Historium Unearthia

Just published my latest for the HISTORY Channel! 🕰️🔍 The Winchester Mystery House has long been wrapped in ghost stories and strange rumors, but the real history is even more haunting. Read the full piece here: history.com/articles/winch…

Hedy Lamarr lit up Hollywood screens, but off camera she co-invented frequency-hopping technology to prevent Axis jamming of Allied torpedoes. That same tech forms the backbone of modern Wi-Fi. Beauty, brains, and battlefield strategy. #BookologyThursday

The 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of War of the Worlds is famous for causing panic, but lesser known are accounts of people screaming and weeping. One story tells of a telephone operator in Indiana, who overheard crying children and screaming women during a call that night.

Margaret Hamilton led the software team that helped land Apollo 11 on the moon. She coined the term "software engineering" and once saved the mission with a single line of code that told the computer to prioritize landing over alarm signals. #BookologyThursday

In 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. He orbited the Earth in a capsule no larger than a compact car, with analog dials and a calm voice that said, “Poyekhali!” or “Let’s go!” when history asked him to launch. #BookologyThursday

Leonardo da Vinci sketched flying machines, self-propelled carts, and even a mechanical knight in the 15th century. Though most were never built, they read like blueprints for an era that hadn’t yet arrived. His notebooks remain a time capsule of dreams. #BookologyThursday

Long before steampunk became an aesthetic, 18th-century inventor Jacques de Vaucanson built an automated duck that could flap, drink, and “digest” grain. Though mostly for spectacle, it captured Enlightenment dreams of life through mechanics. #BookologyThursday

When Johannes Gutenberg unveiled his printing press in the 15th century, he unknowingly sparked the Information Age. His movable type machine helped democratize knowledge and paved the way for libraries, literacy, and revolutions. #BookologyThursday

In 1937, Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific, but her legacy soars on. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and authored The Fun of It, a memoir that captured her passion for aviation and her fight to rewrite what women could do in the skies.…

At the height of the Cold War, Soviet artists composed “musical X-rays” by pressing forbidden Western jazz records onto discarded medical x-ray film. Known as “bone music" or ribs these eerie discs were shared in secret under threat of imprisonment. #WyrdWednesday

The ancient Egyptians believed marriage joined not only two bodies but two souls across lifetimes. Spouses were buried side by side so they could find each other again in the afterlife and continue their bond through eternity. #LegendaryWednesday

The Max Headroom signal hijacking of 1987 remains one of the most bizarre unsolved crimes in broadcast history. A man in a Max Headroom mask interrupted two Chicago TV channels with nonsensical, disturbing content. He was never caught. #WyrdWednesday

In Irish legend, it’s said that if you marry during a waning moon, your love may fade, but if you marry when the moon is waxing, your bond will grow. Some still choose wedding dates based on lunar luck. #LegendaryWednesday

Harry Everett Smith’s Heaven and Earth Magic (1962) is an avant-garde collage film made from Victorian catalogs, dental diagrams, and alchemical symbols. It’s been described as what it might look like if a ghost remembered a dream. #WyrdWednesday

Sometimes the most magical weddings are the ones where everything goes wrong. Torn dresses, missing rings, or surprise weather often become the legends couples laugh about for years. Unexpected is just another word for unforgettable. Maybe. #LegendaryWednesday Art: Leo Afremov

The BBC’s 1992 Halloween special Ghostwatch was presented as a live paranormal investigation. Viewers didn’t realize it was fiction, and thousands reported paranormal activity afterward. Since, the program has yet to be aired in full in the UK. #WyrdWednesday

The Roman goddess Juno presided over June, making it the most favored month for weddings. She ruled over marriage, childbirth, and the well-being of women. Her name still echoes down the aisle in every June bride. #LegendaryWednesday

The phrase "tying the knot" comes from Celtic and Hindu traditions where couples' hands were literally bound with cords or scarves during the wedding to symbolize their union. Some modern ceremonies still honor this handfasting ritual. #LegendaryWednesday Art: Kath Rutherford

Just published my latest for the @HISTORY on the story of Earl Shaffer, the first person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail solo way back in 1948. It's a tale of healing, stubbornness, and one seriously long walk in the woods. history.com/articles/earl-…

A drive-in in Utah showed a single reel of Carnival of Souls in 1962 and was never open again. Locals still talk about how the projector refused to shut off, playing the movie in reverse with no power source. The reel was never recovered. #WyrdWednesday Art: Dustin Illingworth

In ancient Greece, brides carried herbs like garlic and dill to keep evil spirits at bay and ward off bad luck. The idea that flowers protect and purify blossomed into the fragrant bridal bouquets we know today. #LegendaryWednesday