Fugu: The Pufferfish That Can Kill You—and the People Who Eat It Anyway
Discover how Japan turned the poisonous pufferfish into fugu, a prized delicacy requiring skilled chefs, strict rules, and remarkable nerve.
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Amos Atkinson and the Hostage Siege That Ended When Police Called His Mother
Read more: Amos Atkinson and the Hostage Siege That Ended When Police Called His MotherAmos Atkinson took hostages in a Melbourne restaurant and demanded Chopper Read’s release. Police ended the siege by calling his mother. Sherlock Holmes would have nodded.
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Oregon’s Black Exclusion Laws: The Free State That Tried to Ban Black People
Read more: Oregon’s Black Exclusion Laws: The Free State That Tried to Ban Black PeopleOregon banned slavery before statehood, but its early laws also tried to exclude Black people entirely. Explore the disturbing history of Oregon’s Black exclusion laws.
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La Salle: The Explorer Who Found the Mississippi, Lost the Mississippi, and Then Lost Everyone’s Patience
Read more: La Salle: The Explorer Who Found the Mississippi, Lost the Mississippi, and Then Lost Everyone’s PatienceRené-Robert Cavelier de La Salle found the Mississippi, claimed Louisiana for France, then missed the river completely and doomed his Texas colony.
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Writer’s Block Explained: The Strange Science Behind the Blank Page
Read more: Writer’s Block Explained: The Strange Science Behind the Blank PageWriter’s block may feel like laziness with better branding, but science says writing trouble can involve anxiety, perfectionism, brain function, aphasia, agraphia, dysgraphia, and hypergraphia.
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Buster Keaton: The Stone-Faced Genius Who Nearly Died for Every Laugh
Read more: Buster Keaton: The Stone-Faced Genius Who Nearly Died for Every LaughDiscover the astonishing life of Buster Keaton, the silent film genius who risked death for comedy, revolutionized filmmaking, survived Hollywood disaster, and became one of cinema’s greatest legends.
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The USS O’Bannon and the Great Potato Attack of World War II
Read more: The USS O’Bannon and the Great Potato Attack of World War IIThe USS O’Bannon allegedly attacked a Japanese submarine with potatoes during World War II. Here’s the real story behind one of the Navy’s strangest legends.
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Professional Farters: The Weird Career Path Your Guidance Counselor Never Mentioned
Read more: Professional Farters: The Weird Career Path Your Guidance Counselor Never MentionedExplore the strange true history of professional farters, from Roland the Farter and medieval court entertainment to Le Pétomane, the Moulin Rouge, Japanese fart battles, and Mr. Methane.
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Haiti’s Zombie Law: The Strange Truth Behind Article 246
Read more: Haiti’s Zombie Law: The Strange Truth Behind Article 246Discover the truth behind Haiti’s zombie law. The strange truth involves poison, premature burial, Article 246, Vodou folklore, and Hollywood’s habit of making everything more dramatic.
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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.
