History

March 9, 2022

Japan’s Mythic “Killing Stone” Splits in Half, Potentially Releasing the Spirit of a Fox Demon

When word gets out that something called the “Killing Stone” has broken in half, it can't be a good sign. And it's an even worse omen when one discovers that this Killing Stone is believed to hold the spirit of a demonic fox. Unfortunately, the news is true and Japan's Sessho-seki, also known as the Killing Stone, has split. Located near a hot spring in Nasu, Japan, Sessho-seki is a stone set into volcanic mountains.

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February 15, 2022

Photographer Explores Tbilisi’s Mysterious Underground Soviet-Era City

Hidden beneath the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia is a whole other world—or rather, a time capsule of the Soviet era. It's a world that photographer Davit Tabagari discovered during spring 2021 and that has fascinated him ever since. A fan of photography since childhood, he's been using his passion to document the historic underground shelters in Tbilisi. In 1921, the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic was formed and then incorporated into the Soviet Union.

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January 24, 2022

Amateur Metal Detectorist Discovers 13th-Century Gold Coin Featuring Henry III

Finding buried treasure is a common childhood dream, and some people hold onto this dream as adults, often pursuing a career in archeology. Though rare, there are also instances in which amateur metal detectorists make discoveries that lead to great leaps in knowledge as they are further excavated and studied by professionals. A recent find in a farmer's field in Devon, England, has been particularly exciting for both its amateur, anonymous discoverer and medieval historians.

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January 5, 2022

103-Year-Old “Aunty Moser” May Have Been One of the Earliest-Born People Ever Photographed

The development of photography in the 19th century changed the art of portraiture. While etchings, paintings, and sketches remained commonplace, the earliest photographic portraits began to be captured on daguerrotype plates. This new method spread fast and wide so that by mid-century a studio portrait was accessible to middle-class sitters. Such portraits were a new way to memorialize history and its people—including everyone from famous presidents to ordinary folks.

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