had a flair for spectacle, bureaucracy, and a…
Life in the Iron Age: Survival and Society
If you’ve ever thought that life in the Iron Age was all iron swords, painted…
Pyramid scheme Las Vegas-style
Las Vegas has never really been about subtlety. This is the city that thought it…
Conquistador: Unwelcome Tourist from Europe
The word that still echoes through history classrooms and travel documentaries alike: conquistador. It sounds…
Babouches and the Art of Moroccan Foot Flair
Morocco does a lot of things well. Tea? Poured from a scandalous height into glasses…
What Your Rising Sign Really Says About You
What your rising sign really says about you goes far beyond the aesthetic nonsense peddled…
George III
George III wasn’t supposed to be interesting. That was the job of his more scandalous…
The First Sputnik
On 4 October 1957, the world changed with a beep. Not a speech. Not a…
The Fake Beard That Saved Cleopatra
The fake beard that saved a queen wasn’t some hastily glued prop or pantomime costume…
The Spy Pigeons of WWI
The Spy Pigeons of WWI: feathered agents with impeccable navigation skills. Not exactly what you…
Derinkuyu: Turkey’s Underground City
At first glance, Derinkuyu looks like a perfectly ordinary Turkish town. A few dusty streets.…
The world’s first vending machine
The world’s first vending machine didn’t dispense crisps, fizzy drinks or even those clunky plastic…
Seven Wonders: Then and Now
Humanity loves a list. We rank everything: best albums, worst outfits, top ten dog breeds…
Break a leg! The Stories Behind Theatre’s Favourite Superstition
They said it with a straight face, standing in the wings of the theatre, half…
Polka Dot Fever: A Spotty Love Affair Through Time
Somewhere between the tail end of a psychedelic fever dream and the slightly musty aisle…
Stari Most: The Bridge That Brought Mostar Back Together
The city of Mostar has a flair for drama. It always has. Maybe it's the…
Robert Burns, Totally Unfiltered
You know the guy. Red hair, intense stare, romantic chaos trailing in his wake like…
The Kombucha Chronicles: Tasting the Tangy Elixir
Kombucha. Oh, where do I even start with this fizzy, funky elixir that’s somehow both…
Royal Swans in the UK: A Very British Bird Story
If you’ve ever strolled along the Thames on a misty morning and spotted a swan…
The Soviet space dog, Laika, Who Chased the Stars
Some stories sound like they were tailor-made for tearjerker film scripts. You know the type:…
The Eiffel Tower almost destroyed
If you've ever stood beneath the iron lattice of the Eiffel Tower and craned your…
La Tomatina
Every year, thousands of people travel to the tiny Spanish town of Buñol to do…
Guy de Maupassant
There was a man who once said the Eiffel Tower was such an eyesore that…
John Wilkes Booth: Drama Turned Tragedy
If history were a theatre production, John Wilkes Booth would be that overly dramatic understudy…
Alcatraz to re-open
It was only a matter of time before someone tried to make Alcatraz trendy again.…
Romania’s Child King: A Crown Too Early
Romania’s Child King sounds like the title of a Brothers Grimm story that never made…