Oral contraceptives didn't start with The Pill. Ancient recipes for preventing pregnancy contained all kinds of natural ingredients for desperate people. Their effectiveness varied, and none are recommended. Modern test...

The Evolution of the Web is an interactive graphic that plots the timelines of various browsers, codes, and components of the internet, from 1991 to 2012. Click on a stream to get more information about whatever it r...

While we eagerly await embarrassing shots of this year's candidates, let's dust off our scrapbook of past political bloopers. 1. BEWARE OF THE SWAMP RABBIT On a 1979 fishing trip, Jimmy Cater's photographers ca...

You may have seen these characters here and there,...  ...acters that played a surprisingly big role in the history of animation. Bosko (Video Link) You may not...  ...n’t around very long, but he has an interesting history in the Golden Age of Cartoons. The first thing yo...  ...his first cartoon still h...

Archival site These Americans has some amazing photo sets for you to peruse and admire, like this series of vintage photo booth shots that take a fun look back at the county fair and boardwalk days of yore. The pics r...

During World War II, both Germany and the U.S. began research on airplanes that could take off and land vertically, which would eliminate the need for huge runways. The basic idea was to have the plane sit on its tail, a...

How would you illustrate the threat of Nazism in the 1940's? No matter how crazy your ideas, they probably wouldn't be as wacky as these Dr. Seuss cartoons as they almost certainly wouldn't be as cool-looking. Lin...

Did you know the Tower of London is home to not only the Beef Eaters but also six ravens that are said to bring good luck to the monarchy? Well, technically there are seven right now, but that's only because there are su...

A new book, Presidential Campaign Posters: Two Hundred Years of Election Art has 100 U.S. political posters that are suitable for framing, going back, well, 200 years. See a sampling of 18 of the posters at Brain Pic...

(vimeo link) Long before we actually had e-readers, Douglas Adams recorded the audio portion of this video in 1993 for his publisher, Voyager Expanded Books. Now there's a competition underway challenging animators to...