November 12, 2026
Silly String: The Broken-Bone Cast That Never Made the Patent
Every few Halloweens, someone retells the same trivia nugget: Silly String was invented as a
Read moreNovember 12, 2026
How One Cockatoo’s Bin Trick Spread to 44 Sydney Suburbs
In 2015, wildlife biologist Richard Major was walking through Stanwell Park, a leafy suburb about
Read moreNovember 12, 2026
Why the Sound of Running Water Makes You Need to Pee
You turn on the shower, and thirty seconds later you’re detouring to the toilet first.
Read moreNovember 10, 2026
The Philippine Mountain Word Hiding Inside “Boondocks”
Say “boondocks” and most Americans picture dirt roads, no cell signal, and a gas station
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Why ‘Gone Haywire’ Comes From a Logger’s Cheapest Fix
In July 1879, the Chicago Daily Tribune ran a tongue-in-cheek piece about ostriches, claiming the
Read moreNovember 9, 2026
The 1874 Prank That (Maybe) Named the Tom Collins
In the spring of 1874, bar patrons across New York kept getting cornered with the
Read moreNovember 8, 2026
The Truth About Those Lines on Red Solo Cups
At some point, almost every red Solo cup gets picked up at a party and
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The Sauce Two Chemists Tried to Throw Away
In 1837, two English chemists put their names on a bottle of something they had
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Does ‘Sincere’ Really Mean ‘Without Wax’?
In Dan Brown’s 1998 thriller Digital Fortress, master cryptographer Susan Fletcher cannot decipher a single
Read moreNovember 4, 2026
Did the Pendennis Club Really Invent the Old Fashioned?
Walk into Louisville’s Pendennis Club and someone will mention it within five minutes: you’re standing
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Why Old Cordless Phones Had That Springy Spiral Antenna
In 1980, the first home cordless phones hit American stores for about $400 — roughly
Read moreOctober 31, 2026
Why Hard Exercise Can Leave a Penny Taste in Your Mouth
You’ve just finished the hardest interval of your life, lungs burning, and there it is:
Read moreOctober 30, 2026
Why “Honeymoon” Started as a Joke About Love Going Sour
In 1546, an English writer named John Heywood published a collection of proverbs and wordplay,
Read moreOctober 28, 2026
The Blood Pressure Pill That Grew Hair Nobody Asked For
In the early 1970s, patients on an experimental heart drug started noticing hair sprouting in
Read moreOctober 21, 2026
How a Hot Soldering Iron Accidentally Invented the Inkjet Printer
Somewhere in a Canon research lab in Japan, sometime in 1977, somebody set a hot
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The Cloudy Liquid She Refused to Throw Out: How Kevlar Began
In 1965, a DuPont chemist named Stephanie Kwolek mixed up a batch of liquid polymer
Read moreOctober 17, 2026
Pizzeria Uno vs. Due: Who Really Invented Deep Dish?
In November 1942, a Chicago tavern called The Pelican closed its doors at 29 E.
Read moreOctober 16, 2026
LA’s Two Oldest Restaurants Fought a Century Over One Sandwich
For most of the 20th century, you could walk into two different restaurants a few
Read moreOctober 14, 2026
Why Is Bubble Gum Pink? Blame One Accountant’s Only Dye
In late 1928, a 23-year-old accountant named Walter Diemer finished mixing a batch of gum
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Why Sheep Can Pick Your Face Out of a Photo Lineup
In 2017, eight sheep at the University of Cambridge were shown two photographs on computer
Read moreOctober 12, 2026
The $2,500 Contest That Gave the World the Recycling Symbol
In the spring of 1970, a 23-year-old architecture student at the University of Southern California
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