Portrait of Benjamin Franklin by David Martin, 1767 (Photo: The White House Historical Association, via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain).

Among the Founding Fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin was unique: he was a polymath, finding prominence as a diplomat, printer, inventor, philosopher, and author during his lifetime. Even so, he failed math twice.

When he was eight years old, Franklin was enrolled in a Boston grammar school. By 1715, however, Franklin’s father withdrew him from his studies and instead sent him to a school specifically for learning writing and math. While there, Franklin claimed to have “acquired fair writing pretty soon, but I failed in arithmetic, and made no progress in it.”

What Franklin eventually turned to was Cocker’s Arithmetick. The book, published posthumously in 1678, compiled the notes of Edward Cocker, a London-based teacher. The lessons contained within ranged from addition and subtraction to multiplication and division, alongside sets of rules intended to be memorized by its students. It also covered economic subjects such as pre-decimal British currency and arithmetic for business use.

Modern readers are hardly eager to flip through a textbook, but Cocker’s Arithmetick was a household name during the 17th and 18th centuries. Given its affordable price—it cost one shilling—and portable size—it was about the size of a smartphone—the book became an instant bestseller. Within its first year of publication alone, it received a second and third impression.

Cocker’s Arithmetick gained such popularity that a new edition of the book was reissued nearly every year until the mid-18th century. It even inspired the phrase “according to Cocker,” meaning “quite correct.”

How, exactly, the British mainstay made its way into Franklin’s hands around 1722 is unclear, especially since he wouldn’t visit the country until 1724. Regardless, the textbook offered Franklin the crucial opportunity not only to improve but also to master his mathematical skills.

“Being on some occasion made ashamed of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school, I took Cocker’s book of arithmetic,” Franklin wrote in his autobiography. “[I] went through the whole by myself with great ease.”

Today, Franklin is remembered as one of America’s most ingenious figures, and his struggles with math are often either forgotten or simply not known. Still, his perseverance and ultimate triumph speak to the enterprising spirit that would come to define the country he helped found.

Despite being a renowned polymath and Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Franklin failed math twice while in school.

A scene from Benjamin Franklin's early life (Photo: Internet Archive, via Wikimedia Commons).

Franklin turned to the popular 17th-century textbook Cocker's Arithmetick, which was a household staple and immensely popular given its price and portability.

Cocker's Arithmetick (Photo: Internet Archive).

Cocker's Arithmetick distilled basic math, business arithmetic, and currency information and was reissued over 130 times.

Portrait of Edward Cocker by Richard Gaywood (Photo: National Portrait Gallery, via Wikimedia Commons).

Sources: Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Part One (written in 1771); “From a Child I Was Fond of Reading”: Benjamin Franklin Becomes a Printer; Edward Cocker: English mathematician; After Failing Math Twice, a Young Benjamin Franklin Turned to This Popular 17th-Century Textbook

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READ: Discover the Popular Textbook That Helped Benjamin Franklin Pass Math

Orson Welles in 1937. (Photo: Carl Van Vechten via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
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Over the last few weeks, some unusual sightings have taken over the news. Residents of New Jersey have become alarmed after seeing some flying objects at night. So far, authorities have confirmed these include drones, as well as manned aircraft, and they do not pose a a danger to the public. Still, these sightings have awakened people's imaginations, much like Orson Welles's War of the Worlds radio broadcast—which coincidentally also takes place in New Jersey—did over 80 years ago.

On October 30, 1938, to celebrate Halloween, the radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air presented an adaptation of H. G. Wells's 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, directed and narrated by Orson Welles. The first part was narrated in a “breaking news” style, causing listeners who had missed the introduction to think there was an actual Martian invasion taking place. More so, given the tense climate due to the Great Depression and the build-up to World War II, people believed it could be linked to the European political landscape or an environmental disaster. However, historians say the show was never really that popular, so not that many listeners were alarmed.

Even if the only elements in common between both events are the alien theme and the location, there is a fascinating parallel between the two. Undoubtedly, one is a work of fiction that sparked a certain degree of panic. The other is something people have seen and documented, but they don't really know what's behind them—whether it's aliens or foreign enemies of a dozen different nationalities. Ultimately, they both represent external stressors that may heighten how people perceive something they don't have all the answers for. Notably, the way our brain tries to fill the gap with the information at hand, many times carrying our values and beliefs into the equation.

