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Good morning! It's Sunday, July 19, and welcome to our Sunday Edition. Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of "The Odyssey" was released in theaters Friday, so we explored ancient Greece, the time period in which the epic poem was written.
Also in today's newsletter: Gus the T. rex breaks an auction record (News in Context), Andrew Jackson's 1,400-pound block of cheese (Civics), a ranking of the best obscure albums (Etc.), and much more.
📖 Our Sunday edition digs deep into the context and rabbit holes behind the news. We'll be back with our regular Daily Digest tomorrow through Saturday.
PS—Did someone forward you this email? Join 4.7 million insatiably curious readers here, or click forward to share with friends. Feedback is a gift, and we read every email. Let us know how we're doing at topics@join1440.com.
Pillars of Antiquity
From 1,200 to 800 BCE, hundreds of Greek tribes in the eastern Mediterranean rose out of a dark age ushered in by the collapse of an earlier warrior culture, the Mycenaeans. By the fifth century BCE, the Classical period of ancient Greece had begun, marked by the ascendance of Athens and Sparta. Under Athenian dominance, the Greeks saw a flourishing of the arts and ancient philosophy reached a high point with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
> Homer's warrior tales, including "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," were loosely based on Mycenaean civilization. (More)
> Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" offers a metaphor for the journey of choosing education over ignorance. (More)
Greek culture spread beyond the eastern Mediterranean under the northern Macedonians, Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, whose armies conquered Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia in the fourth century BCE. The Hellenistic period (323 to 30 BCE) saw Greeks establish cities far beyond Greece proper, including the scholarly Alexandria in Egypt, Antioch in Syria, and Kandahar in modern Afghanistan.
> Alexandria helped form the template for modern cities. (More)
> Tour the Acropolis of Athens with travel writer Rick Steves. (More, w/video)
When the Romans conquered much of Greece in the mid-second century BCE, they adopted many Greek ways, including its architecture, literature, and pantheon. The United States' founding generation drew core ideas from Greek democracy and Roman republicanism to form the basis of American governance in the Constitution.
> Watch an overview of ancient Greece's many lasting contributions. (More, w/video)
> Map the rise and fall of different civilizations around the Mediterranean (More, w/video)
Discover more:
> Explore a detailed map of Odysseus' fictional journey in "The Odyssey." (More)
> Ancient Greeks did some weightlifting, but they weren't as concerned with individual muscles as we are. (More)
> Popular dog names from ancient Greece include Growler and Happy. (More)
In partnership with Doroni
A Drone Expert Is Making Flying Cars Real
In 2016, after years working on military drones, Doron Merdinger began sketching a flying car. He saw how quickly the tech had advanced. Soon, people would fly from driveways. So he built Doroni.
It’s great timing, too. The urban air mobility market is worth $4B today. By 2040, Morgan Stanley puts it at $1 trillion. By 2050, $9 trillion. And with 600+ reservations for Doroni’s aircraft and $240M+ in potential revenue already, the demand for this innovation is undeniable. When FOX Business saw the showroom model get unveiled in March, they called it “the ‘flying car’ set to revolutionize personal air travel.” Since then, Doroni has gone on to officially reserve the Nasdaq ticker $DRNI in preparation for a potential public listing.
With commercial deliveries planned for 2028 and $1.4B+ in annual revenue targeted by 2032, Doroni’s scaling fast. Join 12,000+ early-stage Doroni shareholders. Invest in Doroni at $3.30/share today.*
Please support our sponsors!
News in Context
1440 brings you the knowledge and context behind the week's stories:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup final takes place today at 3 pm ET. See some of the best images so far from this year's tournament. (More)
> Learn about the life of Lamine Yamal, Spain's young prodigy.
> ... and explore an interactive guide to all the different 2026 World Cup players.
Todd Blanche faced a roughly five-hour Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday for the permanent attorney general post. (More)
> Explore the biographies and official portraits of every US attorney general.
> Early attorneys general worked alone and often kept private law practices.
Gus, the fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex, sells for a record $50.1M at auction. (More)
> Compare the sizes of different dinosaurs.
> What happened on the day nearly all the dinosaurs died.
The FDA approved a new daily pill to lower cholesterol levels. (More)
> How exercise can help keep your heart healthy.
> Visualize a stroke at the microscopic level.
1440 Civics
Here are some of the best resources we found this week on the White House (with apologies to our lactose-intolerant readers).
> Andrew Jackson kept a 1,400-pound block of cheese on display in the White House for over a year. (More)
> Meet Pauline, the White House cow who made national news when she briefly went missing on her way to a dairy show. (More, w/video)
> See how today's East Wing ballroom renovation stacks up against the price tag of past White House makeovers. (More)
... and take a virtual tour of the White House's 132 rooms as they looked before the renovation. (More, w/video)
Want more? Explore hundreds of our favorite Civics-related resources.
🇺🇸 1440 Explores ... What Happened to Congress
The real story behind Congress may be different from the one you learned in school. In our latest episode of "1440 Explores," Editor-in-Chief Sony Kassam traces how Congress has evolved over the past century and how a series of moments reshaped the balance of power in Washington. Watch the episode here or click below.
PS—Click here to listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
In partnership with Doroni
$DRNI Prepares for Potential Nasdaq Listing
But the real opportunity is now, before Doroni takes to the skies.
They just unveiled the showroom model of their flying car after nearly a decade of R&D. It’s already been preordered by 600+ people, good for $240M+ in potential revenue for Doroni. And with commercial deliveries targeted for 2028, this futuristic promise is nearly a modern-day reality. Earlier this year, they reserved the Nasdaq ticker $DRNI. By 2032, Doroni projects $1.4B+/yr in revenue. Invest in Doroni at $3.30/share today.*
Please support our sponsors!
Etcetera
People are spending hundreds of dollars on pet ants.
This interactive tool reveals why Americans are unemployed.
The best obscure albums of the past 40 years.
Supertoxic rat poisons are wreaking havoc on wildlife.
Rob Reiner met his wife while making "When Harry Met Sally...," inspiring the film's happy ending.
🫶 Humankind: Spanish father-daughter duo turns surfboard waste into beautiful furniture (w/photos).
Watch how cotton is collected and processed into cotton fibers, feed for livestock, and cooking oil.
What raw milk can do to our bodies.
Quincy Jones' "Big Band Bossa Nova" helped introduce the Brazilian genre to the US.
Explore the unique anatomy of starfish.
In partnership: This flying car company maxed out their last funding round in less than 100 days.*
The earliest evidence of cancer was found in an ancient human ancestor's foot.
Businessman Steve Ballmer explains how the global price of oil impacts US gas prices.
1440 x USAFacts: The US government spends taxpayer dollars to collect public data. Learn about an open letter requesting Congress use that data in major policy decisions.
Historybook: Inventor and businessman Samuel Colt born (1814); First US women’s rights convention held (1848); Maurice Garin becomes first winner of Tour de France (1903); Sports journalist Stuart Scott born (1965); First GPS signal transmitted (1977).
*Please support our sponsors.
"Once you start questioning the bad stuff that comes your way, you have to start questioning the good—and I wouldn’t trade the good for anything."
— Stuart Scott
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*Disclosure: This is a paid advertisement for Doroni Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.doroni.io/. A reservation of the ticker symbol is not a guarantee that we will be listed on the NASDAQ. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.
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