On This Day: Scientist Wilhelm Roentgen Discovers X-Rays

A popular brand of flour is using the Web to increase traceability, and IBM is set to release a traceability iPhone app, illustrating how technology can influence food safety and aid environmental movements.

On Nov. 7, 1991, Lakers guard Magic Johnson held a press conference to announce that he had HIV.

Studies show Americans’ support for animal research has declined significantly. In response, biomedical researchers have launched a national campaign to defend and promote animal testing.

Mounting evidence suggests that the differences between male and female brain structure may be more heavily influenced by environment than previously thought.

Recently re-introduced to Congress, the SKILLs Act aims to help students navigate digital information, and could alter perceptions of the book-bound librarian.

On Nov. 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln beat three other candidates in a presidential election divided along geographical lines. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated four months later, seven Southern states had seceded from the union.

“Recycled” computers and electronics can end up in foreign dumps, or sold to identity thieves. Though U.S. laws do little to regulate e-cycling, you can protect yourself from fraud.

On Nov. 6, 1977, after a week of heavy rain, the Barnes Lake Dam in Toccoa Falls ruptured and unleashed a flood of water that killed 38 people and left a small college town destroyed.

Germ cells, the cells that compose eggs and sperm, could provide insight into the earliest stages of human development, and maybe even prevent infertility, birth defects and genetic diseases.

Italy became the first country to convict U.S. government agents for employing extraordinary rendition, the practice of transferring terror suspects from one foreign country to another for incarceration and interrogation.

Studies show a connection between ancient Mayans' forest conservation techniques and cultural survival, offering invaluable insight for modern foresters and conservationists.

On Nov. 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellar of the House of Lords guarding barrels of gunpowder, exposing a plot to kill the king.

On Nov. 5, 1872, 48 years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony and a group of women in Rochester, N.Y., cast votes in the presidential election.

The European Court of Human Rights recently barred Italian classrooms from displaying crucifixes. What does this ruling mean on a practical level?

A new Tom Hanks film marks the unveiling of elaborate additions to New Orleans’ National World War II Museum, underscoring the city’s reemergence.

On Nov. 3, 1986, a Lebanese weekly first published the story of controversial arms sales from the United States to Iran, which was later linked to funding of the Nicaraguan Contras.

The anonymity of bloggers and online commentators has for the most part been protected under 1996 legislation, but a case involving a college student that criticized his dean illustrates the limits of anonymous free speech on the Internet.

On Nov. 2, 1947, aviator Howard Hughes successfully tested the H-4 Hercules flying boat, better known as the “Spruce Goose,” the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.