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 →

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 →

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” →

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 →