History

Seventy five years ago, the world was introduced to ENIAC, the first ever electronic, programmable, general purpose, digital computer, which not only ushered in the beginning of the computer age, but also shaped popular conceptions of the computer.

An ancient tree fossil has offered scientists a peek into a moment 42,000 years ago when the Earth’s magnetic field went haywire. The study paints a picture of environmental chaos, influencing everything from an increase in cave paintings to the extinction of the Neanderthals.

A new study published in the journal Nature is describing the extraction and sequencing of the oldest known sample of DNA. The sample comes from an ancient species of mammoth found in the Siberian permafrost and dates back nearly 1.2 million years.

Archeologists from University College London (UCL) have found the remains of a stone circle in west Wales, which indicate that part of Stonehenge was made from recycled stones. Excavations at Waun Mawn suggest that bluestones from the Welsh circle were moved 140 miles (225 km) away, about 5,000 years ago.

Archeologists working in Egypt have uncovered the world's first industrial-scale beer brewery, which they believe was pumping out thousands of liters of beer for the ancient kings of the region some 5,000 years ago.

Fifty years ago today, on January 31, 1971, a Saturn V rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center carrying Apollo 14`. As the follow-on from the ill-fated Apollo 13, this was the Moon mission that would make or break the US space program.

When the first production of Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. opened on January 25, 1921, it not only gave a name to the cybernetic machines that were just beginning to emerge, it shaped our perception of what a robot is and the potential dangers they pose.

A novel analytical technique has revealed undiscovered compounds in an ancient Maya drug container previously thought to only be used for tobacco. The findings offer the first clear evidence that the Maya mixed tobacco with other plant materials.

The latest amber time capsule discovery comes from Oregon State University researchers who have identified a completely new, previously unknown genus and species of flower dating back 100 million years to the mid-Cretaceous period.

An evocative shot of the century-old Brighton Palace Pier has won this year’s Historic Photographer of the Year Awards. In its fourth year, this contest offers a compelling journey through some of the most picturesque historic sites around the world.

A relic of the 1960s Space Race may be paying Earth a brief visit with NASA announcing that a rocket booster from the 1966 Surveyor 2 robotic Moon lander mission is suspected to have returned from deep space and taken up temporary orbit around Earth.

Researchers have discovered the longest known set of fossilized human footprints, and they tell an amazing story. The tracks were left by a woman carrying a small child, rushing, and after a few hours she made a return journey – without the child.