Kat Eschner

 

Kat Eschner is a freelance science and culture journalist based in Toronto.

A field hospital in Virginia, photographed in 1862, shows the grim conditions during the Civil War.

Fearing a Smallpox Epidemic, Civil War Troops Tried to Self-Vaccinate

People knew that inoculation could prevent you from catching smallpox. It was how Civil War soldiers did it that caused problems

By 1948, when this photo montage was made, Times Square was a riot of lights and special effects. Many of these lighted signs were the work of Douglas Leigh.

Times Square's Glitzy Look was One Man's Bright Idea

Douglas Leigh's ability to imagine new kinds of advertising shaped the signs of the city

The Mississippi was in its high season, and the water was fast and cold.

This Civil War Boat Explosion Killed More People Than the 'Titanic'

The 'Sultana' was only legally allowed to carry 376 people. When its boilers exploded, it was carrying 2,300

"The first ascent of the Matterhorn," by Gustave Dore, who was not actually there.

The Tragic Story of the First Ascent of the Matterhorn

Edward Whymper had tried seven times to reach the top of the Matterhorn. He made it on the eighth try–at great cost

The Sybil Ludington commemorative stamp was issued by USPS in 1975.

Was There Really a Teenage, Female Paul Revere?

Sybil Ludington has been honored for her contributions to the American Revolution, but there's little to indicate they were real

An artist's rendering of a meteor passing over the British Isles in 1783. Unlike the L'Aigle meteor a few decades later, the meteorites from this event were not witnessed falling to the ground, and thus meteorites remained a scientific mystery for another 20 years.

Scientists Didn't Believe in Meteorites Until 1803

The l'Aigle meteorite fall involved more than 3,000 pieces of rock and numerous witnesses, and it changed everything

An artist's rendering of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Meet the Successor to Hubble That Will Peer Through Time

NASA’s next giant space telescope is due to launch next year

An early oil well.

A Civil War Colonel Invented Fracking in the 1860s

His first invention was an 'oil well torpedo,' but it was followed by others

This map of London shows it around the time of John Gaunt's work.

People Have Been Using Big Data Since the 1600s

A humble hatmaker was among the first to compile data on how Londoners lived—and died

High school: difficult to live through, harder to get right in writing.

'The Outsiders' Was Groundbreaking, But It Didn't Create YA Fiction

Many have claimed that “young adult” fiction didn’t exist before S.E. Hinton wrote her cult classic–but it did, sort of

A whooping crane in flight in Texas.

The Hopeful Mid-Century Conservation Story of the (Still Endangered) Whooping Crane

There were just 15 whooping cranes left in 1952. Today there are around 600

The bustle replaced the crinoline as women's underpinnings of choice in the 19th century.

Although Less Deadly Than Crinolines, Bustles Were Still a Pain in the Behind

“The woman with a bustle can never sit down in a natural position,” one 1880s doctor wrote

Though there were two different buildings called the "White House of the Confederacy," the White House–pictured here in 1905–has always remained the White House.

A Tale of Two White Houses

The Confederacy had its own White House—two, actually

The "Albany Fire Protectors" seen in this undated, probably late-19th century photograph, might have used a fire pole.

Fire Poles Saved Time, But They Also Injured Firefighters

Many fire departments across the country have phased out the pole

Billie Holiday sung 'Strange Fruit' throughout her career after first performing the song in 1939.

Billie Holiday’s Label Wouldn’t Touch 'Strange Fruit'

The emotive song about lynching in the American South is both a classic and a warning

This illustration from The Murders in the Rue Morgue portrays Dupin, the first literary 'genius detective,' questioning a suspect.

Without Edgar Allan Poe, We Wouldn't Have Sherlock Holmes

C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's main character, was the first genius detective

John Adams's official presidential portrait, painted circa 1792 by John Turnbull.

John Adams Was the United States’ First Ambassador as Well as Its Second President

Adams's house in the Hague was the first-ever U.S. Embassy

Paul Revere gets all the credit, but he had a little help from his friends.

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and Some Other Guys

The midnight ride wasn’t so much a solo operation as it was a relay

A souvenir program from the 1925 Woman's World's Fair in Chicago.

A Look Back at the 1925 Woman’s World Fair

After the success of the Chicago World's Fair, women made their own event

In 19th century England, women often had fewer legal protections than animals, even in cases involving murder.

“Are Women Animals?” Asked One 19th-Century Letter Writer

If women couldn't have the rights of full human beings, "An Earnest Englishwoman" asked, could they at least have as many legal protections as animals?

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