Tag: election-of-pope
The First Webcam Was Invented to Watch Coffee — Not People
Long before Zoom meetings and TikTok streams, the first webcam in history had a surprisingly humble...
May 07, 2025
The Internet Once Had a Kill Switch — And It Was Almost Used
Before the World Wide Web, there was ARPANET — the U.S. government-funded project that laid th...
May 07, 2025
Why Old TVs Made That Creepy Buzzing Sound Before Turning On
If you grew up before flat screens, you probably remember the strange whine or buzz that old TVs mad...
May 07, 2025
The First Smartphone Was Released in 1994 — and It Had Email
Long before Steve Jobs took the stage, IBM released the Simon Personal Communicator in 1994 —...
May 07, 2025
The FBI Once Tried to Ban Encryption… with a Clipper Chip
In 1993, the U.S. government proposed a small hardware chip called the Clipper Chip, meant to be emb...
May 07, 2025
The First Computer Bug Was a Real Insect
In 1947, computer scientists working on the Harvard Mark II, one of the earliest electromechan...
May 07, 2025
The Hotel Where You Can Sleep in a Real Boeing 747
At Stockholm Arlanda Airport, a retired Boeing 747 has been transformed into one of the world’...
May 06, 2025
The Italian Village That Lives Inside a Cliff
Rising from a sea of mist in central Italy is Civita di Bagnoregio, a medieval village perched on to...
May 06, 2025
The Airport Where You Cross a Runway to Get to the Beach
If you think airports are boring, you've never been to Princess Juliana International Airport in...
May 06, 2025
The Town That Vanishes Twice a Day — Welcome to Mont-Saint-Michel
Perched off the coast of Normandy, Mont-Saint-Michel is one of the most surreal places in Europe. At...
May 06, 2025