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

Lumbini in Nepal, identified as the Buddha’s birthplace

Archeologists Think They’ve Unearthed the Buddha’s Nativity Site

Legend has it that the Buddha’s mother, Queen Maya Devi, birthed her son at Lumbini while clutching the branch of a tree at that temple’s garden

George Mallory, far right in the back row, during an Everest expedition in 1921.

George Mallory’s Frozen Body May Have Been Discovered Decades Earlier on Everest

Frank Smythe may have spotted Mallory’s body in 1936, but kept the news to himself out of respect for the fallen mountaineer

Ghost Hunters Burn Down Historic Mansion

In Old Arabi, Louisiana the historic LeBeau Plantation was burned down by men looking for ghosts, according to local news reports

Protesters really in Tahrir Square in 2011

Egypt’s Government Bans Public Protests

A new law bans gatherings of more than 10 people

St Peter’s square, as seen from St Peter’s Basilica

Are These the Bones of Saint Peter?

On Sunday, Pope Francis displayed the remains of what is thought to be Saint Peter

Why Is Squash Called Squash?

It’s an adapted version of a Narragansett Native American word that translates to “eaten raw or uncooked”

Archeologists Discovered a Stash of 3,700-Year-Old Psychotropic Wine

Archeologists working one the site say it is the largest and oldest wine cellar ever discovered in the Near East

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