History
Discover facts about history. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
History
Jimmy Carter once reported seeing a UFO
In 1969, while waiting outside a Lions Club meeting in Georgia, Carter saw a bright light that changed colors. He later filed a formal report about the…
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Medieval Parliament needed a rule against arriving armed
A 1313 statute addressed carrying armor and weapons into Parliament amid conflict between the crown and powerful nobles. Political debate came with the risk…
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Blackbeard's terrifying image came with smoke effects
A famous 1724 account describes the pirate wearing lighted slow-burning matches under his hat during battle. Smoke around his face helped create a frightening…
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Investigators stare intensely at corkboards to solve cases
The red-yarn corkboard is a familiar crime-story device: detectives pin clues together in hopes of spotting a connection.
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Zimbabwe's first president was a Methodist minister named Canaan Banana
He served from independence in 1980 until 1987, when the presidency was transformed and Robert Mugabe took the role. During Banana's tenure, Mugabe was prime…
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The American Revolution reached a British harbor before dawn
On April 23, 1778, John Paul Jones's men landed at Whitehaven and set a vessel alight. Residents extinguished the fire, but the town's officials promptly…
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Blurry photos of woods automatically indicate murder
Sepia tones, choppy footage, and wind-rustled trees do the work: ordinary woods start to look like a crime scene before anything has happened.
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The US detonated a nuclear bomb in space in 1962
Operation Starfish Prime launched a nuclear warhead about 250 miles above Earth to test the effects of a high-altitude blast. Its electromagnetic pulse…
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Andrew Jackson beat an assassin with his walking cane
Richard Lawrence’s two pistols both misfired, and the 67-year-old president charged him with his cane. Bystanders—including Davy Crockett—had to pull Jackson…
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When sheep replaced White House groundskeepers
The sheep kept the White House lawn trimmed, and their wool was auctioned to raise money for the Red Cross. Groundskeeping became a fundraiser with a fleece…
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Benjamin Harrison was afraid to touch light switches
The new electric lights unnerved Benjamin and Caroline Harrison so much that they reportedly avoided the switches, sometimes leaving lights on or asking…
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The alien invasion pact Reagan proposed to Gorbachev
At a 1985 meeting, Reagan floated the idea of the two superpowers joining forces against an alien invasion, and Gorbachev agreed. The Cold War briefly…
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An ancient account says Alexander left a giant-looking camp
Diodorus describes oversized beds, mangers, and earthworks built at the limit of Alexander's campaign in India. Their exaggerated proportions were meant to…
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Every small town is described as a peaceful community
The familiar line that “things like this just don't happen here” sets up the contrast: even a quiet rural hamlet can become the scene of a grisly discovery,…
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Hartlepool's most famous spy story stars a monkey
Local legend says townspeople hanged a shipwrecked monkey dressed in a French uniform, mistaking it for an enemy spy during the Napoleonic Wars. The tale…
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Sailors gave the ocean floor a landlord: Davy Jones
Davy Jones became a name for the sea's sinister spirit, and his 'locker' the watery grave of drowned sailors. The expression is recorded in the eighteenth…
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Dramatic reenactments feature overly aggressive typing
On screen, typing means the clock is ticking; in real investigations, the bottleneck may be a system that takes its time responding. The drama is often in the…
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Why the US built a fake town for a nuclear test
The military furnished houses in Nevada, stocked them with canned food, and placed mannequins inside before setting off a nuclear blast nearby. Survival Town…
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Why cold cases lean on blurry video
Grainy footage can still offer leads, like a suspect’s clothing or handedness, but a blur of pixels can’t establish those details with certainty. In a cold…
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Neighbors always thought the serial killer was quiet
True-crime stories often contrast neighbors’ memories of an ordinary public image with the crimes the person committed.
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A gift for the president arrived with teeth and a mane
In 1839, Morocco's ruler sent a live lion and lioness as a gift for Martin Van Buren. The American consul in Tangier reluctantly accepted them. This wasn't a…
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Documentaries stretch single facts into ten episodes
Some series revisit the same evidence across multiple episodes, stretching a mystery that could have been told much more briefly.
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Nixon surprised protesters at the Lincoln Memorial before dawn
On May 9, 1970, days after the Kent State shootings, the president made an unplanned early-morning visit and spoke with students gathered there. His account…
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The officer who said he arrested President Grant
In a 1908 interview, retired Washington officer William West recalled stopping Grant for speeding with a horse-drawn carriage in 1872. West said the president…
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