Cafe History

Take a (well-heeled) walk down memory lane and peep at the peep-toes, pumps, platforms, and other shoes that have kept us in step for the past century.

Karl Marx remains deeply important today not as the man who told us what to replace capitalism with, but as someone who brilliantly pointed out certain of its problems. The School of Life, a pro-Capitalist institution, takes a look.

Including toasters, radios, and microwave ovens, there have been a number of life-changing household breakthroughs through the years. Follow along to see the smartest appliances and laborsaving devices that have emerged in the last century.

Over a hundred years after his creator was laid to rest, Dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history. But this Transylvanian noble - neither the first fictional vampire, nor the most popular of his time - may have remained buried in obscurity if not for a twist of fate. Stanley Stepanic explains how a critical copyright battle catapulted Bram Stoker's character into literary renown.

Of all the species that humans have domesticated, dogs are our oldest animal friends. But how did a group of wolves become the furry pup at the end of the bed? New research is finally unlocking the paw-in-hand evolution of dogs and humans. In this episode we're answering one big question: Did we domesticate dogs, or did dogs domesticate us?

Beyond what we can touch, taste, smell, and hear, we experience the universe through light. But how did we come to discover light, and how did we learn light's true nature, as the fastest thing in the universe, an electromagnetic spectrum, a wave and particle capable of the most amazing things? Here is the history of light, according to physics.

Time makes sense in small pieces. But when you look at huge stretches of time, it's almost impossible to wrap your head around things. So we teamed up with the awesome blog "Wait but Why" and made this video to help you putting things in perspective with some infographics!

How did everything get started? Has the universe a beginning or was it here since forever? Well, evidence suggests that there was indeed a starting point to this universe we are part of right now. But how can this be? How can something come from nothing? And what about time? We don't have all the answers yet so let's talk about what we know.

Our skulls are all unique, but they also share characteristics across groups of people. Scientists can use this information to learn a lot about the previous "owner" of the skull.

In Tucson, we learned it's important to keep the box...and your receipt! Peter Planes appraises a rare GMT Master Model Rolex from 1960, one of the highlights from Tucson Hr 2.

The meter is the world's ultimate measure, but how did it become "the" meter? What is this measurement based on? The story of this revolution in measurement traces its roots to the French Revolution. Scientists decided that an equal and united people should have equal and united measures. So they sent a pair of young astronomers out to measure the world, and invent the meter. Little did they know they'd find nothing but war, deception, and strife along the way. As a result of this ill-fated mission, the meter carries an error that still persists today. Still think the metric system is so perfect?

How did St. Valentine become associated with love and romance? Get the full story behind the holiday.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... and 0. With just these ten symbols, we can write any rational number imaginable. But why these particular symbols? Why ten of them?

Three decades of change in five seconds.

How the pigeon became known as the sky rat.

The crazy story of the arbitrary temperature scale used in a tiny minority of countries.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" ("The Magic Flute") is widely regarded as one of the most influential operas in history.

Nostalgia was once considered an illness confined to specific groups of people. Today, people all over the world report experiencing and enjoying nostalgia. But how does nostalgia work? And is it healthy? Clay Routledge details the way our understanding of nostalgia has changed since the term was first coined in the late 17th century.

I'm thankful for science. And also pie.

Today, it is estimated that 50% of Americans eat at least one sandwich every day. And while it's all but impossible to imagine a world without them, sandwiches have only been around since 1762.

Few individuals have influenced the world and many of today's thinkers like Plato. He created the first Western university and was teacher to Ancient Greece's greatest minds, including Aristotle.