Lists and Stories

5 Unbelievable Facts About Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus is one of history’s best-known explorers, but there’s a lot about him that might surprise you. Here are five facts you probably didn’t know about Columbus. list, history, christopher columbus, exploration, america, south america, caribbean, weird facts, nina, pinta, santa...
5 Unforgettable Moments in the History of Spaceflight and Space Exploration Humans have made great strides in spaceflight and space exploration in the relatively short amount of time since such feats were first accomplished. Here we explore five of the most important and memorable moments in spaceflight history. list, encyclopedia, britannica, encyclopedia britannica,...
6 Unusual Olympic Sports While it may be difficult to get an event added to the contemporary Olympic roster, the early Games were noted for a willingness to include many sports that at best might be defined as questionable…and at worst might be defined as not really a sport. At least organizers were usually quick to note...
5 Vertebrate Groups How many of you remember the Brady Bunch episode in which Peter was studying for a biology test? He asked Marcia for help, and she taught him the mnemonic: “A vertebrate has a back that’s straight.” Well, not all vertebrates have straight backs, but all have backbones, or vertebral columns, that...
5 Fascinating Facts about the Births and Deaths of U.S. Presidents Presidents’ Day is celebrated in the United States on the third Monday in February, honoring the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. But presidents were born—and died—in all the other months, too. Here are some strange facts and coincidences in the lives and deaths of the U.S....
5 Weird Facts About Venus The ancient Greeks knew the planet Venus by two different names: Phosphorus and Hesperus. Find out more about the second planet from the Sun. list, Venus, solar system, astronomy, space, planetsIf Earth has anything like a twin in the solar system, Venus is it. Venus’s mass is about 0.81 that of...
50 Years Ago: Loving v. Virginia On June 12, 1967, the United States Supreme Court struck down a law in the state of Virginia prohibiting interracial marriage. The case arose when two Virginians, Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving, got married in June 1958. Because Mildred was of African and Native American ancestry and Richard was...
50 Years of Medicare In 2015 Medicare—signed into law on July 30, 1965, by U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson—reached its 50th anniversary. The watershed legislation allowed people 65 and older (and some younger people with disabilities) to obtain government-sponsored health insurance for hospital stays, routine checkups,...
How Gemini 8 Made History and Avoided Disaster The Gemini spaceflights of 1965–66 were designed to acquire the skills necessary for the Apollo lunar landing program. A key step was performing docking between two vehicles in space; in the Apollo program, the command module, which carried the astronauts, would have to dock with the lunar module,...
50th Anniversary of Star Trek September 8, 2016, is the 50th anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek on NBC. The series documented the five-year mission of the crew of the USS Enterprise to “seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Under the command of the charismatic (and frequently...
50th Anniversary of Texas Tower Shooting August 1, 2016, marks the 50th anniversary of the Texas Tower shooting, the first mass murder in the United States to unfold on broadcast media as it happened. Having already killed his wife and mother the same day, Charles Whitman, a student and former Marine sharpshooter, took a small arsenal to...
6 Amazing Facts About Gravitational Waves and LIGO Nearly everything we know about the universe comes from electromagnetic radiation—that is, light. Astronomy began with visible light and then expanded to the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum. By using the spectrum, from the short wavelengths of gamma rays to the long wavelengths of radio waves,...
6 Animal Species that Mate for Life Lifelong monogamous relationships are common among humans but far less so within the broader animal kingdom. Animals that do bond for life include: list, animals, mating, mate for life, monogamy, partners, partnership The European version of these dam-building rodents remains faithful once a...
6 Animals That Eat Their Mates Mating is a dangerous game in the animal world. In many cases, the males may end up dead. But they aren’t just killed by competing males. In some species, they are not only killed by the bigger and stronger females, but they also are eaten. It takes a lot of energy to give birth to offspring, and...
6 Animals We Ate Into Extinction Humans are not always great at self-moderation, especially when things seem both bountiful and tasty. While extinctions are always multi-faceted, the extermination of some species can be almost directly linked to the insatiable appetites of modern humans. Read on to discover a few of the animals we...
6 Awesome Dinosaur Species You Should Know You may have heard of the tyrant king of lizards, Tyrannosaurus rex. Or maybe the gigantic Apatosaurus is more your speed. But there are literally hundreds of species of lesser-known dinosaurs. Here are six more species to know. list, dinosaurs, favorite, best, species, prehistoric, animals,...
Everything’s Illuminated: 6 Bioluminescent Organisms Light-producing, or bioluminescent, organisms occur across the spectrum of life—get it, spectrum? There are blinking bacteria, flaming fungus, shimmering squid, and flashing fish. (Interestingly, fish are the only bioluminescent vertebrates and there are no plants that produce light.) Nearly all of...
6 Breathtaking Buildings in Los Angeles When you’re in Los Angeles, you need to visit more than just the beach. Don’t miss these six breathtaking buildings, from the Disney Concert Hall to Case Study House No. 22. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first appeared in 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die, edited...
6 Buildings You’ll Want to Visit in the Netherlands In the Netherlands, architecture is art. In this list, you’ll find buildings inspired by famous paintings and buildings that resemble paintings themselves. Once you learn about Café de Unie, the Berlage, and more, you won’t be able to help but plan your next visit to Rotterdam. Earlier versions of...
6 Cell Organelles Think back to your high school biology class. Do you still remember the names and functions of all those little cell parts? A little foggy on the details, perhaps? Here’s a quick refresher course of some of the major eukaryotic organelles to keep your science skills sharp. It might come in handy...