WEIRD HISTORY
Three upright walkers, including Lucy (center) and two specimens of Australopithecus sediba, a human ancestor from South Africa dating back nearly 2 million years. Image compiled by Peter Schmid and courtesy of Lee R. Berger/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA – By Jan Simek, Professor of …
Modern vampires like Dracula may be dashing, but they certainly weren’t in the original vampire myths. Archive Photos/ Moviepix via Getty Images – By Stanley Stepanic, Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Virginia 2021 Oct 14 – The vampire is …
A powerful explosion on 2021 Oct 08, in a mosque in northern Afghanistan, left several dead. AP Photo/Abdullah Sahil – By Abdulkader Sinno, Associate Professor of Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies, Indiana University 2021 Oct 25 – Close to a hundred Afghan Shiite …
The mass-marketing of the Day of the Dead is evident in the costumes that people buy for the day. Man Hon Lam / EyeEm Getty Images – By Mathew Sandoval, Lecturer in Culture & Performance, Arizona State University 2021 Oct 27 – As …
A curator at the British Museum details the spooky find in a new book. The tablet depicts a male ghost being led back to the afterlife, curator Irving Finkel says. Photo: British Museum / Line drawing: James Fraser and Chris Cobb for The …
Analysis of wood from timber-framed buildings in Newfoundland shows Norse-built settlement 471 years before Columbus. The Icelandic sagas depict a Viking presence in North America, led by Leif Erikson in a place called Vinland. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo – Reuters Last modified on …
Every particle of normal matter has an antimatter equivalent. Flashmovie/Depositphotos View 7 Images – By Michael Irving 2021 Oct 15 – It sounds like sci-fi: normal matter has an “evil twin” that annihilates as soon as the two come into contact. But this antimatter is …
Meter-long relic, encrusted with marine organisms, is believed to be about 900 years old. – Reuters in Caesarea Last modified on 2021 Oct 18 – A sword believed to have belonged to a crusader who sailed to the Holy Land almost a millennium …
Computer Space was innovative, but how was it to play? Ed Fries, CC BY-ND – By Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Professor of Computational Media, University of California, Santa Cruz 2021 Oct 11 – Before Pong there was Computer Space, the first commercial video game. The …
Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated in many states across the U.S. grandriver/E+ via Getty Images – By Susan C. Faircloth, Professor & Director of the School of Education, Colorado State University Updated 2021 Oct 07 – Columbus Day celebrations in the United States …