The origin story of the Paralympic movement and its founder, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann

Pilates was invented by an acrobatic WWI prisoner of war

As the Great War raged on, and as months gave way to years, the imprisoned Joseph Pilates explored a question that he had pondered since childhood: Could he reimagine the capabilities of the human body through an anatomically based method of training, taking inspiration from scientific treatises, the carefree movement of children, and the dexterous ease of cats? Read this article to learn about the birth and legacy of Pilates.

French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin revived the ancient Olympic Games

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin was just 11, Germans began excavations at the site of the original ancient Olympics. It was a formative moment that fueled his dream of reviving the Olympic Games to cultivate educational discipline, national spirit, and international peace. This deep dive explores the lengthy process Coubertin went through and the challenges he overcame to bring the first modern Olympics to Athens in 1894.

Olympic track runner Jesse Owens recounts his win in Hitler's Germany in 1936

Jesse Owens won four gold medals at these Games, but nearly failed to qualify for the long jump event. Despite the polarizing political climate, German athlete Luz Long offered advice and encouragement to Owens—his direct competitor—resulting in a lasting friendship Owens later called his "greatest Olympic prize."

With no textbooks or antibiotics, this WWI surgeon pioneered facial reconstruction

New Zealand surgeon Dr. Harold Gillies made extraordinary advances in the field of reconstructive surgery during World War I and after. This 36-minute NPR podcast interviews historian Lindsey Fitzharris, author of Gillie's biography, The Facemaker, charting how the good doctor reconstructed the faces of numerous soldiers in an age before antibiotics and plastic surgery as we know it today.

Computer pioneer Alan Turing was also an elite runner

Alan Turing is credited with helping to found modern computer science, in addition to cracking the Nazi code known as Enigma. Beyond these world-historical achievements, the British mathematician also nearly represented his country in the Olympics in the marathon, running just 11 minutes slower than the eventual gold recipient at the 1948 games. Read more on this lesser-known aspect of the man here.

Arnold Schwarzenegger fueled a lot of the interest in strength training, beginning in the 1980s

This was notable because clinicians around the 1950s thought that lifting heavy weights was bad for health, dampening muscle-strengthening interest that dates back to the ancient Greeks. Beyond Schwarzenegger-inspired interest and the popularity of Venice Beach bodies, the weight training movement also later gained momentum due to accumulating scientific evidence and the rise of entities like Crossfit. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to a health condition

Gehrig's diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that now bears his name, forced him to retire early. Weeks later, he spoke with gratitude and stated, "For the past two weeks, you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Gehrig died at the age of 37, about two years later.

Greg Norman, before LIV Golf

In 1994, Greg Norman was enjoying success as a pro golfer. But the Australian wanted to see more opportunities for global players like himself, leading him to found the World Golf Tour. Read this Sports Illustrated deep dive on Norman's failed golf league and the lesson he learned that would help him launch and become CEO of LIV Golf in 2021.

Rune Elmqvist forwent practicing medicine to invent the first inkjet printer

The Mingograph recorded real-time physiological signals from a patient's electrocardiogram, helping doctors diagnose heart and brain conditions. Eight years later, in 1958, Elmqvist worked with cardiac surgeon Åke Senning to develop the first fully implantable pacemaker.

The story of Vince Lombardi, coaching legend

Born in Brooklyn in 1913, Vince Lombardi is best known for his time as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, when he led the team to five national championships over seven years. His all-out approach and inspiring one-liners have left an indelible mark on the game, causing the league to name the NFL's highest trophy—the one awarded to the Super Bowl winner—after him. Read up on the legend here.

An overview on germ theory, the crucial framework developed by Louis Pasteur

Germ theory of disease is based on the concept that many diseases are caused by infections with microorganisms, typically only visualized under high magnification. Read this general overview to understand the basic framework which allowed for development of vaccines.

Gutai was performance art’s Japanese predecessor

Works by the post-WWII Japanese artist collective Gutai are widely considered a precursor to Western performance art of the 1960s and 1970s. The word “Gutai” means “concrete” in Japanese, referring to the concrete ways the artists’ bodies were used to create their works. Gutai members like Kazuo Shiraga, who painted with his feet to express the movement of his process, are thought to have influenced later artists like Jackson Pollock.

