Meg Van Huygen
Joined: Sep 22, 2015
A native (and current) Seattleite, Meg van Huygen studied classical piano performance at Cornish College of the Arts with a sort-of minor in cartooning. She daylights as a copy editor, and her work has appeared in The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, and Atlas Obscura among many other publications. She hosts a spelling bee in a bar, lectures on geography at various venues, plays the accordion in a few bands, karaokes competitively, and is on a mission to visit every U.S. state capitol.
10 Facts About Eurovision
7 Mysterious People Without a Past
The Time the Soviets Gave the U.S. a Hidden Spy Device—And It Took Seven Years to Discover It
The Medieval Woman Who Made a Living Pretending to be Joan of Arc
Claude des Armoises earned cash and gifts while fooling the King of France himself—until it all came crashing down.
9 Vintage Thanksgiving Side Dishes We Shouldn’t Bring Back
If the Thanksgiving side dish involved mixing mayo and cranberries with gelatin, it should stay in the past. The same goes for pork cake.
Mary Frith, 17th-Century London's Smoking, Thieving, Foul-Mouthed "Roaring Girl"
She was known on the streets as Moll Cutpurse, for the purse strings she slashed.
How 15 Berlin Neighborhoods Got Their Names
The German capital's eight centuries of history show up in the names of its districts.
9 Legendary Dragons From Around The World
Beware the Snallygaster!
How 8 Phoenix Neighborhoods Got Their Names
From water companies to Spanish fortresses to made-up Native American words.
How 10 Oakland Neighborhoods Got Their Names
"The Twomps" arose from a slang word for "20."
How 9 Honolulu Neighborhoods Got Their Names
Most of its neighborhood names aren’t in English—and they all have colorful stories.
Oaxaca’s Night of the Radishes
The fantastically-shaped radish sculptures of La Noche de los Rabanos are the centerpiece of a major cultural event.
How 10 Edinburgh Neighborhoods Got Their Names
Some of these ancient etymologies might not be quite what you expect.
Elizebeth Friedman, America's Unsung Wartime Codebreaker
She cracked some of the biggest espionage cases of the 20th century, but the press preferred to write about her husband.
14 Legends About Cats From Around the World
Are they in league with the devil? Will they steal your baby's breath? People have thought so before.