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The Ponzi Scheme with Chelsea Ursin
Nowadays most people are familiar with the term 'Ponzi scheme' -- but where does it come from? How did the scheme work, and why is it called a Ponzi scheme today? Chelsea Ursin, Boston native and cre…
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
The History of MREs with Jacqueline Raposo
It's often said that an army marches on its stomach, and for thousands of years the world's militaries tried to feed their forces on the march (often with mixed success). Join the guys and Jacqueline…
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
Donald Crowhurst Faked a Race Around the World
Sailing around the world is a dangerous proposition, even in the modern day — now imagine doing it by yourself in the 1960s! That's what underdog Donald Crowhurst claimed to do... except he made the …
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
Calvin Coolidge Skipped Town and Went Fishing for Three Months (While He was President)
Widely known as a taciturn man who liked public gatherings even less than he liked people, Calvin Coolidge was often ridiculed by the press -- reporters regularly followed his movements in hopes of g…
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
The Presidential Dinner That Scandalized America
Breaking bread with your fellow humans has long been acknowledged as fantastic, wholesome way to bond with people outside of social conventions, economic status and so on -- but when Teddy Roosevelt …
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
Was the Lone Ranger Inspired by a Black U.S. Marshall?
Bass Reeves was a larger than life figure -- a man who escaped slavery, taught himself multiple Native American languages, and eventually became one of the most well-known deputy US Marshalls in the …
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
Night Soil Men Were the Unsung Heroes of Urban Sanitation
While city life has its charms, it's not without its problems -- and some of those problems are real stinkers. In the days before widespread sewage systems, urban centers across the world struggled t…
Published on 5 years, 9 months ago
The Tiny Spanish Town That Went To War With France For 100 Years
Located two hours' drive inland along a winding potholed road from Almeria on Spain's southeastern Mediterranean coast, the small town of Lijar, Spain is notoriously difficult to find. Yet the town's…
Published on 5 years, 10 months ago
The Great Diamond Hoax - Part 2
The California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s did more than just move hundreds of thousands of people across the continent -- it also convinced these people that they, too, could strike it rich. This opt…
Published on 5 years, 10 months ago
The Great Diamond Hoax - Part 1
The California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s did more than just move hundreds of thousands of people across the continent -- it also convinced these people that they, too, could strike it rich. This opt…
Published on 5 years, 10 months ago