The unexpected origin story of the snow globe

In 1900, a Vienna tradesman named Erwin Perzy I was attempting to invent an inexpensive way to improve light amplification in hospital operating rooms. After experimenting with a glass globe filled with water, the idea for the snow globe struck. Industrious as well as inventive, Perzy eventually turned his idea into a successful business. Read the full article to learn how the invention grew to become recognized globally.

Watch this behind-the-scenes interview about the first person ever diagnosed with autism

Two reporters from The Atlantic tell the story behind their effort to track down the first diagnosed autism patient, Donald Gray Triplett, in Forest, Mississippi, and how his life turned out decades later.

'Without goals, training has no direction.'

- Twelve-time Olympic swimming medalist Natalie Coughlin (1982-present)

Neuralink brain implants have enabled a paralyzed person to play video games

As one of twelve test subjects in Neuralink's PRIME study, Rob Greiner's implant translates his brain's activity into digital commands for the 'Battlefield 6' game. He can now also design 3D models and 3D-print objects using his thoughts.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

The impact of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the final Bauhaus director

The legendary modernist architect—known for maxims like "less is more" and "God is in the details"—had not yet designed some of his most famous buildings when he took over as director for the Bauhaus and steered the school to Berlin when the Nazis effectively closed its Dessau location. This Dezeen profile considers the artist's tenure at the school, which would shape his later work.

See the individuals who inspired the ideology and practice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This resource examines how Dr. King drew inspiration from figures such as Thomas Carlyle, Henry David Thoreau, and Mahatma Gandhi, integrating global literature, moral philosophy, and nonviolence into his speeches and activism.

The Salt Lake City event marked the X Games’ 30th anniversary

At the 2025 Salt Lake City X Games, Ryan Williams landed his first BMX Dirt gold medal with a triple backflip; 14-year-old Heili Sirvio and 15-year-old Arisa Trew made groundbreaking wins in women's Park and Vert Best Trick; and Justin Dowell took BMX Park gold.

Davos is also one of Europe’s most well-known winter sports destinations

Davos emerged as a winter sports resort in 1865. The town went on to pioneer modern skiing, ski lifts, tobogganing, and ice sports. The city hosted early ski races, invented key lift technology, and became home to traditions like the Parsenn Derby and the Spengler Cup.

After Title IX, the University of Chicago advertised a women's academic-athletic scholarship

There were athletic scholarships for women before Title IX, but the University of Chicago’s Gertrude Dudley Scholarship might’ve been the first to advertise itself as such, taking out an ad in a 1973 issue of Parade magazine. The school received over 1,000 applications.

Eduard Baltzer encouraged 'natural eating' in the 1860s

Historian Corinna Treitel credits the Protestant minister with inventing the concept of “natural eating” in Nordhausen, Germany, in the 19th century. Baltzer believed that people were consuming excessive amounts of schnapps, sugar, and meat, and that this behavior was having a detrimental impact on their lives. He encouraged a diet mostly of fruits and vegetables, though he was not opposed to food grown with artificial fertilizers.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

The 1935 Social Security Act drew inspiration from European social insurance models

Many of these, such as German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's 1889 retirement system, emerged decades before America adopted them. This article dives into the modern history of economic security and the key legislation that created Social Security.

Optimal human functioning requires movement

There is now ample evidence to back the centuries-old hypothesis that exercise is critical to human health. This review article explores the latest discoveries in exercise science, including how exercise is intrinsic to maintaining our organ systems throughout life.

The story of hospice and its founder, Dame Cicely Saunders

Dame Cicely Saunders founded St. Christopher's in 1967, the first modern hospice. Hospice is a healthcare movement focused on providing compassionate, holistic end-of-life services on the dying and their loved ones. A colleague of Saunders, Mary Baines, was interviewed in 2005 to discuss her experience alongside the founder and the growth of the movement.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.