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
Harriet Tubman led a Civil War raid
As a Union scout and spy, Tubman helped guide gunboats up South Carolina’s Combahee River in a nighttime raid. More than 700 enslaved people were freed.
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Students put a Coke machine online to avoid disappointing walks
At Carnegie Mellon in 1982, David Nichols and other students connected a vending machine to ARPANET. Their system tracked stock and how long bottles had been…
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The cat who saved a Japanese railway
A tiny rural railway was losing passengers until Tama, a calico cat, became its stationmaster and drew curious visitors. The extra attention brought customers…
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Every solvable Rubik's Cube position is at most 20 face turns away
A mathematical result proved that bound when a quarter-turn or half-turn of one face each counts as a single move. The cube has roughly 43 quintillion legal…
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Ben Turpin insured his crossed eyes
He insured his distinctive crossed eyes against the possibility that they would straighten, since they were central to his slapstick act.
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Harvard existed before calculus
Harvard was founded in 1636; Newton and Leibniz formulated calculus decades later. The college was already on the map before one of modern mathematics’…
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Fear of Friday the thirteenth has a name
The term combines Frigg, the Norse goddess associated with Friday, with Greek roots for thirteen.
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Acetaminophen dampens some brain responses to emotional pain
Acetaminophen can dampen some of the brain’s responses to emotional as well as physical pain. While it is active, other people’s distress may feel less vivid…
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An anti-piracy soundtrack led to a music-rights dispute
Composer Melchior Rietveldt said music commissioned for limited use in an anti-piracy film later appeared on commercial DVDs without the payments he was owed.…
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Ancient desert tombs perfectly mirror the stars
The theory attributes the pyramids’ layout to naked-eye observations of the stars, linking the pharaohs’ tombs to the heavens.
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Traditional sleep talismans burn trapped nightmares at dawn
In Ojibwe tradition, dreamcatchers were maternal talismans meant to protect sleeping infants. Their web-like threads were believed to catch nightmares, which…
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Coca-Cola explored charging more when the weather got hotter
In 1999, reports described the company's work on vending technology that could adjust prices with temperature. The business logic was simple: a cold drink…
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Your envelope can carry a fluorescent tracking mark
US postal sorting equipment has used an ID tag printed in fluorescent ink on the back of an envelope. It gives machinery a way to identify the individual…
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The materials that grow thicker when stretched
An auxetic material grows wider when pulled because its internal cells change shape as they open. Their angled walls rotate outward, like hinged panels…
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Watching movies together synchronizes heartbeats
A movie can make a room breathe—and beat—in time without anyone speaking. Suspense raises arousal; a lull lets it settle. When viewers share the same sequence…
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Comic Sans’s creator barely used his own font
He designed it for a software tutorial featuring a cartoon dog, but avoided using it in his own professional writing.
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Luck of a rabbit foot has deep magical roots
A Celtic tradition linked rabbits to underworld spirits because they lived underground, giving the severed paw its supposed luck-giving power.
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Some counterfeit dollars were so good they acquired a special name
'Supernotes' imitated the appearance and security features of genuine U.S. $100 bills unusually well. U.S. authorities accused North Korea of involvement,…
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America has more public libraries than McDonald's
Nearly 17,000 public library branches dot the U.S.—more locations than McDonald’s. They give people free access to information across the country.
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John Malkovich starred in a film sealed until 2115
100 Years, made with John Malkovich and director Robert Rodriguez for Louis XIII cognac, was sealed in 2015 for a planned 2115 release. The century-long wait…
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Mixed practice makes you choose the method, not just repeat it
A worksheet with one problem type tells you which technique to use before you begin. Mixing related types removes that clue, forcing you to recognize the…
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A Swedish silver mine once offered a bedroom 500 feet underground
Sala's former mine suite put a double bed roughly 155 meters below the surface, surrounded by excavated rock. Guests could contact staff by intercom rather…
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Poland's underground cathedral carved from salt
Miners carved chapels, glowing chandeliers, and life-size statues from the rock salt, turning the tunnels into an underground art world.
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London’s lost-and-found gets flooded with umbrellas
A London downpour sends umbrellas onto buses, trains, and into cafés; the rush home leaves them behind. Then the lost-property office gets a pile of nearly…
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