The Greek city of Alexandria in Egypt helped form the template for modern cities

Urban planning in ancient Rome

Ancient Rome represents one of the earliest examples of coordinated urban planning from a central government for which researchers have access to contemporary records. This review from MIT showcases ancient Roman cities built on various types of grids, from rectangular outlines to those shaped around two intersecting axes, with several examples and maps provided for each.

The ancient Egyptians built prototypes of the modern Suez Canal

The idea to facilitate trade between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and connect the Eurasian continent was apparent even to pharaohs in the second millennium BCE. Though no physical traces remain, contemporary accounts attest to early, shorter versions of the canal, including from Herodotus.

Ancient Egypt began as a collection of independent city-states along the Nile

Those cities were gradually organized into Upper and Lower Egypt, names derived from the northern flow of the river. The region was unified for the first time in 3,100 BCE under King Menes (also known as Narmer).

During the Medieval Period, urban populations grew significantly

As workers moved from fields to cities throughout the era, large metropolises of enduring strategic importance were formed from Paris, France, to Baghdad, Iraq.

The Maya built their cities with advanced engineering

Maya cities featured pyramids, palaces, causeways, ball courts, and water-management systems that were engineered to support large populations—often tens of thousands—without the use of metal tools, draft animals, or wheeled transport.

Why only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world still exists

Greek writers recorded lists of great structures that were later codified by Renaissance writers. The definitive list includes the Colossus of Rhodes, the Giza Pyramid (the only existing one today), the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Smart cities have been more successful when upgrading existing infrastructure

Building urban landscapes with smart technologies from scratch has sometimes produced futuristic-looking yet sterile environments that struggle to attract residents and justify high costs. Enhancing existing areas while retaining their historical and cultural touchstones has proven more appealing in many cities.

Explaining the rich heritage of the ancient Greeks

Though only a unified empire for a decade under Alexander the Great, the ancient Greeks left lasting cultural influence throughout the modern world. Curious about ancient Greece? 1440's got your breakdown of the ancient civilization.

The story of Hypatia, a leading Roman scholar murdered by monks

Hypatia of Alexandria was a secular philosopher in Egypt who headed a university, improved scientific instruments, penned textbooks, and advised the city's leaders. As a Neoplatonist, she approached numbers as a sacred language. Religious fervor and her visible advisory role led to her brutal dismemberment by rogue monks.

Washington, DC, was designed by French-born architect Pierre L'Enfant

Pierre Charles L'Enfant was an engineer who fought in the American Revolution. George Washington chose him to design the capital for his military service, artistic training, and vision of a monumental national city.

What did democracy really mean in Athens?

Ancient Athens chose the vast majority of its public servants by lottery, a process of random selection known as sortition. Roughly 30,000 people were eligible for the lottery to serve as jurors, magistrates, and more. Monthly assemblies called the "ekklesia" occurred where anyone could attend and speak, but 500 governing council members called the "Boule" set the agenda.

The 15-minute city lets residents meet their daily needs within 15 minutes on foot

Many cities have been designed with inefficient layouts that waste time and lower the quality of life of those who live there. In the 15-minute city, essential services—including work, food, education, and health—should all be located within a short walk or bike ride from where people live.

Meet Hipparchus, the Greek astronomer who created the world's first star map

Astronomer Hipparchus created accurate maps of the night sky way ahead of his time, with coordinates sometimes within a single degree of modern values. Hipparchus founded a new theory of star motion, modeling the sky as a celestial sphere with coordinates similar to latitude and longitude—concepts only recently created in Hipparchus' time.

Pompeii had cafés, nightlife, public baths, and even local elections

This BBC History guide highlights how recognizably modern Pompeii was, from its cafés and bustling public bathing complexes to its theaters, bars, and active voting culture. Historian Mary Beard reveals the city’s surprisingly contemporary feel.

The Greeks named their dogs with short names similar to modern ones

Xenophon, a historian from ancient Greece, proposed that the best dog names were limited to one or two syllables and referenced important qualities, like courage or speed. Some ideas: Aura, meaning "breeze," or Corax, a raven.

Florence as it was: a digital reconstruction of a medieval city

Florence, Italy, is widely considered the birthplace of the Renaissance in Europe, where artists, poets, architects, and entrepreneurs renewed interest in ancient cultural forms. Using data from primary works, researchers have created a digital reconstruction of the city where users can explore buildings, artworks, and more.

Why Amsterdam looks so unique

The Netherlands' capital consists of concentric canals lined with towering, unusually thin row homes, an altogether unique profile in Europe and the world. When it was growing, the city was a key trade hub, and merchants wanted direct access to waterways. Canals were built like roads, and houses were required to be very thin to allow for more homes to line the canals.

Socrates is considered by many the father of Western philosophy

We know Socrates mostly through the writings of Plato, one of his admirers. Plato's dialogues typically feature Socrates as the main speaker. His penetrating look at life's most important subjects—from the nature of justice and knowledge to the existence of gods—made him many enemies, and even led to his execution.

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

The underground cities of the Byzantine Empire

This TED-Ed video explores the mysterious cave cities of Cappadocia. Although their oldest sections may go back to the Bronze Age, most of these subterranean complexes were excavated during the Byzantine period, when the locals went underground to take shelter from Arab raiders. Monasteries were also cut into pinnacles of the local tufa, and decorated with frescoes that have often survived to the present.

Tenochtitlan, the Aztec Venice of Mesoamerica

Tenochtitlan was the capital city of the Aztecs, founded around 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco, in what is today Mexico. It was a major political, economic, and religious center until its destruction by the Spanish in 1521. This video explores the marvels of the city, which began as an island but grew via causeways and in-filled land and culminating in a North American Venice.

The 'sense' of direction comes from two strategies involving unique brain regions

Egocentric navigation utilizes the caudate nucleus and posterior parietal cortex, relying on a person's position in space to determine their direction of movement. Spatial navigation uses landscape features for orientation and is driven by the hippocampus.

Frank Lloyd Wright influenced contemporary architecture to have a more holistic approach

Frank Lloyd Wright’s work throughout the 20th century introduced concepts like open plans, floor-to-ceiling windows, and community-focused design. His “organic architecture” philosophy can be seen as a predecessor to today’s sustainable architecture.

The first modern marathon was at the 1896 Olympic Games

The modern marathon was created for the revived Olympic Games in 1896, with the course starting in Marathon and ending in Athens. The race was won by Spiridon Louis, a Greek water carrier who surged in the last stretch to the delight of the hometown crowd.

The global practice of public speaking

The epic "Gilgamesh and Aga," which dates back to 1900-1600 BCE, features a speech by the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh in which he tries to convince his city's all-male assembly to agree to fight an invading army. Surviving records indicate many ancient cultures, including those in China, India, and North America, had rich public speaking traditions, at least some of which survived time and colonization.

A sociologist makes the case for libraries and parks as essential public infrastructure

Eric Klinenberg argues that social infrastructure that brings people together is as vital to a community as roads or power grids. He contends that when communities invest in these spaces, residents grow more connected, and when they are neglected, isolation follows.

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

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

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

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

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

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

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

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

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

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 US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

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

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.