A Piggly Wiggly in 1939.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Bizarre Story of Piggly Wiggly, the First Self-Service Grocery Store

What’s in a name?

The "Blockbuster" bomb after it was defused

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Discovery of Unexploded WWII Bomb Forces Massive Evacuation in Frankfurt

On Sunday, residents living within a mile of the site left their homes while the 4,000-pound “Blockbuster” was defused

Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt.

Lost Languages Discovered in One of the World’s Oldest Continuously Run Libraries

The centuries-old texts were erased, and then written over, by monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt

Peter the Great didn't wear a beard, but he did sport a groovy 'stache.

Why Peter the Great Established a Beard Tax

Between 1697-1698, the tsar visited Europe in disguise to learn about shipbuilding and Western culture. His verdict? Shave

Mercury wrote or cowrote a number of Queen's biggest hits.

Freddie Mercury, Musical Genius and Stamp Collector

The singer-songwriter’s childhood stamp album offers an insight to his character

American authors were quick to recognize the lure—and the narrative convenience—of the open road.

A Generation Before ‘On the Road,’ This Classic Championed the American Road Trip

‘Free Air’ was a classic of the interwar generation

New Research

Experiments Show How Neanderthals Made the First Glue

Archaeologists tested three methods the early hominins could have used to get tar from birch bark

Emma Nutt was just the leading edge of the wave.

Long Before Siri, Emma Nutt’s Voice Was on the Other End of the Line

She was the first female telephone operator. Before her, telephone operators were teenaged boys. That didn’t go so well

The 1919 Chicago White Sox team photo.

The 1919 Black Sox Baseball Scandal Was Just One of Many

They say baseball “lost its innocence” after 1919, but betting and other improper behavior was rampant in early-20th-century baseball

6,000-year-old wine storage jars found in a Sicilian cave.

New Research

Researchers Discover Italy’s Oldest Wine in Sicilian Cave

Residue from pots found in a Sicilian cave show grape wine was produced 3,000 years earlier than thought

The skeletal remains found in a Mexican cave before their looting

Skeleton Stolen From Underwater Cave in Mexico Was One of Americas’ Oldest

A new study shows that the human remains looted in 2012 are more than 13,000 years old

Paul Ehrlich was the first to take a chemical approach to immunity.

The First Syphilis Cure Was the First ‘Magic Bullet’

The term ‘magic bullet’ once just meant a targeted drug

Jeannie Rousseau photographed in 1939 or 1940

Courageous WWII Spy Jeannie Rousseau Has Died at 98

Using charm and cunning, she helped uncover Nazi plans to build deadly V-1 and V-2 rockets

A scene from The Peony Pavilion

Cool Finds

The Grave of “China’s Shakespeare” Has Been Found

One of 42 Ming-era graves unearthed in Fuzhou is believed to belong to Tang Xianzu, who penned ‘The Peony Pavilion’

Brawling was one of the few ways available to settle disputes among lower-class Londoners, potentially leading to injuries and deaths

Medieval Graveyards Unearth London’s Violent Past

A new analysis of hundreds of ancient skulls shows how often violent trauma affected the poor and the rich

The familiar home vacuum was immediately predated by the carpet sweeper.

The Vacuum Cleaner Was Harder to Invent Than You Might Think

The original vacuum cleaner required a number of improvements before becoming the household staple it is today

Newly found letters by Alan Turing

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New Letters Show Alan Turing Wasn’t a Fan of the U.S.A.

The groundbreaking mathematician and computer scientist who spent 2 years at Princeton wrote that he ‘detests America’ in newly found documents

Marshall was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.

The Case Thurgood Marshall Never Forgot

Fifty years ago today, Thurgood Marshall became a Supreme Court justice. He kept telling the story of the Groveland Four

Alexander served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and was a prominent Founding Father before his untimely death.

Get Your Hamilton Fix With This New Trove of Digitized Documents

The Library of Congress has uploaded 12,000 items relating to the ‘ten-dollar Founding Father without a father’

An archeologist works at the site where 16 tombs belonging to 19th-century Chinese immigrants were discovered, at Huaca Bellavista in Lima, Peru.

Remains of 19th-Century Chinese Laborers Found at a Pyramid in Peru

Between 1849 and 1874, more than 100,000 workers traveled from China to Peru, where they faced discrimination and abuse

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