Martin Cooper, one of several inventors inspired by “Star Trek,” came up with the first mobile phone as early as 1973
Industrial Wonders: The long, financially draining struggle to build the SS Great Eastern, largest ship put into water in 19th century
The “Kryptos” sculpture at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, carries an unsolved encrypted message
Kalyazin Bell Tower is a symbol of Russia before communism: a lonely bell tower on a man-made island in a man-made lake
Digital reconstruction reveals an 18th century Scottish woman condemned as a witch–and she has “quite a kind face”
The inspiration for Leonard Cohen’s “So Long, Marianne” was a beautiful woman he met on a Greek island
The Doll Family, four dwarf siblings who found success in Hollywood, not only in “The Wizard of Oz” but in another classic, “Freaks”
The Alfred Jewel: One of the most dazzling and mysterious treasures from Anglo-Saxon period, found in a field in 17th century
Georges Méliès, the magic-minded dreamer who in 1902 filmed “The Trip to the Moon” and showed us what movies are capable of
Steampunk triumphs in the Neverwas Haul, a Victorian house on wheels inspired by science fiction novels