The "Great Moon Hoax" began on August 25, 1835, when The Sun, a New York newspaper, ran the first of six articles "about the supposed discovery of life and civilization… Read the rest of the article: In 1835 a New York paper put bat-men and unicorns on the moon
When astronomers first observed iPTF14hls in September 2014, they identified it as a supernova and expected it to dim within 100 days. Instead, it kept erupting. Over approximately 1,000 days,… Read the rest of the article: A star discovered in 2014 has exploded six times and none of the theories explain it
The Honjō Masamune, forged in the 13th or 14th century and passed from shōgun to shōgun as a symbol of the Tokugawa dynasty, is considered one of the finest Japanese… Read the rest of the article: Japan's greatest sword was surrendered to a US sergeant in 1946. Nobody knows where it is.
In February 1985, a 29-year-old woman from Tokyo's Suginami neighborhood sent a letter to the Japanese magazine Book Magazine. "I'm not sure why," she wrote, "but since about two or… Read the rest of the article: In 1985, a Japanese woman wrote a letter about bookstores making her need to use the bathroom. It became a phenomenon.
From 1970 to 1974, the Varosha district of Famagusta, Cyprus, was "one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world," a favorite of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch,… Read the rest of the article: In 1974, Turkish forces fenced off a Cyprus beach resort. It's still empty.
John Lahr, writing in the London Review of Books, offers the sharpest piece I've read on Sid Caesar — ostensibly a review of David Margolick's new biography When Caesar Was… Read the rest of the article: Sid Caesar built the writers' room that taught Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, and Woody Allen how to be funny
A study published in Neuroscience by researchers at Spain's University of Zaragoza scanned the brains of 100 young adults and found structural differences in those who hold authoritarian beliefs —… Read the rest of the article: Brain scans of authoritarians show reduced grey matter in regions for empathy and social reasoning
On the night of 21 August 1986, Lake Nyos in northwestern Cameroon released between 100,000 and 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide in a single outgassing event. The cloud rose at… Read the rest of the article: In 1986, a Cameroonian lake released a CO2 cloud that killed 1,746 people overnight
According to the Bencao Gangmu, a 16th-century Chinese medical compendium, elderly men in Arabia would voluntarily mummify themselves in honey. The donor would stop eating all food except honey, bathing… Read the rest of the article: The ancient practice of mummifying a man in honey to sell as medicine
The Vatican Observatory has operated continuously since 1774, when the Papacy established the Observatory of the Roman College in Rome. The Church's interest in astronomy predates that: the Gregorian Calendar,… Read the rest of the article: The Vatican has run an astronomical observatory since 1774
While chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan developed what economist Alan Blinder called "a turgid dialect of English" — deliberate obscurantism designed to prevent financial markets from overreacting to… Read the rest of the article: Fed Chair Alan Greenspan intentionally babbled meaningless slop and got away with it
Between 1993 and 2009, investigators across Austria, France, and Germany found DNA from the same unknown woman at 40 crime scenes — murders, burglaries, a police officer shot in Heilbronn.… Read the rest of the article: The 'Phantom of Heilbronn' serial killer turned out to be a cotton swab factory worker
In 1888, a French government official named Charles-Marie David de Mayréna was sent into the highlands of what is now Vietnam to negotiate treaties with local tribes. Instead, he convinced… Read the rest of the article: In 1888, a French adventurer convinced Vietnamese tribes to crown him king
In the department of Yoro, Honduras, fish turn up on the ground after large storms. The lluvia de peces — literally "rain of fish" — has been reported for over… Read the rest of the article: In a Honduran town, fish appear on the ground after every major rainstorm
A toast sandwich is exactly what it sounds like: a thin slice of toasted bread, placed between two slices of untoasted bread. Season with salt and pepper. The recipe appears… Read the rest of the article: The toast sandwich is a piece of toast between two slices of untoasted bread
Apple added a feature called Vehicle Motion Cues in 2024 that places small dots around the edge of your screen. The dots move in sync with your car — sweeping… Read the rest of the article: The obscure iPhone setting that eliminates car sickness
When a former prosecutor got a new case, the first thing he asked was whether the suspect talked. "Nothing lights up a prosecutor's face when he is faced with a… Read the rest of the article: Former prosecutor says talking to police always hurts you
The UNSW team that used ultrasound to speed up cold brew to three minutes has pushed the technique further — producing espresso-strength shots with room-temperature water. A transducer pressed against… Read the rest of the article: Cold-water espresso cuts energy use 75% and tastes identical
Connect to an open WiFi network, and a captive portal opens a shelf of banned ebooks. The access point is a smart light bulb. Rick Osgood reflashed the ESP32 chip… Read the rest of the article: Screw this light bulb in and it serves banned books
In 1906, a U.S. plant pathologist named Franklin Sumner Earle collected a small brown mushroom in Cuba and shipped it to the New York Botanical Garden. He called it Stropharia… Read the rest of the article: The poster child for psychedelic mushrooms is named after a country that doesn't use it
