Curated playlist
French inventions
- PhotographyA man getting his boots polished in Paris in 1838 became the earliest confirmed person photographed.
- Metric systemThe metric system began with a priest in Lyon, France. Gabriel Mouton proposed it in the 1660s and 1670s.
- AnimationThe first animated feature film, made in 1917, is now lost. Quirino Cristiani's El Apostol was a hit.
- FilmTest audiences hated it when John Rambo died at the end of First Blood. The company re-shot it so he survives.
- Leblanc processThe inventor of the Leblanc process died in 1806 without the prize that inspired it. Nicolas Leblanc took his own life.
- Olympic GamesThe ancient Olympic Games began as a religious festival in Greece. The winner received only a wreath of sacred olive.
- CroquetteResearch in 2008 found that the Netherlands eats 350 million kroketten every year. Each one is a crisp breaded roll with a soft, thick filling hidden inside. The Dutch call it a kroket, Spanish speakers say croqueta, and in English it is a…
- PrologProlog lets programmers tell a computer what is true instead of what to do. It was born in 1972 in Luminy, France.
- Minié ballThe Minié ball, a hollow-based lead bullet, struck a Confederate private in the side of the head on the 12th of July 1864. He served with the 53rd North Carolina Infantry. His regiment was taking part in Jubal Early's raid on Washington,…
- MargarineMargarine, the spread sold as a stand-in for butter, once carried enough weight to become a bargaining chip in national politics. When Newfoundland negotiated its entry into the Canadian Confederation, one of its three non-negotiable…