The history and significance of rosemary

The 'definitive' history of magic mushrooms

Where did magic mushrooms come from, and how did they get their magical reputation? This article explains the history of the psychedelic fungi from pre-history to now. The earliest concrete evidence of psychedelic mushroom use is 12,000-year-old murals in Northern Australia that portray mushroom iconography. Considering how many species seek out and consume psychoactive substances, such as Siberian reindeer, it's possible human use of these psychedelic mushrooms may predate these murals.

A history of Rome and wine

Wine and winemaking were integral parts of everyday Roman life. Wine was used medicinally and for religious rites, as well as for pleasure. It also contributed to the expansion of the Roman empire as wine and grapes were traded throughout the Mediterranean. Roman winemaking practices spread as the empire grew. Without Rome, wine may never have grown into what it became, and vice versa.

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.

Examine a 3D model of the Rosetta Stone

One of the most famous archaeological finds of all time, the 1799 discovery of the Rosetta Stone helped unlock the secrets of ancient Egypt. Inscribed on the granite slab was the same passage in three languages: hieroglyphics, Old Egyptian, and Greek, which enabled scholars to decode the ancient language. Take an up-close look with this 3D model made up of more than 200 composite photos.

Rome's herbal panacea may not be as extinct as we thought

Silphion: cure-all, aphrodisiac, birth control, tasty seasoning. Nero allegedly ate the last of this miracle plant. This article details how a researcher may have found more. Seven centuries after the yellow-flowered plant was first documented growing in what's now Libya, it vanished. Historians proposed that the loss of Silphion may have been the first recorded extinction of any species.

Why pickles became a thing

Pickles began in Mesopotamia around 2400 BCE as a way to preserve vegetables amid heat (and spoilage). They spread through Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where Julius Caesar reportedly fed pickles to his soldiers, and brining was treated as a culinary art. The technique is broadly useful, as salt and water can extend the shelf life and deepen flavor for almost anything.

A brief history of Christmas tree design

A celebration of the Christmas tree in all its festive glory. Get a glimpse into its intriguing background and the lore that accompanies it.

Watch Mediterranean power shift over millennia with this animated map

The ancient Mediterranean holds a vast amount of history; from Egypt to Rome, the coasts of this sea are home to some of the most advanced ancient civilizations. This video displays on a map the many different civilizations that rose and fell around the fertile region, from the year 2500 BCE to 0 BCE.

When did humans start kissing romantically?

This article explores the ancient roots of romantic kissing. Current archaeological evidence dates sexual and romantic lip kissing to about 2,500 BCE. A Mesopotamian clay tablet from the time shares a tale of two deities locking lips. There's also...

Marigolds are an iconic symbol of Day of the Dead

The native Mexican flower performs several functions in Day of the Dead celebrations. Its vibrance and unique scent help guide wandering souls home, and its cheerful color reminds celebrants that death can still be joyful.

The science (and scams) behind essential oils

Essential oils are a big business, with industry estimates pegging its market size at $10B last year—a number expected to double by 2030. These distilled plant compounds have a long history of both legitimate and exaggerated uses, and many marketed oils are, as the author of this long read claims, just selling wish fulfillment. Revisit some of the history and contemporary use of essential oils with this piece.

British beard history, 101

The beard has gone in and out of fashion for centuries in Britain. It was hated in the 18th century but became a must in the 19th. This quick list rehashes 15 fascinating tidbits about the beard, including possible useful functions for them (a beard is equivalent to an SPF 21 sunscreen) and how barbers were often also surgeons.

What is rhetoric?

The roots of "rhetoric" stretch back to ancient Greece, where early philosophers defined rhetoric as the art of winning the soul through discourse or the art of persuasion. Rhetoric and its proposed nature have since shifted, with more modern sources describing rhetoric as a natural byproduct of language, the intentional framing of discourse, or the study of how humans use symbols and language to carry out human activity.

Romanticism continues to influence culture

The breadth and impact of Romanticism and its emphasis on individualism, embracing emotion, and the power of nature outlived the formal boundaries of the movement’s popularity and continue to linger in the public consciousness.

See this searchable resource about herbal therapies, including evidence and drug interactions

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has created this searchable resource of herbal supplements to inform the public about the purported uses of herbal therapies, the existing evidence about them, their mechanism of action, and any concerns about potential herbal supplement and drug interactions.

Flowers have been around for 123 million years

Fossilized pollen grains reveal that flowering plants have existed on Earth for 123 million years, and their emergence considerably enriched the planet's biological diversity. They may also have been more widespread than initially thought—prior assumptions were that the eudicots, the first flowering plants, appeared 121 million years ago.

Easter symbols and where they actually come from

The secular Easter—bunnies, eggs, baskets, candy—is almost entirely a German import. The egg-laying hare called Osterhase arrived with Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants in the 1700s; children left out nests for it to fill, which eventually became baskets. The word "Easter" itself may trace to Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, though scholars contest the holiday's pagan origins.

'Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.'

-Author and poet Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929)

Toasting with ‘cheers!’ comes from Anglo-French

Etymologists trace the word back to about 1200 CE, when Anglo-French became the vernacular after the Norman Conquest of 1066. “Chere” meant “the face,” or an expression, often of joy. After that, it was used in the 18th century as a form of encouragement before becoming a common toast in the 20th century.

Why is rice so popular?

From Spanish paella to West African jollof rice, rice is a staple in dishes across the world. This colorful animated video dives into the global expansion of rice, which contributes more than 20% of the calories consumed by humans each year. Learn about rice’s beginnings thousands of years ago, the environmental consequences of its popularity, and the potential for positive changes in the future.

Scent is a stronger memory trigger than sight

Smell is imbued with more emotion than visual memories, and research indicates that smell triggers a significantly greater effect on amygdala activation. Scientists believe these powerful responses occur partly because smell signals bypass the thalamus and go directly to the amygdala and hippocampus, brain areas involved in emotion and memory.

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.

In the 1600s, coffee had religious significance

In the 1600s, coffee was important in multiple religious traditions. In Yemen, it was the drink of choice for Sufi mystics to improve their focus and fuel their grueling meditations. Pope Clement VIII's approval spread coffee’s popularity from the Muslim to the Christian world, paving the way for the cappuccino.

Without mummies, ancient Egyptians feared their souls would perish

The ancient Egyptians placed major importance on mummification because of their beliefs about the afterlife. They believed a preserved body was essential for the soul’s survival, as it needed a physical form to return to. Without it, they feared the soul would perish.

Explore a Macy's historical timeline

From its founding as RH Macy & Co. in 1858, to its 150th birthday in 2008, Macy’s has a long and storied history. Luckily, the store has chronicled many of its major milestones on its website, including key Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade milestones.

The golden ratio is believed to underlie patterns in nature and beauty

The irrational mathematical constant has been cited in art, architecture, and nature since its origins in ancient Greece. Its connection to the Fibonacci sequence has associated it with spiral patterns in pineapples, pinecones, and other plants.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

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

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

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

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

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.

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

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

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.

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

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

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.

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 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.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

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.

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

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.