Analysis
The private militia that grant states plausible deniability
Your life is like a schedule, you run to meet the bills, no one's awake to tell you... life kills! Words I first heard as my life was reaching the final furlong on the first of the rank of treadmills we’re thrust upon to keep us from questioning the fruitlessness of our struggle to survive... until the curtain finally comes down somewhere on the retirement stage.
By Steve Harrison15 days ago in History
The Real Backstage of the northern Cyprus Ferry Disaster
The ferry tragedy off Kyrenia is not only a story about a vessel that sank. Behind the rescue operation lies a more uncomfortable story about regulation, Turkish Cypriot identity, Ankara’s influence, the politics of belonging — and an island habit of believing that somehow, eventually, everything will be sorted out.
By The Revolution20 days ago in History
The Cyclists Who Paved the Way for America's Cars
Imagine purchasing the finest bicycle money could buy in 1895. It's a beautiful machine... gleaming metal, pneumatic tires, a comfortable saddle. You’ve joined a cycling club, acquired a handsome riding outfit, and informed your family that you intend to spend Sunday exploring the countryside.
By The Iron Lighthouse21 days ago in History
Time's ticking in hunt for the illusive Nazi gold train
War, huh, yeah, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin... words written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969 that, although first recorded as an album track by The Temptations, went on to become a number one hit for Edwin Starr.
By Steve Harrison22 days ago in History
September Rising: My 2026 9/11 Stairclimb
On September 11th 2021 I attended the Greensboro 9/11 Stairclimb for the first time ever on the 20th year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Because 9/11 had a big impact on me my whole life growing up I felt it was my duty to attend and participate. Walking to preserve the history of 9/11 and all its heroes is very important to me. What I actually could’ve imagined was that 5 years later I would still be attending and I’m glad to say that this year was the biggest and perhaps most important year I’ve ever attended.
By Joe Patterson22 days ago in History
The Black Knight mystery in orbit around the Earth
In its edition on 7 March 1960 Time magazine reported that the “mysterious ‘dark’ satellite wheeling overhead on a regular orbit” that had made headlines three weeks earlier, causing “nervous speculation that it might be a surveillance satellite launched by the Russians”, was in fact “a space derelict, the remains of an Air Force Discoverer satellite that had gone astray”.
By Steve Harrison24 days ago in History
Edgar Allan Poe’s Eureka and Its Astonishing Resonance with Quantum Mechanics and the Many Worlds Theory
Edgar Allan Poe’s Eureka and Its Astonishing Resonance with Quantum Mechanics and the Many Worlds Theory Edgar Allan Poe’s 1848 prose‑poem Eureka occupies a strange and luminous place in intellectual history. Poe believed it was his greatest work, a visionary attempt to describe the origin, structure, and destiny of the universe. For more than a century, critics dismissed it as eccentric, mystical, or scientifically naïve. Yet modern scholarship has increasingly recognized that Eureka contains ideas that uncannily resemble twentieth‑ and twenty‑first‑century physics. Poe’s intuitive cosmology anticipates concepts that would later become central to quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, entanglement, and even the Many Worlds interpretation. He did not possess the mathematics or empirical data that modern physicists rely on, but his imaginative insight led him to a model of reality that mirrors the deepest structures of contemporary science.
By Julie O'Hara - Author, Poet and Spiritual Warrior24 days ago in History
The Swedish Dental Hygienist Who Questioned Migrants' Ages: His Case Divided the Public
This is what happened in Sweden, a country which for many years presented itself as a humanitarian superpower. The story of Swedish dental hygienist Bernt Herlitz shows how a controversial question about the age of migrants turned into a case which would have a devastating effect on an ordinary professional.
By Lenka Čihařová26 days ago in History
What were the different types of beggars in ancient China, and what was their living situation like?
In ancient China, during the Han Dynasty, beggars were referred to as "qi gai" (乞丐), but at that time, beggars were not merely those seeking basic necessities such as food. Some also relied on unique personal skills to obtain various resources. Before the Song Dynasty, beggars were commonly known by different terms such as "qi ren" (乞人), and "gai ren" (丐人). It was only after the Song Dynasty that the term "qi ge" began to refer specifically to individuals who sought only survival resources.
By cn_explore26 days ago in History
Did ancient China consume milk as frequently as it does today?
Not only the Chinese, but also most of the time in ancient times, Europeans and other countries did not drink milk. Many so-called milk-drinking customs you think of actually began no earlier than two hundred years ago. Even many nomadic tribes themselves, if they had no other choice, would first choose tea rather than milk. There was a proverb among the leaders of nomadic tribes in ancient times that went, “Rather go without meat for three days than without tea for one day.” Because, to be precise, before the invention of pasteurization, directly drinking the milk secretions of other animals was extremely dangerous. Due to the huge proportion of bacterial colonies, which often included many of the animals’ own diseases, it was basically the fastest way to get dysentery. At that time, getting dysentery could really be fatal. In fact, if you just look at the historical works produced by Europe itself, it is not difficult to find that in the Middle Ages, the mainstream in Europe was also drinking tea. Because tea was the most safe beverage product recognized by all civilized circles at that time, which is why ancient tea was a highly profitable industry. If someone really thinks that the foreigners or other nomadic groups have always eaten meat and drunk milk since ancient times and that they would be the same in the ancient world, I suggest preparing targeted medications in advance. After all, the milk processing level in ancient times was extremely poor, with an extremely high bacterial colony ratio. Don’t let yourself get dysentery and die.
By cn_explore27 days ago in History
