Editor’s Picks

The Best ofHistoryon Colossal

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Intimate Portraits of 50 Artists and Their Cats Compiled by Alison Nastasi

April 8, 2015Intimate Portraits of 50 Artists and Their Cats Compiled by Alison Nastasi
Photographers Create Meticulously Faithful Dioramas of Iconic Photos

March 17, 2015Photographers Create Meticulously Faithful Dioramas of Iconic Photos
CT Scan of 1,000-Year-Old Buddha Statue Reveals Mummified Monk Hidden Inside

February 21, 2015CT Scan of 1,000-Year-Old Buddha Statue Reveals Mummified Monk Hidden Inside
The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People

January 6, 2015The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People
Bone Music: How Banned Western Music in the Soviet Union Was Printed on Repurposed X-Ray Records

December 30, 2014Bone Music: How Banned Western Music in the Soviet Union Was Printed on Repurposed X-Ray Records
The Ingenuity and Beauty of Creative Parchment Repair in Medieval Books

November 7, 2014The Ingenuity and Beauty of Creative Parchment Repair in Medieval Books
An Illustrated Cross Section of Hong Kong’s Infamous Kowloon Walled City

November 4, 2014An Illustrated Cross Section of Hong Kong’s Infamous Kowloon Walled City
Medieval Book Historian Erik Kwakkel Discovers and Catalogs 800-Year-Old Doodles in Some of the World’s Oldest Books

October 2, 2014Medieval Book Historian Erik Kwakkel Discovers and Catalogs 800-Year-Old Doodles in Some of the World’s Oldest Books
A 19th Century Telephone Network Covered Stockholm in Thousands of Phone Lines

September 2, 2014A 19th Century Telephone Network Covered Stockholm in Thousands of Phone Lines
By the Silent Line: Photographer Pierre Folk Spent Years Documenting a Vanishing 160-Year-Old Parisian Railway

August 21, 2014By the Silent Line: Photographer Pierre Folk Spent Years Documenting a Vanishing 160-Year-Old Parisian Railway
An Amazing Collection of Mechanical Singing Bird Automata Filmed by Douglas Fisher

July 21, 2014An Amazing Collection of Mechanical Singing Bird Automata Filmed by Douglas Fisher
The Putter: A Meditative Video on the Art of Making Scissors by Hand

July 1, 2014The Putter: A Meditative Video on the Art of Making Scissors by Hand
Eerie Photos of North Brother Island, the Last Unknown Place in New York City

May 23, 2014Eerie Photos of North Brother Island, the Last Unknown Place in New York City
Beautiful Fordite Stones Created from Layers of Automotive Paint are a By-Product of Old Car Factories

May 22, 2014Beautiful Fordite Stones Created from Layers of Automotive Paint are a By-Product of Old Car Factories
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Releases 400,000 Images Online for Non-Commercial Use

May 20, 2014The Metropolitan Museum of Art Releases 400,000 Images Online for Non-Commercial Use
271 Years Before Pantone, an Artist Mixed and Described Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book

May 5, 2014271 Years Before Pantone, an Artist Mixed and Described Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book
Artist Rachel Sussman Photographs the Oldest Living Things in the World before They Vanish

April 14, 2014Artist Rachel Sussman Photographs the Oldest Living Things in the World before They Vanish
900-Year-Old Coded Viking Message Carved on Wood Fragment Finally Solved, It Says “Kiss Me” [Updated]

February 10, 2014900-Year-Old Coded Viking Message Carved on Wood Fragment Finally Solved, It Says “Kiss Me” [Updated]
This 16th Century Book Can Be Read Six Different Ways

January 24, 2014This 16th Century Book Can Be Read Six Different Ways
London in 1927 & 2013: A Shot-By-Shot Video Comparison of London, 86 Years Apart

January 13, 2014London in 1927 & 2013: A Shot-By-Shot Video Comparison of London, 86 Years Apart
Polish Concert Pianist Builds a ‘Viola Organista’ Based on a 500-Year-Old Leonardo Da Vinci Sketch

November 18, 2013Polish Concert Pianist Builds a ‘Viola Organista’ Based on a 500-Year-Old Leonardo Da Vinci Sketch
This Programmable 6,000-Part Drawing Boy Automata is Arguably the First Computer and It Was Built 240 Years Ago

November 5, 2013This Programmable 6,000-Part Drawing Boy Automata is Arguably the First Computer and It Was Built 240 Years Ago
155 Years Before the First Animated Gif, Joseph Plateau Set Images in Motion with the Phenakistoscope

October 17, 2013155 Years Before the First Animated Gif, Joseph Plateau Set Images in Motion with the Phenakistoscope
Secret Fore-Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa

September 2, 2013Secret Fore-Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa
A 102-Year-Old Transport Ship Sprouts a Floating Forest

June 3, 2013A 102-Year-Old Transport Ship Sprouts a Floating Forest