One day a craftsman showed up in the court of Tiberius, Emperor of Rome (14AD to 37AD), to present the ruler with a beautiful transparent glass vase. Just as he was about to hand the vessel to...
When back in 1811 Bernard Courtois noticed the violet fumes produced when his seaweed extraction tank was being cleaned, he could have never dreamed that he had set the stage for one of the most...
Dr. Lorne Trottier was in attendance of the recent landing of the Mars Rover,聽Curiosity. Here, he describes his account of the experience as well as the complexities and nuances of what went into...
Richard Feynman, Nobel prize winning physicist and science popularizer par excellence liked practical jokes, but I doubt he would have enjoyed watching people in the buff parade on Chicago鈥檚...
In the film 鈥淪herlock Holmes and the Game of Shadows,鈥� Holmes identifies the poison on a dart that had instantly paralyzed a victim by sniffing it. 鈥淐urare!鈥� he says. Curare is a very real poison...
鈥淭ruth serum鈥� refers to various drugs that have been used in attempts to extract truthful statements from people. Wine was the basic method for extraction during ancient times, however, the first...
Woodrow Wilson鈥檚 secretary of state, William Jennings Bryan, was ridiculed in 1913 for serving Welch鈥檚 grape juice instead of wine at a dinner honoring the British ambassador. This proved to be...
Back in the 1930s a flower merchant with a greenhouse full of carnations got worried when the weather forecast called for extremely cold temperatures. So he placed a kerosene burner in the...
At least in a manner of speaking.聽When Hernan Cortez came to America in 1518 he was intrigued by the beautifully coloured Aztec fabrics, particularly the stunning reds.聽He asked the natives about...
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