Every story we've published, newest first.
Four hundred and four years ago this week, a Persian shah hired a Western fleet to break a Western tollkeeper's grip on the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is in the news again.
In October 1903 the New York Times said powered flight was a million years away. Sixty-nine days later, two bicycle mechanics proved them wrong. This week, a robot did it again.
In 1866 an Augustinian friar in Brünn published the laws of inheritance, and the scientific world ignored them for thirty-five years. A neglected idea has just walked back in.
In 1807, a president tried to bring an empire to heel without firing a shot. It wrecked his own country first.
In 1753, a physicist died trying to capture atmospheric electricity. In 2024, four scientists captured it from a parking lot.
In 1579, Drake stole Spain's gold and Elizabeth used it to build the navy that defeated the Armada. In 2026, the EU is using Russia's frozen assets to fund Ukraine's war.
In August 1945, Japan's government was deadlocked on whether to surrender. The Emperor broke the tie. Iran's government is deadlocked now. The question is who breaks theirs.
In 1911, a Dutch physicist cooled mercury to near absolute zero and watched electricity do something impossible. In 2026, it happened again, in a sheet of carbon one atom thick.
In 1898, a chemist warned the world was running out of nitrogen. In 1909, Fritz Haber pulled it from the air. In 2026, CATL is pulling batteries from salt.
In 1951, Britain blockaded Iran's oil ports to break a democratically elected prime minister. It worked. What came after didn't.