When it's not slathered on the skin of Major League pitchers, what's the point of pine tar?

From The Archive
Being the life of the party was hard in the early 20th century. Here are 10 tips directly from 1904 to help the uninteresting.
Much like “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”, “I’m not a _________, but I play one on TV” became a catchphrase that outshone the original product it was designed to promote. Sure, most of us remember hearing the “I’m not a doctor” line, but how many of us
The idiom “you are what you eat” takes on a whole new meaning when your own tail is what’s on the menu.
The Easter Bunny is a beloved springtime character, but look deeper and you’ll realize nobody gives away that much chocolate unless they’re hiding something.
They may not be on Instagram, but certain animals are surprisingly social. Check out these 10 animals that might have more of a social network than you.
The world is made up of wondrous chemicals that sometimes do pretty out-of-the-ordinary things. Here are seven places where minerals, carried by water, by heat, or by the actions of Mother Earth herself, left us with strange and wonderful sights.1. Pamukk
Every month on the 11th, we run a bunch of lists of 11. Rudie Obias gets us started.
The history hoaxers are at it again. On the heels of “Life in the 1500s”—the viral email filled with phony phrase etymologies—comes another popular email loaded with even bigger whoppers. This time it’s called “Little History Lesson” and it purports to tr
Who ever said Mr. Fix-it had to be human?
In 2001, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) determined that English would, from then on, be the standardized language of air travel, and issued a directive that stated that all aviation personnel—pilots, flight crews, and air traffic con
You can customize by choosing particular word lists to work on, and while many of the lists are organized around sober, practical topics—SAT prep, current events, historical documents, great books—there are a number of lists that are just plain word fun.
When it comes to adapting stories for the big screen, novels and comic books aren't the only things to get love from Hollywood.
Miller's latest series, Deadbeat, follows hapless medium Kevin Pacalioglu as he helps ghosts while trying (and failing) to get his own life together; Hulu will drop its first season on April 9. We talked to Miller about the benefits of binge watching, the
The man otherwise known as Ron Swanson took to Reddit today to answer anything, often in his delightfully dirty way. Here's what we learned about Offerman, his facial hair, and woodworking, among other things.
Toilet-inventors need fake poop for testing. So, uh...what's in the fake poop?
These –ty coinages have a slangy, modern ring to them, but English speakers have actually been trying to make –ty happen for centuries.
Who is Paul Langerhans, and how did his islets wind up in your pancreas?
From a time when ISPs actually had to sell people on the idea of using the Internet.
Every year on April Fools Day, you might find yourself the victim of a practical joke or two—the old water over the door trick, maybe, or short sheeting a bed. But why are these jokes called practical?
Merriam-Webster announced that it was finally putting “Yooper” in the dictionary.
In a place where one toilet can serve 1,000 people every day, keeping things clean is a serious challenge.