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The global population in the year 1 CE was around only 200 million.

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Vintage books with globe
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Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

December 17, 2024

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There are currently around 8 billion people living on Earth — more than quadruple the global population in 1920. But before the planet hit its first billion people at the beginning of the 19th century, population growth tended to be slower. At the beginning of the Common Era (CE) — the year 1 — Earth was home to as few as 170 million people, according to a widely cited 1978 source, Atlas of World Population History by Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones. That’s about the population of Bangladesh today. Of course, estimating a worldwide head count from 2,000 years ago isn’t an exact science; researchers suggest it could be as high as 400 million, and the United Nations typically puts the estimate at 300 million.

Around 1 CE, the world was at the tail end of a population growth cycle that started around 5000 BCE, when only about 5 million human beings roamed the Earth. Population growth then accelerated with the expansion of agriculture. According to McEvedy and Jones, the rate of growth peaked around 1000 BCE with the beginning of the Iron Age. The world population doubled between 1000 and 500 BCE, and nearly doubled between 500 BCE and 1 CE. Growth then slowed to a rate of 12% between 1 CE and 500 CE.

Population growth continued to be slow during the Middle Ages. The bubonic plague killed around 25 million people in Europe alone, and Mongol invasions in China killed around 35 million people and wiped out agricultural infrastructure. Growth rates picked back up around 1700, and continued to increase until the 1960s. While it may seem like the population is expanding at a breakneck speed, annual growth rates have actually been on the decline since then. The United Nations expects the population to stabilize around 10.4 billion and even start declining again around 2086.

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About 117 billion people have lived on Earth.

To put in perspective how much the world’s population has grown in the last few centuries: The 8 billion people alive today represent around 6.8% of all human beings who have ever existed. Around 117 billion total people have lived since Homo sapiens first appeared around 190,000 BCE. Put into the full context of the roughly 300,000 years of human history, 6.8% is a pretty huge chunk.

Dynamite was invented by the namesake of the Nobel Prize.

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Dynamite sticks
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Author Adam Levine

October 24, 2023

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Since its inception in 1901, the Nobel Prize has been synonymous with scientific and artistic genius. However, many people don’t realize it was named after the Swedish chemist who invented dynamite in 1867, Alfred Nobel. The powerful explosive was one of the most consequential inventions of the Industrial Revolution, transforming the way large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads, canals, and bridges were built. Dynamite was not only more potent than previous forms of explosives, but also more stable and easier to control, making it an ideal substance for efficiently blasting through mountains, earth, and other obstacles. 

The invention of dynamite and several related substances made Nobel a very wealthy man: By the time of his death in 1896, he had amassed what was at the time one of the world’s largest private fortunes. In his will, he stipulated that the majority of his personal wealth should be invested in a fund of stable securities and apportioned out every year in the form of prizes recognizing individuals who had “conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” The prizes were awarded in five categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and (perhaps ironically for a man whose fortune came from explosives and weaponry) peace. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, five years after the namesake inventor’s death. In 1968, Sweden’s central bank introduced a sixth Nobel Prize category, economics, which is now awarded annually alongside the five original categories dictated by Nobel’s will.

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Alfred Nobel had to flee France after being accused of high treason.

In 1881, Alfred Nobel purchased a large house with an adjacent laboratory in Sevran, a French village northeast of Paris, where he continued his research into ballistics and explosives. Most significantly, Nobel’s work at Sevran led to the invention of ballistite, a form of gunpowder that was nearly smokeless upon combustion. The Italian government recognized the power of ballistite and purchased a large amount of the gunpowder from Nobel for military use, but when the French government learned that Nobel, a French resident, had sold this powerful new weapons technology to a foreign military, they accused Nobel of high treason. They also implied that Nobel had developed ballistite through espionage by spying on the French military and stealing the formula for a type of gunpowder called Poudre B, another smokeless gunpowder that was developed around the same time but relied on an entirely different chemical process. In the face of these false accusations, Nobel was forced to flee France in 1891 and relocate to Italy, where he lived for the last five years of his life.

William Howard Taft served as governor of the Philippines and Cuba.

