The Genius of Marie Curie
Dr. Marie Curie transformed science and society with her discoveries. Her scientific partnership with Pierre Curie and the story of their heroic efforts that led to the discovery of polonium and radium...
View ArticleThe complicated history of surfing – TED Ed
Today, surfing is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, with tens of millions of enthusiasts worldwide. For some it’s a serious sport; for others, just a way to let loose. But despite its casual...
View ArticleWeaving on Mount Vernon’s 18th Century Loom
See how shirt fabric was woven on a four-poster wooden loom or barn loom in this demonstration at Mount Vernon, President George Washington‘s plantation home on the Potomac River in Virginia. Master...
View ArticleHenry Fox Talbot, the First Photographs, and the Pioneers of Photography
The invention of the photograph, in 1839, would forever change the way people looked at the world. But this extraordinary breakthrough cannot be credited to a single individual—while William Henry Fox...
View ArticlePecan – How Does it Grow?
How do pecans grow? And how do you say the word pecan? This True Food TV video answers both questions during a visit to the Georgia’s Hudson Pecan Company. Georgia is number one producer of pecans on...
View ArticleHow to Make a Navigational Chart
Called Mattangs, Medos, and Rebbelibs, these ancient stick charts were made from the midribs of coconut fronds by the master navigators of what’s now known as the Marshall Islands in Micronesia. The...
View ArticleHow Yodoe oil-paper umbrellas are crafted in Japan
There’s a long tradition of making oil-paper umbrellas in Yodoe, a city in the Tottori Prefecture of Japan. The process involves over 70 steps, crafted on a variety of specially-made tools by skilled...
View ArticleCarl Linnaeus’ Systema Naturae and Herbarium Cabinet
How did scientists and naturalists organize their artifact collections in the 1700s? How could these systems, long before we began to rely on computers to help us organize data, improve our...
View ArticleGetting dressed in 18th century England
What kind of garments did women wear in 18th century England? The above video from CrowsEye Productions, filmed for the Lady Lever Art Gallery just outside of Liverpool, shows the daily dressing...
View ArticleThe Link Between Japanese Samurai and Real Indigo
Real indigo-dyed clothing is not like the blue you know. Richer than the chemical blues used on most fabrics today, real indigo dye comes from a plant and has a surprising range of qualities: on fabric...
View ArticleHow pencils are made at the Derwent Pencil Factory
Travel to Cumbria in the United Kingdom where workers at the Derwent Pencil Factory, established in 1832, work together to create graphic pencils, color pencils, watercolor pencils, and other artists’...
View ArticleThe Art of Gem Carving
A brownish-red mineral, a gemstone called carnelian, is cut and carved with modern tools in this 2009 video for a Carvers and Collectors: The Lasting Allure of Ancient Gems exhibition at the Getty...
View ArticleGolden Kingdoms: Luxury & Legacy in the Ancient Americas
Emblems of royalty, sacred offerings, ornaments, adornments, and treasures endowed with symbolic significance. Follow the development of goldworking from the Inca Empire, the Aztec Empire, and other...
View ArticleFood of the Enslaved: Michael Twitty cooks recipes from American history
Historic interpreter and culinary historian Michael W. Twitty preserves and promotes the food traditions of enslaved African and African American communities in the 18th and 19th centuries. From the...
View ArticleA New Republic: The portrait work of artist Kehinde Wiley
Blending and contrasting contemporary clothes and objects with ornate fabrics, lush plant life, detailed patterns, and bold colors that reference earlier eras of art history, Kehinde Wiley‘s heroic...
View ArticleMaking Artificial Earthquakes with a Four-Tonne Steel Ball
In Göttingen, Germany, there’s a four-tonne steel ball that can be raised up a 14-metre tower — and then dropped in less than two seconds, crashing back to earth. It makes tiny, artificial earthquakes....
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Ceramic artist Michelle Erickson recreates an 18th-century agateware teapot
Recreating an 18th century artifact is a painstaking process that requires mastery of the medium, an understanding of esoteric artisanal methods, and lots of examination and experimentation. During her...
View ArticleUntangling the Devil’s Corkscrew – PBS Eons
In the late 1800s, paleontologists in Nebraska found huge coils of hardened sand stuck deep in the earth. Local ranchers called them Devil’s Corkscrews and scientists called them Daemonelix. It was...
View ArticleThe rise and fall of the Inca empire
It was the western hemisphere’s largest empire ever, with a population of nearly 10 million subjects. Yet within 100 years of its rise in the fifteenth century, the Inca Empire would be no more. What...
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How traditional Nabulsi soap is handmade in the Toukan Soap factory
In the city of Nablus in the West Bank, workers at the Toukan Soap factory make natural soap by hand. The family-owned company is “the oldest survivor of this once-prominent industry,” one of the two...
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