Kat Eschner

 

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

Mary Leakey and her husband Louis in 1962.

Mary Leakey’s Husband (Sort of) Took Credit For Her Groundbreaking Work On Humanity’s Origins

Leakey and her husband, Louis Leakey, were a paleoanthropology power couple

Rachel Carson in 1962.

Rachel Carson Wrote Silent Spring (Partly) Because of the Author of Stuart Little

The book was a turning point for the environmental movement

Appert devised the canning process using that old standby, trial-and-error.

The Father of Canning Knew His Process Worked, But Not Why It Worked

Nicolas Appert was trying to win a hefty prize offered by the French army

A man administers a security screening at the Clinton Engineer Works, part of the Manhattan Project.

Lie Detectors Don’t Work as Advertised and They Never Did

Barred from use in U.S. court, lie detectors are still used today in other parts of the legal system

The President, one of only three Inner Circle members who are allowed to handle Punxsutawney Phil, holds him aloft during ceremonies in 2013.

Meet the Inner Circle That Runs Groundhog Day

They've been holding the ceremony in Gobbler’s Knob every year since 1887

Leila Denmark practiced medicine until age 103 and lived to 114.

One of America’s First Female Pediatricians Saved Lives for 74 Years

Dr. Leila Denmark lived to be 114, and practiced medicine for three quarters of a century

A 1925 pastel portrait of Hughes that belongs to the Smithsonian.

How Langston Hughes’s Dreams Inspired MLK’s

Langston Hughes wrote about dreams at a time when racism meant that black people’s dreams were silenced

Part of a 1949 ad for Scotch tape, which was billed as a "thrifty" way to make repairs around the home.

Scotch Tape Can Create X-Rays, and More You Didn't Know About The Sticky Stuff

People have used it to repair everything from curtains to ceilings

Balloon prints like this one, of the Great Nassau “enable us to share some sense of the excitement that gripped those watching their fellow beings rise into the sky for the first time,” writes Tom D. Crouch of the National Air and Space Museum.

A Picture History of One of the World’s Greatest Hot Air Balloons

Designed by Charles Green, the Great Nassau was big enough to capture the imaginations of an entire country

Douglas Engelbart rehearsing for his 1968 computer demo.

In One 1968 Presentation, This Inventor Shaped Modern Computing

Douglas Engelbart’s career was about seeing the possibilities of what computing could do for humanity

There are few images of the top-secret map room. This one, taken at the end of WWII, shows Army Chief Warrant Officer Albert Cornelius standing before a map of Europe.

Take a Rare Look Inside FDR’s WWII Information Center: The Map Room

Long before Google Earth, this was how the president saw the world

Hyman G. Rickover created the U.S. Navy's nuclear program, but remained ambivalent about it throughout his life

Happy(?) Birthday to the Father of the Nuclear Navy

Hyman G. Rickover pushed to nuclearize the Navy's submarines, but admitted he’d rather ‘sink them all’ to protect humanity

An illustration from "Bessie, Queen of the Sky," a forthcoming children's book about Bessie Coleman.

The 'Queen of the Sky' Is Finally Getting Her Due

On her birthday, we're remembering Bessie Coleman's incredible achievements

Fred Marriott in his modified Stanley Steamer, the Rocket, shortly before he broke the land-speed record.

Why Did People Think Steam-Powered Cars Were a Good Idea?

In the early days, steam cars were as common as gas ones. Why aren’t we driving them today?

A portrait of Dan Rice circa 1840.

This Famous American Clown Was (Probably) a Model for Uncle Sam

Dan Rice was the John Oliver of the mid-nineteenth century

"Gung Haggis Fat Choy" may be the only celebration that combines both traditional Robert Burns Night festivities, including bagpiping, with a celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy: This Canadian Celebration Combines Robert Burns Night and Chinese New Year

Started by "Toddish McWong" in 1998, the annual dinner has grown and grown

The final title card for Guiding Light.

TV's Longest-Running Soap Opera Was First Broadcast 80 Years Ago

Guiding Light had over 15,700 episodes between radio and television

An undated box that originally held Eskimo Fudge Pies.

The Weird, Brief History of the Eskimo Pie Corporation

It was America’s first chocolate-covered ice cream bar, patented on this day in 1922

Paul Robeson, photographed by Alfredo Valente in 1940.

Remembering Paul Robeson, Actor, Sportsman and Leader

Among other things, Robeson transformed one of history’s most famous showtunes into a protest song

Watercolor painting of the Battle of Texel by painter Léon Morel-Fatio.

The Only Time in History When Men on Horseback Captured a Fleet of Ships

A Dutch fleet stuck in the ice. A group of French soldiers sent to capture it. What could go wrong?

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