'Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.'

'There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things.'

-Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

The basics of behaviorism and its founder John B. Watson

Watson believed he could use classical conditioning to shape the behavior of infants toward positive outcomes, culminating in his famous "Little Albert" experiment. Here's a quick overview of his life and thought.

Watch a video about how cellphones conquered the world

A fight with a telecom giant. A stunt call on a New York sidewalk. A forgotten memo that rewired the world. Host Sony Kassam sits down with Marty Cooper, the father of the cellphone, and Arlene Harris, the first lady of wireless, to explore the innovation, politics, and high-stakes battles that pried connectivity out of corporate control, unlocked the airwaves, and built the always-on world we live in today, for better or for worse.

'Through this unique means, I convey to you and all mankind, America’s wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere.'

- President Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) sending a message from space

The speech software's origins at MIT led to Hawking's trademark voice being American

Stephen Hawking's trademark voice is called "Perfect Paul," but it mimics Dennis Klatt, an American researcher at MIT who developed the speech synthesis technology. Klatt used his voice during this development, which was immortalized through Hawking.

An 1844 chess match via telegraph anticipated the game's online popularity

The late November match pitted two local rival chess clubs from Baltimore and Washington, DC, against each other. The moves were transmitted over the Baltimore-Washington telegraph line, which had just been installed the previous May.

'The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.'

- Mark Twain, from "Pudd'nhead Wilson and Other Tales"

Calvin Coolidge brought the State of the Union to the radio age

On Dec. 6, 1923, President Coolidge delivered his Annual Message from the US House chamber as millions listened by radio—crowds gathered outside with amplifiers—making it the first nationally broadcast address and the only in-person State of the Union of his presidency.

Guglielmo Marconi overshadowed Nikola Tesla through commercialization

Despite Tesla envisioning wireless power and communication earlier, Marconi developed practical implementations of wireless communication, including transmitting the first transatlantic radio signal. The technology, which facilitated telegraphy critical for warships and navies, earned Marconi the 1909 Nobel Prize in physics.

As technology evolved, so did Wall Street

Before the telephone was invented in the mid 1800s, people had to trade stocks in person. But once office telephones and computers became commonplace, banks and other financial institutions didn't necessarily need to have their headquarters near exchanges like Wall Street's New York Stock Exchange.

Thomas Edison captured the only known footage of Mark Twain

The inventor was a pioneer in the early film industry and made his own motion pictures. In 1909, he shot a short film featuring Twain at Stormfield, his property in Connecticut. In it, Twain wears his iconic white suit and drinks tea with his daughters.

1978: Thurgood Marshall, commencement address at the University of Virginia

"Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on."

Edward Jenner, the father of vaccinations

The British physician was the first to attempt to inoculate someone from smallpox using its milder cousin, cowpox. His innovations and documentations would prove crucial to the deployment of widespread vaccinations.

Discussing his early life, David Attenborough describes how his TV career began by chance

Growing up on the University College, Leicester campus, where his father was principal, Attenborough uncovered specimens such as coiled shells in the rocks and limestone of the surrounding Midlands, which sparked his interest in nature. A week after not landing an interview for a radio job he had applied for, Attenborough was offered a position on "a new thing called television."

'I got my start by giving myself a start.'

- Businesswoman Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919)

Ghosts didn't say 'boo' until the 19th century

The word derives from Scotland in the early modern era and was often used to assert oneself. Eventually, it became a way to startle someone, and by the 19th century, was the go-to utterance of literary spirits.

The origin of the World Wide Web, plus a look at its first website and web browser

Invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 while working at CERN—home of the world's largest particle physics laboratory—the Web was developed to facilitate the sharing of information among scientists at institutions worldwide. By the end of 1990, the first Web server was operational as a proof-of-concept on a NeXT workstation.

The first ATM—dubbed a 'cash dispenser'—was installed in 1967 in London

Specifically, the first ATM (which stands for “automatic teller machine”) made its debut at a Barclays bank in London. A timeline of ATM history can help illustrate and visualize other key events in ATM history.

The earliest known country recording is Louis Vasnier's 'Thompson's Old Gray Mule'

This BBC documentary offers a brief history of the recording, explaining how the wax cylinder recording was transferred to vinyl and how the singer was identified. Interestingly, it also suggests why this recording might have been overlooked for over a century.

Nature simultaneously published three papers on DNA—only the first made history

Papers by Watson and Crick, Wilkins, and Franklin were fast-tracked without peer review, and their order was arranged between lab heads and editors. Franklin's appeared last, making her paper read as though supporting Watson and Crick—because they'd already incorporated her data before it was published.

Aaron Burr introduced James Madison to his future wife, Dolley

This trivia celebrating James Madison's birthday notes that Aaron Burr—later vice president and Alexander Hamilton's dueling rival—introduced Madison to Dolley Madison in 1794. It also highlights that Madison arrived 11 days early to the Constitutional Convention to prepare.

'Roses are red, violets are blue' has a long, twisting history

The earliest known use of the phrase, a stock romance form used in greeting cards, is in Edmund Spenser's "The Faery Queen" from 1590 (excerpt below). By 1785, Joseph Ritson updated the verse and connected it to Valentine's Day, creating a cliché that's still used today.

They lost loved ones on 9/11. Hear the heart-wrenching voicemails they'd leave for them.

NPR set up an old phone booth in Brooklyn Bridge Park — across the river from the new World Trade Center — and invited people to leave a voicemail for someone they lost that day.

Listen to an interview with Martha Graham from 1974

This interview, from the "Bernard Gabriel Views the Music Scene" program, features a candid conversation in which Graham discusses how her career did not take off until her 30s and how she learned to ignore criticism.

History was made in the NFL

Tom Brady became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 600 touchdown passes with a 9-yard scoring strike to Mike Evans on Sunday against the Bears.

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.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

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.

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.

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

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.

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

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

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

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

The animatronic shark from Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws,' the first modern blockbuster, was a complex underwater apparatus called 'Bruce.'

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.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

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

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'