WEIRD HISTORY
Prehistoric tracks detail a moment when mammoths, sloths and humans crossed paths. The footprints found at White Sands National Park are more than 10,000 years old. (Courtesy of the National Park Service) – By Livia Gershon SmithsonianMag.Com 2020 Oct 14 – A small …
The King’s Grave in Sweden ( CC by SA 3.0 ) – By Caleb Strom – In 1748, two farmers stumbled upon an ancient stone tomb near the village of Kivik in southern Sweden while digging in a quarry. The tomb, now known …
The Ilopango mega-eruption in 431 AD must have looked like this but no one understood just how much this single event effected the global climate, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. Source: Catmando / Adobe Stock – By Ashley Cowie 2020 Oct 01 …
Researchers say prehistoric mastodon bones bear human-made markings The surface of mastodon bone showing half impact notch on a segment of femur. (Tom Deméré, San Diego Natural History Museum) – By Brigit Katz SmithsonianMag.Com 2017 Apr 26 – In 1992, construction workers were …
For centuries, indigenous history has been largely told through a European lens. John White, circa 1585-1593, © The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA – By Sturt Manning, Director of the Cornell Tree Ring Laboratory and Professor of Classical Archaeology, Cornell University …
A 19th-century engraving depicts the Angel of Death descending on Rome during the Antonine plague. J.G. Levasseur/Wellcome Collection, CC BY – By Andrew Latham, Professor of Political Science, Macalester College 2020 Oct 01 – Before March of this year, few probably thought disease …
What route did the first settlers to colonize the islands of the Caribbean take? M.M. Swee/Moment via Getty Images – 2020 Sep 29 Authors Matthew F. Napolitano, Ph.D. Candidate in Archaeology, University of Oregon Jessica Stone, Affiliated Researcher in the Department of Anthropology, …
An outlandish idea code-named ‘Operation Fantasia’ aimed to demoralize the Axis power by mimicking legendary spirits. Operation Fantasia aimed to destroy Japanese morale by exposing soldiers and civilians to a Shinto portent of doom: kitsune, or fox-shaped spirits with magical abilities. (Illustration by …
A sample of crucible slag from an 11th century archaeological site in Iran, which was found to contain chromium. Rahil Alipour, UCL – By Michael Irving 2020 Sep 23 – Chromium is a common addition to alloys to make materials like tool steel or …
A subject of historical discussion, the phrase Black Irish is almost never referred to in Ireland. Who were the black Irish? Some say they came from the Spanish Armada. (“Defeat of the Spanish Armada”, painted by Philip James de Loutherbourg). Wikimedia Commons – …
