Some tulip bulb varieties were, briefly, the most expensive objects in the world in 1637. According to Charles Mackay, tulip mania swept the entire nation in the 1600’s: “The …
The hole in the doughnut is often credited to Hanson Crockett Gregory, a 19th century New England sailor. Gregory’s mother Elizabeth regularly made doughnuts for him and his crew to enjoy …
Placing living Russian brown frogs in milk to keep it fresh led to a big leap in antibiotics. This ancient practice in Russia and Finland often worked. Frog skin’s …
Nicaragua took the English Maypole tree and ribbons and added steamy Caribbean dancing. Dirty Display of dirty dancing In Bluefields, Nicaragua, people agree, “Maypole is not what it used to be.” …
The lack of $50,000 may have kept a West Virginian dentist, Mahlon Loomis, from developing a radio system twenty years before Marconi. Congress refused to give Mahlon Loomis financial aid. Many …
Cheese Rolling Race, Gloucester, England. So many villages must be missing their idiots today. Young men chase a cheese off a cliff and tumble 200 yards to the bottom. …
Hunting the Earl of Rone was banned in 1837, for licentiousness and drunken behavior. I blame the incredibly trippy hobby horse. Luckily, the bizarre custom was revived in 1974. …
Today is the geekiest, nerdiest day of the year. Must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays. Today is not only Geek Pride Day. It’s Towel …
Like Julia Roberts in “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, Jeremy snail is a celebrity and on the wrong side of a love triangle. If you think it’s awkward being a …
Game of Thrones began as Game of Shells. It’s turtles all the way down. George R.R. Martin’s childhood turtles kept dying, sometimes in horrible ways – like trapped for …
Move over, Skull Island. These otherworldly animals do exist on Earth, though only in 1 place. For Biological Diversity Day, here are 10 “only found in” creatures. This unusual …
Victorian women were told that Bicycle Face would ruin their beauty. Bicycle Face is the tense expression of concentration required for dodging traffic. Not only would this ruin women’s good …