“One of the lessons I think people can still take away from War of the Worlds,” shares A. Brad Schwartz, author of Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News, “is to think more carefully about our sources of information, especially with a story like this that seems alarming or feeds into the anxieties of the moment.”

Revisit Orson Welles's War of the Worlds 1938 radio broadcast below. Alien invasion or not, it's a great piece of entertainment.

The flying object sightings in New Jersey draw some parallels to Orson Welles's War of the Worlds 1938 radio broadcast—from the location to the alien theme. Revisit it below.

Source: 86 years after infamous ‘War of the Worlds' broadcast, visitors in the sky have New Jersey panicking again

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Photo: NASA / Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

There are many stories of historical treasures hiding for decades in attics and cupboards around the world, but few match what was found in a closet in Ohio in 2012. A few months after the death of Neil Armstrong, his widow, Carol, came across a white bag in a closet. Upon closer inspection, she found tiny parts that looked like they could have belonged to a spaceship. In the end, it wasn't just any spaceship but a collection of items from the Lunar Module Eagle of the Apollo 11 mission.

The astronaut's widow reached out to Allan Needell, the Apollo curator at the National Air and Space Museum, who had visited her a few weeks earlier to make an inventory of the items the Armstrong family intended to donate to the National Collection. “I received an email from Carol Armstrong that she had located in one of Neil's closets a white cloth bag filled with assorted small items that looked like they may have come from a spacecraft,” Needell wrote in a blog post in 2015. “Needless to say, for a curator of a collection of space artifacts, it is hard to imagine anything more exciting.”

The white bag, which made the trip to the Moon, is known as a Temporary Stowage Bag or “McDivitt purse,” after the Apollo 9 astronaut who asked for a bag to put away objects when astronauts didn't have time to go to fixed stowage locations. Armstrong's bag contained the waist tether he used to support his feet during the only rest period he got on the Moon, utility lights and their brackets, equipment netting, a mirror made of metal, an emergency wrench, the optical sight that was mounted above Armstrong's window and, most importantly, the 16mm data acquisition camera (DAC) that recorded the footage of the lander's final approach. All of these were bound for the same fate—being destroyed when the Eagle crashed into the lunar surface after serving its purpose.

Since the crew had to account for any added weight for the return trajectory, Armstrong didn't simply sneak the bag. Mission transcripts record Armstrong telling command module Columbia pilot Michael Collins about it. “You know, that—that one's just a bunch of trash that we want to take back—LM parts, odds and ends, and it won't stay closed by itself. We'll have to figure something out for it.” Later, the bag would be described to mission control as “odds and ends” and “10 pounds of LM miscellaneous equipment.”

While it's unclear how Armstrong retained possession after the mission, he wasn't the only astronaut to keep mementos from his trip to the Moon. Apparently, it's so common that in 2012, President Barack Obama signed a bill into law granting NASA's Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo crew members “full ownership rights” to their space artifacts.

Today, the data acquisition camera is on display at the National Air and Space Museum after Armstrong's widow donated it in 2019, alongside its power cable. Other items are listed as “promised gifts.” Still, the fact that the astronaut saved these items from the dark emptiness of space is enough of a gift for those who have long been fascinated by the historic moon landing.

In 2012, Neil Armstrong's widow found a bag of mementos from Apollo 11 that the astronaut had kept stowed away in a closet at his home.

Photo: NASA / Carol Armstrong / ALSJ

Source: Lunar Surface Flown Apollo 11 Artifacts From the Neil Armstrong Estate

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Photo: photocosma/Depositphotos

In places such as the Pacific Northwest, it seems like it's always raining. But did you know there was a time on Earth were rain poured for over a million years? This episode is known as the Carnian pluvial event (CPE). Thought to have been triggered by unique, volatile conditions, it took place about 232 million years ago—changing the natural landscape forever.

The Carnian pluvial episode lasted one to two million years, bringing one of Earth’s dry spells to an end. It marked a dramatic shift from the arid conditions of the late Triassic period. During this time, all continents were still together as Pangea, which was already prone to monsoons due to its geographical conditions. Sea temperatures were high, and humid ocean air blew inland, cooling and precipitating as heavy rain.

