Ancient Enigma

10/30/2025

In 1st century AD Alexandria, temple priests had a problem with people taking too much free holy water. Engineer Heron of Alexandria solved it by inventing the world's very first vending machine, a device that dispensed a set amount of water when a coin was inserted.

10/30/2025

Neolithic engineers moved 180-ton stones to build this colossal tomb over 5,500 years ago.

10/30/2025

10/30/2025

This 5000-year-old French tomb was built for a whole community, not a king.

10/30/2025

A friend of mine was recently stunned when his cat had a litter of kittens that all looked completely different from each other. It turns out this is a known phenomenon in the animal world. Nature sure has some interesting designs.

10/29/2025

Shakespeare created the name Jessica for a play and centuries later it became a global phenomenon.

10/29/2025

In the margins of a 12th-century book, a German nun named Guda left behind a humble self-portrait. She signed it, “Guda, a sinner, wrote and painted this book,” giving us a rare, signed work by a female artist from the Middle Ages.

10/29/2025

In the early 1900s, the world's largest butterfly was so big and flew so high that explorers had to use shotguns to collect the first specimens. Today, this magnificent creature is on the verge of disappearing forever.

10/29/2025

Ancient Inca engineers built earthquake-proof walls with stones that would dance.

10/29/2025

Modern science is finally catching up to a simple truth people have understood for centuries. Often, the best medicine for stress and anxiety isn't a new pill, but a creature with four paws and a tail. This understanding has deeper historical roots than many realize.

10/29/2025

Carved top-down from a single mountain, this 8th-century temple is an ancient engineering mystery.