Boring Stories To Fall Asleep

The  Academy Awards , commonly known as the  Oscars , are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry.  They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The Oscars are widely considered to be the most prestigious awar...

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator.  Never Split the Difference  distills the Voss method, revealing the skills that...

The  Normandy landings  were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed  Operation Neptune  and often referred to as  D-Day  (after the military term), it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Euro...

The  expansion of the universe  is the increase in distance between gravitationally unbound parts of the observable universe with time. It is an intrinsic expansion, so it does not mean that the universe expands "into" anything or that space exists "outside" it. To any observer in the universe, it appears that all but the nearest galaxies (which are bound to each other by gravi...

This conversation contrasts the public image of Stalin as a national hero with the reality of his brutal rule , characterised by grand modernisation projects , but also by artificially provoked famines , the Gulag , and the great purges . The aim is to highlight the propaganda used to maintain power, the systematic repression of opponents, and the extremely high human cost of his regime. Finally,...

The  American Revolution  was an insurrection carried out by 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies that began in 1775 and ended with a peace treaty in 1783. The colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing estrangement between the British crown and a large and influential segment of its North American c...

Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn't make sense, but he's never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window -- and encourages us to think harder about what we're really procrastinating on, bef...

The  Belle Époque  (French pronunciation: [bɛlepɔk]) or  La Belle Époque  (French for 'The Beautiful Era') was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic, it was a period characterised by optimism, enlightenment, regional pe...

The Art of War is an ancient military strategy treatise attributed, following an oral tradition lasting at least two centuries, to General Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), who lived in China between the 6th and 5th centuries BC. It is probably the most classic, ancient and famous text on military art in existence.

Meditations  (Koinē Greek: Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, romanized:  Ta eis heauton , lit. ''Things Unto Himself'') is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161-180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the  Meditations  in Koine Greek as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. It...

Italy's participation in the First World War began on 24 May 1915, approximately ten months after the start of the conflict, during which time the country underwent great political changes, with the break-up of the Giolittian balances and the affirmation of a political framework aimed at expansionist aims, linked to patriotic fervour and Risorgimento ideals, and ended on 4 November 1918, with the...

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is...

The  pursuit of Nazi collaborators  refers to the post-World War II pursuit and apprehension of individuals who were not citizens of the Third Reich at the outbreak of World War II but collaborated with the Nazi regime during the war.

The Silk Road was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century.  Spanning over 6,400 km, it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. It is seen as an example of the literary nonsense genre.

This audiobook, "The Psychology of Selling" by Brian Tracy, is a comprehensive guide to becoming a successful salesperson. The audiobook emphasizes the importance of self-esteem and a positive self-image for sales success. Tracy argues that salespeople are vital to society because they are the engine of free enterprise and the creators of wealth. He highlights the concept of the "winning edge," wh...