Why Did States Require Blood Tests for Marriage Licenses?
Requiring blood tests to get a marriage license had nothing to do with an Oedipal fear of accidentally marrying a close relative.
Requiring blood tests to get a marriage license had nothing to do with an Oedipal fear of accidentally marrying a close relative.
We asked some allergy experts if a truly hypoallergenic animal actually exists.
John Wayne had a little to do with it.
The dictionary definition of ‘equity’ seems similar to that of ‘equality,’ but there’s an important distinction between the two.
Waterbeds were once a coveted "fluid fixture" of bedrooms—until, suddenly, they weren't. So who or what led to their demise?
Why does using less of your eye help you see something more clearly? There's a pretty simple explanation.
Legend tells of St. Patrick using the power of his faith to drive all of Ireland’s snakes into the sea. It’s an impressive image, but there’s no way it could have happened.
It’s the Council of Elrond, not the Counsel of Elrond (though counsel was definitely given during proceedings).
Wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day is a tradition that has been around for a few centuries, but it didn’t start with St. Patrick.
The phenomenon might look like a biblical plague, but the source is far more mundane.
For practicing Catholics, meat is off limits on Fridays during Lent. But they might be able to make an exception this March 17.
‘Macaron’ and ‘macaroon’ aren’t just two versions of the same word. These days, anyway.
In 1975, a woman found her husband dead in a chair after watching a BBC sitcom. He had been laughing for almost a half-hour. Was it merriment that killed him?
Corned beef and cabbage has beef, cabbage, and not a speck of corn. What gives?
If you know the meaning of ‘consort,’ you can probably guess what a queen consort is.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
It would take you more than a month to watch the longest movie ever made. Who has time for that?
It’s called the flehmen response, a.k.a. “stinky face.”
The signs and menus look exactly alike, down to that cheery little star. Are they the same restaurant?
The story behind which orange came first involves Arab trade routes and a bunch of old phrases that mean 'orange apple.'
Many people use the terms interchangeably, but there’s a substantial difference between the two methods of incarceration.
What’s the actual scientific difference between the birds we call 'doves' and those we label 'pigeons'? The answer might surprise you.
It’s another in a long line of etymologies that doesn’t have one clear-cut answer, but a few plausible (and interesting) possible explanations.
Cupid’s connection to love and romance dates back centuries.