Society & Culture
Explore languages, traditions, food, fashion, sports, and how people live worldwide.
Some of the stories included
Milo of CrotonMilo of Croton, a wrestler from a Greek colony in southern Italy, won six Olympic titles in the 6th century BC and became the subject of lasting legends about his strength.
Daisuke Inoue and the First Karaoke MachineIn 1971, a Kobe drummer built the first commercially successful karaoke machines but never patented them, missing a fortune.
The Alcatraz EscapeThe June 1962 escape from Alcatraz by Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin, who left dummy heads in their beds, paddled off on a raincoat raft, and were never found.
The Rubik's CubeIn 1974, a Hungarian professor made a puzzle he initially couldn't solve. This is the story of the Rubik's Cube.
The Third Wave: A Teacher Builds a Movement in Five DaysA Palo Alto teacher's 1967 class drill grew from 30 students to over 200 in five days.
The Origins of HalloweenHalloween's roots are in Samhain, a Gaelic festival where carved turnips, not pumpkins, first lit the night.
The Silk Road: A Journey Across ContinentsThe Silk Road, the network of trade routes that linked China to the Mediterranean and carried silk, paper, religions and ideas for 1,500 years.
Jack the RipperIn 1888, a killer terrorized London's East End, exposing the city's deep social divides and creating an enduring mystery.
Space InvadersSpace Invaders, Taito's 1978 arcade game: how Tomohiro Nishikado built it, why the aliens speed up, the coin-shortage myth, and how it made home consoles a mass market.
Being Sane in Insane PlacesEight healthy people faked one voice and were kept in psychiatric hospitals for up to 52 days.
Conan Doyle and the Cottingley FairiesTwo cousins fooled Sherlock Holmes's creator with cardboard cutouts and hatpins, and kept the secret for 66 years.
Jeanne Calment and the Bet on Her DeathA notary paid a 90-year-old widow 2,500 francs a month for her flat in 1965. She lived to 122 and he died first.
The Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes ClassroomIn 1968 Jane Elliott split her 28 third-graders by eye colour the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot.
The Green ManThe name Green Man dates only to March 1939, when Lady Julia Raglan coined it for medieval carvings of faces made of leaves.
The Legend of El DoradoThe story of the mythical city of gold, which began with a Muisca ritual where a leader offered gold dust as a sacrifice to the gods.
The History of The Michelin GuideHow the Michelin brothers' free 1900 motoring handbook became a paid restaurant guide, with its star ratings, anonymous inspectors, a 1944 reprint for Allied officers, and its record-setting Tokyo edition.
The Pirahã: The Tribe That Converted Its MissionaryDan Everett arrived in 1977 to convert the Pirahã. They asked 'Have you seen him?' and he lost his faith instead.
The History of CheeseCheese from Neolithic Polish sieves and Egyptian tombs to Roman rations, monastery cheeses and the first American cheese factory in 1851.
Woodstock: The Free Festival That Wasn't Meant to BeOriginally a for-profit venture that sold 186,000 tickets, Woodstock became an accidental free festival for over 400,000 people in 1969.
Blaise PascalThe life of Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician and religious thinker behind the Pascaline calculator, the Puy de Dôme air-pressure experiment, early probability theory and the Pensées.
The Murderer Who Helped Write the Oxford English DictionaryAn asylum inmate sent over 10,000 quotation slips to the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.
The Nazca LinesThe Nazca Lines of southern Peru: how the desert geoglyphs were made, the researchers who studied and protected them, the 2024 AI-assisted discovery of 303 new figures, and the threats they face.
The Tanganyika Laughter EpidemicIn 1962, three schoolgirls in Kashasha began laughing uncontrollably, and 95 of 159 pupils were affected before the school closed.
The Discovery of Ur's Death PitWoolley's team found Queen Puabi's tomb in 1927, then a pit of 74 retainers whose deaths were finally reexamined with CT scans in 2007.
The Real Lord of the Flies: Six Boys on 'AtaSix Tongan boys stranded on ʻAta for 15 months kept a work rota, a time-out rule and a fire burning the whole time.
Umuganda: Rwanda's Day of ServiceRwanda's mandatory day of service for all citizens, a tradition once abused, now rebuilds the nation every month.
The Imjin WarIn 1592 Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea on the way to Ming China, starting a seven-year war decided by Admiral Yi Sun-sin's navy and Ming intervention.
Chivalry and KnighthoodWhat medieval chivalry meant in practice: how knights were trained and dubbed, what horses and armour cost, the ideals set out by Ramon Llull and Geoffroi de Charny, and how knights treated commoners.
Paul the ApostleDiscover how Paul of Tarsus, a persecutor of Christians, became one of the most influential figures in early Christianity through his letters.
Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay: Everest's SummitHow Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the summit of Everest on 29 May 1953, and who really stepped on top first.
The Origin of the MarathonThe marathon myth tells of a dying messenger, but the real runner ran 240km to Sparta. The modern race distance was set by British royalty.
How Coffee Conquered the WorldFrom Sufi monks in Yemen to the cafés of London, this is the story of how coffee became a global obsession and a catalyst for revolution.
The Printing PressJohannes Gutenberg's press used a special metal alloy and oil-based ink to print 250 sheets an hour, sparking a revolution in knowledge.
The Creation of the NHSHow Aneurin Bevan created Britain's National Health Service in 1948, winning over hostile doctors, and why its first years cost far more than expected.
The Olympic Games: From Ancient to ModernThe Olympic Games, from the sacred festival at Olympia in 776 BCE to their revival in Athens in 1896.
Hanaya Yohei and the Invention of Nigiri SushiHow Edo street vendor Hanaya Yohei came to be credited with hand-pressing fish onto vinegared rice in the 1820s, creating nigiri sushi, and how the style spread across Japan.
Bruce LeeHow a pivotal fight pushed Bruce Lee to reject tradition, create his own martial art, and become a global icon.
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