In 1838, Frenchwoman Henriette d'Angeville set out to climb Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, against the advice of nearly everyone she knew. In this week's episode of… Read the rest of the article: In 1838 Frenchwoman Henriette d'Angeville set out to climb Mont Blanc despite almost universal opposition

For more than 40 years in the early 20th century, Martin Couney ran a sideshow in which premature babies were displayed in incubators. With this odd practice he offered a… Read the rest of the article: For nearly 50 years, Martin Couney ran a sideshow in which babies were displayed in incubators

In April 1945, a group of American soldiers learned that hundreds of Lipizzaner horses were being held on a farm in western Czechoslovakia—and set out to rescue them before the… Read the rest of the article: In 1945, a group of American soldiers set out to rescue hundreds of horses from a Nazi farm in Czechoslovakia

In 1844 New Orleans was riveted by a dramatic trial: A slave claimed that she was really a free immigrant who had been pressed into bondage as a young girl.… Read the rest of the article: In 1844, New Orleans slave Sally Miller claimed to be a free German immigrant pressed into bondage

In the 1890s, Waldemar Haffkine worked valiantly to develop vaccines against both cholera and bubonic plague. Then an unjust accusation derailed his career. In this week's episode of the Futility… Read the rest of the article: Waldemar Haffkine is largely unremembered, despite developing vaccines against both cholera and bubonic plague

In 1938, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana vanished after taking a sudden sea journey. At first it was feared that he'd ended his life, but the perplexing circumstances left the truth… Read the rest of the article: Italian physicist Ettore Majorana disappeared mysteriously in 1938

In 1883, Missouri real estate broker James Reavis announced that he held title to a huge tract of land in the Arizona Territory. If certified, the claim would threaten the… Read the rest of the article: Fraudster James Reavis claimed to own 18,000 square miles of the American West in the 1880s

One dark night in 1804, a London excise officer mistook a bricklayer for a ghost and shot him. This raised a difficult question: Was he guilty of murder? In this… Read the rest of the article: Does shooting a ghost constitute murder?

In 1901, two English academics met a succession of strange characters during a visit to Versailles. They came to believe that they had strayed somehow into the mind of Marie… Read the rest of the article: In 1901, two English academics came to believe they'd passed through a memory of Marie Antoinette

In the 19th century, some New England communities grew so desperate to help victims of tuberculosis that they resorted to a macabre practice: digging up dead relatives and ritually burning… Read the rest of the article: Some New Englanders in the 1800s believed that tuberculosis symptoms were caused by the dead

In the 19th century, France, England, and the United States each set out to bring home an Egyptian obelisk. But each obelisk weighed hundreds of tons, and the techniques of… Read the rest of the article: In the 1800s, France, England, and the United States each undertook to move a massive Egyptian obelisk

Eugene Bullard ran away from home in 1907 to seek his fortune in a more racially accepting Europe. There he led a life of staggering accomplishment, becoming by turns a… Read the rest of the article: The first Black American military pilot led a stunning career in wartime France

Crossing the world in 1932, two German airmen ran out of fuel in a remote region of northwestern Australia. With no food and little water, they struggled to find their… Read the rest of the article: In 1932, two German airmen became stranded in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia

In 1817 a young woman appeared in the English village of Almondsbury, speaking a strange language and seeking food and shelter. She revealed herself to be an Eastern princess, kidnapped… Read the rest of the article: In 1817, a young woman claiming to be a kidnapped Eastern princess appeared in an English village

In 1911 English sisters Claire and Dora Williamson began consulting a Seattle "fasting specialist" named Linda Burfield Hazzard. As they underwent her brutal treatments, the sisters found themselves caught in… Read the rest of the article: Linda Burfield Hazzard's "fasting cure" killed multiple patients in the early 20th century

In 1909, Oklahoma brothers Bud and Temple Abernathy rode alone to New Mexico and back, though they were just 9 and 5 years old. In the years that followed they… Read the rest of the article: In the early 1900s, two young brothers made several daring trips across the United States

In 1759, ghostly rappings started up in the house of a parish clerk in London. In the months that followed they would incite a scandal against one man, an accusation… Read the rest of the article: In London in 1762, a ghost accused a man of murder

In 1944, British captives of the Japanese in Sumatra drew morale from an unlikely source: a purebred English pointer who cheered the men, challenged the guards, and served as a… Read the rest of the article: In 1944, an English pointer gave heart to an Allied prison camp in Sumatra

In 1977, West German tourist Erwin Kreuz spent three days enjoying the sights, sounds, and hospitality of Bangor, Maine. Unfortunately, he thought he was in San Francisco, on the other… Read the rest of the article: In 1977, a German tourist spent three days in Bangor, Maine, thinking it was San Francisco

In 1931, a 93-year-old widow was discovered to be hoarding great wealth in New York's Herald Square Hotel. Her death touched off an inquiry that revealed a glittering past —… Read the rest of the article: In 1931, Ida Wood died hoarding a great fortune — and a great secret