Category Archives: Articles

How Do British Schools Teach About the British Empire?

At its peak, the British Empire was the largest Empire in history, encompassing nearly one quarter of the Earth’s surface and more than one quarter of its population. Throughout its history, this massive geopolitical entity was perceived by its proponents as a beacon of civilization, an engine for trade and building local infrastructure and prosperity, a source of military and […]

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Creating the Smart Bomb

On September 8, 1943, the Second World War took a dramatic turn as Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who had just replaced a deposed Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister, announced an armistice between Fascist Italy and the Allied Powers. The following day, a large Italian naval fleet, on its way to counter the Allied amphibious landings at Salerno, was ordered to […]

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What’s the Deal With Trench Coats?

Humphrey Bogart as world-weary bar owner Rick Blaine in Casablanca. Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films. Audrey Hepburn as socialite Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Keanu Reeves as kung-fu cyberpunk freedom fighter Neo in The Matrix. What do all these very different fictional characters have in common? You guessed it, they were all […]

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The Home of the Future

On the morning September 2, 1945, delegates from the victorious Allied powers and the defeated Empire of Japan gathered aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, to sign Japan’s official instrument of surrender. By 9:23, the ceremony was over; after 6 brutal years and over 75 million deaths, the Second World War was finally over. The world breathed […]

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Which Aphrodisiacs Actually Work?

Oysters. Chocolate. Opium. Ginseng. Spanish Fly. Ambergris. Alcohol. MDMA. What do all of these have in common? Well, aside from the makings of a very wild party, they have all at one time or another been used as aphrodisiacs. Derived from the Greek aphrodisiakon or “pertaining to Aphrodite”, goddess of love, aphrodisiacs are substances believed to enhance the sexual experience […]

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Why Wasn’t There an “Italian Nuremberg / Tokyo War Crimes Trials” After WWII?

From October 1945 to October 1948, almost 1,700 Nazi officers and officials underwent the famous Nuremberg trials, charged with committing war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. The trials resulted in 200 death sentences, while 279 defendants were to serve life prison terms. Similar trials for similar charges were conducted in Tokyo, from April 1946 to November 1948, […]

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What is Up with the Nazca Lines

Take a flight 400 kilometres due south from the Peruvian capital of Lima, and you will find yourself over the Pampas de Jumana, an 80 kilometre stretch of coastal desert sandwiched between the Andes foothills and the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the driest regions on earth, receiving less than 4mm of rain a year – a rugged wasteland […]

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How Did Ancient Greece Start

We all have to start somewhere and the Ancient Greeks didn’t arrive in Greece ready to write world changing epic poems, philosophy, and tragedies. They wandered into the Aegean after splitting from other Indo-Europeans, settled, founded a civilization, saw it collapse, and started again. As you do. The story of how the Greeks became the Greeks is a complex and […]

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The Surprisingly Interesting Story Behind Why the Geosynchronous Region Around the Earth is Called the Clark Orbit

On August 19, 1964, a Delta D rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida and soared into space, successfully delivering the Syncom 3 satellite into a 42,164 kilometre equatorial orbit. At this altitude, the satellite orbited at the same rate as the earth’s surface, making it appear to stand still high over the Pacific Ocean. Anchored in the sky, […]

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