World History

Medical experts inputting data into the electronic library (1981)

One Library for the Entire World

In the years preceding the Internet, futurist books hinted at the massive information infrastructure that was to come

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The Mysterious Mr. Zedzed: The Wickedest Man in the World

Sir Basil Zaharoff was the archetypal "merchant of death"—an arms salesman who made a career out of selling to both sides in a conflict

Glamis Castle in the 18th century, shortly before its "mystery" began.

The Monster of Glamis

The secret of Glamis Castle—a concealed room, a hidden heir—was one of the great talking points of the 19th century. But will the mystery ever be resolved?

Top Ten Demonstrations of Love

The inventor, the celebrity and the royal highness couldn’t resist the draw of making a grand gesture to the love of their life

Attila entertains–as imagined by a 19th- century artist.

Nice Things to Say About Attila the Hun

The Venopolis Zoo

Hunting Dinosaurs on Venus

Why bother with cloning and time travel, when your dream safari awaits on a nearby planet?

William L. Shirer, who witnessed a 1934 Nazi rally in Nuremberg, would link the criminality of individuals to communal frenzy.

Revisiting The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Recently reissued, William L. Shirer's seminal 1960 history of Nazi Germany is still important reading

The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame

The Game that Put the NFL’s Reputation on the Line

In 1930, many football fans believed the college game was better than the professional one

The last photo of Mawson's Far Eastern Party, taken when they left the Australasian Antarctic Party's base camp on November 10, 1912. By January 10, 1913, two of the three men would be dead, and expedition leader Douglas Mawson would find himself exhausted, ill and still more than 160 miles from the nearest human being.

The Most Terrible Polar Exploration Ever: Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Journey

A century ago, Douglas Mawson saw his two companions die and found himself stranded in the midst of Antarctic blizzards

Woman of the year 2000

In The Future, All Women Will Be Amazons

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History Writers to Watch in 2012

A rundown of historians, authors and bloggers to follow in the coming year

Title card from the 1922 short silent film "Eve's Wireless"

A Mobile Phone From 1922? Not Quite

History often plays linguistic tricks on us, especially when it comes to rapidly changing technologies

Artist rendition of Charles Guiteau's attack on President Garfield

The Stalking of the President

Charles J. Guiteau said he wanted to kill President James A. Garfield "in an American manner."

Illustration for the February, 1946 issue of the sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories

Trade Your Trouble for a Bubble

Sightseeing across the country in an atomic-powered "pleasure ball"

The New York subway system's moving sidewalk of the future by Goodyear (1950s)

Moving Sidewalks Before The Jetsons

The public's fascination with the concept of "movable pavement" extends back more than 130 years

Harold Holt, the Australian Prime Minister, taking a swim

The Prime Minister who Disappeared

Laborers working at the face of the Thames Tunnel were protected by Marc Brunel's newly-invented "Shield"; behind them, other gangs hurried to roof the tunnel before the river could burst in. Nineteenth century lithograph.

The Epic Struggle to Tunnel Under the Thames

No one had ever tunneled under a major river before Marc Brunel began a shaft below London's river in the 1820s

“It is splendid to have people who refuse to recognise difficulties,” British Capt. Robert Falcon Scott wrote early in the expedition to the South Pole. But they would after they set out from the pole.

The Doomed South Pole Voyage's Remaining Photographs

A 1912 photograph proves explorer Captain Robert Scott reached the South Pole—but wasn't the first

One in a series of 1930s promotional cards for Max Cigarettes

The Future’s War on Cancer

Scientific progress during the 20th century prompted a number of predictions about an impending cure

Christmas in the future as imagined in the 1981 book "Tomorrow's Home" by Neil Ardley

Santa’s Trusty Robot Reindeer

A special visit from the Ghost of Christmas Retro-Future

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