Jack the Ripper
In 1888, the city of London was terrorized by its most infamous serial killer. Anywhere between 5 and 11 murders were committed over a three-year period in the Whitechapel area of London, and the crim...
7 Feb 202110min
The Super Bowl
One Sunday every year, the United States celebrates its biggest non-official holiday: Super Bowl Sunday. The championship game of the National Football League is almost always the biggest television a...
6 Feb 202110min
AM/FM
For over 100 years, radio has been one of the biggest mediums for communication, information, and entertainment. It was the first true broadcast medium. However, recent technical and demographic chang...
5 Feb 202110min
Tulipmania!
In the 17th century, the Netherlands was struck by the world’s first investment bubble. They weren’t investing in stocks or bonds or real estate. They were investing in…..tulip bulbs. Tulip bulbs beca...
4 Feb 202110min
The Smallest Country in the World
How small can a country be and still be a country? In theory, there is no lower limit on the number of people to be a sovereign state. However, in reality, there are costs associated with being an ind...
3 Feb 202112min
The 1937 Soviet Census
In 1936, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin determined it was time for the Soviet Union to have another census. They hadn’t conducted one since 1926 and he wanted some actual numbers to show the world the su...
2 Feb 20218min
Extraterritoriality
A common misconception that many people have is that embassies are part of the territory of the country that owns the embassy. For example, the American embassy in Canada is part of the United States....
1 Feb 20219min
The Dionne Quintuplets
Multiple births happen very infrequently. The odds decrease dramatically the more children are born at once. The odds of twins is 1 in 250 pregnancies. The odds of triplets are about 1 in 62,000. The ...
31 Jan 202110min
