Archive
Pieces
The Guitar Descends From String Instruments 3,000 Years Old
When people think of the guitar, they usually picture a modern instrument, tied to rock, flamenco or twentieth-century popular song. Yet its
Hangul, the Korean Alphabet Invented From Scratch in 1443
Most writing systems in the world emerged from slow historical evolution, gradually reshaped by generation after generation of scribes and speakers. Hangul,
Tyrian Purple Cost More Than Gold in Ancient Times
In the ancient Mediterranean, a violet-red dye fascinated people as much as it ruined those who wanted to wear it. Tyrian purple,
DID YOU KNOW Beethoven Composed His Most Famous Works While Nearly Deaf
Ludwig van Beethoven began losing his hearing around the age of twenty-six, according to biographies documented by institutions such as Britannica and
The Aztecs Used Cacao Beans as Official Currency
In the Aztec empire, long before the Spanish arrived, a small brown seed functioned as genuine currency. Cacao beans circulated as a
Shakespeare Coined More Than 1,700 Words We Still Use Today
When people think of William Shakespeare, they picture bloody tragedies, fallen kings and doomed lovers. Rarely do they consider a simple fact
Why the QWERTY keyboard wasn't designed to slow typists down
Almost everyone has heard, at one point or another, this seemingly logical explanation for the QWERTY layout on our computer keyboards: it
Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime
It's hard today to imagine the art world without the blazing sunflowers or the swirling starry night of Vincent van Gogh. His
The Pirahã people of the Amazon have no words for numbers
Deep in the Brazilian rainforest lives a small people whose language has, for decades, unsettled some of the most firmly established theories