Stories

Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Venetian women wore platform shoes called chopines—some towering over 50 cm (20 inches) tall. Originally designed to protect dresses and shoes from muddy streets, chopines soon became fashion items flaunted by courtesans and noblewomen alike.

Beneath the dry plains of Gonabad lies a vast underground marvel. Built between 700 and 500 BCE during the Achaemenid Empire, the Qanats of Ghasabeh stretch over 33 kilometers and include 427 vertical shafts. Designed to transport groundwater without pumps, the system still functions today.

In 1741, Marco Cazotte was born in Venice. He would become known as Pipine, or Petit Pépin. Born with symmetrical phocomelia, he had no arms or legs—his hands and feet were attached directly to his torso. Despite this, he could move on his own by trotting.

Before digital printing, Linotype machines dominated typesetting. When operators made a mistake, they filled out the bad line by quickly running a finger down the left columns of the keyboard—e-t-a-o-i-n and s-h-r-d-l-u—then discarded the line.

On February 12, 1935, when the U.S. Navy airship USS Macon crashed into the Pacific Ocean, Associated Press faced a dilemma. Their brand-new Wirephoto service had not yet transmitted a photo.

On June 12, 1940, two Jewish artists pedaled away from Nazi-occupied Paris with the manuscript of a children’s book and a monkey hidden in a basket.

At the edge of France, where the Loire River meets the Atlantic, an enormous sea serpent emerges from the tides. Measuring 130 meters, the skeletal sculpture lies partially submerged at Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, its form rising and vanishing with each tidal shift.

Sometime between 1545 and 1550, a strange sea creature was caught or found on the beach near the Oresund strait between modern-day Denmark and Sweden. Described as nearly eight feet long with fins, a tail, and a black head, it quickly earned the name “sea monk” for its supposed resemblance to a man in monastic robes.

In total darkness, many people report seeing a uniform dark gray field. This phenomenon, called Eigengrau—from German, meaning “intrinsic gray”—is not produced by light, but by internal processes in the eye. It’s a constant, ever-present backdrop even when no light enters the eyes.

In ancient Pompeii, engineers used bronze water valves welded into lead piping to regulate flow through the city’s supply system. These plug-style valves, controlled by a rotating insert, functioned much like modern hardware-store models, and were manufactured with consistent standards.