In 1949, a Physicist Proposed Using Skyscapers And a Roof to Control NYC’s Climate

No scorching summers, no freezing winters…just a nice pleasant time, all year round

A U.S. destroyer, part of the U.S. 6th Fleet, sits near Syria.

Syria’s Chemical Weapons Are Going on a Convoluted Journey Before They’re Destroyed

Multiple nations and multiple hand-offs will take Syria’s chemical weapons out of the country for disposal

A member of the Texas Camel Corps.

Cool Finds

The United States Army Used Camels Until After the Civil War

When the first American settlers started moving west, their horses and mules weren’t cut out for the long, dry treks

Victorians Made Jewelry Out of Human Hair

Hair work went out of fashion around 1925, but it was popular for hundreds of years before that

How the North American Aerospace Defense Command Got Into the Business of Tracking Santa

It all began in 1955 with Sears, a wrong number and a very confused Colonel

NASA Recreated the Moment When Apollo 8 Astronauts Captured the Iconic Earthrise Photograph

Cockpit recordings and modern mapping are used to show what, exactly, the astronauts were seeing out their windows when Earthrise was photographed

The Gift Card Was Invented by Blockbuster in 1994

So the next time you buy a little piece of plastic with money on it for someone, you can thank Blockbuster

A 900 year-old skull from Peru, whose former owner underwent brain surgery.

1,000 Years Ago, Patients Survived Brain Surgery, But They Had To Live With Huge Holes in Their Heads

The practice finally came to an end when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century and decided to make it illegal

Two Scientists Share Credit for the Theory of Evolution. Darwin Got Famous; This Biologist Didn’t.

When the Linnean Society of London hears the case for natural selection in 1858, Darwin shared credit with biologist A.R. Wallace

Every Year, a Swedish Town Builds a Giant Straw Goat, And People Just Can’t Help Burning It Down

In the 47 years that the town has erected Gävlebocken, it’s been set on fire 26 times

How One Chinese Corporate Spy Dodged the FBI to Steal Inbred Corn Seeds from Iowa

Mo Hailong faces a decade in prison for allegedly trying to steal millions of dollars-worth of corn seeds

An 800-year-old medieval bridge spans the subterranean River Roch beneath Rochdale, England.

This River And Medieval Bridge, Paved Over for 100 Years, Will Soon Return to the Light

Local artists were recruited to help determine the river’s ultimate design, and developers say the project could be completed by 2015

Peruse the Weird Medical History of Every Single U.S. President

From John Adams’s baldness to James Madison’s frostbite to Herbert Hoover’s handshake problems, learn about the ailments of the presidents

Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, and Yuri Gagarin

Soviet Russia Had a Better Record of Training Women in STEM Than America Does Today

Perhaps it’s time for the United States to take a page from the Soviet book just this one time

A Google Doodle That Honors Computer Programmer Grace Hopper

Hopper was a U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, and in 1959 she helped create COBOL—a program that the military and banks still use today

This is the First Selfie. Ever.

Not new at all, the world’s first selfie was snapped in 1839

Watch Some of the Most Important Moments of Nelson Mandela’s Life

Former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has passed away

Image: William Zeitler

Benjamin Franklin Invented a Glass Harp

Here you can hear a man play the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies on the armonica - which looks a lot like a man massaging a stack of plastic cups

Every Time You Curse, You’re Participating in a Weirdly Complex Cultural History

The words we consider naughty are a reflection of how we see ourselves as a culture

Before Trivia Nights, Bars Had Turkey Raffles

There were lots of ways you could win the turkey at the bar. They all involved drinking

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