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Philippines & Cuba flags
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Author Michael Nordine

November 8, 2023

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Plenty of presidents were governors before ascending to the White House, but most of them oversaw states within the U.S. One exception was William Howard Taft, who served as governor of the Philippines and Cuba. Taft’s political aspirations were matched (if not surpassed) by those of his wife, Helen “Nellie” Herron Taft, who vowed as a young woman to become first lady; when President William McKinley asked William Howard Taft to establish a civilian government in the Philippines, which was then a U.S. protectorate, Nellie was considerably more pleased than her husband was. Taft served as governor-general from July 4, 1901, until December 23, 1903, twice turning down what in many ways was his true lifelong ambition: a spot on the Supreme Court.

His foreign service didn’t end there. While serving as secretary of war under Theodore Roosevelt from 1904 to 1908, Taft traveled to Cuba after the island’s president, Tomás Estrada Palma, asked the U.S. to intervene in ongoing conflicts over its recent election following the country’s 1902 independence. The terms of the 1903 Cuban–American Treaty of Relations allowed the U.S. to intervene militarily in order to preserve Cuba’s independence, and Palma resigned when he realized Taft wasn’t going to do so on his behalf. The following day, September 29, 1906, Taft established a provisional government in Cuba and made himself its provisional governor, a post he held for two weeks before being succeeded by Charles Edward Magoon. Taft went on to serve as president of the United States from 1909 until 1913 and as chief justice of the United States from 1921 until 1930.

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Taft never got stuck in the White House bathtub.

While it’s true that William Howard Taft was a heavyweight of both the literal and figurative variety — he was nearly 350 pounds and a wrestler while at Yale — the story of President Taft getting stuck in a White House bathtub and needing to be helped out by several aides isn’t true. In fact, the myth didn’t even surface until Taft’s longtime usher Irwin Hoover published his dishy 1934 memoir, 42 Years in the White House. According to Dead Presidents author Brady Carlson, “The funny part is that while Taft was president, the White House got a tub that was so big a president couldn’t possibly get stuck in it.” There’s even a photo of the 7-foot-long, 41-inch-wide tub, which literally weighed a ton.

Traffic lights were invented before stop signs.

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Early traffic light, 1868
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Author Darren Orf

November 8, 2023

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Although modern traffic lights are inextricably linked with the automobile, the world’s first traffic light existed nearly 20 years before German inventor Karl Benz patented the first modern car. On December 9, 1868, a 20-foot-tall traffic light was installed at the intersection of Bridge Street and Great George Street outside the Palace of Westminster in London, as a way to control the flow of carriage and pedestrian traffic. An adaptation of the signaling system used by railroads, the light used pivoting “arms” (known as semaphore arms) to communicate “stop” and “go” during the day, and gas-powered red and green lights at night. (Unfortunately, relying on gas proved to be a serious problem when the traffic light exploded less than a month later.) 

Surprisingly, this complex signaling system predated the idea of a simple stop sign by nearly 30 years. Stop signs originated in response to appeals for some sort of safety signage to tame the chaotic streets of early 20th-century America, which lacked speed limits, directional signs, or any traffic laws. In the year 1900,  New York businessman William Phelps Eno (considered the father of U.S. traffic law, though he never drove a car himself) wrote an article suggesting stop signs be placed at intersections. It took another 15 years, but the first stop signs were installed in Detroit, Michigan — the heart of the U.S. automotive industry — and the idea was soon exported to the rest of the country and around the world. 

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Stop signs were originally black-and-white squares.

Although red octagonal stop signs are a fixture of today’s roads, the stop sign has undergone a few changes over the years. Early stop signs in Detroit were 2-foot square pieces of sheet metal with black lettering on a white background. The first official signs to use the iconic octagonal shape arrived years later in 1923, courtesy of the Mississippi Valley Association of State Highway Departments, which decided that the number of sides on a sign should convey the level of danger. Eight was the second-highest danger level. The highest is the circle, which technically has infinite sides, and is used for railroad crossings in the U.S. 

Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates.

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Julius Caesar captured by pirates
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Author Timothy Ott

December 12, 2024

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Before he emerged as a military hero and the envy of Roman senators who feared his popular reach, Julius Caesar demonstrated his ability to manipulate minds during a reported encounter with pirates around 75 BCE.

