Best History Articles & Videos on the internet • Discoverology

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Read the best history articles from around the internet, or watch the most insightful history videos from platforms like Youtube, Vimeo or leading history publishers like The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, New Yorker and many more.

Why Socialism Failed in Africa

Why Socialism Failed in Africa

History Politics Videos

Considering capitalism to be equal to colonialism, Africa’s founding fathers rejected it and adopted marxist-socialism in the 1960s. Foreign companies were nationalised, state-owned enterprises were created and all sorts of controls on rents, prices, imports and foreign exchange.

100 Years Ago In Photos: A Look Back At 1919

100 Years Ago In Photos: A Look Back At 1919

History Photos

A century ago, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, as much of the world was still recovering from the devastation of World War I. Rebuilding was just beginning, refugees were returning home, orphans were being cared for, and a global influenza outbreak was being battled.

The Dictatorship Of Data

The Dictatorship Of Data

Economics History

Big data is poised to transform society. Yet big data also exacerbates a very old problem: relying on the numbers when they are far more fallible than we think. Nothing underscores the consequences of data analysis gone awry more than the story of Robert McNamara.

Chasing Escobar

Chasing Escobar

Crime History

Javier Peña, as a character, was popularized through the Netflix series ’Narcos.’ But the story of the real Peña—who lives in San Antonio—and his quest to end the reign of Pablo Escobar is bigger than a screen. Peña’s life, or death, was particularly valuable to Escobar—fear of the U.S. government made DEA agents a tough mark for hitmen.

The Long-Forgotten Flight That Sent Boeing Off Course

The Long-Forgotten Flight That Sent Boeing Off Course

Business History

It was May 2001. And Boeing’s leaders, CEO Phil Condit and President Harry Stonecipher, had decided it was time to put some distance between themselves and the people actually making the company’s planes. How much distance? This flight—a PR stunt to end the two-month contest for Boeing’s new headquarters—would reveal the answer.

'The Intelligence Coup Of The Century'

'The Intelligence Coup Of The Century'

Crime History Long Reads

For more than half a century, governments all over the world trusted a single company, Crypto AG, to keep the communications of their spies, soldiers and diplomats secret. But what none of its customers ever knew was that Crypto AG was secretly owned by the CIA.

Virginia Mori

Inspiration
Virginia Mori
Buried In Sand For A Millennium: Africa’s Roman Ghost City

Buried In Sand For A Millennium: Africa’s Roman Ghost City

History World

Timgad is a lost Roman city on the edge of the Sahara desert in Algeria that remained hidden beneath the sand for nearly a thousand years. Positively obscure compared to the international notoriety of Pompeii, this ancient city is nonetheless one of the best surviving examples of Roman town planning anywhere in the historical Empire.

The Fall Of The Berlin Wall In Pictures

The Fall Of The Berlin Wall In Pictures

History Photos

East Berliners get helping hands from West Berliners as they climb the Berlin Wall, which had divided the city since the end of World War II, near the Brandenburg Gate, early morning, Nov. 10, 1989. Germans celebrated the opening order that was announced by the East German Communist government hours before.

The Violent Eviction That Transformed San Francisco

The Violent Eviction That Transformed San Francisco

History Videos

In 1968, a group of predominantly Filipino elders in San Francisco launched a battle to protect their home from eviction. Their fight for their neighborhood would evolve into a nearly decade-long protest with thousands of supporters and become a symbol of the campaign for affordable housing for decades to come.

Who Owns South Africa?

Who Owns South Africa?

History Life Long Reads Politics

The Glen Grey Act was the first piece of legislation to enshrine in law the residential separation of the races. It was also the basis for the notorious Natives Land Act of 1913, which in its final form allocated a mere thirteen percent of all arable land to the black majority. 

The Most Fascinating Riot You’ve Never Heard Of

The Most Fascinating Riot You’ve Never Heard Of

Art Crime History

A mob of thousands attempted to storm a theater over a performance of Macbeth, the National Guard had to be called up, 31 people were killed and more than 100 wounded all over the personal jealousies of two vain and insecure actors. This is the story of the Astor Place Opera House Riot of May 10, 1849.

What Was Libya Like 25 Years Ago?

What Was Libya Like 25 Years Ago?

History Politics Videos

Gaddafi’s 25 Years in Power (1994): A historic report filmed as Libya celebrated 25 years of Gaddafi’s rule. This short documentary challenges the West’s view of Libya and looks at Gaddafi’s struggles both at home and abroad.

