The ancient Greeks and Romans viewed comets and meteors as divine omens

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Comets serve as time capsules of the early solar system

The frozen objects preserve the molecular composition of the solar system's formation, dating back about 4.6 billion years. Spectral analysis of the gases they release when heated upon approaching the sun in eccentric orbits reveals this composition and helps assess solar system formation models.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

Read about the dangerous comet behind the Perseids meteor shower

Every summer, Earth passes through the debris trail of the Swift-Tuttle comet, producing the spectacle of the Perseids meteor shower. The phenomenon is a glorious opportunity for amateur stargazers, but astronomers have long noted the comet's orbit...

Emperor Commodus fought as a gladiator while ruling Rome

Commodus, who reigned from 180–192 CE, scandalized Rome’s elite by appearing in the arena despite being the son of Marcus Aurelius. The ancient biography—though partly fictional—captures the shock his gladiatorial performances provoked.

Halley's comet is named after the astronomer who predicted its next appearance

Edmund Halley realized that historical accounts of a celestial object passing in the night sky in 1531 and 1607 referred to the same object he observed in 1682. By applying Newtonian mechanics to his observational data, he calculated its orbit and accurately predicted its return in 1758.

There may be over one trillion comets in the Kuiper Belt

Named after Gerard Kuiper, who theorized the existence of a band of icy objects beyond Neptune in 1951, direct evidence for its existence did not arrive until 1992, when the first trans-Neptunian object, besides Pluto and its moon Charon, was observed. Comets with periods of less than 200 years originate from this belt.

Learn how the Egyptians, Romans, and other ancient civilizations worshipped the sun

In Egypt, the pharaoh was seen as the living embodiment of the son of Ra, the sun god. In Mesopotamia, the sun god Shamash was a divine judge whose light could reveal the truth. Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of sun and war, was thought to require sacrifices to prevent the universe's destruction.

The names of comets can change based on subsequent observations

The International Astronomical Union's coded naming system uses the first letter to indicate a comet's category, which can change over time. "D" represents comets that have been lost or broken up, while "A" applies to former comets that are now asteroids or dwarf planets.

Four astronomical discoveries from ancient Greece

Modern astronomy relies on making discoveries without being present on the planets, stars, galaxies, and other objects studied. Imagine the difficulty the ancient Greeks had studying them without computers and telescopes. Yet somehow they calculated precise measurements of planetary distances, sizes, and more. Read this page to learn more about early triumphs in astronomical science.

January is named after Janus, the Roman god of transitions

In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which established Jan. 1 as the beginning of the new year. The month was named after Janus, the Roman god of transitions, who had two faces—one looking back at the past, the other forward to the future. While the Babylonians also made promises as part of their celebration of the new year, the Roman tradition became more focused on looking backwards to plan for the coming year.

Humans have speculated about alien life since ancient times

Around 50 B.C.E., Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius shared the idea that alien life was possible, which was put forth by Greek philosopher Epicurus. The writing is believed to be the first straightforward assertion in Western literature that aliens must exist.

Caesar and Cleopatra's complicated affair

The Egyptian queen Cleopatra, a known charmer in history, had a public affair with Roman leader Julius Caesar. Read this article for details and a timeline of their doomed romance—from their first meeting to her later affair with Marc Antony.

A reading of ancient Rome's best graffiti

Graffiti has been surprisingly common throughout history, and even the grandeur of ancient Rome's walls wasn't spared. This clever and funny video reads through some of the more notable messages relayed via graffiti in ancient Rome, from tidbits of wisdom like "A small problem gets larger if you ignore it" to more unsavory observations of lovers, friends, and enemies.

For most of recorded history dreams were considered divine in origin

The first venture into modern dream interpretation may have been when ancient Greek philosopher Heracleitus proposed dreams were created within the mind. In the late 1800s, the rise of psychoanalysis theorized that dreams content revealed truths about one's psyche, while the invention of the electroencephalogram linked dreams to brain functions.

In ancient Rome, toast was added to drinks

Toasted bread crumbs absorbed the acidity of bitter wine and, in some cases, added flavor. Although the term "toasting" was not yet in use, the practice was common. Some say the Roman Senate decreed in the first century CE that all citizens must drink to the honor of Emperor Augustus before every meal, though scholars debate the validity of that claim. Eventually, the literal toast became associated with the tributes.

The word 'influenza' comes from a 15th-century Italian belief in the stars

In Renaissance Italy, epidemics were thought to result from the influence of natural disasters or celestial bodies. The illness was named "influenza", meaning “influence” in Italian.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Early texts claim Jesus was conceived on the same date of his death

Though celebrations of Jesus’ birth weren’t formalized for several hundred years after he lived, it was more common to commemorate his death. Some early Church writers connected the presumed date of his death—March 25—with his conception, implying a birth date of Dec. 25.

Twain claimed to possess 'mental telegraphy'

In an 1891 essay, the writer claimed to possess psychic powers. It’s something that seemingly supported by his mother and his own death: Twain predicted he would die the day after Halley’s Comet returned in 1910, which did indeed happen.

Auroral myths include Valkyries, firefoxes, and torchlight from giants fishing at night

In Norse mythology, the light displays were considered reflections from the Valkyries' armor as the female warriors brought the souls of heroes to Valhalla. In Finland, firefoxes were thought to move so fast that they created sparks in the sky as their tails brushed against mountains.

The medieval meaning of your birthstone

Medieval people viewed birthstones very differently from modern jewelry marketing. Rather than simply being decorative, gems were believed to possess extraordinary magical, medical, and mystical powers. This article breaks down some fascinating insights into medieval gemstone beliefs, including that diamonds could fend off insanity and nightmares.

Child mortality rates since ancient Rome

One of the great achievements of modern humanity has been the sea change in child mortality rates—the chance that a newborn eventually lives past puberty. For thousands of years, children had a 50% chance of not entering adulthood. About 300 years...

'Melancholia' was the ancient Greek term for depression

"Melancholia" in Hippocrates's time was derived from the Greek word for black bile. This term made sense in its context since the Greeks believed that depression stemmed from an improper balance of the four humors.

Atlantis and the apocalypse: the world of fringe archaeology

A Netflix series called "Ancient Apocalypse" claims that a thriving civilization was wiped out during the ice age by comets and floods, but left humanity with science and technology. Experts call this “pseudo-archaeology.” This hour-long podcast...

Mount Vesuvius' ancient Roman eruption may have literally boiled blood

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, sending ash and debris far and wide, burying several cities and the people inside them. This article details the various ways the blast killed those in Herculaneum. This seaside town was hit with the same ash and debris as Pompeii, and it was also hit by a wave of volcanic gases estimated to be more than 500° Fahrenheit, about 260° Celcius.

Rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire in 60 seconds

In 330 CE, Emperor Constantine made the bold move of shifting the Roman capital to Byzantium and renaming it Constantinople. This decision helped shape the Eastern Roman Empire, or what we now call the Byzantine Empire. Here’s how the city rose to global prominence, and why its legacy lingers today.

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

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

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

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

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.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

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 hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

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

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.