History

This 1884 de Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout was one Count de Dion's second prototype and can lay claim to having "won" the world's first automobile race. Although it takes more than half an hour to "steam" before it can be driven and needs "watering" every 20 miles, it is nonetheless, one of the most significant automobiles in history ... and it's for sale. Extensive detailed photo gallery.  Read More

Photojojo is known for offering unusual cameras for enthusiasts such as the Holga Twin Image Maker and NeinGrenze 5000T dedicated tilt-shift camera. The online store has released yet another treat for fans - the legendary Polaroid SX-70 camera that was originally manufactured in the years 1972-1977. The cameras being offered have all been restored to working condition and integral instant film is also available.  Read More

It’s easy to become blasé in the ubiquitous, 24-7 avalanche of information in which we live our lives – the challenge now is about filtering, organizing and synthesizing information into a useful and relevant form. Think back though to an earlier time when the very first books became available to the public, when the treasure trove of knowledge in our pocket that we take for granted simply did not exist. A book coming up for auction, the Liber Chronicarum (1493), was one of the very first history books available, one of the first printed illustrated books available and its scope is remarkable given it was produced 500 years ago.  Read More

A collection of revered mathematical works will soon be put to auction in New York, including significant pieces of the Liber Abaci or Book of Calculation by Fibonacci. Esteemed as one of the most brilliant mathematicians in Western history, Leonardo Pisano Bigollo (Fibonacci) was one of the first to explain Arabic numerals, the superiority of these numerals and the importance of zero. Above all it was Fibonacci's work that has helped modern day mathematicians find breakthroughs in mathematical equations, whilst also defining sequences used for computer programming and the financial markets.  Read More

Students of music history, historians and music lovers alike can't help but be moved by the sight of an original manuscript by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Now, thanks to a Library of Congress partnership with five other institutions, folks can get up close and personal with some of the world's most valued music manuscripts from the comfort of their own living rooms. A new free-to-view online portal brings together digitized copies of manuscript scores and first and early editions of works by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Georges Bizet, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky.  Read More

Respected medical journal Lancet has taken a retrospective look at the past century and found that despite incredible advances in the field of medicine, some common issues persist. Problems identified in 1911 that strike a familiar chord today include the quest to understand and eventually cure cancer, an economic depression and it's negative effect on healthcare delivery and the plight of African nations. Challenges faced in first world countries included the impacts of illicit drug addiction, occupational health and workers' compensation issues, the need for better education of doctors, and the continued prevalence of curable and preventable diseases.  Read More

NASA space missions have always been a source of fascination amongst the general public and films like Apollo 13 have tried to encapsulate the experience of space travel. The famous words “Houston, we've had a problem,” uttered by Lovell on the second day of what was to be the USA's third lunar landing mission, remains just as famous at the aborted mission itself. Now, thanks to British programmer Andrew Godwin, it is possible to view the actual NASA transcripts online. Spacelog.org has published the radio transcripts of the earliest manned NASA missions to space. Currently the site hosts the Apollo 13 transcripts along with Mercury-Atlas 6, John Glenn's mission aboard Friendship 7 as the first American to reach orbit.  Read More

Earlier this month we took a look at Recorded Future, a company that uses information scoured from thousands of websites, blogs and Twitter accounts to make predictions about the future. Now, Yahoo’s Barcelona research lab has created a similar prototype news search engine called Time Explorer. It creates timelines based on search queries that not only provide a way to check the accuracy of past predictions, but also allows users to view predictions that are yet to occur.  Read More

Although most fashion changes with the seasons, there are some that have stood the test of time - denim jeans, the little black dress, purple crushed velvet bell-bottoms. But there is one item of clothing whose longevity outshines all of these – the humble moccasin. In 2008 an international team of archaeologists discovered a well preserved and complete leather shoe that was dated at around 5,500 years old – that’s one thousand years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza and around the time evidence suggests the wheel first began to be used in Mesopotamia.  Read More