Best History Articles & Videos on the internet • Discoverology

History

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.

The Dark History Of How Coffee Took Over The World

The Dark History Of How Coffee Took Over The World

Food History

Four hundred years ago, Coffea arabica, a tropical shrub bearing glossy green leaves and bright-red berries, was virtually unknown outside of the Arab world and the corner of Ethiopia where it had been discovered in the ninth century.

Ed Smith And The Imagination Machine: The Untold Story Of A Black Video Game Pioneer

Ed Smith And The Imagination Machine: The Untold Story Of A Black Video Game Pioneer

History Tech

Thirty-seven years ago, New York-based APF Electronics, Inc. released The Imagination Machine. APF’s playful computer never rivaled the impact of products from Apple or Atari, but they remain historically important because of the man who co-created them: Ed Smith, one of the first African-American electronics engineers in the video game industry.

Welcome To The Monkey House

Welcome To The Monkey House

Crime History Long Reads Politics

Between the end of the Korean War and the early 1990s, more than one million Korean women were caught up in a state-controlled prostitution industry that was blessed at the highest levels by the U.S. military. They worked in special zones surrounding U.S. bases—areas licensed by the South Korean government.

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.

Virginia Mori

Inspiration
Virginia Mori
The Long-Lost Story Of The Longest Book Ever Written

The Long-Lost Story Of The Longest Book Ever Written

History Long Reads

For or a long time, Joe Gould thought he was going blind. This was before he lost his teeth, and years before he lost the history of the world he’d been writing in hundreds of dime-store composition notebooks, their black covers mottled like the pelt of a speckled goat, their white pages lined with thin blue veins.

The History Of George Laurer And The Barcode

The History Of George Laurer And The Barcode

Business History

A 67 cent packet of gum has ballooned into an enormous industry, and five billion barcodes are scanned each and every day. But how did we get to this point, and who was responsible for the UPC barcode?

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.

On Harriet Tubman’s Final Escape Mission

On Harriet Tubman’s Final Escape Mission

History

There was one more dire mission to complete; she had to return to Maryland and try once again to rescue her sister Rachel and her two children, Angerine and Ben. With the exception of these three people, Harriet had pulled her entire immediate family that remained in Maryland away from slavery’s hold.

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.

Matt Rota

Inspiration
Matt Rota
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.

The Death Of The Hippies

The Death Of The Hippies

History Life Photos

Professional photographer Joe Samberg remembers how drugs destroyed Berkeley’s Telegraph Avenue scene. Still, the hippies did end up having a lasting impact on American culture—even if it wasn’t quite the one they’d intended.

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 1968 Sci-Fi That Spookily Predicted Today

The 1968 Sci-Fi That Spookily Predicted Today

History Media

In John Brunner’s 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, for instance, he peers ahead to imagine life in 2010, correctly forecasting wearable technology, Viagra, video calls, same-sex marriage, the legalization of cannabis, and the proliferation of mass shootings.

In A Disaster, Humans Can Behave… Pretty Well, Actually

In A Disaster, Humans Can Behave… Pretty Well, Actually

History Life

In his new book, Jon Mooallem tells the story of the Great Alaska Earthquake and Genie Chance, the woman whose voice on the radio held everyone together. It’s a beautiful exploration of how people tell stories on the radio, on stage, in books, and generally to each other.

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.

Joseph Ford

Inspiration
Joseph Ford
The Invention Of Money

The Invention Of Money

Business Economics History Long Reads

When the Venetian merchant Marco Polo got to China, he saw many wonders. One of the things that astonished him most, however, was a new invention, implemented by Kublai Khan, a grandson of the great conqueror Genghis. It was paper money, introduced by Kublai in 1260.

The Day The Music Died: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens And The Big Bopper

The Day The Music Died: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens And The Big Bopper

History Videos

When Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson passed away on February 3rd, 1959 after a small plane crash, rock and roll lost some of its most notable early pioneers. Singer-songwriter Don McLean called this moment in music history “The Day the Music Died,” in his song “American Pie.”

The People Who Shaped The World Wide Web

The People Who Shaped The World Wide Web

History Long Reads Tech

Thirty years ago, the world wide web was a way for scientists to share data. Since then, it’s become a critical force for industry, and how the world connects. But this didn’t happen all at once. The web’s evolution has been shaped by the geography of its creators and users.

The Secret History Of A Cold War Mastermind

The Secret History Of A Cold War Mastermind

History Long Reads

The legend of Gus Weiss, hero of the Cold War, ends 11 stories below the balcony of his condo at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC, on November 25, 2003. A broken corpse on the sidewalk. He was a shrewd intelligence insider, pulled off an audacious tech hack against the Soviets in the last century. Or did he?

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. 

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