All Articles — Page 18
Every story we've published, newest first
The Fabelmans vs. History: How Real Is Spielberg's Autobiographical Film?
Spielberg's The Fabelmans is drawn from his own childhood, but how much is real? We fact-check the historical accuracy of this deeply personal autobiographical film.
Time Traveler's Guide to Norse Iceland, 1000 AD
Time travel to Norse Iceland, 1000 AD - where the Althing just voted to adopt Christianity, Leif Erikson is sailing west, and your hosts will judge you by how well you haul a net.
Arsenal: Tank History
A complete tank history: from the Mark I's first trench crossing in 1916 to composite-armored main battle tanks, the weapon rebuilt itself four times over a single century.
Elvis (2022) vs. History: How Accurate Is Baz Luhrmann's Biopic?
Elvis 2022 accuracy: Baz Luhrmann gets the Memphis roots and music right but reduces Colonel Tom Parker to a cartoon and gives Elvis a pass on his own choices.
If Attila the Hun Lived Today: The Conqueror Who Still Gets Paid
If Attila the Hun lived today, he'd run a private security empire - the man every government wants to negotiate with and none dares to anger.
Origins: Where Wine Was First Made
Where was wine invented? Neolithic Georgia, 6000 BCE - not Greece or Rome. This is the story of how grape fermentation became civilization's most persistent ritual drink.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Sukhothai, 1300
Sukhothai in 1300, golden age of the first Thai kingdom: navigating the lotus-bud temples, open markets, and elephant-crossed streets of Ram Khamhaeng's world.
The Yogtze File: The Strange Death of Gunther Stoll
In November 1984, Gunther Stoll wrote the letters YOGTZE on a notepad, said 'Now I've got it,' and drove into the night. By morning he was dying on a rural road.
Arsenal: The War Chariot
War chariot history: how the spoked-wheel platform dominated ancient battlefields for 1,500 years, from the Nile to the Yellow River, and why it was eventually replaced by cavalry.
If Alexander the Great Lived Today: The Conqueror Who Runs Out of Worlds
What would happen if Alexander the Great lived today? The conqueror who never lost a battle would build extraordinary things - and leave nothing that could survive him.
The Mary Phagan Murder and the Leo Frank Lynching
The Leo Frank case of 1913 Atlanta traces how a girl's murder led to a wrongful conviction, a mob lynching, the founding of the ADL, and the KKK's rebirth.
Origins of Bread: How It Was Invented
Origins of bread: a 14,400-year-old flatbread from Jordan forced historians to rethink who invented it, when, and why it came before farming.
Tetris vs. History: How Accurate Is the Apple TV+ Tetris Biopic?
The Tetris 2023 movie accuracy verdict: the Cold War licensing battle is real, but the KGB car chases and spy-thriller scaffolding are pure Hollywood invention.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Antebellum New Orleans, 1850
Everything you need to know before visiting antebellum New Orleans in 1850: yellow fever, slave markets, Creole culture, and how to survive all three.
Arsenal: The War Elephant - Ancient World's Living Tank
War elephant history: from ancient India to Hannibal's Alpine crossing and Scipio's counter at Zama. How armies mastered the most terrifying weapon of the ancient world.
If Hannibal Barca Lived Today: The General Washington Won't Finish
If Hannibal Barca lived today, he'd be the four-star general with an unimpeachable battlefield record and a government that keeps starving his campaigns of the resources he needs to finish the job.
Origins: Where Beer Was First Brewed
The origins of beer are older than writing, older than cities, and possibly older than bread itself. Here's what the ancient evidence actually reveals.
Rustin vs. History: How Accurate Is the Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Biopic?
Rustin (2023) accuracy fact-checked: Colman Domingo's portrayal of Bayard Rustin gets the March on Washington right, but skips thirty years of the man's remarkable life.
Sharon Marshall: The Girl Who Was Stolen Twice
Sharon Marshall appeared in yearbooks across America under a stolen identity. She was Suzanne Sevakis, and the world didn't know she was missing for over two decades.
A Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval Paris, 1300
A guide to medieval Paris in 1300: Notre-Dame newly finished, the Knights Templar at their peak, and Philip IV reshaping royal power over 200,000 inhabitants.
Arsenal: The Egyptian Khopesh
The Egyptian khopesh was a curved bronze sickle-sword that armed pharaohs and infantry for nearly a thousand years, reshaping warfare across the ancient Near East.
The Honolulu Strangler: Hawaii's Unsolved Serial Case
The Honolulu Strangler killed five women across 1985-86, then stopped cold. The killer was never identified, and the case remains open forty years later.
If Seneca Lived Today: The Stoic Advisor Who'd Profit from Everything He Preached Against
If Seneca lived today, he'd be a bestselling Stoic author advising a volatile tech billionaire - and eventually forced out in a very public falling-out, just as Nero once forced him out.
Origins: How Glass Was Invented
Who invented glass? Pliny's Phoenician campfire story is wrong. The real answer starts 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamian workshops - and ends with float glass on your phone.