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 Which one do you think is the more important technological innovation in human history?   

This week, China's DeepSeek AI app shocked the markets. Nvidia's stock tanked by 17% and the Nasdaq decreased by 3%. And Pres. Trump called DeepSeek a wake-up call for American tech companies. 

At first quietly, but then quickly AI has become the next technological frontier of humanity. Many fear it. Others welcome it. 

Regardless of how you feel, my position is that AI is not the most important tech innovation in human history. 

Yes. We had many big inventions before the movable type printing press (see image below). We learned how to start and maintain fires and we invented the wheel. But what the movable type printing press did was equally profound in human history. For the first time, ideas could be communicated to a large audience. For example, in the 15th century, less than 50,000 books were printed in Europe. By the year 1800, that number shot up to 1 million books. And the result was, predictably, profound. By the mid-19th century, Americans and Western Europeans came to 'expect' technological innovation. 

One of the guest scholars in my program, Dr. Robert Friedel (former historian at the Smithsonian Institution and at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), compares artificial innovation with prior technology advances, and tells us what the term disruptive technology means. 

Did you know that the Mona Lisa gained its worldwide renown only 'after' it was stolen in 1911? 

►News: The French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced that the Mona Lisa will be move from its current location in the Louvre to a new room, for its exclusive display. 

►History Behind News: In its long history, the Mona Lisa has moved several times - all prestigious sites. 

For some time, it was kept at Palace of Fontainebleau, a royal chateau for several French monarchs. Later, Louis XIV moved it to the Versailles (of course, he would!). After the French Revolution, it was moved to the Louvre (which was originally intended as a fortification before it became a palace). 

But that's not the end of her journey. For a short while, she was in Napoleon's bedroom in the Tuileries Palace. And during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871, in which France suffered a humiliating defeat) it was moved to a military complex in the south of France. 

In 1911, an Italian, Vincenzo Peruggia, stole the portrait painting and took it to Italy, because he believe it belonged there - since it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The Louvre was closed for a week and, for a brief period, Pablo Picaso was implicated (but later exonerate). 

For two agonizing years, Peruggia kept the Mona Lisa hidden in his apartment. He was finally caught when he tried to sell it to the Uffizi in Florence. It was displayed there for two weeks and returned to the Louvre in January 1914. From that point on, the Mona Lisa began its meteoric rise to fame among the common people. 

I should also mention that it was moved several times during WWII, and then later to accommodate renovations. 

►Image description: 

The image to the right is Mona Lisa's vacant spot in the Louvre from the time it was stolen in 1911. The dotted circle is my addition to highlight the missing painting. 

Did you know that before the polio vaccine, parents - American moms and dads - were crying out for help to fight polio? 

►News: Today, Robert F Kennedy Jr. was grilled in Congressional hearings about his views on vaccines. He is Pres. Trump's nominee for HHS. And if you recall, back in December 2024, RFK's lawyer had petitioned the U.S. government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine. 

►Images: Right: FDR in California, 1932. He couldn't walk, because he contracted paralytic polio in 1921, when he was 39 years old. 

Left: Staff in a Rhode Island hospital examine a patient in an iron lung tank respirator during a polio epidemic in 1960.

►History Behind News: The 1952 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in our nation's history - 3,145 died and 21,269 were disabled. For me, this raises an interesting question: why wasn't polio a bigger issue in prior decades and centuries? 

To be sure, evidence of polio dates back to ancient times. Egyptian hieroglyphs showed images of children with withered limbs and canes. And the earliest evidence of polio is of a teenage girl who lived 4,000 years ago (burial site in the UAE). 

The reason polio did not explode into a pandemic in earlier centuries is, perhaps ironically, insanitary conditions. 

You see, poor sanitation exposed people (including children) to constant and small doses of the polio virus (does this sound like a vaccine to you?), which, in turn, created a natural immunity within the population. But in the 20th century, better sanitation and healthcare eliminated this exposure and… cases of polio exploded. 

Another interesting point about polio is that research for polio vaccine and polio rehabilitation were driven - not necessarily or entirely by the government - by grassroots movement - moms and dads crying out for help to fight polio! 

One of the guests in my program is Meredith Wadman, MD - author of "The Vaccine Race" (winner of several book prizes). In addition to speaking with me about her years in vaccine clinics in Asia and Africa, Dr. Wadman describes how in the 1950s and '60s American parents lined up to get their kids' vaccine shots and how pregnant mothers were affected most by the Rubella epidemic. 

She also makes this interesting statement: "Making vaccines isn't rocket science. It's harder."

When I asked her what she means, she answered that meds and med devices - such as diabetes pills and heart valves - are given to sick patients, who need them then and there. But vaccines are given to healthy people, who do not need them immediately. 

So, there is a different risk benefit question for vaccines. And that's where history comes in. Amazingly, this history is quite accessible. Not just online and in libraries. But also within your families. Just ask your grandparents, and they'll tell you, how glad they were for vaccines. 

Did you know that in August 2019, Pres. Trump cancelled his state visit to Denmark after that country's prime minister, Ms. Mette Frederiksen, told him Greenland is not for sale? 

This London NATO meeting between the two leaders took place about four months after. And, for obvious reasons, it must have been an awkward meeting. 

This week, PM Frederiksen has been on the offensive, touring European capitals to rally support against Pres. Trump's bid to purchase/take Greenland. 

But did you know, that tiny little Denmark, was once a major European power? 

In a fascinating interview, one of my guest scholars, explains how Denmark's king was the richest monarch in Europe, and that Denmark was a formidable military power with an advanced and sizeable naval fleet. So what happened? 

This is the story of how Denmark lost its power in a flash - diminishing in status from Europe's leading Christian state to a has-been in just 20 years! 

My guest, Dr. Paul Douglas Lockhart, was elected to membership in the Royal Society for Danish History, in recognition of his contributions to the study of Danish history, which is a rare accolade for a foreign scholar.