History
Here we bring you the fascinating world of history: U.S. history; archeological, anthropological, natural, and evolutionary history; plus historical figures and military history. To know where we are going we must first understand where we have been.
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1.4-Million-Year-Old Footprints Reveal a Giant Human Relative
By Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology – SciTechDaily
A 1.4-million-year-old trail of footprints reveals that a powerful human relative grew nearly as large as us and may have traveled in all-male groups.
Eight individuals walked across the wet ground beside an ancient Kenyan lake. Within a short time, sediment buried their footprints and preserved a scene that would remain hidden for roughly 1.4 million years.
The tracks offer something bones rarely can: evidence of several extinct human relatives moving through the same place at nearly the same moment. Researchers believe the footprints were left by a group of Paranthropus boisei, a powerful-jawed hominin that lived alongside early members of the human genus but ultimately disappeared without leaving descendants.
All eight individuals appear to have been adults, and most may have been males. Their apparent decision to travel together raises the possibility that Paranthropus boisei had a more complex social life than its fragmentary fossil record has revealed. Read more here.
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Who Invented Air Conditioning?
Becky Little – history.com
Over the past century, air conditioning has gone from a luxury to a necessity in much of the United States. As summers grow hotter due to climate change, this lifesaving technology prevents people from overheating. At the same time, air-conditioning technology is a driver of climate change, creating what UNICEF has termed a “cooling dilemma.”
But who invented air conditioning (AC) in the first place? And why? The story begins in the mid-19th century, with John Gorrie, a doctor in Florida who believed cooling devices could have health benefits. Decades later, Willis Carrier cemented his legacy as the father of modern air conditioning.
Who was John Gorrie? In the early 1840s, Florida doctor John Gorrie developed an air-cooling apparatus that blew air over buckets of ice into the rooms of yellow fever patients to…Read more here.
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DNA cracks centuries-old murder mystery involving one of history’s most famous families
Researchers at Yale University believe they’ve solved a centuries-old mystery over how a member of one of Italy’s most famous families died.
In a study published in the journal iScience, researchers analyzed ancient DNA from Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, the Renaissance ruler of Tuscany, who died suddenly in 1587.
Francesco I de’ Medici and his wife, Bianca Cappello, died a day apart after falling ill with intermittent fevers following a stay at a mosquito-filled villa — fueling centuries of rumors that they had been poisoned.
Working with paleopathologists from the University of Pisa in Italy, the team analyzed DNA extracted from the ribs of Francesco I de’ Medici, as well as Giovanni de’ Medici, his younger brother who died of malaria 25 years earlier.
The research was led by Serena Tucci, assistant professor of anthropology at…Read more here.
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The Truth About Vikings Is More Complicated Than Museums Admit
By Julia Håkansson, Lund University – ScitechDaily
Scandinavian museums use Viking history to negotiate the tension between popular myths, archaeological evidence, and modern national identity.
Walk into a major museum in Scandinavia, and there is a good chance you will encounter an exhibition devoted to the Vikings. Visitors have no shortage of options.
In Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, the National History Museum maintains a major permanent Viking exhibition. Stockholm’s Swedish History Museum presents what it describes as the world’s largest Viking Age exhibition. Oslo’s new Norwegian Museum of the Viking Age, scheduled to open in 2027, aims to become the leading museum of its kind, while a temporary exhibition at the Museum of Cultural History currently showcases notable Viking Age archaeological discoveries.
These displays clearly respond to strong interest from both local and international visitors. Yet the attention Scandinavian national museums give the Vikings is not driven by public..Read more here.
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