Flipboard 2025 World History

For thousands of years, humanity has chased a secret said to conquer death and perfect matter itself. Ancient myths and misunderstood texts became entangled over time. Tracing their origins exposes why the Philosopher’s Stone refuses to disappear, even in an era built on evidence and skepticism.

Sometimes history doesn’t get “discovered” so much as it gets tired of hiding. In Myanmar, a powerful earthquake cracked the ground open near an old royal landscape—and suddenly there were stairways, platforms, and brickwork where there used to be ordinary earth. Now researchers are asking a delicious question: did this accidental reveal just breathe new life into ancient mentions of a royal “water palace” that people have argued about for ages?

Discover the incredible archaeological discoveries at Fort Michilimackinac, where researchers uncovered over 40 structures revealing vivid details of 18th-century frontier life, trade, conflict, and daily survival in early American history.

Discover how archaeologists traced obsidian from 96 sites in Alberta to distant volcanic sources, revealing a prehistoric trade network that stretched over 750 miles across ancient Canada and reshaped our understanding of Indigenous connectivity.

Gold ornaments and pottery from ancient Baekje tombs reveal Korea’s early cultural brilliance, elite burial traditions, and far-reaching trade connections.

Discover the largest Assyrian winged bull ever found—a six-meter-tall lamassu unearthed in Iraq. Explore how this monumental sculpture reveals the power, artistry, and grandeur of ancient Mesopotamian palaces.

How life began on Earth is one of science’s biggest unanswered questions—or at least, that’s how it’s usually framed. In reality, there is an explanation most scientists broadly agree on. But what if that explanation is incomplete? One scientist, using real research and real data, has publicly argued exactly that. And he doesn’t stop there. He’s also put forward another possibility. Yes…aliens. And he isn’t the first scientist to say it either.

Archaeologists in southern Andalusia recently uncovered a massive stone tomb that dates back an astonishing 5,000 years. The structure, buried beneath layers of soil near the town of Teba, appears far more elaborate than most prehistoric graves found in the region.

For a long time, historians relied on Roman artwork and dramatic ancient texts to understand how wild animals were used in public spectacles. Bears, lions, and other predators appeared constantly in mosaics and writings—but there was always a lingering question about how literal those depictions really were. Were they exaggerated for effect, or did these events truly happen as described? A battered brown bear skull found in present-day Serbia has finally answered that question.

It began more than a century ago, deep within the ancient turquoise mines of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. There, faint carvings etched into the stone puzzled archaeologists for decades—symbols that seemed familiar, yet resisted translation.

Beneath a quiet stretch of Arctic land lies a scientific effort that pushed technology to its breaking point. The Kola Superdeep Borehole exposed unexpected heat and geological surprises that challenged decades of assumptions, leaving behind unanswered questions.

For a long time, the ancient Maya story followed a familiar script: powerful kings, stone monuments, and dynasties ruled almost entirely by men. Then archaeologists started carefully piecing together a badly eroded stone monument at the jungle-covered city of Cobá, and that script quietly fell apart. Hidden in fading hieroglyphs was the name of a woman who didn’t just exist alongside Maya power—she wielded it.