Although the tale varies based on the historian who relayed it, the general outline holds that Caesar was captured off the coast of modern-day Turkey. According to Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, the young nobleman laughed when he heard that his ransom was set at a mere 20 talents of silver (a huge sum of money, possibly worth millions today) and suggested it be raised to the more appropriate sum of 50 talents. After sending his men to fetch the money, Caesar proceeded to boss around his captors: He forced them to listen to his poems and speeches, calling them illiterate savages when they didn’t approve; ordered them to keep quiet when he tried to sleep; and brazenly announced that they would all be executed once he was free. 

Released when the ransom arrived after 38 days, Caesar proceeded to the nearby port of Miletus (an ancient Greek city in modern Turkey), raised a fleet, and hunted down the pirates. When the governor of Asia wavered over the fate of the imprisoned men, Caesar took charge of the situation and had them all crucified.

Given that the story may well have originated with Caesar himself, one could be forgiven for finding the details of this seafaring adventure a little fishy. Nevertheless, it fits in well within the biographical narrative of a powerful man who wrested control of a war-torn republic and helped usher its transition to the Roman Empire.

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Caesar was allegedly not a talented poet.

Those “illiterate” pirates may have been on to something when they rejected Caesar's poetic efforts. Although the Roman dictator is credited with composing several verses during his life, including a poem dedicated to Hercules and another describing a journey to Spain, only a few lines from his oeuvre survive today. This is partly due to the failure of medieval monks to copy what they considered to be minor documents, but also due to deliberate censorship by Caesar's esteemed successor. As explained by the historian Suetonius, some of Caesar's early works were set for posthumous publication, until Emperor Augustus abruptly squashed the idea. That was just as well, according to the historian Tacitus, who asserted that Caesar's overall reputation benefited from the lack of access to his poetry.

The Voynich manuscript is a 15th-century codex that has never been deciphered.

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Voynich manuscript page
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Author Michael Nordine

November 1, 2023

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Next time you’re having trouble on Duolingo, just be grateful you’re learning a language that people can actually understand. Those who’ve attempted to study the Voynich manuscript — a 15th-century codex that has yet to be deciphered — aren’t so lucky. Often referred to as the world’s most mysterious book, it’s been puzzling scholars for centuries. No one knows who wrote it, exactly when or where it was written, or even what language it’s in. The enigmatic tome only has an agreed-upon name thanks to Wilfrid Voynich, the Polish American bookseller who acquired it more than a century ago.

In addition to a mix of Latin letters, unknown characters, and Arabic numbers, the manuscript features fanciful drawings on nearly every page. Many of them are botanical in nature, as though the author were composing a field guide to fictional plants, while others are astrological. There are even illustrations of dragons. Some believe it to be a work of cryptography, others consider it a hoax, and still others think it’s a work of fiction. As recently as 2020, an Egyptologist claimed he had cracked the code by concluding that the manuscript is written in a Semitic language based on Hebrew. A true consensus has yet to emerge, however, and probably won’t anytime soon. The Voynich manuscript has been part of Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library since 1969 and is now available to view in its entirety by anyone hoping to solve its mysteries.

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"Frankenstein" was originally published anonymously.

The literary world didn’t exactly welcome female authors with open arms in the early 19th century, and Mary Shelley wasn’t alone in leaving her name off of her influential work, including her 1818 novel Frankenstein, which was initially published anonymously. Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility was also published anonymously seven years earlier, and writers such as Ann Radcliffe, Frances Burney, and Maria Edgeworth did likewise with their early work. Many believed that Mary Shelley’s husband Percy Shelley was the author of Frankenstein, a falsehood she had to correct many times. Her name appeared on the second edition of Frankenstein, subtitled The Modern Prometheus, in 1821.

By 1944, 40% of U.S. produce came from victory gardens.

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Victory garden, 1943
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Author Rachel Gresh

November 2, 2023

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In the spring of 1942, a new problem was emerging in wartime America: food shortages. Most commercial crops were sent overseas to the troops, and anything left over couldn’t be distributed to civilians around the country due to wartime supply chain complications. Food rationing was implemented to remedy the situation, but it did little to curb the hunger pangs of millions of Americans, who turned to a food production plan that had emerged decades earlier during World War I. In March 1917, the National War Garden Commission encouraged private citizens to “sow the seeds of victory” and grow produce to feed people at home and abroad. School grounds, vacant lots, and backyards were transformed into bountiful gardens, which became known as “victory gardens.” 