On top of these conditions, scientists have suggested this million-year monsoon could have been triggered by a series of massive volcanic eruptions that took place on the Wrangellia Large Igneous Province, located in what today is Alaska and British Columbia. Volcanic eruptions have been observed to affect the levels of water vapor in the stratosphere, although the opposite has been studied too—that is, intense rainfall resulting in a volcanic eruption.

The Carnian crisis was first studied in the UK by geologists Alastair Ruffell and Michael Simms when the latter noticed something peculiar about the red stone of Somerset’s Lipe Hill. A stripe of grey running through rocks in the area indicated that it had suddenly gone from a period of severe drought to intense humidity. Further evidence was found throughout the late 20th century in places such as the Alps, sparking questions about how this weather episode affected existing life on Earth.

As environments around the world drastically changed, the Carnian pluvial event is regarded as a period of increased extinction. With an increase in humidity and the oceans becoming more acidic, one-third of all marine species, plus a large amount of plants and animals, were wiped out.

However, the Carnian wet episode also opened the door for the flourishing of new life, such as dinosaurs, frogs, lizards, and turtles, as well as modern coral reefs and plankton in the oceans, according to geology professor Jacopo Dal Corso, who published a study on the topic. “A key feature of the CPE is that extinction was very rapidly followed by a big radiation [of new species],” he told Eos.org. “A number of groups that have a central role in today's ecosystems appeared or diversified for the first time in the Carnian [an age within the Triassic that lasted from 237 to 227 million years ago].”

While it can be hard to grasp the wild conditions that plagued the Earth before the dawn of civilization or the way long-term conditions shape the way flora and fauna evolve, studying episodes such as the Carnian pluvial event can help scientists better understand the past and the future of our planet.

Did you know there was a time on Earth when rain poured for over a million years?

Photo: riosihombing@gmail.com/Depositphotos

Known as the Carnian pluvial event, it changed the natural landscape forever.

Photo: geargodz/Depositphotos

It opened the door for the flourishing of new life, such as dinosaurs, frogs, lizards, and turtles, as well as modern coral reefs and plankton in the oceans.

Photo: egubisch/Depositphotos

Source: Extinction and dawn of the modern world in the Carnian (Late Triassic)

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READ: Carnian Pluvial Event: Learn About the Time It Rained for Over a Million Years

There’s something deeply satisfying about hearing a voice from decades and even centuries past. A new video by Kings and Things featuring authentic voice recordings from the Victorian era accomplishes just that, offering insight into how people from the 19th-century spoke and engaged with the world around them.

The video opens with a speech by Colonel George Gouraud for dinner guests on October 5th, 1888, in London. Though soft, grainy, and at times ghostly, his voice is nevertheless captured with surprising clarity, and even registers how he occasionally coughs and clears his throat. This extraordinary feat was accomplished by using Thomas Edison’s phonograph, originally invented about a decade earlier and later perfected throughout the 1880s as a wax cylinder phonograph.

Gouraud, the son of French engineer François Gouraud, strived to introduce Edison’s phonograph to Britain. He did so primarily through his decadent soirées, during which his distinguished guests witnessed phonograph demonstrations that showcased the machine’s thrilling novelty. Sir Arthur Sullivan, one of his guests, once claimed that he was “astonished and somewhat terrified at the results of this evening’s experiments.”

While promoting the phonograph, Gouraud recorded several Victorian luminaries, including the Shakespearian actor Henry Irving, the poet Robert Browning, and Cardinal Manning, the Archbishop of Westminster. His goal was not only to highlight the phonograph’s technological capabilities but to immortalize the voices of significant historical figures.

Gouraud, however, wasn’t the only “recordist” active during the Victorian era. Others managed to capture the voices of the renowned social reformer Florence Nightingale, politician William Gale, and even Queen Victoria herself. Though certainly an impressive feat, the Queen’s recording is so damaged from overplaying that it’s proven difficult to definitively attribute it to her.

Taken in its entirety, the Kings and Things video is an enriching glimpse into the voices from over 100 years ago, while also providing a detailed historical account of the phonograph’s development. It also rewards our innate impulse to forge human connections that stretch across time and place.

