The Castle Bravo nuclear test marked a new chapter in the Cold War. But for the crew of a Japanese fishing vessel, the impact proved fatal. Their story introduced the world to "fallout" and reshaped conversations about nuclear weapons and their human cost. Read the latest from Distillations ⬇️

Atomic Tuna

An ill-fated fishing voyage pulls back the curtain on U.S. nuclear testing in the Pacific.

sciencehistory.org

From ancient “firecrackers” to July 4th displays, fireworks always bring us together. Next Friday, 7/17, join us for a free screening of Passfire – a 2016 documentary on the global story of fireworks – with an introduction by the director and a post-film Q&A session. Register for free online! ⬇️

Film Screening: Passfire

This original documentary by Veverka Bros. explores the world's most spectacular pyrotechnics, the artisans who create them, and the rich cultural traditions they represent.

sciencehistory.org

In July 1976, as Philadelphia celebrated the U.S. bicentennial, a deadly outbreak left 34 people dead and baffled investigators. Fifty years later, with new Legionnaires' disease cases making headlines, Sarah Everts revisits the 1976 outbreak and the race to identify its cause. #DistillationsMag

The Philly Killer at 50

Legionnaires’ disease is more prevalent than ever. So how did we forget it?

sciencehistory.org

Happy 100th birthday to the Ben Franklin Bridge! One of my favorite #Philly memories was walking across it w/a group of @sciencehistory.org fellows en route to a Camden Riversharks game. (1926 aerial photo HT @hagleycenter.bsky.social: digital.hagley.org/1970200_0154...) #Philadelphia #histSTM 🗃️📜

Forensic ecology—using pollen, leaves, and other plant-based evidence in criminal investigations—is a common feature of cop shows and true-crime podcasts. In reality, it's a powerful, but rarely used skill. Why is that? ⁠ Journalist Ute Eberle investigates.⁠ ⁠ www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...

Floral Arraignment

Plants can be a potent crime-solving tools. So why are they used so rarely? Discover the history of forensic ecology.

sciencehistory.org

Registration is now open for our summer symposium, “The Global History of Modern Science, 1400-1914” Join us at @sciencehistory.org in Philadelphia on August 6 & 7 to discuss how modern science has been shaped through global cultural exchange! www.sciencehistory.org/cainconference

The Global History of Modern Science, 1400–1914

The 2026 Cain Conference will address the major issues involved in understanding how modern science has been created through a process of global cultural exchange.

sciencehistory.org

Looking forward to talking about soap and alchemy today at @sciencehistory.org for Alumni Day. Giving a flask talk about how the Philosopher’s Stone might be sitting by your kitchen sink. Can’t wait to meet the other Fellows (and new collections). books.rsc.org/books/monogr...

Sandalwood has been prized for millennia, but empire, industry, and scarcity turned it into an illicit commodity. In this #Distillations story, former fellow Nikhil Dharan traces how sandalwood smuggling became a crime at the intersection of resources, politics, law, and industry. Read it here ⬇️

The Soapy Origins of a Sandalwood Smuggler

A war between police and a notorious outlaw riveted South India for more than a decade. At the conflict’s roots was a centuries-old saga of scarcity and control.

sciencehistory.org

📚️ #NationalLibraryWeek is quickly approaching! Celebrate with us on April 22, as we host our annual Othmer Library After Hours. See rare and modern treasures, support the library by adopting a collection item, enjoy our annual book-themed cake, and take home a souvenir!⁠ 🎟️ Register for FREE ⬇️

Othmer Library After Hours

Join us for our annual library open house in honor of National Library Week!

sciencehistory.org

Can oats be controversial? Can porridge be political? Or dangerous? Do the choices in the grains you eat betray your character? Yes, and they have for millennia. ⁠ ⁠ Read the latest story from #Distillations magazine, Fitter for a Stable Than a Table, written by @helenaaeberli.bsky.social ⬇️

Fitter for a Stable Than a Table

A potted history of porridge.

sciencehistory.org

A festival in Old City on Saturday will commemorate the creation of the matchbook in 1892 by Philly attorney Joshua Pusey. “He was a big cigar smoker, and he was really frustrated with existing match technology,” said Jesse Smith, museum director @sciencehistory.org. billypenn.com/2026/03/18/m...

Philly's America250 celebrations honor local cigar smoker who invented matchbooks

A festival in Old City on Saturday remembers Joshua Pusey’s historic innovation with storytelling and family activities.

billypenn.com

"We're Going to Work Miracles" Read Edward Teller's 1960 essay on Project Plowshare on @archive.org: archive.org/details/Popu... (Or read this blog post by @sciencehistory.org's Patrick Shea: www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...) #histSTM #histsci #ColdWAr

Join us on Thursday, 3/19, for a free, thought-provoking talk with Sarah S. Richardson as she explores the hidden history of beliefs about pregnancy and children’s health. 🟣 Register here: www.sciencehistory.org/maternalimprint

The Maternal Imprint

This Women's History Month, join us for a thought provoking presentation by leading gender and science scholar Sarah S. Richardson.

sciencehistory.org

This #WomensHistoryMonth, explore powerful historic images and stories of women in science in our digital collections. From labs to fieldwork, women's contributions to science and history have sparked innovation, challenged assumptions, and opened doors for future generations. ⬇️ rb.gy/v7ytpj

🧨 An explosive new exhibition is coming to Old City! Opening April 10, 💥 Flash! Bang! Boom! A History of Fireworks explores the chemistry, craft, and global stories behind dazzling displays. Join us for a FREE opening celebration on, April 10, 5–8pm. Visit sciencehistory.org/fireworks for more info!

