SciShow
Stonehenge Isn't A Henge (And Other Things You Didn't Know)
New ReviewYou've heard of Stonehenge. It's that big rock circle over in England. But there's a lot more to it than that, and researchers have been studying it for centuries. From the people who lived near it to how and when it was made, here are...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why did people wear powdered wigs? | Stephanie Honchell Smith
Wigs date at least as far back as ancient Egypt, where well-regarded hairdressers crafted them into intricate styles. And under certain ancient Roman dynasties, women’s wigs became particularly ornate. Yet it wasn’t until Louis XIII...
MinutePhysics
Ye Olde Debunking
Have you ever wondered where "Ye Olde" spelling comes from? Today we unravel this thorny linguistic issue.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why don't "tough" and "dough" rhyme? | Arika Okrent
Spelling reformers have been advocating for changes to make English spelling more intuitive and less irregular. One example of its messiness: take the “g-h” sound from “enough,” the “o” sound from “women” and the “t-i” sound from...
PBS
These Fossils Were Supposed To Be Impossible
Hidden in rocks once thought too old to contain complex life we may have found the animal kingdom’s oldest known predator.
SciShow
Did We Find Longitude Thanks To A...Clock?
The equator is a clear and accurate line around Earth that makes measuring latitude a precise science, but when it came to figuring out how to do that with longitude, British sailors were at a loss. Until they devised a competition....
SciShow
Why There's a Straight Line Through Scotland
If you take a look at a map of Scotland, you'll notice an eerily straight line running through the highlands, this is the Great Glen Fault the product of half a billion years of time and geology.
Crash Course
Synge, Wilde, Shaw, and the Irish Renaissance: Crash Course Theater #36
The Irish Renaissance in the early 20th century included a wealth of new plays written both in Ireland, and by Irish ex-patriots elsewhere. W.B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory, and J.M. Synge were creating a new national theater of Ireland...
PBS
In Britain, Fears That Reopened Pubs Will Drive More Virus Spread
In Britain, pubs reopened over July 4th weekend after nearly three months of coronavirus lockdowns. Patrons expressed their desire to get out and socialize after the long period of isolation, and business owners took special precautions...
PBS
Why Brexit may be the best thing for Britain's fishing industry
The world was shocked when, in June, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Many believe the severance will negatively affect Britain's economy, but the fishing industry expects benefits -- including increased...
PBS
Author Robert McCrum Explains How English Has Taken Root Worldwide (Jul. 23, 2010)
"Globish" Author Robert McCrum explains why the English language went global and how it has become the first worldwide language.
Crash Course
Commerce, Agriculture, and Slavery: Crash Course European History
We've been talking a lot about kings, and queens, and wars, and religious upheaval for most of this series, but let's take a moment to zoom out, and look at the ways that individuals' lives were changing in the time span we've covered so...
Crash Course
Expansion and Consequences: Crash Course European History
European exploration had a lot of side effects. When the Old World and the New World began to interact, people, wealth, food, animals, and disease began to flow in both directions. In the New World, countless millions were killed by...
Crash Course
Of Pentameter & Bear Baiting - Romeo & Juliet Part I: Crash Course English Literature
In which John Green examines Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare. John delves into the world of Bill Shakespeare's famous star-crossed lovers and examines what the play is about, its structure, and the context in which it was written....
Crash Course
Reformation and Consequences: Crash Course European History
The Protestant Reformation didn't exactly begin with Martin Luther, and it didn't end with him either. Reformers and monarchs changed the ways that religious and state power were organized throughout the 16th and early 17th centuries....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History vs. Henry VIII - Mark Robinson and Alex Gendler
He was a powerful king whose break with the church of Rome would forever change the course of English history. But was he a charismatic reformer who freed his subjects from a corrupt establishment or a bullying tyrant who used Parliament...
Crash Course
Free Will, Witches, Murder, and Macbeth, Part 1: Crash Course Literature 409
The Sound! The Fury! Today, we're talking about Shakespeare's Scottish play, Macbeth. So, was Macbeth really predestined to do all the murdering and bad kinging and other terrible stuff? That's the big question in Macbeth, and it's one...
TED Talks
Margaret Heffernan: The human skills we need in an unpredictable world
The more we rely on technology to make us efficient, the fewer skills we have to confront the unexpected, says writer and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan. She shares why we need less tech and more messy human skills -- imagination,...
TED Talks
Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes
What should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into...
Crash Course
English Theater After Shakespeare: Crash Course Theater #17
This week on Crash Course Theater, Shakespeare is dead. Long live Shakespeare. Well, long live English theater, anyway. Actually, it's about to get banned. Anyway, we're discussing where English theater went post-1616. We'll talk about...
SciShow
Ecstasy in Rivers and The World's First Geological Map
SciShow News shares new research into how music festivals can lead to high levels of drugs in your drinking water, and celebrates the man who created the world’s first geological map.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How Phillis Wheatley captured the attention of the world | Charita Gainey
In 1775, General George Washington received a poem from one of colonial America's most famous writers. Its verses praised the burgeoning revolution, invoking the goddess of their new nation to aid the general's cause. But this ode to...