To hear the Victorians speak for yourself, visit the Kings and Things channel on YouTube.

A recent YouTube video explores authentic voice recordings made during the Victorian era, which were primarily accomplished by using Thomas Edison's wax cylinder phonograph.

Thomas Edison and his early phonograph, ca. 1877 (Photo: Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons).

The voices of Victorian luminaries such as Florence Nightingale, Robert Browning, and even Queen Victoria were all recorded during the late-19th century.

Queen Victoria by Bassano, 1882. Glass copy negative, half-plate (Photo: Scanned from “The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England” by David Williamson, p. 153, via Wikimedia Commons).

Photograph of Florence Nightingale by Henry Hering, ca. 1860 (Photo: National Portrait Gallery, London, via Wikimedia Commons).

Woodburytype portrait of poet Robert Browning by Herbert Rose Barraud, ca. 1888 (Photo: Bonhams, via Wikimedia Commons).

Sources: History of the Cylinder Phonograph; The 1888 London cylinder recordings of Col. George Gouraud; In Search of Queen Victoria’s Voice; What Victorian People Sounded Like: Hear Recordings of Florence Nightingale & Queen Victoria Herself

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Thanks to a digital 3D scan created from over 25,000 high-resolution images, the legendary Endurance shipwreck can be explored like never before. On November 21, 1915, the ship sank 3,000 meters into the icy depths off Antarctica, and thankfully, all crew members survived to tell their stories. Now, the 3D scan created by Deep Ocean Search, Voyis Imaging, and McGill University allows you to explore the lost ship in incredible detail.

In 1914, Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out on a bold mission: to cross the entire Antarctic continent from coast to coast. He and his crew of 27 men set sail aboard the Endurance, but their journey quickly took a dramatic turn. The Endurance became trapped in packed ice within weeks of setting off from South Georgia, drifting helplessly for 10 months before the crew was forced to abandon it.

After spending over a century two miles beneath the Weddell Sea, the Endurance was found to be in remarkably good condition. The new 3D scan was made after the ship’s rediscovery in 2022 using underwater robots that photographed the wreck from every angle. These images were then “stitched” together to create a digital reconstruction of the ship.

The scan reveals how the ship was crushed by ice, but much of the structure main is largely left intact. The images even reveal items left behind by the crew, including dining plates, a boot, and even a flare gun, all still easily recognizable among the wreckage. According to crew journals, the flare was fired by Frank Hurley, the expedition’s photographer.

“Hurley gets this flare gun, and he fires the flare gun into the air with a massive detonator as a tribute to the ship,” reveals Dr John Shears who led the 2022 expedition that found Endurance. “And then in the diary, he talks about putting it down on the deck. And there we are. We come back over 100 years later, and there's that flare gun, incredible.”

Since it’s in one of the most remote areas of the world, the Endurance is likely to remain where it lies. However, the digital replica offers a new way to study it in detail. Mensum Bound, Director of Exploration for Endurance22 says, “Endurance remains beautifully preserved on the seabed in virtually the same state as when she was when she sank on 21st November 1915. Just as the crew left her.”

Discover more about this incredible expedition and explore the 3D scan of Endurance on the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust website. You can also stream the new Endurance documentary on Hulu and Disney+.

A new 3D scan created from over 25,000 high-resolution images allows you to explore the legendary Endurance shipwreck like never before.

The images even reveal items left behind by Ernest Shackleton and his crew, as well as some of the ships decorative details.

The Endurance sank 3,000 meters into the icy depths off Antarctica on November 21, 1915.

All 27 crew members survived, and now, a new film features colorized footage from their 10 months stranded on the ice.

 

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Watch the trailer for the National Geographic documentary below.

Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust: Website
National Geographic Documentary Films: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust / National Geographic.

Source: See the Wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’ in Astonishing Detail With This New 3D Scan.

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Photo: Stack’s Bowers Galleries

What's the oldest coin you've ever come across? Maybe it's a mid-century penny you picked up from the street, or an old quarter kept by your grandparents. Whatever the age, they are surely not beating one coin recently sold at an auction. A New England threepence from 1652 recently sold for $2.52 million, setting a world record per Stack’s Bowers Galleries, who oversaw the sale.