Victory gardens came back bigger and better than ever during WWII, succeeding thanks to the cooperation of schools, government agencies, businesses, and private civilians. The movement was heavily promoted by the government through propaganda posters and messages, and although victory gardens weren’t mandated, many Americans embraced the idea as a patriotic duty. It didn’t take long for millions of victory gardens to sprout up around the country, producing bushels of carrots, kale, lettuce, beans, cabbage, and other veggies. The gardens came in all shapes and sizes, from tiny window boxes to grow a few tomato plants to large community plots that could feed several families — every bit helped. By 1944, a year before the end of the war, an estimated 20 million victory gardens had produced around 8 million tons of food for U.S. troops and civilians. Even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt planted one right on the White House lawn. 

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Sugar was the first food to be rationed in America during WWII.

Food rationing in the U.S. began in May 1942 with sugar. America’s supply was depleted by the war, as Japan and Germany attacked major sugar exports. Sugar was followed by coffee in November 1942, and then by a myriad of foods including meats, fats, canned fish, cheese, and canned milk. Soon, tips for “stretching” ration points were printed in newspapers and distributed nationwide. Even restaurants implemented “meatless days,” and black market trading for meat began. Recipes for meat substitutes including nuts, cheeses, and eggs cropped up everywhere. Around this time, boxed dinners such as Kraft’s macaroni and cheese exploded in popularity — parents could feed their entire family for only a few ration points. As the war came to an end in 1945, sugar was the only food product that was still being rationed (at just 4.5 ounces per person per week). Nearly two years later, in June 1947, Americans could finally bake again as sugar restrictions were lifted. 

President Harry S. Truman was forced to vacate the White House for years.

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White house front view
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Author Bennett Kleinman

October 31, 2023

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In November 1948, President Harry S. Truman and his family were forced to vacate the White House regarding concerns over the building’s structural integrity. Truman had moved into the White House after taking office in 1945, but a series of incidents — including one in which the leg of his daughter’s piano fell through the floor — affirmed that the residence required extensive renovations. A dissatisfied Truman called repairs from Theodore Roosevelt’s administration a “botch job.” Analysts also suggested that the building deteriorated during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s time in office, as the Great Depression and World War II forced FDR to reallocate vital resources away from much-needed repairs.

The Truman family moved into nearby Blair House, a building purchased by the federal government in 1942 to serve as the President’s official guest residence. Though Truman wasn’t pleased with the displacement, he also wasn’t in a rush to return to an unsafe building. The president authorized an extensive renovation that lasted from 1948 until 1952, during which deeper foundations were dug and a steel frame skeleton was added to the White House’s interior. Nearly the entire building was renovated; a balcony installed by Truman in early 1948 was one of the few elements left untouched. After lengthy delays, Truman moved back into the White House in March 1952, and spent the final 10 months of his presidency there.

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Truman is one of seven incumbent presidents who didn’t run for reelection.

While the majority of incumbents seek reelection, seven presidents opted not to pursue a second term: James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Polk declined to run in 1848, claiming to have accomplished his major goals in just four years. Buchanan’s popularity plummeted leading up to the Civil War, and he realized he wasn’t a viable candidate for reelection in 1860. Hayes opted against running in 1880 having previously vowed to serve only one term. Teddy Roosevelt initially chose not to run as an incumbent in 1908, but returned as a third-party candidate in 1912. Coolidge — who became president upon the death of Warren G. Harding — declined reelection in 1928, saying, “Ten years… is too long for a President in this country.” Truman chose not to run in 1952, believing the country was due for a fresh start. Lastly, LBJ dropped out of the race in 1968, as his popularity declined amid the Vietnam War.

Boxing Day is named for gift-giving — not the sport.

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Donation box full of products
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Author Timothy Ott

December 10, 2024

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Celebrated on December 26, Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom and several British Commonwealth countries including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. And while its participants may feel like going a few rounds with the relatives who gave them yet another pair of Christmas socks, the holiday has more to do with the season’s spirit of generosity than the hard-hitting sport.

