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History

Starfish Prime 0 to 15 seconds after detonation, photographed from Maui Station, July 9, 1962.

Going Nuclear Over the Pacific

A half-century ago, a U.S. military test lit up the skies and upped the ante with the Soviets

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How Would You Rank the Greatest Presidents?

In a new book, political junkie Robert W. Merry shares his three-part test

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The Demonization of Empress Wu

“She killed her sister, butchered her elder brothers, murdered the ruler, poisoned her mother,” the chronicles say. But is the empress unfairly maligned?

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Synthetic Food, Smart Pills and… Kangaroo Butlers?

In the 21st century, everyone will be smarter—even animals.

In 1916, a great white shark attacked five people near the Jersey Shore.

The Shark Attacks That Were the Inspiration for Jaws

One rogue shark. Five victims. A mysterious threat. And the era of the killer great white was born

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How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad

A schoolgirl and a former traveling Bible salesman helped turn deodorants and antiperspirants from niche toiletries into an $18 billion industry

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The Conversation: Steve Jobs’ Greatest Contribution

As we near the first anniversary of the visionary’s death, we ask you one simple question

Cover of the September 1919 issue of Popular Science Monthly

Hello Mars — This is the Earth!

In 1919, Popular Science magazine imagined how Earthlings might communicate with Mars

Fanny Blanker-Koen crosses the finish line to become the first triple champion of the 14th Olympic Games.

The Paris Olympics

How Fanny Blankers-Koen Became the ‘Flying Housewife’ of the 1948 London Games

Voted female athlete of the 20th century, the runner won four gold medals while pregnant with her third child

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Document Deep Dive

Document Deep Dive: A Peek at the 1948 Games in London

Records at the National Archives in London show how organizers cobbled together the 1948 “Austerity” Games

Cover of the April 30, 1954 issue of Collier’s

Wernher von Braun’s Martian Chronicles

In 1954, a special issue of Collier’s magazine envisioned a ten-ship flotilla to the red planet.

The 1987 L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future time capsule placed in a bank vault

Worldwide Economic Collapse: Orson Scott Card’s Predictions for 2012

The author of Ender’s Game envisioned the imminent end of American power

A basilisk–a lethally poisonous monster hatched from a cock’s egg–illustrated in a mediaeval bestiary. Note the weasel gnawing at its breast; only they were impervious to basilisk venom.

On the Trail of the Warsaw Basilisk

Illustration in Science and Invention magazine, explaining the special effects for Metropolis (1927)

1927 Magazine Looks at Metropolis, “A Movie Based On Science”

How filmmakers created a gorgeous, dystopian future

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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

Countess Markievicz in uniform with a gun, circa 1915

Daughters of Wealth, Sisters in Revolt

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

1954 Aerocar listed for sale by Greg Herrick in Minneapolis

1954 Flying Car for Sale

A bargain for just $1.25 million. But, you’ll need both aviation and auto insurance

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The Woman Who Took on the Tycoon

John D. Rockefeller Sr. epitomized Gilded Age capitalism. Ida Tarbell was one of the few willing to hold him accountable

Michael Pupa is the only living person featured in an exhibit at the National Archives that tells the stories of the men, women and children who struggled to both enter and exit the U.S. from 1880 to the 1950s.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Document Deep Dive: A Holocaust Survivor Finds Hope in America

Michael Pupa’s story, from orphan of Nazi Europe to American citizen, is a testament to the freedoms America offers

The farmer of the year 2031 works at his large flat-panel television (1931)

1931′s Remote-Controlled Farm of the Future

The farmer of tomorrow wears a suit to work and sits at a desk that looks oddly familiar to those of us here in the year 2012

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