Kat Eschner

 

Kat Eschner is a freelance science and culture journalist based in Toronto.

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. This photo was taken in 1969.

Happy Birthday to the First Woman in Space

She spent almost three days in space on her first flight

Pound cake is generally made in a loaf pan (as above) or a Bundt pan (that's the one with the hole in the middle.)

A Pound Cake Was Originally Made With Four Pounds of Ingredients

Most Americans today don't bake using pounds and ounces, but cups and teaspoons

Saint Louis was one of just 11 post offices across the country issuing provisional stamps in the two years between the Postal Act and the introduction of federal stamps.

Why Stamps Cost the Same Anywhere in the Country

The Postal Act of 1845 was just the beginning of a process of postal standarization that took many years

Over 400 men, women and children were sold on this day in 1859. It was the largest single sale of enslaved people in U.S. history but is barely talked about today.

The Horrors of the 'Great Slave Auction'

The largest sale of enslaved people ever to take place in the U.S. tore families apart

Theodor Seuss Geisel and Helen Palmer Geisel, his first wife, were both children's book authors, but they never had children.

Dr. Seuss Had an Imaginary Daughter Named Chrysanthemum-Pearl

Theodor Seuss Geisel created the character with his first wife, Helen Palmer Geisel

It looks tiny now, but no matter what you've been told, it'll get bigger. A lot bigger.

Bad News, Pet Lovers: Teacup Pigs Are a Hoax

It’s a descriptor, not the term for a breed of pig, and it’s hurting animals

This picture of Uncle Fester holding a lightbulb in his mouth is right above the "gobble hole" at the base of a pinball table.

Why Is This 25-Year-Old Pinball Machine Still the Most Popular?

You can even play a video-game version of this table

You won't find "dord" in the dictionary these days, but back in the 1930s, Webster's had a definition for this non-word.

As “Dord” Shows, Being in the Dictionary Doesn’t Always Mean Something’s a Word

Even dictionaries can make mistakes, although Merriam-Webster maintains this is their only one

Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were often portrayed together. Here, Davis is drawn as a Confederate general.

The Illustrator of Alice in Wonderland Also Drew Abraham Lincoln. A Lot

John Tenniel was a well-known editorial cartoonist as well as the man who gave Lewis Carroll’s books their visual charm

Hugo La Fayette Black was a Supreme Court justice for over three decades, and is remembered as a defender of civil rights.

This Supreme Court Justice Was a KKK Member

Even after the story came out in 1937, Hugo Black went on to serve as a member of the Supreme Court into the 1970s

This later image shows the artist's interpretation of the Luddites breaking a loom. Byron was speaking up to oppose the Frame Breaking Act of 1812 that would make machine breaking a capital crime.

Byron Was One of the Few Prominent Defenders of the Luddites

Years later he even wrote them a poem, “Song for the Luddites”

Playing the flute isn't easy even for some humans, but in the 18th century, inventor Jacques de Vaucanson figured out how to make a machine play it.

This Eighteenth-Century Robot Actually Used Breathing to Play the Flute

It was one of a trio of automata that had functions like living creatures

This animal hair toothbrush (horse hair, to be exact) is said to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte.

You Can Still Buy Pig-Hair Toothbrushes

There's an argument for it, given all the environmental destruction causes by plastic ones

Katharine Hepburn's four Oscars for Best Actress were awarded at the Ambassador Hotel, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The Oscars Are Held in a Mall

It takes two weeks to dress the venue (which is in a mall, remember) for the occasion each year

John 'Babbacombe' Lee was convicted of murder in 1884 and sentenced to death by hanging. Then things got weird.

The Weird Story of “The Man They Couldn’t Hang”

John ‘Babbacombe’ Lee’s life and almost-death are matters of speculation

Tootsie Rolls contain small amounts of cocoa and also an ingredient you might not expect—orange extract.

Tootsie Rolls Were WWII Energy Bars

The candies were included in rations because they stayed fresh for a long time

The Daisy was a popular cocktail with many variations, including the Tequila Daisy.

Here’s How To Make the Margarita’s (Possible) Predecessor, the Daisy

This cocktail has its roots in the nineteenth century, and some of its first recipes are made with brandy, not tequila

A still from El Primo Amanecer, a short film narrated in Huichol, an indigenous language of Mexico that UNESCO classifies as "vulnerable." The film will be shown as part of a Smithsonian festival about endangered languages this week.

Four Things That Happen When a Language Dies

This World Mother Language Day, read about why many say we should be fighting to preserve linguistic diversity

Cradle to Cradle laid out a strategy for reducing waste through smarter product design. Case in point: the book itself is plastic and waterproof; the pages can be recycled and the ink can be washed off for reuse.

The Inventors of Upcycling Published Their Manifesto In a Plastic Book. Why?

You might have heard the term in relation to crafting, but it means a lot more

The first "phone book" (really a one-page sheet) came long before phones like this, but it was an important step towards the printed directories that were ubiquitous in the twentieth century and are now often considered outdated.

The First Telephone Book Had Fifty Listings and No Numbers

It came out less than two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device

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