The Collection
Cuban Missile Crisis
“In reading the history of past wars and how they began, we cannot help but be impressed how frequently the failure of communication, misunderstanding and mutual irritation have played an important role in the events leading up to fateful decisions for w…
Aegeus
Aegeus had asked his son Theseus to fly white sails on his return trip from Crete -- in case that he survives his encounter with the Minotaur. Theseus promised to do so. It so happened that Theseus forgot to do it and he sailed with the default black sails instead. (In some …
Wirecard
Founded in the unassuming village of Aschheim in 1999, Wirecard grew fast to become a major player on the global market for payment processing. The company’s initial focus on handling transactions in the sectors of online gambling and adult entertainment was soon forgotten. Wirecard went public on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2005, established a bank…
War of the Worlds
On the evening of October 30, 1938, the radio station CBS broadcast a special report on a series of explosions on Mars, followed by a landing of a cylindrical object on a farm in New Jersey. In a live coverage on the scene, commentator Carl Philipps and the renowned astronomer Professor Richard …
Thor and Thrym
Thor, the god of thunder, was one of the earliest males to try out female clothing. He was not very keen on doing it, but was persuaded by his brother Loki who was a champion of unexpected things. (Loki also defied gender stereotypes by giving birth.) In this instance, the gods were in a bad spot because the giant Thrym h…
The opening of the Berlin Wall
The decision to allow travelling from East Germany to West Germany came as a sudden change in policy, hastily decided on 09 November, 1989, by a few people in the inner circle of the GDR government. When Günter Schabowski, member of the government, made the announcement in a press conference, the border police was not…