Events
Momentous and notable cultural and historic occasions as well as holidays and celebrations
If Syria Uses Chemical Weapons, Here’s How They’ll Work
Amidst the turmoil of an ongoing civil war, Syrian President al-Assad has been threatening to use chemical weapons if faced with international intervention.
July 26, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
New Study Suggests Humans, Not Climate, Killed Off Neanderthals
Roughly 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthals that lived in the Mediterranean disappeared. Whether they simply up and left, or died off, is anybody’s guess. They were still a common sight in western Europe for another 10,000 years, so outright extinction is off the table. In trying to understand what lead to the Neanderthal’s decline, archaeologists [...]
July 24, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Six Guys Stood At Nuclear Ground Zero And Lived To Tell The Tale
In 1957, five Air Force officers volunteered (and one cameraman was voluntold) to stand directly below a mid-air detonation of a 2-kiloton nuclear warhead.
July 19, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Navy’s Plan To Go Green Is Falling Apart
The US Navy had a bold plan to redesign its fleet to operate on renewable energy, a plan that may be falling apart.
July 18, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
U.S. Faces Worst Drought Since 1956
Drought grips 55% of the US mainland causing a shortfall in crop production, with very low chances of it ending any time soon.
July 17, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed
The Transcontinental Railroad connected East and West—and accelerated the destruction of what had been in the center of North America
July 17, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
3 Ways Emergency Preparedness Is Like Wedding Planning
Last week, the CDC released its Wedding Day Survival Plan, a document which reads like a natural disaster preparedness checklist.
July 16, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Smithsonian.com's Holiday Guide
The evolution of mistletoe, the science of Rudolph's nose and everything you've wanted to know about your favorite holiday traditions
July 16, 2012 |
By Smithsonian.com
Daughters of Wealth, Sisters in Revolt
The Gore-Booth sisters, Constance and Eva, forsook their places amid Ireland's Protestant gentry to fight for the rights of the disenfranchised and the poor
July 10, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Here’s What $110 Million in Fire Damage Looks Like
The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado was the most destructive in the state's history.
July 06, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Germans un-Kampf-ortable With Reissue of Hitler’s Tome
Starting in 2015, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf will once again be available to German readers.
July 05, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
17 Minutes of Fireworks Go Off in 15 Seconds
Yesterday, in the San Diego Bay, a fireworks show meant to last 17 minutes went off in 15 seconds.
July 05, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Where Are the Great Revolutionary War Films?
You'd think the 4th of July would inspire filmmakers to great works, but for the most part, they have been unable to recreate the events that led to the founding of America
July 03, 2012 |
By Daniel Eagan
Timbuktu’s Ancient Relics Lay In Ruins At Hands of Militant Group
The tombs and cultural relics of Timbuktu, a key trade and social center of the ancient world, are being destroyed by an armed group known as the Ansar Dine.
July 03, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
100 Years of Earthquakes On One Gorgeous Map
Data visualizer John Nelson compiled historical earthquake records to produce this gorgeous, and informative, map. In all, 203,186 earthquakes are marked on the map, which is current through 2003. And it reveals the story of plate tectonics itself.
July 02, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
The New York Fire Department Is Burning 20 Houses Down — On Purpose
Today, the New York Fire Department, along with a team of scientists, are going to burn down 20 vacant houses, furnished with goodies from hotel liquidation sales, with the aim of figuring out better ways of fighting plastic-fueled fires.
July 02, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
How Dogs Can Help Veterans Overcome PTSD
New research finds that "man's best friend" could be lifesavers for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
July 2012 |
By Chris Colin
Devastating Colorado Wildfires Most Recent in Decades-Long Surge
Residents have so far been able to stay safe from the fires, but strong winds compounding on record high temperatures, a dry winter, and possibly a recent pine beetle infestation, have rocketed this year's fire season to be one of the most destructive in at least four decades.
June 27, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
That Pixellated Uniform Pattern Was So Bad, The Army Trashed $5 Billion Worth
The army spent $5 billion on those new-fangled pixelated camouflage uniforms that peppered Iraq and Afghanistan, only to find out that they do not work at all, The Daily reports: “Essentially, the Army designed a universal uniform that universally failed in every environment,” said an Army specialist who served two tours in Iraq, wearing UCP [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Scientists Confirm that Somali Pirates Are On Holiday Now, Too
Danger Room journalist Richard Wheeler reports that the world may see a brief respite from costly, often lethal Somali piracy as we head into the summer months. The evidence is in a joint New Zealand–Australian study, Climatic controls on piracy in the Horn of Africa Region, 2010—2011. Unlike previous reporting, which proposed that both summer [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
