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+23 +2
How the Great Frost of 1709 left England’s economy in ruin
Three hundred years ago it was a three-month cold snap rather than disease that blighted the country
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+15 +3
Lessons in the Decline of Democracy From the Ruined Roman Republic
The U.S. Constitution owes a huge debt to ancient Rome. The Founding Fathers were well-versed in Greek and Roman History. Leaders like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison read the historian Polybius, who laid out one of the clearest descriptions of the Roman Republic’s constitution, where representatives of various factions and social classes checked the power of the elites and the power of the mob. It’s not surprising that in the United States’ nascent years, comparisons to ancient Rome were common.
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+23 +5
A happy ending for King Lear? Trauma of plague caused Shakespeare to change play’s finale
The Bard, like us, lived through a period of trauma. One expert now believes it coloured his later plays
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+3 +1
Simone de Beauvoir's 'remarkable' letters to Violette Leduc sold at auction
Sotheby’s, which sold the 297 letters, says they reveal ‘a complex and ambiguous relationship where unrequited passion and mistrust mingle’
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+11 +1
Fit for a king: true glory of 1,000-year-old cross buried in Scottish field is revealed at last
A spectacular Anglo-Saxon silver cross has emerged from beneath 1,000 years of encrusted dirt following painstaking conservation. Such is its quality that whoever commissioned this treasure may have been a high-standing cleric or even a king. It was a sorry-looking object when first unearthed in 2014 from a ploughed field in western Scotland as part of the Galloway Hoard, the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland, acquired by the National Museums Scotland (NMS) in 2017.
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+10 +3
What Did the Stone Age Sound Like?
A team of archaeologists is working to uncover whether ancient objects in South Africa were once used as sound tools to make noise or music.
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+22 +5
Who Were America's Enslaved? A New Database Humanizes the Names Behind the Numbers
The public website draws connections between existing datasets to piece together fragmentary narratives
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+8 +1
Celebrate Jane Austen's Birthday With a 360-Degree, Interactive Tour of Her House
The trustees of the house where Austen wrote her celebrated novels are finding ways to keep visitors happy—even amid a pandemic
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+20 +2
Comet Records From 1240 Accurately Date When a Byzantine Princess Died
Visiting comets can serve as markers in historical timelines. A team of Japanese researchers used one to confirm the death of an Empress.
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+16 +3
12,000-year-old paintings show humans alongside giant animals
Archaeologists discovered a collection of 12,000-year-old rock paintings in the Amazon that depict people living amongst mastodons and other giant animals.
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+17 +3
Zodiac '340 Cipher' cracked by code experts 51 years after it was sent to the S.F. Chronicle
The decoded text from the Zodiac Killer reads: “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. ... I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice (sic) all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me.”
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+13 +1
New Research Bolsters Claim That Neanderthals Buried Their Dead
A re-analysis of the skeleton of a 2-year-old Neanderthal is providing some of the strongest evidence yet that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead.
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+3 +1
These “astronauts” had the right stuff, but never made it to space
It’s one of the hardest jobs to get in the world. And even if you’re selected to become an astronaut, you’re still not guaranteed a flight to space.
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+16 +2
The Man Who Found Forrest Fenn's Treasure
The decade-long hunt captured the world's attention, but when it finally ended in June, everyone still wanted to know: Who had solved the mystery? This week, as legal proceedings threaten his anonymity, a 32-year-old medical student is ready to go on the record.
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+19 +4
How John Lennon was made into a myth
Forty years ago The Beatles star was assassinated – and has since held a god-like status around the world. David Barnett looks at the many manifestations of him in popular culture.
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+12 +1
Petra lost and found
In the early 1800s, a Swiss explorer tricked his way into Petra, the ancient oasis whose location had been a closely guarded secret for centuries.
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+13 +2
The untold story of how the Golden State Killer was found: A covert operation and private DNA
Of the many mysteries that surround the Golden State Killer, one of the most consequential is exactly how authorities caught Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. four decades after his murders began.
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+19 +2
How a flu virus shut down the US economy in 1872 – by infecting horses
A fast-moving equine flu cratered the US economy in the fall of 1872, showing all too clearly that horses were essential and deserved better treatment.
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+2 +1
Mysterious black spot in polar explorer's diary offers gruesome clue to his fate
Jørgen Brønlund was the last to die during the ill-fated mission in Greenland.
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+15 +3
The man who posted himself to Australia
In 1964 Australian athlete Reg Spiers sent himself from London to Australia in a wooden box - he was transported as freight in the cargo hold of a plane.
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