King Arthur has risen again and again in our collective imagination, along with his retinue of knights, Guinevere, the Round Table, Camelot, and of course Excalibur. But where do these stories come from, and is there any truth to them? Alan Lupack traces the evolution of King Arthur. [TED Ed]
I think every single person reading this right now can admit to having been obsessed with at least one of the collectible fads mentioned on this list. Don’t be ashamed. Embrace that part of your youth! It was fun, and that is all the excuse we needed! [WatchMojo]
2,300 years ago, the rulers of Alexandria set out to fulfill a very audacious goal: to collect all the knowledge in the world under one roof. In its prime, the Library of Alexandria housed an unprecedented number of scrolls and attracted some of the Greek world’s greatest minds. But by the end of the 5th […]
In the year 1066, 7,000 Norman infantry and knights sailed in warships across the English Channel. Their target: England, home to more than a million people. Around the same period of time, other groups of Normans were setting forth all across Europe. Who were these warriors, and how did they leave their mark so far […]
English can be a rather difficult language to learn because many letters and letter combinations are pronounced differently. To illustrate the point, Youtuber Aaron Alon made a video showing what English would sound like if each vowel had just one pronunciation. [Aaron Alon]
From Rachel and Jun: Lists of facts about Japan are almost always half misleading or straight up inaccurate, and half basic facts that everyone already knows. (Did you know JAPANESE VENDING MACHINES?!) So we’ve been trying to collect interesting facts about Japan that are actually true for years, and we finally reached 50! [Rachel and […]
Some stunning drone footage of ancient Pompeii, which is quickly becoming one of the largest archeology site in the world! Check it out! Edit: And here’s another one from Youtuber pdvaeriennes: [Rusty’s History Zone]
Most people associate ramen with broke college students, but the story behind these instant noodles is far more surprising. The instant dinner is the brainchild of Momofuku Ando, a Japanese businessman who was on a mission to solve a post-WWII hunger crisis. [Great Big Story]
When Homer’s Iliad was first written down in the eighth century BCE, the story of the Trojan war was already an old one. From existing oral tradition, audiences knew the tales of the long siege, the duels outside the city walls, and the trick that finally won the war. In the end, the city was […]
For kids who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, it was sugary cereal commercials that dotted the television landscape, featuring lucky leprechauns, wise-cracking droids and adorable Gremlins. A common theme among all of them was advocating these products were a “magical part of a complete breakfast“, helping to ingrain that idea into our collective […]