Credits

Images and video

Every image, video and animation on Phronesis is freely licensed and comes from Wikimedia Commons. Thank you to the photographers, artists, scientists and archivists who share their work.

Video and animation

A noodle dish whose name has 58 strokes
Original by Nman7, remade by FanNihongo
Animation: Original by Nman7, remade by FanNihongoPublic domainWikimedia Commons
A slime mould designed the Tokyo rail network
Ricigliano, V., Chitaman, J., Tong, J., Adamatzky, A., & Howarth, D. G. (2015)
Video: Ricigliano, V., Chitaman, J., Tong, J., Adamatzky, A., & Howarth, D. G. (2015)CC BY 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Basque is related to no other language on Earth
The original uploader was Alexandre Vigo at Galician Wikipedia.
Animation: The original uploader was Alexandre Vigo at Galician Wikipedia.CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Kazakhstan brought half of a dying sea back to life
NASA Earth Observatory (images), Dexxor (animation)
Video: NASA Earth Observatory (images), Dexxor (animation)Public domainWikimedia Commons
Kiribati moved the International Date Line
Arnaudf
Animation: ArnaudfCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The same face, three different emotions
Arĉjo
Video: ArĉjoCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons

Images

“An eye for an eye” was a step forward
Mbzt
Image: MbztCC BY 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
“Happy Birthday” was copyrighted until 2015
Ed g2s
Image: Ed g2sCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
A Hollywood star patented a secret radio system
Unknown author
Image: Unknown authorPublic domainWikimedia Commons
A noodle dish whose name has 58 strokes
Gary Soup
Image: Gary SoupCC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
A slime mould designed the Tokyo rail network
frankenstoen
Image: frankenstoenCC BY 2.5 Wikimedia Commons
An island where people speak Spanish by whistling
Akalvin
Image: AkalvinCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Before 1492, Italy had no tomatoes and Thailand had no chillies
Unknown author
Image: Unknown authorPublic domainWikimedia Commons
Bhutan measures Gross National Happiness
Felix Mueller
Image: Felix MuellerCC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Caesar salad was invented in Mexico
Geoff Peters from Vancouver, BC, Canada
Image: Geoff Peters from Vancouver, BC, CanadaCC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Cleopatra lived closer to the Moon landing than to the pyramids
Douwe C. van der Zee
Image: Douwe C. van der ZeeCC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Computers began as looms
Michel Marie Carquillat (tisseur) d'après Claude Bonnefond
Image: Michel Marie Carquillat (tisseur) d'après Claude BonnefondPublic domainWikimedia Commons
Does listening to Mozart make you smarter?
Barbara Krafft
Image: Barbara KrafftPublic domainWikimedia Commons
Every apple you have eaten comes from Kazakhstan
Łukasz Szczurowski
Image: Łukasz SzczurowskiCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
France has more time zones than any other country
Godefroy
Image: GodefroyCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
General Tso’s chicken is unknown in General Tso’s home province
Evan Joshua Swigart (TheCulinaryGeek) from Chicago, Illinois, USA; hometown of Ames, Iowa, USA
Image: Evan Joshua Swigart (TheCulinaryGeek) from Chicago, Illinois, USA; hometown of Ames, Iowa, USACC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Japan learned curry from the British Navy
Ocdp
Image: OcdpCC0 Wikimedia Commons
Kazakhstan’s national symbol might be a woman
Firespeaker
Image: FirespeakerCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Leonardo’s math teacher wrote the first guide to accounting
Attributed to Jacopo de' Barbari
Image: Attributed to Jacopo de' BarbariPublic domainWikimedia Commons
Many languages have two words for “we”
http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Antiamour&action=edit&redlink=1
Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Antiamour&action=edit&redlink=1CC BY 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood
albert kok
Image: albert kokCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Once you notice something, it’s everywhere
Jstermaxx
Image: JstermaxxCC0 Wikimedia Commons
One of the oldest faiths, and Freddie Mercury’s
Bernard Gagnon
Image: Bernard GagnonCC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire
thomas kole
Image: thomas koleCC BY 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Palindromes are written into your DNA
Christina Kekka from Athens, Greece Light correction by Basile Morin
Image: Christina Kekka from Athens, Greece Light correction by Basile MorinCC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Point Nemo, where spacecraft go to die
Gaianauta
Image: GaianautaCC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Tempura was brought to Japan by the Portuguese
Yaco*
Image: Yaco*CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
The “Laughing Buddha” isn’t the Buddha
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).
Image: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net).CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
The 1960s chatbot people confided in
Unknown author
Image: Unknown authorPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The arch that hangs upside down
Kamel15
Image: Kamel15CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The banana your grandparents ate is gone
Zwifree
Image: ZwifreeCC BY 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
The chess-playing machine that had a man inside
Joseph Racknitz
Image: Joseph RacknitzPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The city in Kazakhstan that provoked Genghis Khan
Coopypasted
Image: CoopypastedCC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
The computer that was designed in 1837
Charles Babbage
Image: Charles BabbageCC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
The country that gave up the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal
Unknown author
Image: Unknown authorCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The doctor who said “wash your hands”
József Borsos / Albert Doctor
Image: József Borsos / Albert DoctorPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The first computer programmer was a poet’s daughter
Antoine Claudet
Image: Antoine ClaudetPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The language that came back after 1,700 years
לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית
Image: לשכת העיתונות הממשלתיתPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The man who decided the missiles weren’t real
Imagery from LANCE FIRMS operated by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) with funding provided by NASA Headquarters.
Image: Imagery from LANCE FIRMS operated by NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) with funding provided by NASA Headquarters.Public domainWikimedia Commons
The Mona Lisa became famous by being stolen
Leonardo da Vinci
Image: Leonardo da VinciPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The pizza Margherita story is probably a myth
Bex Walton from London, England
Image: Bex Walton from London, EnglandCC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
The Sator Square
M Disdero
Image: M DisderoCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The spandrel: a by-product that looks like a purpose
Maria Schnitzmeier
Image: Maria SchnitzmeierCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The Streisand effect
Required attribution is: Copyright (C) 2002 Kenneth & Gabrielle Adelman, California Coastal Records Project, www.californiacoastline.org.
Image: Required attribution is: Copyright (C) 2002 Kenneth & Gabrielle Adelman, California Coastal Records Project, www.californiacoastline.org.CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The temple kitchen that feeds tens of thousands every day, free
Harisingh at en.wikipedia
Image: Harisingh at en.wikipediaCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
The Terracotta Army was found by farmers digging a well
xiquinhosilva
Image: xiquinhosilvaCC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
The traveller who went five times farther than Marco Polo
Léon Benett
Image: Léon BenettPublic domainWikimedia Commons
The Victorian internet
Geni
Image: GeniCC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Tulips are Central Asian, not Dutch
Dina L
Image: Dina LCC0 Wikimedia Commons
Umami: the taste discovered in a bowl of soup
Melissa Doroquez
Image: Melissa DoroquezCC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Why Christmas is on 25 December
File:NativityChristmasLights.jpg: derivative work: Crumpled Fire
Image: File:NativityChristmasLights.jpg: derivative work: Crumpled FireCC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Why do we say “OK”?
Maximilian Schönherr
Image: Maximilian SchönherrCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Why the sky is blue, and not violet
P J Hansen
Image: P J HansenCC BY-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Why your keyboard says QWERTY
MichaelMaggs
Image: MichaelMaggsCC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Xi’an was once one of the largest cities on Earth
Unknown Tang-era tomb artist
Image: Unknown Tang-era tomb artistPublic domainWikimedia Commons