The Great Peshtigo Fire
The greatest fire in American history, in terms of loss of life, occurred in the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin in 1871. Most people haven’t heard of it, and even people who live in the region today aren...
4 Aug 20208min
Imperial Leftovers: The Remnants of the British Empire
At its peak, the British Empire covered 23% of the world’s population and 24% of the Earth’s landmass. By either measure, it was the largest empire in the history of the world. Since then…..well, let’...
3 Aug 202014min
Van Halen and Brown M&Ms
For years a story had circulated that the rock and roll group Van Halen had a contract that required that a bowl of M&Ms be left backstage wherever they performed, with all the brown M&Ms removed. If ...
2 Aug 20209min
The Pitch Drop Experiment
In 1927, Professor Thomas Parnell of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia created an experiment to demonstrate to his students the concept of viscosity and how some substances which app...
1 Aug 20209min
Beamonesque: Bob Beamon’s Incredible Olympic Record
In a single 6 second period in 1968, Bob Beamon completely rewrote the record books in track and field. His gold medal-winning long jump at the Mexico City Olympics not only set a world’s record, but ...
31 Jul 20209min
The French Scrabble Champion
Nigel Richards is unquestionably the greatest Scrabble player in history. The 52-year-old Kiwi is a five-time world champion, and the only player ever to win more than once. He is a five-time United S...
30 Jul 20208min
The Interstate Highway System
After the end of WWII in Europe, General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed the military governor of the American Zone in Germany. During his travels around Germany, he noticed that the German autobahn w...
29 Jul 202012min
How Many Planets Are There?
Poor Pluto. It was totally unknown, then it was a planet, and now it’s not a planet anymore. This change in the status of planets isn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Since the dawn of hist...
28 Jul 202010min
