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The Emperor of the United States
When San Franciscan businessman Joshua Norton lost his fortune in a Peruvian rice deal gone sour, he temporarily disappeared from the public eye. Not long after, he reemerged as Norton I, the self-pr…
Published on 3 years, 11 months ago
The Trans-Saharan Ostrich Expedition of 1911
Most people haven't met an ostrich in person, but everyone knows what they are: the large, flightless birds have been around since before the rise of humanity, and throughout history people have admi…
Published on 3 years, 11 months ago
That Time Everyone Tried To Outlaw War
War is ugly, horrific and, according to some, a necessary part of human civilization. Yet in the 1920s, world powers recovering from World War I sought to make the planet a safer (or, at least, less …
Published on 3 years, 11 months ago
CLASSIC: Who Solves Murders in Antarctica?
Antarctica is home to one of the most brutal climates on the planet, and the few humans living on this continent face profound isolation and cramped quarters. Often, tension rises as the months betwe…
Published on 3 years, 11 months ago
The Lil Ice Age Was Way Less Cute Than It Sounds
You've probably heard of the Ice Ages -- long periods of reduction in Earth's temperature, triggering massive expansion of glaciers and so on -- but you may not have heard of the "Little Ice Age," a …
Published on 3 years, 11 months ago
Nub City: Florida's Infamous Amputation Scam
As towns go, Vernon, Florida is pretty tiny -- it has a small population, has struggled with economic depression, and doesn't get a ton of tourists. But that all changed several decades ago, when Ver…
Published on 4 years ago
London's Tiger King, Part Two: Charles Jamrach Becomes a Problematic Hero
By 1857, London's exotic animal trade was in full swing. Animals arrived at the city from across the world (often not surviving the journey), and Charles Jamrach was one of the most prominent animal …
Published on 4 years ago
London's Tiger King, Part One: When Exotic Animal's Were The Hottest Flex
Walking through London today, you'll doubtlessly hear cacophonous traffic, sirens, construction, countless languages -- all the noises familiar to big cities... but, not too long ago, it would also h…
Published on 4 years ago
The Atlantropa Project, Part Two: What Happened to the Supercontinent?
While the idea of draining (most of) the Mediterranean sounds... ambitious, to say the least, Herman Sörgel's vision met with a surprising amount of popular support. In the second part of this two-pa…
Published on 4 years ago
The Atlantropa Project, Part One: Saving Europe via Supercontinent
Like everyone in post-World War I Europe, Herman Sörgel was horrified by the devastation of a continent-wide conflict. He saw raging poverty, crippling unemployment, overpopulation and burgeoning geo…
Published on 4 years ago