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History

Events, people and decisions from the past told through their most surprising details, with context and sources that separate fact from legend.

How an Army of Rabbits Put Napoleon to Flight in 1807

Josephine Baker: The Resistance Spy Who Hid Messages in Her Costume

Dagen H: The Day Sweden Switched to Driving on the Right in 10 Minutes

When the Great Pyramid Was Built, Woolly Mammoths Still Existed

Oxford Was Teaching in 1096: Two Centuries Before Tenochtitlan

Cleopatra Lived Closer to the Moon Landing Than to the Pyramids of Giza

The Kalash: The Polytheistic Religion Surviving in Pakistan’s Valleys

Iceland and the Huldufólk: Projects and Roads Redesigned for Elves

Radium Girls: The Tragedy That Changed Workplace Safety

Operation Mincemeat: The Corpse That Fooled Hitler in 1943

The Emu War: How Australia’s Army Lost to the Birds

Haka: The Māori Meaning Beyond the All Blacks

Frog Rain: The Science Behind Waterspouts

Day of the Dead: Mexico’s Fascinating Dance Between Life and Death

Léo Major: The One-Eyed Soldier Who Liberated Zwolle Alone

Krampus: The Brutal Christmas Demon Who Punishes Children in the Alps

The Football War: Honduras vs. El Salvador in 1969

La Tomatina: How a Street Fight Became a Tomato-Throwing Legend

Yasuke: The African Samurai Who Defied Feudal Japan

Toe Wrestling: The World Championship You Never Knew Existed

The Year 2000, According to the 1950s: A Dazzling Future That Never Was

The 1919 Boston Molasses Flood: The Deadly Wave of Sweetness

Popular Culture

Silbo Gomero: The Remarkable Whistled Language of La Gomera

The Great Library of Alexandria: What Really Happened to It?