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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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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15 Obsolete English Words That Deserve a Comeback
Read more: 15 Obsolete English Words That Deserve a ComebackDiscover funny obsolete English words like ultracrepidarian, mumpsimus, slubberdegullion, fudgel, apricity, and more—forgotten vocabulary that deserves a comeback.
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Smokey Bear: The Orphan Cub, Wartime Mascot, and Federal Fire Safety Icon Who Told Us Not to Burn Everything Down
Read more: Smokey Bear: The Orphan Cub, Wartime Mascot, and Federal Fire Safety Icon Who Told Us Not to Burn Everything DownDiscover the real story of Smokey Bear, from his World War II origins and the rescued New Mexico cub to his role as America’s wildfire prevention icon and complicated legacy.
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The Battle of Tanga (1914): When the British Were Defeated by Bullets, Bad Planning, and Bees
Read more: The Battle of Tanga (1914): When the British Were Defeated by Bullets, Bad Planning, and BeesDiscover the Battle of Tanga (1914), where a British invasion of German East Africa collapsed due to poor planning, fierce German resistance, and an unexpected swarm of bees.
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The 1976 Bicentennial: Tall Ships, Freedom Trains, Beards, and Patriotic Weirdness
Read more: The 1976 Bicentennial: Tall Ships, Freedom Trains, Beards, and Patriotic WeirdnessExplore America’s 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, from tall ships and Freedom Trains to painted fire hydrants, patriotic beards, coins, Disney parades, and small-town weirdness.
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The 1927 White House Renovation and the Overdue Bill to the King of England
Read more: The 1927 White House Renovation and the Overdue Bill to the King of EnglandCalvin Coolidge, the 1927 White House renovation, and the deadpan joke that Britain should get the bill for damage dating back to the War of 1812.
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The War of 1812: The War That Started Late, Ended Late, and Somehow Still Arrived Early for Its Own Peace Treaty
Read more: The War of 1812: The War That Started Late, Ended Late, and Somehow Still Arrived Early for Its Own Peace TreatyThe War of 1812 began just after Britain reversed a key grievance and ended with New Orleans fought after peace was signed. History’s timing was not its finest hour.
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Fritz Haber and the Chemistry of Moral Whiplash: Fertilizer, Poison Gas, and a Nobel Prize
Read more: Fritz Haber and the Chemistry of Moral Whiplash: Fertilizer, Poison Gas, and a Nobel PrizeFritz Haber helped feed billions with synthetic fertilizer—and pioneered chemical warfare in WWI. Explore the shocking, complicated legacy of the Nobel Prize-winning chemist.
