The world is more interesting than you think.
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Romans considered sneezing a highly significant omen
A sneeze to the right was considered lucky, while one to the left could even bring a business transaction to a halt.
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Batman’s cape had its own development marathon
For Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady devoted extraordinary attention to how the cape moved with Batman. An often-cited development account put the work at more than…
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Vanuatu has a post office underwater
At Hideaway Island, Vanuatu’s postal service operates a submerged post office for waterproof postcards. Visitors can snorkel or dive to post them. The message…
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Demonology manuals were bestsellers in medieval Europe
Before young adult fiction, the hottest literary genre in the 16th century was highly specific demon catalogs. Books like the 'Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'…
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Liam Neeson expected Taken to disappear into DVD land
He recalled liking the action work and the prospect of three months filming in Paris, while expecting the movie might simply earn back its money. Instead it…
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How Nintendo smuggled the NES into toy stores
After the 1983 video game crash, many American retailers were wary of consoles. Nintendo bundled the NES with R.O.B., a plastic robot, to present it as a toy…
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An 1843 board game made moral behavior the path to victory
The Mansion of Happiness sent players around a board of virtues and vices. Good conduct advanced them toward the goal while faults brought setbacks. A family…
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A twenty-sided die existed long before tabletop RPGs
The Metropolitan Museum holds ancient examples marked with Greek letters. Their precise uses are uncertain; dice of this kind may have served divination as…
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Pompeii’s snack bars left food evidence behind
At a decorated thermopolium excavated in Regio V, archaeologists found residues and animal remains including duck, goat, fish, and snails. Large containers…
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Why Juneau has no road connection
Mountains and a massive icefield separate Juneau from the rest of North America, leaving no road connection; visitors must arrive by boat or plane.
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Lafayette was buried under soil from America
Lafayette was buried in Paris, but soil shipped from Bunker Hill was spread over his grave. He had arranged to rest in American earth—the closest he could…
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How drop shipping turns cheap junk into pricey gadgets
The seller never needs to stock the $3 gadget. You pay $40 through the polished storefront, then the seller orders it from AliExpress and has it shipped…
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MySpace erased 50 million songs
In 2019, MySpace disclosed that files from uploads spanning 2003–2015 had been lost during a server-migration project. The missing music was widely estimated…
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Why being funny can make you seem more trustworthy
When someone makes you laugh, you briefly experience them as someone who gets you. That sense of shared understanding can make their words feel more credible,…
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Dutch drivers open car doors with their opposite hands
A driver reaches across with the hand farthest from the door, twisting the shoulders toward the window. That turn brings the eyes around to check for cyclists…
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Why divorce is a billion-dollar industry
A split can reach well beyond the lawyer’s office. If a couple shares a home, specialized real estate agents may help handle the property, while therapists…
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An organ shortage creates opportunities for exploitation
Patients can need transplants urgently while suitable donated organs remain scarce. That gap can attract brokers who exploit vulnerable people for illegal…
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Daggerfall made a country-sized world before worlds were easy to build
The 1996 RPG used procedural generation to create a vast landscape of settlements and wilderness. That approach could produce far more terrain than artists…
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Beyoncé’s Stockholm shows were linked to a hotel-price surge
When fans traveled to Sweden for the opening dates of the Renaissance tour, demand for rooms rose. An economist attributed part of an unexpectedly high…
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The hitmakers who never reached number one
Creedence Clearwater Revival holds the record for the most No. 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without a No. 1 hit; The Archies and the Beatles were among…
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Belgian officials in Liège genuinely attempted to employ thirty-seven cats as official mail carriers in 1879 to deliver letters to surrounding villages.
Belgian officials in Liège genuinely attempted to employ thirty-seven cats as official mail carriers in 1879 to deliver letters to surrounding villages.…
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French author Victor Hugo spent the early 1850s in political exile on the island of Jersey, where he became obsessed with table-turning spiritualism and conducted hundreds of seances to contact the dead.
French author Victor Hugo spent the early 1850s in political exile on the island of Jersey, where he became obsessed with table-turning spiritualism and…
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The bicycle started as a machine you ran while sitting down.
The bicycle started as a machine you ran while sitting down. Karl Drais demonstrated his two-wheeled running machine in 1817. Riders pushed against the ground…
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Early automobiles were steered using a tiller instead of a circular wheel, meaning the first drivers navigated roads by yanking a wooden stick back and forth like they were commanding a very angry boat.
Early automobiles were steered using a tiller instead of a circular wheel, meaning the first drivers navigated roads by yanking a wooden stick back and forth…
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