The Long, Strange History of Prussian Blue

Everyone's favorite color--from Cezanne to rhesus monkeys- started out as a chemistry experiment gone wrong, according to Joshua Cohen's history of the pigment.

What's your favorite color? Probably blue, right? Everyone like it--five of Pantone's last 11 colors of the year have been shades of blue, including this year's pick, turquoise. A Cambridge psychological study showed even rhesus monkeys pick blue as their favorite (green was second). According to Pantone, blues are calming, inviting...