Matt Rota

Inspiration
Matt Rota
How Adorable R360 Coupe Shaped Mazda's Design DNA

How Adorable R360 Coupe Shaped Mazda's Design DNA

Design History

The Japanese brand might be celebrating their 100 year anniversary in 2020 but it was 60 years ago that one model, in particular, set the benchmark for Mazda and microcars at large. priced at just 300,000 ¥ (around $830 USD), the small, adorable Mazda R360 coupe was more than a city car.

The Secret History Of Facial Recognition

The Secret History Of Facial Recognition

History Long Reads Tech

Sixty years ago, a sharecropper’s son invented a technology to identify faces. Then the record of his role all but vanished. He died on October 4, 1995. His obituary in the Austin American-Statesman made no mention of his work on facial recognition. Who was Woody Bledsoe, and who was he working for?

How Leonardo Da Vinci Made A "Satellite" Map In 1502

How Leonardo Da Vinci Made A "Satellite" Map In 1502

Art History Videos

When infamous Italian politician Cesare Borgia brought Leonardo da Vinci — the guy who drew this portrait — to the city of Imola, it was as a military engineer. When Leonardo was installed at Borgia’s newly acquired fort, one of his duties was to help Borgia learn the territory.

What Do We Do With Robert E. Lee?

What Do We Do With Robert E. Lee?

History Long Reads Politics

The president of Washington and Lee University, Will Dudley, understood the depth of his problem the moment he turned on the television and saw hoards of white men in collared shirts and khakis carrying tiki torches as they marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.

The Very Dramatic $3,000,000 Qantas Airlines Heist

The Very Dramatic $3,000,000 Qantas Airlines Heist

Crime History Videos

Just after midday on May 26th 1971, Australian authorities received a call from a mysterious Mr. Brown claiming that a Qantas flight from Sydney to Hong Kong was carrying a bomb. He then claimed that he would disclose the location of the onboard bomb in return for a hefty sum.

Before Beauty Vlogging, There Were Renaissance ‘Books of Secrets’

Before Beauty Vlogging, There Were Renaissance ‘Books of Secrets’

History Media

So-called Books of Secrets were a new and wildly-popular literary genre during the Italian Renaissance. Written in vernacular Italian, they instructed an increasingly literate public in the pursuit of alchemy, making secrets previously circulated in Latin manuscripts amongst the educated elite more broadly accessible.

How One American Citizen Was Forcibly Drafted Into The South Korean Army

How One American Citizen Was Forcibly Drafted Into The South Korean Army

History Politics

Illinois-born Young Chun thought a stint teaching English in Korea would be a quick and easy way to pay off his mounting post-college debt. He could not have been more wrong. Chun became a victim of a collision between unforgiving bureaucracy and the meddling of an unknown family member thousands of miles away.

Joseph Ford

Inspiration
Joseph Ford
The World's Oldest Winery in Armenia

The World's Oldest Winery in Armenia

Food History Long Reads World

The Areni-1 complex, uncovered in 2007, contains a 6,100-year-old winery replete with fermenting vats, a grape press, and subterranean clay storage vessels. Altogether, it’s the best-preserved archeological site in the ongoing search for winemaking’s birthplace.

How The CIA Turned The Tables On Soviet Industrial Espionage

How The CIA Turned The Tables On Soviet Industrial Espionage

History Politics Videos

When French President Mitterrand tells President Reagan in July 1981 that the KGB has been stealing Western technology, it confirms Reagan’s distrust of the Soviet Union. Reagan fears that stolen technology will help the Soviet Union complete a giant engineering project, the Trans-Siberian pipeline.

The Origins Of The Sicilian Mafia

The Origins Of The Sicilian Mafia

Crime History Videos

The Sicilian Mafia, referred to by its own members as Cosa Nostra, a phrase meaning “our thing”, is an infamous association of criminal syndicates. They are famous for their heavy-handed role in protection racketeering, alcohol and drug smuggling, and other organized illegal activities across the world.

The Ancient Tombs Kept Under Lock And Key

The Ancient Tombs Kept Under Lock And Key

History Videos World

A sense of mystery surrounds the keyhole-shaped kofun tombs in Japan. Although the iconic Mozu Tombs in Sakai city, Osaka have recently been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, surprisingly little is actually known about these intriguing monuments, kept under lock and key by the Japanese government.

At War With The Thruth

At War With The Thruth

Crime History Long Reads Politics

A confidential trove of government documents obtained by The Washington Post reveals that senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

In Search Of Russia's Lost Gold

In Search Of Russia's Lost Gold

History World

Before World War I, Russia possessed the third-largest gold reserve in the world, bested only by the US and France. During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks captured the entirety of Tsar Nicholas II’s family gold reserve – or so they thought.

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