How Museums in Central and Eastern Europe Tell the Complicated Story of Life Behind the Iron Curtain (Smithsonian Magazine)
Every day, dozens of people visit the Petrov family’s modest, one-bedroom apartment in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria, so they can travel back in time to the 1980s. With headsets on, they filter through the space mostly in silence—leafing through books, rummaging through drawers, trying on clothes and even sniffing jars of food in the pantry.
The Colonel In The Kitchen: A Surprising History Of Sous Vide (NPR)
Long before sous vide became a culinary sensation celebrated by top chefs around the world, a retired Army colonel started cooking meat and vegetables in sealed plastic pouches immersed in a water bath to liven up the flavor of hospital food. But you’d be hard pressed to find his name associated with it.
Watergate: Who Did What and Where Are They Now? (The History Channel)
On June 17, 1972, five burglars were arrested during a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. According to news reports of the time, the men wore surgical gloves, carried a walkie-talkie and short-wave police scanner, 40 rolls of unexposed film and $2,300 in crisp $100 bills.
Why Russia Wants Crimea (The History Channel)
When Russia signed the Treaty of Paris in 1856, accepting defeat in the Crimean War—which had decimated its military and ruined its economy—it agreed to dismantle its naval base in the port city of Sevastopol. These were the terms demanded by Britain, France and their allies, who sought to eliminate Russia as a military threat in the Black Sea.
Archaeologists Find Crushed Pompeii Man’s Skull, and His Money Too (The History Channel)
When the headless skeleton of a Pompeii man was discovered in May, archeologists believed he was decapitated by a large block of stone that landed on top of him and severed his head while he was fleeing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius some 2,000 years ago.
The Game Clue Was Borne of Boredom During WWII Air-Raid Blackouts (The History Channel)
Before Professor Plum, Miss Scarlett and Colonel Mustard gathered on a game board to claim their first victim—wielding a revolver, a rope or a lead pipe—a British musician named Anthony Pratt was watching murder-mystery scenarios unfold in European country mansions, where he played piano.