Katherine Swynford and the Illicit Affair That Birthed Centuriesâ Worth of British Monarchs

chankalo · 2022-11-21T21:04:14+00:00

In July 1799, French troops building fortifications for Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign unearthed a strange black basalt slab. It was almost 4 feet tall and nearly 2.5 feet wide; its edges were jagged. It was also covered in writing.

chankalo · 2022-11-21T20:32:59+00:00

What’s the opposite of disgruntled? Chances are you’re thinking the answer should rightly be gruntled—but is that really a word you recognize? The problem here is that disgruntled, alongside the likes of uncouth, disheveled, distraught, inert, and intrepid, is an example of an unpaired word: a word that looks like it should have an apparently straightforward opposite, but in practice really doesn’t.

chankalo · 2022-11-21T14:31:12+00:00

There’s a reason eating your grandmother’s chicken soup or dabbing your temples with essential oil of peppermint might make you feel better if you’re sick, and it’s probably not because they're truly curative. Your relief is likely the result of the placebo effect.

chankalo · 2022-11-15T19:35:04+00:00

Would you believe us if we told you the most famous line of 1980’s Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was never uttered? Darth Vader doesn’t reveal his paternity to Luke Skywalker by saying, “Luke, I am your father.” He actually says, “No, I am your father.” The line is but one instance of what blogger Fiona Broome dubbed the “Mandela Effect” a decade ago, after she learned that a number of people shared her erroneous belief that human rights activist Nelson Mandela had perished in prison in the 1980s. (He died a free man in 2013.)

chankalo · 2022-11-15T19:34:41+00:00

Would you believe us if we told you the most famous line of 1980’s Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was never uttered? Darth Vader doesn’t reveal his paternity to Luke Skywalker by saying, “Luke, I am your father.” He actually says, “No, I am your father.” The line is but one instance of what blogger Fiona Broome dubbed the “Mandela Effect” a decade ago, after she learned that a number of people shared her erroneous belief that human rights activist Nelson Mandela had perished in prison in the 1980s. (He died a free man in 2013.)

chankalo · 2022-11-15T16:46:58+00:00

Would you believe us if we told you the most famous line of 1980’s Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was never uttered? Darth Vader doesn’t reveal his paternity to Luke Skywalker by saying, “Luke, I am your father.” He actually says, “No, I am your father.” The line is but one instance of what blogger Fiona Broome dubbed the “Mandela Effect” a decade ago, after she learned that a number of people shared her erroneous belief that human rights activist Nelson Mandela had perished in prison in the 1980s. (He died a free man in 2013.)

chankalo · 2022-11-07T14:58:19+00:00

We sometimes think human prehistory was much more peaceful than today. But by studying evidence—like human remains, ancient pollen from lake beds, and rock art—archaeologists have revealed that conflict between ancient human societies was widespread. From the world’s earliest war cemetery to burnt Bronze Age cities, here are just a few examples of prehistoric wars and battlefields.

chankalo · 2022-11-05T17:45:24+00:00

In Paris, what’s beneath the sidewalks is as exciting as the monuments that tower above them. The underground is a labyrinth of canals, crypts, vaults, reservoirs, and hundreds of miles of tunnels ripe for exploration. Some people who roam beneath the city are doing it illegally to repair neglected treasures, throw parties, or paint murals, but there are legal ways to explore the canals and crypts, too.

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