The Great Stink of 1858: How a Smell Gave London Its Sewers
In 1858 the Thames stank so badly that Parliament funded Bazalgette’s sewers in weeks. The smell wasn’t the killer, but the sewers helped end cholera.
Why Do We Have Leap Years? The 2,000-Year Fix Behind February 29
A year is about 365 days and almost six hours. How priests, Caesar and a pope patched the calendar, and why 2100 will skip its leap day.
Tunguska Explosion: When the Sky Fell to Earth
In 1908 something exploded over Siberia and flattened millions of trees. So why did scientists find no crater?
Why Does a Circle Have 360 Degrees?
Why 360 and not 100? The popular Babylonian answer doesn’t hold up. The real trail runs from ancient account books to the night sky.
Why Roman Concrete Lasts So Long (and Why It Isn’t Simply Better)
The Pantheon’s dome is about 1,900 years old, cracked and has no steel. Why does Roman concrete survive when it isn’t stronger than ours?
The Worst Fluid to Drown in: The Great Molasses Flood
In 1919 a wave of molasses swept down a Boston street at about 35 miles an hour. How did something so slow become so deadly?
The Great Emu War: Did Emus Really Beat the Australian Army?
In 1932, three soldiers took two machine guns after an estimated 20,000 emus. Why is it remembered as the war the emus won?
Why Didn’t Everyone Escape Pompeii? The Long Hours Before the End
Pompeii didn’t die in a flash. Pumice fell for about eighteen hours, and the danger kept changing. Here is why leaving was never a simple choice.
Why Don’t We Have 13 Months? The True Story of the 13-Month Calendar
Thirteen equal months, every 13th a Friday. Why Cotsworth’s plan, Kodak’s four-week accounting periods and a League of Nations inquiry never changed ours.
Why Do We Have Time Zones? Trains, Two Noons and a French Law
Noon once belonged to your own town. How railways, a family who sold the time and a day with two noons gave us time zones.
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