Arts & Culture
Why Are Theater Seats Almost Always Red?
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Arts & CultureArticle159We Tried To Write an Entire Article in Middle English
When William of Normandy invaded England in 1066, it began a transformation of the Old English language. The Norman conquerors replaced the Anglo-Saxon ruling class, bringing with them their Anglo-Norman…
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Arts & CultureArticle44Why Do We Call It ‘History’?
The modern English word “history” comes partly from the Latin historia and partly from the French storie (or estoire), but those terms both trace their roots back to the same…
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Arts & CultureArticle42Why Did People Start Shaking Hands?
For many people, a handshake feels so natural that it’s easy to assume humans have been greeting each other this way for as long as humans have been around. In…
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Arts & CultureArticle28Why Do We Use ‘X’ To Mean ‘Unknown’?
For centuries, “X” has marked the spot when we don’t know where exactly the spot is. Its use in algebra to mean an unknown quantity spread into the wider culture,…






