The Past

“I watched closely for the sun or stars to appear, to correct my chronometer, on the accuracy of which our lives and the success of the journey would depend.”

The way that the ancient Megalodon adapted to water temperature has important implications for modern marine creatures.

Understanding the factors behind recent growth could help us better approach inequality.

Meet T. imperator and T. regina.

At the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in Michigan, retrieving sunken vessels is the order of the day. Here’s how they do it. 

We pretend as if economic sanctions are a peaceful way to coerce others into behaving. In reality, they are a potent tool of modern warfare.

A famous explorer’s doomed ship is finally found 107 years after it was lost to the Antarctic deep.

In the shadow of the Shard, the mosaics help paint a picture of Roman London.

Researchers speculate the famous monument was one of the world’s first solar calendars, possibly inspired by trade with ancient Egyptians. 

As always, aDNA research raises as many questions as answers.

An ancient continent called Balkanatolia rose and fell in the area in and around what is now the eastern Mediterranean.

Vladimir Putin adores Fyodor Dostoevsky. A close reading of the legendary author’s texts reveals the feeling might have been mutual. 

Socrates lived during a time when people did not strive to separate fact from fiction. So how much of what we know about Socrates is true?

Da Vinci dreamed up a helicopter 400 years before they actually existed. Now, engineers have brought his design to life, but with a twist.

One particular revolution was so important, that at least one historian thinks the 20th century officially began in 1914 and ended in 1991.

Soviet researchers studied crime through a Marxist-Leninist lens. Under Lenin, a humanitarian approach to criminality briefly emerged, but dissipated when Stalin rose to power. 

Washington first took the oath of office of the president of the United States with just one natural tooth remaining.

Was this a moment when humans interbred with Neanderthals?

After it became clear that the world wasn’t 6,000 years old, some proposed that northern peoples had emerged independently from others.

A study proposes that an ancient trading network, called the Hopewell tradition, may have been wiped out by what is known as a cosmic airburst.

Although saying the wrong thing could often get you killed in ancient civilizations, history shows that the ideal of free speech has deep roots.

When Saint Ambrose of Milan was venerated, his life became public property, its meaning expanding with the unique interpretations of each new generation.

Many first-hand accounts from the golden age of piracy were grossly embellished, meaning it’s extremely difficult to separate Blackbeard the legend from Edward Thatch the person.

Einstein’s theories of relativity faced fierce opposition. One critic claimed he was attempting to subvert the scientific method.

For a long time, important events could only be visualized retroactively through paintings. Photography allowed us to capture history as — or sometimes even before — it happened. 

A new analysis of an ancient hominin fossil sheds light on the “Out of Africa” dispersal events that occurred more than one million years ago.

Math offers good evidence that humans can solve any problem — as long as there’s money in it.

The Siege of Leningrad lasted over two years and claimed nearly a million lives. It also inspired writers to record the bleak conditions in which they lived.

Behind the scenes, Hitler had at least three disastrous relationships, including a short-lived marriage.

Dating of volcanic ash suggests the remains are at least 230,000 years old.