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FORGOTTEN HISTORY: 22 | History Defined

Japan's Laughing Buddha Hotei is merging into Santa Claus -- both are roly-poly sacred figures with a bag of gifts

As Christmas approaches, children in many parts of the world look forward to a visit from the potbellied Santa Claus, who comes down chimneys carrying a sackful of gifts over his shoulder. In Japan, some children also wait for Hotei, a jolly Japanese god with a rotund frame who carries…

The Conversation

How are books made?

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

The Conversation

Abandoned New York Subway station hanging with chandeliers that's stuck in 1945

As much money and thought that was poured into City Hall station, it just wasn't needed and there's little room for sentimnetality when it comes to transport infrastructure

Daily Mirror

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Abandoned Christmas-themed town left to rot in the middle of the desert

Santa Claus, Arizona, in the US, was built by an ambitious estate agent who in vain envisaged turning this remote stretch of desert into a bustling Christmas-themed resort town

Daily Mirror

Graphene is a proven supermaterial, but manufacturing the versatile form of carbon at usable scales remains a challenge

“Future chips may be 10 times faster, all thanks to graphene”; “Graphene may be used in COVID-19 detection”; and “Graphene allows batteries to charge 5x faster” – those are just a handful of recent dramatic headlines lauding the possibilities of graphene. Graphene is an incredibly light, strong and durable material…

The Conversation

Cultural industries have been captured by billionaires – a new book considers what we can do about it

This book speaks to a disenchanted present.

The Conversation

More than a story of treasures: revisiting Tutankhamun's tomb 100 years after its discovery

On November 4 1922, a young Egyptian “water boy” on an archaeological dig is said to have accidentally stumbled on a stone that turned out to be the top of a flight of steps cut into the limestone bedrock.

The Conversation

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Are you haunted by ghosts of the past and phantoms of your future? Welcome to the spooky realm of hauntology

Do you believe in ghosts? Every year, Halloween serves up the usual images of spooks, skeletons and witches – but these ideas aren’t just the domain of fiction or trick-or-treating. There is also a philosophical concept that embraces ghosts.

The Conversation

The book that changed me: how Pierre Hadot's Philosophy as a Way of Life taught me to 'love a few old truths'

The most life-changing books can seem like they have always been there. What they say may seem obvious, once we’ve read them. But that’s only because they’ve reshaped how we look at things.

The Conversation

That Fuzzy Blob Is Not a UFO

Science writer Mick West examines alleged UFO sightings. He finds that they almost always have far more obvious explanations.

Reason

The foot scene in House of the Dragon was upsetting, but it's nothing compared to the real history of the fetish

From the day it first graced our screens, the Game of Thrones franchise became infamous for depicting rather shocking and taboo sexual proclivities. From incest and necrophilia, to sadism and borderline-cannibalism, viewers have truly been exposed to (an often disturbing) range of erotic desires. Yet, even after a decade on…

The Conversation

What does history tell us about calling reservists up to war?

Countries with military service rely on the mobilisation of their reservists when they come under attack. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has made it essential for the latter to mobilise its reserve forces. The former, too, has brought reservists into the conflict. However, there has been a key difference…

The Conversation

Inside haunted jail where murderers were caged - and you can now stay as hotel guest

Every room in this bizarre hostel is a former prison cell complete with the names of the inmates incarcerated in them – you can even visit death row

Daily Mirror

HBO's 'House of the Dragon' was inspired by a real medieval dynastic struggle over a female ruler

In three decades of teaching medieval European history, I’ve noticed my students are especially curious about the intersection of the stories told in class and the depictions of the Middle Ages they see in movies and television.

The Conversation

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The New Daily

The ritual of coronation has ancient origins – here’s what we can expect for King Charles

King Charles III will be coronated at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023. But what is a coronation, and what can we expect?

The Conversation

King Charles III will be crowned in May. The ritual has ancient origins – here's what we can expect

King Charles III’s coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on May 6 2023. But what is a coronation, and what can we expect?

The Conversation

Headcovers have always been political in Iran – for women on all sides

A friend and I were strolling through Tehran’s streets one afternoon when she was approached by a member of the “morality police,” an agency tasked with enforcing modesty laws in public. First, the policewoman warned her to cover her hair by pulling forward her scarf. Next, she was ordered to…

The Hindu

The meteorite that crashed into a car

The Peekskill meteorite is a meteorite that crashed into a car on October 9, 1992. One of the best viewed and recorded meteorite events, both the meteorite and the car it crashed into are now famous. A.S.Ganesh takes you on a fiery ride from space to Earth…

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The Conversation

What is quantum entanglement? A physicist explains the science of Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’

The 2022 Nobel Prize in physics recognized three scientists who made groundbreaking contributions in understanding one of the most mysterious of all natural phenomena: quantum entanglement.

Reason

Is a War on Policing Increasing Crime? Q&A with Rafael Mangual

In Criminal (In)Justice, the Manhattan Institute scholar argues that most reforms favored by social justice activists—and many libertarians—make life worse for communities of color.

Reason

Beyond The 1619 Project: Holding Academics and Journalists Accountable

Intellectual watchdog Phil Magness talks Nikole Hannah-Jones, Nancy MacLean, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, and Kevin Kruse.

The Conversation

Beheaded and exiled: the two previous King Charleses bookended the abolition of the monarchy

On September 8 2022, King Charles III ascended to the throne. Like his mother Queen Elizabeth II before him, he has opted to keep his own name as his regnal name.

The Conversation

What happens to Australia's money now the Queen has died? And why are leaders' faces on coins anyway?

Since the introduction of decimal coinage in 1966, about 15 billion Australian coins have been minted with an image of Queen Elizabeth II.

Daily Mirror

Bizarre French palace built by a postie who developed an obsession with wonky stones

It took Ferdinand Cheval more than three decades to complete the stone wonder, in which time he was mocked mercilessly for having such a big dream

The Conversation

How the Ice Ages spurred the evolution of New Zealand’s weird and wiry native plants

Recent genetic research has shed new light on the long-running debate about the evolutionary origins of some of New Zealand’s quirkiest plants.

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