European History

Handprint from Maltravieso Cave in Caceres, Spain.

Project Is Making 3D Scans of Ancient Handprints

The Handpas Project is looking to unlock who made the prehistoric art and why

This copy of the first chart of the Gulf Stream was printed in 1786, ten years after Benjamin Franklin first drew it up.

Benjamin Franklin Was the First to Chart the Gulf Stream

Franklin's cousin, Timothy Folger, knew how the then-unnamed current worked from his days as a whaler

Illustration of the cat piano from 1657.

Music or Animal Abuse? A Brief History of the Cat Piano

In the early 1800s, the katzenklavier was hailed as a treatment for distracted people

Garment workers and union members from the Puritan Underwear Company taking part in the 1916 May Day parade in New York. While these parades were common early in the century, they began to disappear over time.

The US Declared “Loyalty Day” in the 1950s to Erase Worker Protest

Under Eisenhower during the Cold War, "Loyalty Day" was declared to paper over International Workers' Day

When Londoners worried about losing their jobs in 1517, they turned against foreigners.

On Evil May Day, Londoners Rioted Over Foreigners Stealing Their Jobs

It’s been 500 years since London’s artisans turned a festival into a rampage

An artist's rendering of a meteor passing over the British Isles in 1783. Unlike the L'Aigle meteor a few decades later, the meteorites from this event were not witnessed falling to the ground, and thus meteorites remained a scientific mystery for another 20 years.

Scientists Didn't Believe in Meteorites Until 1803

The l'Aigle meteorite fall involved more than 3,000 pieces of rock and numerous witnesses, and it changed everything

Comedy in Ancient Rome could be a matter of life and death.

When Actors Mixed Politics and Comedy in Ancient Rome

Laughter was one way to challenge authority, but it could also mean risking your life

The Tennis Court Oath in June 1789 marked the unification of the French Estates-General, who came to call themselves the National Assembly. In the oath, they vowed not to separate until they established a constitution.

Why Is France in Its Fifth Republic?

An explainer on the many evolutions of the country's government

John Adams's official presidential portrait, painted circa 1792 by John Turnbull.

John Adams Was the United States’ First Ambassador as Well as Its Second President

Adams's house in the Hague was the first-ever U.S. Embassy

Men liberated from concentration camp, 1945

Sealed Files of the United Nations War Crimes Commission Will Finally See Light of Day

The massive archive has already revealed that war crimes charges against Hitler were drawn up as early as 1944

Aromatic New Museum Celebrates the Art and History of Perfume

From the ancient Egyptians to Elizabeth Taylor, the Grand Musée du Parfum tells the story of fragrance

Computer-assisted reconstruction of the cavities

13,000-Year-Old Fillings Were “Drilled” With Stone and Packed With Tar

You can't handle the tooth

The Eighteenth-Century Founder of Homeopathy Said His Treatments Were Better Than Bloodletting

Samuel Hahnemann was trying to fix the unscientific field of medicine

Heinrich Schliemann discovered the archaeological site of Troy, but his discovery also boosted the visibility of swastikas.

The Man Who Brought the Swastika to Germany, and How the Nazis Stole It

Even after decades, the symbol can’t shake free from its evil associations

Baby in Pip & Grow's Smitten box

The Finnish Baby Box Is Becoming Popular Around the World

But does a cardboard bassinet actually reduce infant mortality?

A vintage ad for Coca Cola from around the late 19th or early 20th century.

Coca-Cola’s Creator Said the Drink Would Make You Smarter

Like the wine and cocaine drink that preceded it, Coca-Cola was first marketed as a brain tonic

This dioarama, which used actual human remains, is another example of the ways Ruysch used bodies to make art.

This 17th-Century Anatomist Made Art Out of Bodies

Using human bodies in this way still happens–and it’s controversial

In the eyes of Joseph Guillotin, the guillotine was an invention in the best ideals of the Revolution: humane, equalizing and scientific.

The Guillotine's Namesake Was Against Capital Punishment

And contrary to popular myth, he died of natural causes, not by beheading

George Francis Train, somewhere around 1855-1865.

This Eccentric 19th-Century Transportation Magnate May Have Inspired Jules Verne

George Francis Train traveled around the world three times in his increasingly weird life

Emmy Noether, mathematical genius

Mathematician Emmy Noether Should Be Your Hero

She revolutionized mathematics, and then was forgotten because she was a woman

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