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

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.

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History Remembers These People, Just Not Their Names

History Remembers These People, Just Not Their Names

History

Throughout history, people have made a name for themselves without anyone actually knowing their name, from the protestor who stood up to a tank in Tiananmen Square in 1989, to notorious successful hijacker D.B. Cooper (almost certainly not his real name).

The Invention Of Money

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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.

“No Other Way To Say It”, A Comedy About Advertising

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Media, Videos

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The Rise And Fall Of Facts

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History, Media, Politics

Because fact-checking these days is primarily the domain of legacy print publications, it retains that sheen of legitimacy and seriousness. To fact check is to assure readers, writers, and editors that great care is being taken.

Dracula Bosses Erect Billboard That Comes To Life At Night

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Design, Media, Videos

The BBC decided to give Dracula fans a fright with two billboards of the show that come to life at night. A shadow of the infamous vampire appears in the center of the advert, which looks as though it has been cast by a number of wooden stakes plunged into the advert.

The Forgotten History Of How Automakers Invented The Crime Of “Jaywalking”

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Business, Crime, Explainers, History

If there’s traffic in the area and you want to follow the law, you need to find a crosswalk. And if there’s a traffic light, you need to wait for it to change to green. Fail to do so, and you’re committing a crime: jaywalking. It’s the result of an aggressive, forgotten 1920s campaign led by auto groups and manufacturers.

World’s First City Discovered By U.S. Spy Satellite

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History, Videos, World

Old U.S. spy satellite images of the Middle East have unearthed a stunning discovery: the world’s first city, Tell Brak – 4,000 years older than the Great Pyramids. Where Tell Brak lies is an area of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent.

How To Find New Music You’ll Actually Like

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Art, Explainers, Media

Some people can dig up great music like magic, or have friends inside the industry who keep them updated. Others are perfectly content with their weekly Spotify Discover playlist. But if you need more ways to find music, here are some ideas.

The Soviets’ Unbreakable Code

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History, Tech

Created at the end of World War II and introduced in 1956, the Fialka replaced the Albatross, a Soviet cipher machine that was itself more complex than the Enigma. By the 1970s, Fialka encryption machines had been widely adopted by Warsaw Pact and other communist nations, and they remained in use until the early 1990s.

Who Invented The Wheel? And How Did They Do It?

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History

The wagon—and the wagon wheel—could not have been put together in stages. Either it works, or it doesn’t. And it enabled humans to spread rapidly into huge parts of the world.

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