Although the Oxford English Dictionary traces the first published mention of the term “Boxing Day” to 1743, the acts associated with the day are significantly older, and stem from murky origins. One popular theory is that the holiday grew from the tradition of distributing the donations collected in church alms boxes to the poor on December 26, a date historically celebrated as St. Stephen’s Day (or the Feast of St. Stephen) in honor of the charitable Christian martyr. Another widely cited belief is that members of the upper class once filled Christmas boxes with food, money, and small gifts and gave them to the household staff to enjoy on December 26, a well-deserved day off after spending Christmas Day in servitude.

While the charitable elements of the holiday have largely faded, Boxing Day still offers its share of modern traditions. Though its origins aren’t sporty in nature, the day off is considered a good time to enjoy sports, both for the energetic folk who seek to work off their Christmas dinners and the contentedly relaxed who want to tune in to a full slate of soccer games on television. Additionally, Boxing Day has emerged as a big retail day in the mold of Black Friday, which means the opportunity to snag a few more end-of-year savings, as well as the chance to return those unwanted socks as quickly as possible.

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One of pro boxing's most famous matches took place on Boxing Day.

More than half a century before Muhammad Ali became "the Greatest" for his power and showmanship in the ring, Jack Johnson was displaying similar attributes as one of professional boxing's most formidable figures. The difference was that while Ali faced racism in his time, Johnson was flat-out denied the opportunity to compete for the world heavyweight championship because he was Black. That finally changed when reigning champ Tommy Burns accepted the $30,000 offer from Australian promoter Hugh D. McIntosh to fight Johnson, setting the stage for the highly anticipated showdown in Sydney on Boxing Day 1908. Ostensibly a match between two premier participants, the event was far too one-sided in Johnson's favor to be considered a fair fight. Although police eventually jumped into the ring to ward off the spectacle of the white boxer getting knocked out, there was no stopping the cultural impact of Johnson becoming the sport's first Black heavyweight champion.

World War I soldiers paused fighting on Christmas to celebrate together.

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British and German soldiers conversing
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Author Nicole Villeneuve

December 10, 2024

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Peace on Earth is a common wish during the Christmas season, and for a short time during World War I, it actually came true. In December 1914, Allied and German troops had been mired in the brutal conditions of trench warfare on the Western Front for months. Pope Benedict XV had tried and failed to facilitate a temporary Christmas ceasefire, and morale on the front lines was low. Then, on Christmas Eve, an odd sound rang out across the battlefield: German soldiers were singing carols. British soldiers sang back, and soon, men from both sides cautiously ventured into the no-man’s-land between their lines. 

Although spontaneous, it was a ceasefire after all. What followed between the soldiers was nothing short of extraordinary: They exchanged handshakes, wine, cigarettes, and laughs. Records including soldiers’ diaries and letters also describe fir trees glowing with candles lining German trenches; other accounts describe impromptu games of a ball being kicked around, although it’s likely that tales of full-fledged soccer games between enemy soldiers have been exaggerated over time. 

The truce, though widespread, wasn’t universal: It’s estimated that about two-thirds of the stationed troops, or around 100,000 people, participated, and commanders on both sides ultimately discouraged the fraternization, worried it would undermine the war effort. It didn’t last all that long, either. In some areas, the fighting resumed by Christmas night; in others, the spontaneous spirit of peace stretched into the following days. 

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The song “Silent Night” was inspired by the Napoleonic Wars.

It’s one of the most beloved Christmas carols, but it turns out that “Silent Night” was originally a poem about peace written after the Napoleonic Wars. The year was 1816, and Joseph Mohr, a young priest living in the small Austrian village of Mariapfarr, penned the hopeful verses during a time of quiet reflection after the conflict had ravaged his country. Two years later, Mohr and church organist Franz Xaver Gruber performed the poem to music for the first time at a Christmas Eve church service in Oberndorf, Austria. The song, called “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” in its native German, was translated into English in the late 1850s. Interpretations of only three of the original song’s six verses are used in today’s version, which also has a different melody from the original. The simple tune went on to become an indispensable Christmas song, with a version recorded by Bing Crosby selling more than 30 million copies.

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