Technology

Everyday objects designed for something else entirely, standards imposed by accident, patents that aged badly: the history of things that work.

84 anecdotes, most recent first.
Highlights

A computer failure blocks access to Facebook offices

On October 4, 2021, all Facebook group services became inaccessible for more than six hours because of a server configuration change. This giant outage affected more than three billion users around the world. It even prevented employees from entering their premises since their badges no longer worked.

2026-07-20

Scent diffusers were tested to guide travelers

Scent diffusers were installed in 2018 on the platforms of the Sainte-Anne station in Rennes to help visually impaired people. The scent diffused varied according to the platform and the direction to complement the existing sound and visual announcements. This experiment conducted by the company Sensorys was finally stopped in the summer of 2018 due to mixed feedback.

2026-08-24

An open source drone autopilot system developed in Toulouse

Paparazzi is a free system for the automatic piloting of drones developed by a specialized team from the École nationale de l'aviation civile. This structure has been developing this technology since 2005, within its research laboratories. This activity has led the school to integrate drones into its cross-disciplinary research programs starting from the end of 2011.

2026-05-02

The decriminalization of abortion in 1920 in the USSR

The decree authorizing abortion was adopted on October 18, 1920 after discussions within the Jenotdel and the Soviet party. The stated motivation invoked the health and the interest of the race rather than the rights of women. This decision followed the principle decided as early as 1918 by the Council of People's Commissars.

2026-10-16

Pakistan secretly developed the atomic bomb under Zia-ul-Haq

Zia-ul-Haq continues the military nuclear development initiated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto while claiming the opposite to Ronald Reagan. The enrichment threshold allowing for military quality is thus crossed in 1985. From the following year, the country has enough fissile material to create a bomb.

2026-10-14

Shahrukh Khan signed for a film without reading the script

In 1998, the Indian actor Shahrukh Khan agreed to star in the first film by director Karan Johar, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Out of simple friendship, he committed himself before even having read the script. This feature film became a huge commercial success, distributed both in India and abroad.

2026-10-11

A woman eight months pregnant was appointed minister

In 1981, the Parti québécois elected and appointed Pauline Marois as minister while she was eight months pregnant. This unprecedented appointment marked an important milestone for the representation of women in politics. Thirty-one years later, she became in 2012 the first female premier of Quebec.

2026-10-11

Dunes threaten the Mos Espa set

The Mos Espa site is a famous filming location for the Star Wars saga. Scientists use its position to calculate the movement speed of the surrounding dunes. The area is thus gradually being buried by sand, which causes significant damage despite the efforts of fans and tourism.

2026-10-11

The speed of gravity was calculated in 1898

Paul Gerber is a physicist who developed a theory of gravitation based on the planet Mercury in 1898. He constructed a formula allowing to obtain an exact value for the perihelion precession of Mercury. This allowed him to determine that the propagation speed of gravity was close to 300 000 km/s.

2026-10-11

A mobile currency compensates for the lack of banks

Somaliland has used the ZAAD service as a virtual currency on mobile phones since 2009. This initiative by the operator Telesom makes it possible to bypass the limitations of a failing banking sector. The system is now anchored in the daily life of the inhabitants of this unrecognized territory.

2026-10-11

The first Gamma-Gerät giant cannon prototype missed its targets

The Gamma-Gerät is a giant cannon developed from 1906 by the APK and Krupp. The first version delivered in May 1909 failed the perforation test by failing to pass through a steel plate of thirty centimeters in thickness. This defect was however corrected as early as January 1910, allowing the project to succeed and to be ordered in several copies.

2026-10-07

A dismissed prime minister attempts to call the queen

Khawaja Nazimuddin is a politician dismissed from his duties in April 1953 by Governor General Malik Ghulam Muhammad. Disagreeing with this decision that he deemed illegal, he wanted to reach Queen Elizabeth II to protest. His plan failed because his residence was surrounded by the army and his telephone lines had been cut.

2026-10-07

The planet Tatooine was almost recreated in a Disney park

In 2013, Walt Disney Imagineering considered recreating the planet Tatooine during the creation of a new themed area for Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios parks. This immersive project notably included the construction of a faithful reproduction of the Mos Eisley cantina. Robert Iger, then CEO of the Walt Disney Company, finally demanded that the location not be from the original films, which gave birth to the planet Batuu.

2026-10-05

The Ukrainian Bystroe Canal leads to a body of water without a port

The Bystroe Canal is an artificial waterway opened in Ukraine in 2004 for river barges. This construction causes significant ecological damage, notably through the dredging of the Sasyk lagoon whose anoxic sludge threatens local biodiversity. International protests did not prevent the inauguration of the structure in 2007, even though no port borders this shallow body of water.

