How Teddy Roosevelt Won the Nobel Peace Prize

In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt was the first of four American Presidents to win the Prize.

Newspaper illustration celebrating the Peace Treaty

The Bombardment of Fort Pulaski

In 1861, the Confederate fortress at the mouth of the Savannah River was captured by Federal troops in a nearly bloodless battle, made possible by a technological advance that would change the way warfare was done.

Fort Pulaski

 

Malls: A History of the Suburban Shopping Mecca

The indoor shopping mall is an American icon. They can be found in nearly every suburban area in the US. But these temples of consumerism were first designed by a socialist, who wanted to create a common community. And today, the “mall” is quietly fading from the scene.

Indoor ice skating rink in a mall in Florida

Trofim Lysenko and Soviet Science

During the reign of Joseph Stalin, Soviet science was dominated by Trofim Lysenko, who rejected modern science and replaced it with a mishmash of pseudoscience and ideology. His thirty-year reign led to the imprisonment or death of hundreds of scientists and illustrated the dangers of placing “science” under ideological control–but also demonstrated that, in the end, real science simply cannot be repressed.

Trofim Lysenko makes a speech, with Joseph Stalin looking on

The Strange Case of the Cyanide Grass

In 2012, a pasture full of cows were killed by cyanide poison. But this was not the result of a malicious human act–the poison came from the grass they were eating. And the “killer cyanide grass” became an Internet sensation.

Dead moo-cows led to an enduring Internet myth.

How “Traditional Chinese Medicine” Is Pushing Species to Extinction

Science shows that most of today’s “traditional Chinese medicine” is simple quackery. But another consequence of the global “traditional medicine” industry that has not been as widely discussed is the enormous destructive effect it has had on some of the most endangered species on the planet.

White Rhino, in South Africa’s Kruger National Park

Written in Bone: The Banded Iron Formations

One of the most important events in the history of life on Earth was the appearance of an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Initially, this event was a disaster–free oxygen was a deadly poison and led to a massive die-off. But for one group of single-celled organisms, oxygen opened the door to a pathway that led to life as we know it, and eventually to us.

A rock from the Banded Iron Formations, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Florida’s Invaders: Fire Ant

If you’ve ever spent some time outside in Florida, then you’ve probably met the Fire Ant. The numerous sandy mounds, often several to a colony, are a familiar site in rural fields and urban lawns, and encounters often end with a painful raised welt that lasts for several days. The Fire Ant may be our most unwelcome invader of all.  🙂

Fire Ant mound

The Sears Tower: History of a Landmark

For a quarter of a century, the Sears Tower in Chicago was the tallest building in the world. It remains today as an instantly-recognizable landmark on the city skyline.

Sears Tower, Chicago

Drafting Dolphins: A History of the Military’s Marine Mammal Program

During the Cold War, the US Navy trained dozens of dolphins and sea lions to perform military tasks, such as locating mines and detecting enemy special forces swimmers and divers.

Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin