History

March 19, 2026

2,000-Year-Old Graffiti Tags From an Ancient Traveler Discovered in Five Egyptian Tombs

Deep within the desert cliffs of Valley of the Kings, where Egypt’s most powerful rulers were laid to rest, the walls of ancient tombs hold more than painted gods and sacred hieroglyphs. it turns out that later visitors carved quieter, less formal lines directly into the stone. At first glance, these markings seem incidental. Look closer, and they begin to tell a very different story, one that stretches across continents and centuries.

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February 6, 2026

How Fascist Dictators Used Art and Design To Evoke a Sense of Power and Authority

During the 20th century, several countries around the world grappled with fascism and its eventual ramifications. But fascism was far from simply an ideological or political system—it was also grounded within cultural artifacts. A recent video essay by IMPERIAL explores exactly that, revealing how art and architecture were both manipulated by dictators, such as Hitler and Mussolini, to exert control over their respective countries.

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January 1, 2026

How People in the Victorian Era Enjoyed Animation Before Its Modern History

Before Walt Disney, the internet, and entertainment as we know it today, Victorian-era children had the phenakistoscope. The name has origins in the Greek word phenakisticos and means “deceiver of the eye.” This ingenious pioneer of animation featured a spinning disk that, when moved, created the illusion of fluid movement, thanks to the evenly spaced slits around the edges.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.