The small silver coin was struck in Boston in 1652, within weeks of the establishment of the first mint in what would become the United States. However, it was discovered quite far away from where it was created. In 2016, the coin was found in an old cabinet in Amsterdam. Its journey across the ocean is credited to the Quincy family of Boston, the powerful political family that First Lady Abigail Adams came from. Her husband, President John Adams, was appointed ambassador to the Netherlands in the 1770s and 1780s.

The coin is a worn-down disk featuring three Roman numerals on one side and “NE” on the other. The only other example of these coins, which have a hole, has been in possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society for 120 years. As such, no individual collector has had the opportunity to own an example—sparking excited reactions from coin collectors. Ultimately, the threepence sold for more than three times the in-house presale estimates. Auctioneer Ben Orooji, who directed the sale, described the bidding battle as “an exhilarating ride and a career highlight.”

The coin weighs only 1.1 grams and, based on today's market, its silver value is $1.03. However, its historical value is what makes it truly special. By selling for $2,520,000, the 1652 threepence broke the previous world record price of $646,250 for an American coin struck before the American Revolution by nearly $2 million, as well as setting a record for any non-gold U.S. coin struck before the founding of the United States Mint.

A New England threepence from 1652 recently sold for $2.52 million, setting a world record.

Photo: Stack’s Bowers Galleries

Source: Newly Discovered Massachusetts Silver Threepence From 1652 Brings $2.52 Million

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One of the world’s longest-running and elaborate treasure hunts is finally over, thanks to the discovery of a buried bronze replica of the golden owl in France. The statue was first buried by French writer Régis Hauser in 1993 who released 11 clues to its location in a picture book, On the Trail of the Golden Owl. He promised that whoever found the treasure would receive a matching owl made of gold, silver, and gemstones.

Hauser teamed up with illustrator and sculptor Michel Becker to bring his vision to life. Becker crafted two intricate owl sculptures, and the duo collaborated on a picture book filled with riddles, clues, games, and mathematical puzzles designed to guide treasure hunters to the hidden prize. Only Hauser knew the exact location of the buried owl—not even Becker was privy to the secret.

After Hauser completed the book of clues, he released it under the pen name “Max Valentin.” He also sealed a set of clues inside an envelope and hid it in his home to safeguard the solution. After Hauser died in 2009, Becker retrieved the envelope from Hauser’s family and personally traveled to the spot to verify that the bronze owl was still there.

Hauser’s legendary “Golden Owl Treasure Hunt” sparked fierce competition among thousands of treasure hunters worldwide, who came to be known as “Owlers.” Now, over 30 years after the owl was buried, the treasure hunt website has shared a big update: “Don’t go digging!” The announcement continues, “We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night. It is therefore useless to go digging.” As for the lucky person who found the Golden Owl, their identity is being kept under wraps as they’ve asked to stay anonymous.

Made from 6 pounds of gold, 15 pounds of silver, and embellished with diamonds, the incredible gold owl has an estimated worth of $165,000. The exact location of the bronze replica is yet to be announced, but the anonymous “owler” who found it was able to prove they had solved all 11 riddles, rather than stumbling upon it by chance.

The answers to the clues won’t be revealed until April 23, 2025, marking the end of an era and leaving many unsuccessful Owlers grappling with mixed emotions. On the treasure hunt forum, one community member called the news “a real blow,” while another described it as “hard to bear.” A third admitted, “I shed a few tears.” Yet, not everyone was heartbroken—one Owler confessed, “Curiously, I’m quite relieved … I’m free!”

Reflecting on the result, the Golden Owl Hunt announcement shares, “It’s amazing to think that someone has finally solved this after so many years!”

One of the world’s longest-running and elaborate treasure hunts for a golden owl is finally over.

Golden Owl Hunt: Website

Sources: The Golden Owl treasure hunt is won after 31 years; France’s 31-year treasure hunt for a buried owl statue finally ends

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The Kish Tablet from Sumer with pictographic writing, c. 3500 BCE. Ashmolean Museum, Iraq (Photo: José-Manuel Benito via Wikimedia Commons).

