We all love a good festival. Community gatherings to celebrate everything from the coming of spring to a good harvest or religious milestones have occurred around the world since man first learned how to party. Many of these events are time-honored traditions, steeped in history and local custom. Modern festivals celebrating food, music, and culture

According to legend, the first emperor of Japan took the Chrysanthemum Throne in 660 BC. Since Emperor Jimmu’s ascension, some 126 emperors are counted to have ruled Japan, although some early emperors might have only been legendary figures. Historically, the role of the emperor has alternated between being a public symbol and a powerful monarch.

We are all taught when we are young that stealing is wrong, but at the same time, most of us can understand why people steal the things they do. When thieves take money, gold, drugs, or any of the other common choices, they are doing so in hopes of becoming rich. On the other hand,

There are many things around us that we think work but actually do nothing, like that hotel thermostat. It’s essentially a placebo, intended to trick you into thinking you’re controlling the temperature in your hotel room. Now you know why you always feel hot despite adjusting the thermostat several times. There is no single reason

Smell is most ephemeral of senses. We can easily imagine how the past looked, but rarely do we think about how it smelled. Given the lack of hygiene for much of human history, perhaps that is for the best. But for as long as there have been bad smells, humans have been trying to cover

Charles Darwin used his theory of natural selection to explain evolution. That is, organisms are able to adapt and survive in their environment better than their predecessors did. These organisms pass their most favorable features to their offspring, which continue the cycle. However, technology is already interfering with natural selection—at least in humans. Almost every

There’s something tantalizing about archaeology. It’s like watching a Sherlock Holmes mystery being solved right before our eyes. The clues are all there, buried under the ground. We just need to go and find them. Archaeology is sometimes seen as the “poster boy” of history by other historians. Its flashy discoveries often steal the limelight,

Although many of the procedures we perform on animals are for their own welfare, other times, we might just cut off a body part because it looks good. (Or we humans like to think so, at least!) Putting things in animals (or taking them out) can also make the critters more manageable. Or make us

Ted Kaczynski, known to most as the Unabomber, was a genius who used his talents to construct and plant bombs that would lead the FBI around in circles for 17 years.[1] He was a mathematician-turned-ecoterrorist who used threats to get his 35,000-word manifesto published in The New York Times and The Washington Post. According to

For those outside of a religion, there are certain aspects of faith that will always be hilarious no matter how seriously believers take them. Religion is impenetrable to reason. However, even within a religion, there can be debates among the faithful. These might strike outsiders as funny, but to those in the middle of them,

Iron swirls at the center of the Earth and even in our blood. The metal also resides within mysteries like Earth’s disappearing iron and the ancient Chinese potters who created a rare variant that no modern laboratory can. Iron’s reputation might be dull, but it turns up in strange places in ways that are spectacular—from