What It Was Like To Use A Computer In The '80s
Although computers, as we would know them, had their start as early as 1936, according to Live Science, personal computers weren't widely available until the 1980s. Here's what that was like.
Read More-
-
The 1942 UFO Sighting That Turned Deadly
Okay, look at this from the perspective of an Occam's razor enthusiast, wherein the simplest solution is equal measures zany and petrifying. In the early hours of February the 25th, 1942, a cocktail of paranoia and faulty radar systems was mixed on the California coastline.
Read More -
Why The Silk Road Was More Important Than You Realize
The Silk Road allowed for the spread of people and goods, becoming the earliest global network. Here is why the Silk Road was more important than you realize.
Read More -
The Crazy Real-Life Story Of The Mitford Sisters
You might be obsessed with the Kardashian-Jenners now, but had you lived in the early to mid-1900s, you would have craved news about the Mitford sisters.
Read More -
Things The Ancient Celts Couldn't Live Without
The ancient Celts, who occupied much of what would become England, Scotland, and Wales, have a rich history. Much of what comprised their daily life is still a mystery, though, particularly how they lived before the Romans arrived on their lands.
Read More -
History's Most Cursed Gems
Given our love of gemstones, it's not surprising some of the biggest and most beautiful examples have been passed down through generations, usually of the rich and famous. Some, though, seem to bring more than just bling: some, it's said, bring along a curse. These are history's most cursed gems.
Read More -
The Truth About The Royals Who Thought They Were Made Of Glass
"The individuals so afflicted were convinced that their bodies were made of glass -- and not the bulletproof kind of glass that might actually be helpful if, say, you're a professional skateboarder."
Read More -
The Story Behind America's First Ransom Letter
Every field has its pioneers. In the world of high-profile American child disappearances, we must look back before the Balloon Boys, JonBenéts, and Lindbergh babies, turning instead to the story of one Charles Brewster Ross -- the first case of kidnapping-for-ransom in U.S. history.
Read More -
The Real Reason Robert Smith Couldn't Stand Queen
There's one major band that rubs Robert Smith the wrong way, and it's none other than the legendary Queen.
Read More -
The Disturbing Sport You've Never Heard Of
Nobody (that we know of, anyway) claims that a sport isn't a sport unless it involves a live bird. Like, for instance, a goose. But geese, and horses, and human beings are the basic ingredients for a blessedly less common sport called goose pulling.
Read More -
How Katheryn Winnick Really Feels About Her Character In Vikings
Lagertha is played by Canadian actress and martial artist Katheryn Winnick, who spoke to Collider's Christina Radish about the character when the series was still young. What attracted her to the role, and how does she really perceive Lagertha? Here's how she feels about her character in Vikings.
Read More -
The Disturbing Past Of Forest Haven Asylum
In a corner of Laurel, Maryland hides a 200-acre property. Wrapped up in thick forest, you'll find a vast compound. Peeling paint, the smell of rot, and at least a few decades of graffiti-flexing all vie for attention... This is Forest Haven Asylum.
Read More -
Here's How Much Firefighters Really Get Paid
Firefighters are possibly the closest thing we have to real-life superheroes. They have uniforms, a ton of special equipment, a skillset that's well beyond ordinary people, and even their own, themed vehicles. But what about money?
Read More -
What Life Was Like For Ancient Celtic Women
The Celts were unique in the prominence and power they afforded women, who could not only partake in the political realm as rulers and diplomats, but conduct business, own property, have any profession, choose their suitors, and not only fight alongside men in combat — but lead them.
Read More -
This Is How The Church Of Euthanasia Cult Started
Jerry Springer once said: "Cults are dangerous and not entitled to the protection of religion, not because of what they believe, but because of what they entice their adherents to do." The text is taken from a transcript stored on the website of his interviewees, the Church of Euthanasia.
Read More -
This Is How The Order Of The Solar Temple Cult Started
As far as cult names go, the International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition (known to its friends simply as the Order of the Solar Temple) has a lot going for it.
Read More -
Atlantis Might Actually Have Existed. Here's Why
Atlantis is one of those words, those places, that's truly a figure to conjure with, a mix of ancient legend and steam-punk possibilities, a sort of tabula rasa for whatever you'd hope humanity to be.
Read More -
The Truth About Dime Novelist Ned Buntline
If sales are any measure of success, Ned Buntline was very successful indeed. He wrote about what he knew, at first -- seagoing tales, perhaps inspired by his service in the Navy as a young man (a "buntline" is a kind of knot used on ships).
Read More -
These Are The 5 Most Valuable McDonald's Happy Meal Toys Ever
It's a conundrum. How do you make someone happy? Happy Hogan from the MCU is happy because Jon Favreau gets an executive producer credit no matter what. As for Happy Meals, they took the easy route: include one wad of plastic in every box of salty meat.
Read More -
Here's Why The Creation Of The Post Office Was So Controversial
It's perfectly reasonable to blame the banal marketing of Silicon Valley for people's inability to differentiate a new way to add middlemen into their lives, and the creation of a truly radical space. The birth of the post office dramatically changed how people access information.
Read More -
What You Didn't Know About The World's Greatest Female Sniper
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, generally considered the world's most -- "successful" doesn't seem quite right; maybe "effective" -- sniper, killed 309 Germans on the Eastern Front in the earlier days of World War II, defending Russian soil to the best of her abilities.
Read More -
The Truth About Jimmy Carter's UFO Sighting
You'll be thrilled to learn that these United States were overseen by a man who claimed to have spotted a flying saucer in Calhoun County, Georgia. The claim, detailed in a remarkably official looking report to the International UFO Bureau in Oklahoma, was made by one Jimmy Carter.
Read More -
The Creepy History Of England's Black Monk House
When Joe and Jean Pritchard moved into their recently bought 30 East Drive in Pontefract with their two children, 13-year-old Diane and 15-year-old Philip, and Jean's mum Sarah in August 1966, they seemed to have lucked out on a picturesque house in West Yorkshire. But things got creepy, quickly.
Read More -
The Messed Up Truth About The Louisiana Purchase
Like much of American history, the story of the Louisiana Purchase is much darker and more complicated than what's taught in schools. It paved the way for the oppression of Native Americans, the expansion of slavery, and even the Civil War. This is the messed up truth about the Louisiana Purchase.
Read More -
Humans May Have Settled In North America Earlier Than We Think
A recent discovery in Mexico, however, made only in June of 2020, may throw this entire, neatly crafted timetable on its head, and place humanity in the Americas as far back as 33,150 years ago.
Read More -
The Crazy True Story Of The Hitler Diaries
There are plenty of historical records as we get into the modern era, and World War II is no exception. Some things were destroyed in the course of war, but much remained. Yet certainly a tantalizing object would have been the personal diaries of the leader of the Third Reich: Adolf Hitler.
Read More -
The Crazy True Story Of The Affair Of The Poisons
The unusual case of the Affair of the Poisons has absolutely everything that an aspiring true crime enthusiast could want: royal scandal, murder most foul, and complicated last names that make you sound smart when you pronounce them correctly.
Read More