Flash! Bang! Boom! A History of Fireworks

Opening April 10, 2026, this exhibition celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

sciencehistory.org

Science History Institute will open "Flash! Bang! Boom!" this spring with rare books, art and the chemistry behind pyrotechnics. 🔗 Read more: bit.ly/3NCwgdZ

This month I feature @roguechieftan.bsky.social, @sciencehistory.org, @thewalrus.ca, @whitehorsepress.bsky.social, @carsoncenter.bsky.social, @sarahjaquetteray.bsky.social, @edgeeffectsmag.bsky.social, and more! #envhist

NiCHE Canada@nichecanada.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Our editor-in-chief, @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social, is back with her picks for environmental history worth reading from December!! niche-canada.org/2026/01/13/e... #envhist #envhum

Long before railroads stitched continents together, mules and their Afro-Indigenous arrieros moved silver, sugar, cotton, and environmental knowledge across borders. In Distillations, @roguechieftan.bsky.social traces the mule as a tool of empire and a symbol of Black and Indigenous resistance. ⬇️

Mule Power

Unpacking empires and diaspora in Mexico and the United States.

sciencehistory.org

🪲 Cochineal, tiny insects that live on prickly pear cacti, powered a global red dye trade and transformed European fashion. The Spanish Crown built a monopoly for control of its production, but Tlaxcalteca growers weren't giving in without a fight. Read more in our latest Distillations story. ⬇️

Red the World Over

How a tiny cactus parasite called cochineal became one of the Spanish Empire’s most lucrative commodities.

sciencehistory.org

Today, we honor George Washington Carver, whose pioneering research in crop rotation and sustainable farming transformed American agriculture and helped shape modern environmental science. 🥜 🌱 Shown here: Philatelic First Day Cover honoring Carver, issued on January 5, 1948.

First Day Cover honoring George Washington Carver

Philatelic First Day Cover honoring American agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver (1864?-1943). The envelope features an illustrated rendering of Carver and the Tuskegee Instit...

digital.sciencehistory.org

En estos días en los que el juego y la infancia cobran especial protagonismo, cabe recordar esta fantástica exposición virtual del @sciencehistory.org sobre la historia de los sets de química para niños y niñas: artsandculture.google.com/story/scienc...

Applications for 2026-27 fellowships at @sciencehistory.org are still open until Jan 15, with recommendations due Jan 31! ⏰📚 Could your research benefit from time in our archives, rare books, instruments, and other collections? Find info about our fellowships and our guide for applicants here!

Science History Institute Fellowships

The Institute is home to the largest private fellowship program in the historical study of science, medicine, and technology in the United States.

sciencehistory.org

In Ecuador’s Los Cedros cloud forest, activists used the country’s constitutional “rights of nature” law to stop mining. A landmark 2021 ruling protected the forest—but the fight isn’t over. Read the latest #Distillations story from @scribblingsam.bsky.social here ⬇️

Good Living

Does nature have rights? In 2008, Ecuador said yes. Doing so forced a reckoning with the country’s mining past.

sciencehistory.org

Henry Moseley, the English physicist whose X-ray spectroscopy experiments led to a reorganization of the #PeriodicTable, was born #OnThisDay in 1887. He later died in the Battle of Gallipoli. More via @sciencehistory.org: www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga... #histSTM #physics #chemistry #WWI 🗃️📜

In the 1970s, paramedic units were illegal in the United States. One (very bad) television show, Emergency!, set out to change that—and saved tens of thousands of lives in the process. Episode below! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... @sciencehistory.org sciencehistory.org/stories/disa...

A 1700s book on color experiments reveals a vibrant magenta stain, likely from cochineal dye. Modern dyers confirm cochineal-alum makes a similar magenta. Read our latest Collections Blog post, as this stain tells the story of how New World ingredients transformed Old World dyes. ⬇️

A Stain Worth a Thousand Words

New World ingredients in Old World dyes.

sciencehistory.org

Judith Kaplan's case study focuses on Science in American Life, an exhibit that opened in 1994 at the National Museum of American History. As she notes, the exhibit's stakeholders (e.g., curators, donors, the public) had different goals--commemoration, historical educ., sci. literacy, etc. #HSS2025

Smith uses @sciencehistory.org's upcoming exhibit on fireworks (Flash! Bang! Boom!) to highlight many themes familiar to historians of science (e.g., links b/w military & civilian tech; advances in mat. sci & mfg., the creation of safety standards) www.sciencehistory.org/visit/exhibi... #HSS2025 🎆

He was a brilliant ornithologist—and a spy so colorful that James Bond was based on him. Richard Meinertzhagen was also a liar and a thief, and perpetrated the biggest fraud in biology history. Episode below! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... @sciencehistory.org sciencehistory.org/stories/disa...

Glad to publish with @shacorg.bsky.social on the Chinese American Chemical Society and science diplomacy in the 1970s-80s Very grateful for the generous financial & research support of @sciencehistory.org www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

“To Be Mindful of Their Sensitivities:” The Chinese American Chemical Society and the Scientific Diaspora

This paper investigates the Chinese American Chemical Society (CACS) as an organisation of the scientific diaspora at the end of the Cold War. Established in 1981 by mostly first-generation immigra...

tandfonline.com