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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 →
2 days ago

More from Hidden History

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 week ago 15 votes
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident

For Europeans, the Second World War started on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. For the United States, it began with the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But for Asians, the war began on June 7, 1937, at the Marco Polo Bridge in China. The Second Sino-Japanese War, which would grow … Continue reading The Marco Polo Bridge Incident →

2 weeks ago 19 votes
The French Space Cat Felicette

France joined the Space Race in the 1950s, and one of her missions was a test flight involving the first (and so far only) cat to enter space. It did not end well for the cat. In the aftermath of the Second World War, France, under the leadership of General Charles De Gaulle, was eager … Continue reading The French Space Cat Felicette →

3 weeks ago 32 votes
The Story of the Cow

The history of the domestic cattle goes back at least 10,000 years. There are well over 1000 distinct breeds of Cattle in the world today, and somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion individual animals, making them, by some counts, the fourth most numerous mammal in existence behind Sheep, Rats, and Humans. Particular breeds have been specifically engineered … Continue reading The Story of the Cow →

4 weeks ago 34 votes

More in history

The Curse Of Zhou Bai Den.

Or, masochism for fun and profit.

21 hours ago 5 votes
When the Sackler Brothers studied LSD

One of the stranger episodes from the 1950s golden age of psychedelic therapy, and what it tells us about the history of technology

14 hours ago 2 votes
Are women better at jigsaw puzzles?

An analysis of the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship

15 hours ago 2 votes
Mahatma Gandhi’s List of the Seven Social Sins; or Tips on How to Avoid Living the Bad Life

Image via Wikimedia Commons In 590 AD, Pope Gregory I unveiled a list of the Seven Deadly Sins – lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride – as a way to keep the flock from straying into the thorny fields of ungodliness. These days, though, for all but the most devout, Pope Gregory’s list […]

19 hours ago 2 votes
Britain’s Project 2029

Can you just do things? We shall find out

16 hours ago 1 votes