2026-10-04

A gearbox shared between several teams

The DAMS GD-01 gearbox is a six-speed semi-automatic model designed in 1994 by the company Xtrac. This equipment required modifications after difficulties encountered during its initial development. Subsequently, this same mechanism was adjusted to be installed on the Minardi M195 and Dome F105.

2026-10-04

A left-wing deputy supports a national tribute to Brigitte Bardot

Philippe Brun is a French deputy who publicly supported a national tribute initiative addressed to Emmanuel Macron. This proposal originally came from Éric Ciotti to honor the French icon. His reaction constituted a notable exception on the left, due to the actress's long past proximity to the far-right.

2026-10-04

The adjuvant syndrome was defined in 2010

The autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants proposes to group together similar conditions whose cause could be a vaccine adjuvant such as aluminum salts. It was defined in 2010 by the Israeli immunologist Yehuda Shoenfeld based on criteria such as exposure to an external stimulus and clinical manifestations. One of the conditions to characterize this syndrome is that the disappearance of the causal agent leads to an improvement in symptoms.

2026-10-04

Ségolène Royal publicized the birth of her child from the hospital

Ségolène Royal brought journalists into her hospital room during the birth of her fourth child, Flora. This staging aimed to show that it is possible to reconcile motherhood and high-level government responsibilities. This event sparked a lively debate concerning the boundary between public life and private life within the political class.

2026-10-04

Como achieves a historic Champions League qualification

Como 1907 is an Italian professional football club that qualified for the Champions League thanks to a three to one victory against US Cremonese. This performance was made possible by Lucas Da Cunha, who scored a brace during this final day of the 2025-2026 season. The French striker thus completed his team's success on May 24, 2026 in Serie A.

2026-10-04

International Asteroid Day has existed since 2015

International Asteroid Day is a public awareness event for space activities related to small bodies. Its supervision and growing success rely on the experience of one of the partners of the NEO-MAPP consortium. This event is organized every year since its creation in 2015.

2026-10-04

A white supremacist highway was renamed after a rabbi

Governor Jay Nixon decided to rename a stretch of highway entrusted to the National Socialist Movement the Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway. This section located near Springfield had been maintained in 2008 and 2009 by local units of the white supremacist organization through the Adopt-A-Highway program. The new name chosen pays tribute to a rabbi who fled the Third Reich and participated in the civil rights movement.

2026-10-04

Unmet commercial objectives at the Sino-Indian border

The Nathu La pass is a border crossing point between India and China whose opening in 2006 was intended to stimulate the regional economy. Restrictions on goods and climatic difficulties have however heavily penalized transactions between the two countries. In 2010, the objective set five years earlier of 580 million dollars cumulative was thus far from being reached, with 1.5 million dollars exported to China and only 50,000 dollars to India.

2026-10-04

The Phantom Menace sets a record for digital effects

The film The Phantom Menace contains 95 percent of digitally retouched images, a first in the history of cinema. George Lucas for this called upon three special effects supervisors during postproduction. John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires thus directed these modifications for all the sets and scenes.

2026-10-01

Austria-Hungary resorted to looting food trains

The dual monarchy suffered significant food shortages starting in the spring of 1915, both at the front and behind the lines. The Austro-Hungarian government was thus forced to resort to extreme expedients such as the hijacking of freight trains traveling on its railway network. These actions worsened the distrust of the Reich authorities toward their Austro-Hungarian allies.

2026-09-26

Gamal Abdel Nasser inspired the coups d'état of an entire generation

Nasser's political system was copied by almost all Arab republics and served as a model for several leaders. Abdullah al-Sallal overthrew the North Yemen monarchy in the name of his pan-Arab ideas, while Muammar Gaddafi took power in Libya in 1969 by considering him his hero. Nelson Mandela also stated that his generation in South Africa admired Nasser's politics and non-alignment.

2026-09-26

Alexander the Great's floating bridge made of skin tents

Alexander the Great crossed the Oxus river using an unusual floating bridge. This bridge consisted of skin tents stuffed with various dried materials to ensure buoyancy. This invention allowed the Macedonian and Greek troops to reach Sogdiana during the pursuit of Bessus in 329 BC.

2026-09-24

The late-night broadcast of French films on television

France 2 broadcast Jacky au royaume des filles at two o'clock in the morning on February 14, 2017. This late scheduling allows terrestrial channels to meet their broadcast obligations for co-produced films that were unsuccessful in theaters. This strategy is used in particular to reach quotas for French productions, which are often less popular than American films.

2026-09-22