How I Love Lucy Changed Television Forever
How I Love Lucy changed television with Desilu, reruns, three-camera filming, Lucille Ball’s business empire, and one very determined redhead.
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The National Wildlife Refuge System and How Fancy Women’s Hats Helped Create Federal Animal Protection
Read more: The National Wildlife Refuge System and How Fancy Women’s Hats Helped Create Federal Animal ProtectionHow fancy women’s hats, egret plumes, Theodore Roosevelt, and Pelican Island helped launch federal wildlife protection and the National Wildlife Refuge System.
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The 1904 Olympics: The Games That Got Lost at the St. Louis World’s Fair
Read more: The 1904 Olympics: The Games That Got Lost at the St. Louis World’s FairThe 1904 Olympics in St. Louis were swallowed by the World’s Fair, producing marathon mayhem, food legends, dazzling spectacle, and deeply troubling human exhibits.
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The Student Who Fought a Sleepwalking Duel: The 1816 Case of Mr. D
Read more: The Student Who Fought a Sleepwalking Duel: The 1816 Case of Mr. DIn 1816, a London medical journal reported the bizarre case of a student who fought sleepwalking duel while, collapsed from a nonexistent gunshot wound, and received fake surgery from a very committed doctor.
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“Louie Louie”: Why the FBI Investigated Rock-and-Roll’s Most Mumbled Song”
Read more: “Louie Louie”: Why the FBI Investigated Rock-and-Roll’s Most Mumbled Song”In 1964, the FBI investigated “Louie Louie” for obscenity, only to conclude that The Kingsmen’s garbled lyrics were officially unintelligible.
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The Free and Independent State of Scott: When One Tennessee County Seceded from Secession
Read more: The Free and Independent State of Scott: When One Tennessee County Seceded from SecessionDuring the Civil War, Scott County, Tennessee rejected secession so strongly that it declared itself the Free and Independent State of Scott. Here’s the strange story of the county that seceded from secession.
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Little Red Riding Hood’s Dark and Scary Origins: Where Grandma Gets Eaten and Somehow That Was the Edited Version
Read more: Little Red Riding Hood’s Dark and Scary Origins: Where Grandma Gets Eaten and Somehow That Was the Edited VersionExplore the dark origins of Little Red Riding Hood, from Charles Perrault’s grim ending to the Brothers Grimm’s wolf surgery, folklore symbolism, and disturbing older versions.
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50 Fun Facts About American History: Wars, Disasters, and Decisions That Probably Needed a Second Meeting
Read more: 50 Fun Facts About American History: Wars, Disasters, and Decisions That Probably Needed a Second MeetingExplore 50 weird, wonderful, and slightly embarrassing fun facts about American history, including strange wars, bizarre military plans, disasters, nuclear scares, and decisions that definitely needed a second meeting.
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Program 7: The USSR’s Plan to Use Nuclear Explosions for Totally Peaceful Reasons
Read more: Program 7: The USSR’s Plan to Use Nuclear Explosions for Totally Peaceful ReasonsThe Soviet Union’s Program 7 tried using nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes, from digging canals to putting out gas fires. Because subtlety was apparently bourgeois.
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The Madeleine Smith Poisoning Trial: Love Letters, Arsenic, and a “Not Proven” Verdict
Read more: The Madeleine Smith Poisoning Trial: Love Letters, Arsenic, and a “Not Proven” VerdictMadeleine Smith’s 1857 arsenic poisoning trial scandalized Victorian Scotland with secret love letters, class anxiety, suspicious pharmacy visits, and a famous “Not Proven” verdict.
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6 Weird Weather Phenomena That Prove the Atmosphere Has a Flair For Drama
Read more: 6 Weird Weather Phenomena That Prove the Atmosphere Has a Flair For DramaExplore six weird weather phenomena that sound fake but are real, from ball lightning and St. Elmo’s fire to sprites, heat bursts, Morning Glory clouds, and haboobs.
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Animalia Paradoxa: Carl Linnaeus, Unicorns, Dragons, and the Weirdest Footnote in Science
Read more: Animalia Paradoxa: Carl Linnaeus, Unicorns, Dragons, and the Weirdest Footnote in ScienceCarl Linnaeus once created Animalia Paradoxa, a scientific holding pen for unicorns, hydras, dragons, phoenixes, vegetable lambs, and other suspicious creatures.
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The First Fourth of July Was a Lot Quieter Than You Think
Read more: The First Fourth of July Was a Lot Quieter Than You ThinkJohn Adams predicted America would celebrate July 2 with fireworks, but July 4 stole the show. Here’s how the first fourth of July celebrations unfolded during America’s early years.
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The Lone Ranger: The Radio Cowboy Who Became America’s First Multimedia Superhero
Read more: The Lone Ranger: The Radio Cowboy Who Became America’s First Multimedia SuperheroExplore the history of the Lone Ranger, from his 1933 radio debut to television fame, Clayton Moore’s mask lawsuit, movie adaptations, and the surprising Green Hornet connection.
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Milton Berle: How Mr. Television Made America Buy TV Sets
Read more: Milton Berle: How Mr. Television Made America Buy TV SetsMilton Berle became “Mr. Television” in the 1940s and 1950s, turning Texaco Star Theater into a national phenomenon and helping sell America on TV.
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The Gong Show, Chuck Barris, and the Game Show Host Who Claimed He Was Also a CIA Assassin
Read more: The Gong Show, Chuck Barris, and the Game Show Host Who Claimed He Was Also a CIA AssassinThere are television shows that do more than entertain. They inform. They inspire. They gently elevate the human spirit and remind us of our shared dignity. The Gong Show was not one of those shows. It was loud, strange, shameless, chaotic, frequently tasteless, occasionally brilliant, and usually looked as if someone had taken a perfectly…
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