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Samoa flat-out erased an entire day from its calendar in 2011
There is a country where a specific date on the modern calendar simply never took place. December 30, 2011 does not exist
This Dutch Village Has No Roads, You Get Around by Boat
Imagine a village where there is literally no paved road connecting the houses to one another. No engine noise, no traffic jams,
The first mobile phone call was made to taunt a rival
On April 3, 1973, engineer Martin Cooper, employed at Motorola, prepared to make a gesture that would leave a lasting mark on
How a Failed Adhesive Became the Global Post-it
In 1968, American chemist Spencer Silver, employed by the company 3M, was conducting research to develop an ultra-strong adhesive for demanding industrial
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
Silbo Gomero, an Entire Language Whistled on a Spanish Island
Imagine being able to talk to your neighbor several kilometers away, on the other side of a steep valley, with no phone
No, People in the Middle Ages Did Not Hate Bathing
Among all the stereotypes stuck to the Middle Ages, the idea of a population that was entirely filthy, living in squalor and
When urine served as toothpaste and soap in ancient Rome
It's hard today to imagine brushing your teeth with urine. And yet in ancient Rome, this practice was neither exceptional nor shameful.
Understanding the Ring of Fire, birthplace of 90% of the world's earthquakes
There exists on Earth a zone so geologically active that it alone concentrates the vast majority of the planet's earthquakes and volcanic