Celebrations
Happy Birthday to Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense
The master helped director shape both modern cinema, and the minds of a generation
August 13, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Celebrating 80 Years of LEGO
Children and hobbyists rejoice - today is Lego's 80th birthday.
August 10, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
How Aldous Huxley, 118 Today, Predicted the Present Far More Accurately than George Orwell
One of the pillars of science fiction would have turned 118 today.
July 26, 2012 |
By Rose Eveleth
World’s First Test Tube Baby Turns 34 Today
On this day 34 years ago, Louise Brown, the first "test tube baby," was welcomed into the world.
July 25, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Today’s the Shared Anniversary of Ruin Porn Poster Children Detroit, Machu Picchu
July 24th marks double jackpot for the intrepid explorers of years past as well for as fans of the latest photographic trend, "ruin porn."
July 24, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Here’s What Nixon Would Have Said If Apollo 11 Hadn't Returned
Forty three years ago today, the crew of Apollo 11 set down on the surface of the Moon. In the event that things had gone horribly wrong, Safire had a speech ready for then-President Nixon
July 20, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Fifty Years Ago, Lyndon Johnson Answered the First Satellite Phone Call
Telstar 1, which launched into orbit 50 years ago today, was the world's first commercial satellite, and a testament to international, and government-industry, cooperation.
July 10, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
This One Beautiful Video Sums Up All of Space Shuttle History
This weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis for STS-135, the final Shuttle mission, and artist McLean Fanestock 's video Grand Finale 2010-11 brings the Shuttles' 30 year tenure together by simultaneously displaying all 135 flights, from 1981 right on through to 2011.
July 09, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Today is Actually the 1700th Anniversary of the Bikini, not the 66th
July 5th, 1946 is classically regarded as the birth date of what we now call the bikini. But that version of history misses the long view.
July 05, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
What if Newton’s Principia Mathematica, Published Today, Had Been in Comic Sans?
The seething rage over CERN's font choice drives the question: How would the world have reacted to Newton's world-changing tome had Comic Sans existed at the time?
July 05, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Adorable, Critically Endangered Baby Sumatran Rhino Born
As the planet bids goodbye to Lonesome George, the last of a subspecies of Galapagos tortoises, the world welcomes a new conservation-hope poster child. After a 15-month pregnancy, Ratu, a captive endangered Sumatran rhino, gave birth to a healthy male calf late Sunday night in Sumatra, Indonesia. Fewer than 275 of the critically endangered animals [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
We Are Already Living in Hollywood’s Dystopian Future
Not sure about you, but I wouldn’t want to live in a world where genetically engineered replicant robots prowled the dank, steel-and-microchip urban jungles a la Blade Runner. Likewise for the Minority Report future in which creepy pale kids call people out for murders they had not yet committed. It’s been 30 years since Blade Runner [...]
June 22, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Today We Celebrate the Time Canada Burned Down the White House
Two hundred years ago today, a 36-year old America declared war, for the second time, against Great Britain. The plan was to conquer Canada and wrest North America for the United States once and for all. But, by pretty much all measures, the war was a total mess… It began in confusion, with the United [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
A King Cake Special Delivery
One can’t truly celebrate a New Orleans Mardi Gras without the doughy delicacy
March 07, 2011 |
By Maria Keehan
Lucky Foods for the New Year
Pigs, fish, beans and cakes are among the many delicacies consumed around the world to celebrate the new year
December 28, 2010 |
By Annette Foglino
Forget Edgar Allan Poe? Nevermore!
Cities up and down the East Coast claim author Edgar Allan Poe as their own and and celebrate his 200th birthday
June 11, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
The Legends Behind the Dragon Boat Festival
Celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, Duanwu Jie honors storied history with culinary treats
May 15, 2009 |
By Jeninne Lee-St. John
Unusual St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
Leprechauns and green shamrocks are only a part of celebrating St. Patrick's Day for Irish communities around the world
March 13, 2009 |
By Joseph Caputo
Up Close at Trinidad's Carnival
What’s behind the raucous pre-Lenten rite? An intrepid scholar hits the streets of Trinidad to find out
February 2009 |
By Barbara Ehrenreich
Indians on the Inaugural March
At the invitation of Theodore Roosevelt, six Indian chiefs marched in his inaugural parade as representatives of their tribes
January 14, 2009 |
By Jesse Rhodes
