Secret histories of your desk drawer
The global shower
Secrets of the wardrobe
The physics of the kitchen
misslily Sort common kitchen items to discover the surprising history of objects you use daily.
misslily Forks evolved from ancient Greek and Chinese cooking tools into tenth-century Byzantine dining utensils, sparking eleventh-century religious outrage in Venice.
Why did 11th-century European clergy condemn the use of forks at the dining table?
Which empire is credited with first popularizing the multi-pronged fork as a table utensil for dining?
misslily Firewood shortages in 400 AD forced cooks to chop food, popularizing chopsticks.
What historical pressure in 400 AD led Chinese cooks to cut food into bite-sized pieces, popularizing chopsticks for eating?
What was the original purpose of chopsticks when they were invented in China around 1200 BC?
Giant microwave: The first commercial microwave oven in 1947 was six feet tall, weighed 750 pounds, and cost five thousand dollars.
What military technology was Percy Spencer testing when he accidentally discovered microwave cooking?
What was the very first food that Percy Spencer intentionally cooked using microwave radiation?