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Holiday Classic: When the Puritans Canceled Christmas
Nowadays Christmas is a globally-recognized holiday celebrated by millions of people, but in the past this wasn't the case. In fact, some groups of Christians detested the holiday, going so far as to…
Published on 5 years ago
Holiday Classic: The Strange History of Antarctic Fruitcake
Nowadays fruitcake is considered a stereotypical, often comical holiday punchline, but even in the modern day people across the planet can agree on at least one fruitcake fact: Those things are prett…
Published on 5 years ago
Goodyear and the Mystery of the Ghost Blimp
In 1942, a U.S. Navy airship flew out over the Pacific to search for Japanese submarines. It lost radio contact and, hours later, slowly crashed in the San Franciscan suburbs. Inside the gondola, eve…
Published on 5 years ago
Benito Mussolini was Super into Wearable Milk
Today Benito Mussolini is probably best known as the founder of Italy's National Fascist Party, but he was also very, very into milk. So much so, in fact, that he funneled tons of funding into a stra…
Published on 5 years ago
Snowmen as Protest: The Miracle of 1511
During the brutal winter of 1511, residents of Brussels built more than one hundred snowmen... and these sculptures weren't the type of snow sculpture you see in the modern day. Instead, the city was…
Published on 5 years ago
Why are Chimney Sweeps good luck at weddings?
It seems odd, at first - the idea that a random chimney cleaner might pass by a wedding, then be brought into the party, shake sooty hands with the couple, and bless random people on the street. Yet …
Published on 5 years ago
People Have Been Convinced Robots Will Take Their Jobs For Centuries
Nowadays automation is affecting almost every industry on the planet, and numerous experts are raising alarms: AI, robotics and automation, they say, may well spell doom for millions of jobs held by …
Published on 5 years ago
That Time the US was Terrified of Tomatoes
Nowadays the tomato is an ubiquitous foodstuff in households across the planet - but in the US, this humble staple was once considered downright poisonous... and, later, it was touted as a miracle cu…
Published on 5 years ago
How the Pandemic Helped (and Hurt) the Struggle for Women's Rights
The 1918 epidemic played a massive, sometimes unacknowledged role in the struggle for women's rights. Tune in and learn more in today's episode.
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Published on 5 years, 1 month ago
How a German Prince Built his own Artificial Volcano
Like many nobles of his day, Leopold III Friedrich Franz traveled widely in his youth, taking in the ancient wonders of Europe. A stunning experience witnessing an eruption at Mount Vesuvius transfor…
Published on 5 years, 1 month ago