The Vault is Slate’s history blog. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @slatevault, and find us on Tumblr. Find out more about what this space is all about here. Socony-Vacuum Oil Company ...

Thanks to a team of scientists, there's a new "tree of life" showing the ancestry of millions of different species dating back to the beginning of the planet. The team, led by Karen Cranston of Duke ...