Nestled in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, Sumer stands as the earliest known civilization. It’s no surprise, then, that the oldest written text can be traced back to Kish, an ancient Sumerian city in modern Tell al-Uhaymir, Iraq. Named after the location of its discovery, the Kish Tablet dates back to the Uruk period (c. 3500–3200 BCE), and features proto-cuneiform signs.

Proto-cuneiform emerged in Mesopotamia and was largely rooted within a pictographic system. These pictographs spanned simple drawings and symbols representing specific ideas and, unlike modern languages, did not directly correspond to the syntax of a spoken language. The purpose of proto-cuneiform was not to transcribe linguistic messages, but instead to maintain economic records, especially as they related to production, trade, and labor.

These elements can make it difficult to decipher proto-cuneiform artifacts, including the Kish Tablet. Though it hasn’t been decoded or demonstrated to correspond to spoken language, the tablet nevertheless offers an indispensable glimpse into the evolution of writing throughout ancient history. The proto-cuneiform marks on the Kish Tablet reflect a transitional stage between a purely pictographic writing system and the more sophisticated and syllabic cuneiform that developed in the region by the end of the fourth millennium BCE.

Unlike its predecessor, cuneiform correlated more with spoken language, incorporating symbols that formed distinct words when read together. Cuneiform, however, demanded a creation process similar to proto-cuneiform. Symbols were impressed into soft clay tablets with a stylus, hardening quickly in Mesopotamia’s hot climate. This remarkable durability not only made clay tablets an attractive option for record-keeping but has allowed us to recover such artifacts several millennia later.

The Kish Tablet is an astounding reminder of how writing has advanced across time, and provides essential insights into Sumerian culture. The original tablet is currently held at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, while a plaster cast can be found at the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum.

The Kish Tablet is the oldest written text in the world and uses proto-cuneiform pictographs.

Proto-cuneiform tablet recording the allocation of beer, c. 3100-3000 BCE. Collection of the British Museum (Photo: Jim Kuhn, via Wikimedia Commons).

Proto-cuneiform did not directly correspond to the syntax of a spoken language, but was instead primarily used to maintain economic records.

Proto-cuneiform tablet of an administrative account with entries concerning malt and barley groats (Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, donated to Wikimedia Commons).

Cuneiform followed proto-cuneiform by the end of the fourth millennium BCE and correlated more with spoken language.

A large cuneiform inscription found on the south side of the Van Castle Hill in eastern Turkey (Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, via Wikimedia Commons).

Sources: Proto-Cuneiform tablet with seal impressions: administrative account of barley distribution with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars; Proto-Cuneiform: Earliest Form of Writing on Planet Earth; A Short History of Proto-Cuneiform; The Origins of Writing

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The Castillo de San Marco in St. Augustine, Florida. (Photo: Roman Eugeniusz via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

The United States is a relatively new nation in the grand scheme of human history. Built from conquest and settlement, the nation's history is critical to learn in order to build a better present. Many believe the American permanent settlement began with Jamestown or the Pilgrims in Massachusetts. In reality, the popular emphasis on these moments in history has obscured the founding of the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in what is now the United States. In fact, this surprising location is St. Augustine, Florida.

Spain had tried several times to start a permanent settlement in the New World, but had found success. However, Spaniard Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles would change that fate. In 1565, he arrived at the head of a fleet of galleons on the eastern coast of what is now the state of Florida.

He followed in the wake of Spanish explorers who had previously poked around the coast of America, but the 1565 mission was larger and dedicated to establishing a permanent settlement. The Spanish settlers met (and forced out) French forces to lay claim to the region. Among their numbers were both free and enslaved African people. They displaced the indigenous inhabitants of a settlement called Seloy, upon which they built the beginnings of St. Augustine.

The settlement remained and grew. Eventually, a fortress called the Castillo de San Marcos was built in the late 17th century. Visitors can still explore the fortification and learn about its history, from imprisoning members of the Apache tribe in the 19th century to being passed back and forth from Spanish to British forces in the 18th century.

While the modern city and waterfront now surround the fort, it and the city plan itself are reminders of its extensive history. Older than the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the founding of Jamestown in 1607, St. Augustine is a lesser-discussed yet important piece of our national story, critical to understanding the modern society we live in.

The oldest continually-occupied city in the United States is St. Augustine, Florida.

h/t: [IFL Science, Smithsonian Magazine]

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