Iwo Jima: Why Did The WW2 Battle Happen, Why Was It So Hard Fought?

The capture of the Mariana Islands in late 1944 had given the US a base from which to launch long-range bombing raids on…

How the first human X-ray (of a hand in 1895) changed medicine forever.

Wilhelm Roentgen, 50, professor of physics at Wurzburg University, Bavaria, had his eureka moment in 1895 He was studying gases in his lab…

The Story behind the Surreal Photograph of Salvador Dalí and Three Flying Cats

Philippe Halsman Dalí Atomicus, 1948 “Philippe Halsman, Astonish Me!” at Musée de l’Elysée, 2014 Before photographer Philippe Halsman and Surrealist Salvador Dalí settled on the idea of tossing…

The Hindenburg Disaster in rare pictures, 1937

The German zeppelin Hindenburg flies over Manhattan on May 6, 1937. A few hours later, the ship burst into flames in an attempt…

The story of the iconic Migrant Mother photograph, 1936

Migrant Mother, 1936. Dorothea Lange took this photograph in 1936, while employed by the U.S. government’s Farm Security Administration (FSA) program, formed during…

Earthrise, 1968

It’s never easy to identify the moment a hinge turns in history. When it comes to humanity’s first true grasp of the beauty,…

“Tragedy by the Sea”: A dreadful incident that changed a couple’s life forever

“Tragedy by the Sea”: A dreadful incident that changed a couple’s life forever, 1955 April 2, 1954: A couple are photographed moments after…

The Man Who Invented Recorded Sound 20 Years Before Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was long credited as the inventor of recorded sound — that is, until a 2008 discovery. Wikimedia CommonsPhonautograph As we’ve argued…

Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C

At 13.5 meters tall, 26.59 meters long and weighing in at over 2300tons, the Finnish-made Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C is the largest internal-combustion engine ever produced…

Da Vinci’s Deadly Designs: The Wildest Weapons of the Renaissance Man

Although Leonardo da Vinci is predominantly remembered as a great artist, he was also a remarkable scientist and inventor. Many of his inventions…