Artifact
List of Artifact articles
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Carved ivory polyhedra by Egidius Lobenigk (left) and Georg Wecker from the 16th century, part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden collection in Germany. A World in Counterfeit
After they mastered their territories, rulers wanted to master crafts, too.
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Illustrations depicting smallpox from the Imperially Commissioned Golden Mirror of Medical Learning, published in 1742. Empire’s Little Helper
Chinese history shows that where soldiers march, plague follows.
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The RTV 31 hovercraft train in Peterborough, England, on Jan. 25. A Train to Nowhere
Hovertrains were meant to revolutionize British transport. But they never arrived.
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The BT-9 guard tower, part of the Berlin Wall exhibit at the Newseum in Washington before its closure in December. Why the Berlin Wall Still Matters
Fragments of the wall have become museum pieces. But with the rise of extremist parties in Germany, the debate over the barrier’s legacy is anything but history.
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A mace on its way to Britain’s Parliament in 2005. The Weapon Britain’s Parliament Can’t Do Without
The mace is a symbol of royal power—and sometimes of lawmakers’ anger.
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A wine vessel attributed to the Niobid Painter of Athens. Pandora’s Vox
Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks anticipated robots and artificial intelligence—and they didn’t trust them.
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The Fialka encryption system, part of the collection at the KGB Espionage Museum in New York City. The Soviets’ Unbreakable Code
The hidden history of the Fialka espionage machine.
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The Shanghai News ran from 1950 to 1952. (Jason Hornick for Foreign Policy) Last Tango in Shanghai
How the ads in a crumbling newspaper offer glimpses of a vanished world.
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This Davy Crockett will be displayed in the National Museum of the United States Army, under construction at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (U.S. Army photo) Point and Nuke
Remembering the era of portable atomic bombs.
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The Double Pigeon. (Courtesy SFO Museum) 1 Billion People. 100,000 Characters. 1 Typewriter.
The machine that changed a language forever.
