The world is more interesting than you think.
Unexpected facts, big ideas, and little discoveries. Find something that sparks your curiosity today.
A little more wonder
The real Soup Nazi banned Seinfeld's writers
Writing a culturally iconic episode based on a real, aggressive person comes with real-world consequences. The famous "Soup Nazi" character was based on an…
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Trivial Pursuit began when a game of Scrabble went wrong
The ultimate test of useless knowledge began with a missing piece. In 1979, two journalists wanted to play Scrabble but realized parts of their set were gone.…
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Moldavite crystals are literally just shattered space glass
People pay an absolute fortune to wear ancient alien debris. The highly prized green crystal is literally just glass formed by a meteorite violently slamming…
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When hearses doubled as ambulances
In a massive conflict of interest, the people responsible for saving your life used to be the exact same people profiting off your death. Up until the 1970s,…
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Why banning something makes it more desirable
When a government or parent outright bans a movie, book, or substance, they inadvertently execute the greatest marketing campaign ever designed. This is…
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Why people lie about their good habits
Social desirability bias proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that self-reported data is mostly fiction. When asked how much they drink, donate to charity, or…
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The Cold War bunker network beneath Beijing
An entire metropolis is hiding underneath millions of unaware commuters. During the Cold War, China dug a massive bunker network spanning 30 square miles to…
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Batman’s animated shadows started on black paper
Why bother painting shadows when you can just start in the dark? To capture the incredibly moody, film noir aesthetic of Gotham City, the creators of the…
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The volcano on Mars that dwarfs Everest
Earth's mountains are frankly embarrassing compared to Olympus Mons. This Martian volcano is three times the height of Mount Everest and roughly the size of…
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Moon footprints could outlast human civilization
Talk about a lasting legacy. Because the Moon lacks an atmosphere, wind, or liquid water to wash anything away, the footprints left by Apollo astronauts…
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Why moving to California won't cure depression
The focusing illusion causes us to heavily overvalue one specific factor when predicting our future happiness. You confidently think moving to a sunny beach…
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Why one small mistake can feel catastrophic
The slippery slope fallacy is the highly anxious brain's favorite cinematic thriller. We falsely assume that one minor misstep—like eating a piece of…
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Why Nintendo Switch cartridges taste so bitter
Nintendo actively chemically weaponized their game cartridges against toddlers. Because the Switch game cards are so small and constitute a major choking…
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Why the Atari joystick had only one button
The sleek minimalism of the iconic Atari 2600 joystick wasn't driven by elegant design philosophy; it was peak corporate cheapness. Nolan Bushnell wanted…
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Why speeding up barely saves any time
The time-saving bias is the complete mathematical delusion fueling road rage everywhere. When driving at already high speeds, increasing your speed feels like…
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Jack Nicholson destroyed the fake door in The Shining
Stanley Kubrick was famous for his obsessive perfectionism, but even he underestimated a former volunteer fire marshal. Kubrick originally built a fake,…
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When World of Warcraft had 12 million subscribers
At the height of the Lich King expansion in 2010, World of Warcraft boasted 12 million monthly subscribers. To put that absurd number in perspective, if…
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The first driverless cars followed wires under the road
The obsession with taking our hands off the wheel started long before sophisticated lasers and AI. In the late 1950s, RCA and General Motors successfully…
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Planchettes were standalone automatic writing instruments
Before it got bolted to the Ouija board, this creepy little device was flying solo. Victorian spiritualists used the heart-shaped wooden plank with a pencil…
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Your garage may be more dangerous to your bike
You bought a titanium U-lock and chained your precious commuter bike to a streetlight like Fort Knox, totally ignoring the actual danger. Statistical analysis…
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Why Earth's CO₂ levels dip every spring
Our planet literally hyperventilates once a year. When it's spring in the Northern Hemisphere, millions of plants bloom and suck massive amounts of carbon…
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Instagram was built in just eight weeks of coding
The platform responsible for destroying an entire generation's self-esteem was cobbled together in two months. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger pivoted from a…
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The ant salesman who invented Boggle
The creative mind behind frantic letter-shaking is perfectly eccentric. Milton Levine, who became a millionaire trapping live ants in plastic to sell to…
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The woman who drove a Model T around the world
In the 1920s, a Canadian woman named Aloha Wanderwell became the first female to circumnavigate the globe in a Ford Model T. To make the brutal trek across…
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