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The Vigenere Cipher is an encryption system that was developed over 500 years ago, and a variant of it was still being used by Soviet KGB spies in the 1950s. Ever since people have been writing, they have been searching for ways to make their written messages secure. This has historically been most important for … Continue reading The Vigenere Cipher →
4 days ago

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More from Hidden History

The Sobibor Rebellion

In October 1943, inmates at the Nazi extermination camp in Sobibor, in Poland, organized an uprising that destroyed the camp and led to the escape of hundreds of prisoners. In January 1942, a group of fifteen Nazi government officials met in the Wannsee suburb of Berlin with Reinhard Heydrich, second-in-command of the SS under Heinrich Himmler. … Continue reading The Sobibor Rebellion →

a week ago 9 votes
Cloud Gate, Chicago’s “Bean”

This futuristic sculpture in Millennium Park has become an icon of Chicago. In 1997, the city of Chicago was making plans for a patch of land near Grant Park on the shore of Lake Michigan that had previously been a parking lot and a railroad yard. At first, there was talk of building a large … Continue reading Cloud Gate, Chicago’s “Bean” →

2 weeks ago 12 votes
The First Space Launch

Everybody knows about the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 60s, which began with the Russian Sputnik and ended with the American moon landing. But in reality, the first man-made object to enter outer space was not Russian, and not American either. It was German. Wernher Von … Continue reading The First Space Launch →

3 weeks ago 13 votes
The 1968 Utah Sheep Kill

In 1968, a malfunctioning nerve gas test at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah killed several thousand sheep and provoked an outcry. In March 1968, researchers at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah were scheduled to perform three experiments involving a lethal nerve gas known as “Agent VX”. The United States, along with most other … Continue reading The 1968 Utah Sheep Kill →

a month ago 26 votes

More in history

Die Mondexpedition (1966)

Die Mondexpedition is the original  German book that was translated into English in 1969 as The Log of a Moon Expedition. It's full title at the time was Die Mondexpedition: 14 Mal 24 Stunden auf dem Mond roughly translated as The Lunar Expedition: 14 times on the moon for 24 hours. Which I simplify as "The Lunar Expedition: 14 days on the Moon." The author and illustration was Ludek Pesek, a well known space artist. See his Wikipedia article here. He illustrated space and planetary themes in books and National Geographic illustrations since 1963. This was his first science fiction novel which he chose to illustrate with lush paintings of an expedition to the Moon. I blogged about the English language copy of this book in 2009. If you have not seen these before I am happy to show you some wonderful art you might have missed. Pesek, Ludek. Illustrated by Pesek, Ludek. Die Mondexpedition: 14 Mal 24 Stunden auf dem Mond . Recklinghausen: Paulus Verlag. (126 p.)

22 hours ago 4 votes
Christy Rupp: Rat Patrol in New York City, 1979

In 1979, American artist Christy Rupp (born 1949) created a street poster of a prowling, life-sized rat. With a keen interest in animal behaviour and habitat, Rupp’s popster coincided with a three-week strike by NYC sanitation workers. As the rubbish bags piled up on the city’s streets, Rupp added her poster wherever rats were claiming … Continue reading "Christy Rupp: Rat Patrol in New York City, 1979" The post Christy Rupp: Rat Patrol in New York City, 1979 appeared first on Flashbak.

12 hours ago 2 votes
Democracy vs liberalism in the heart of Europe

‘All state authority is derived from the people’

14 hours ago 2 votes
10 Must-Visit Historic Towns in Mississippi

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15 hours ago 1 votes
Poison for the soul

Review of David Lay Williams’s “The Greatest of All Plagues”

yesterday 3 votes