HISTORY

An artificial bezoar stone from Goa, India

5 Dubious Historical Antidotes for Poison (and What Actually Works)

Bejeweled hairballs, anyone?

5 Cemetery Road Trips for the Ultimate Taphophile

These five cemetery journeys are a great way to explore America’s rich and varied history. Tombstone tourists, rejoice.

P.G. Wodehouse's Exile from England

Accused by his countrymen of collaborating with the Nazis, the once-beloved British author fled in 1947 and never looked back.

10 Fast Facts About Wrigley Field

7. It's one of the only ballparks where neighborhood residents can sit on their roofs and watch the game.

Mata Hari: Famous Spy or Creative Storyteller?

One of the most cunning and seductive spies of all time was executed for her crimes 100 years ago. But was she actually a spy?

The Time Teddy Roosevelt Was Shot in the Chest, Then Gave a Speech Anyway

Roosevelt is said not to have noticed he was hit until he reached into his overcoat and felt the blood on his fingers.

When Chuck Yeager Tweeted Details About His Historic, Sound Barrier-Breaking Flight

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Air Force pilot's record-breaking achievement.

Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.406E

New Smithsonian Exhibit Explains Why Felines Were the Cat's Meow in Ancient Egypt

"Divine Felines" opens this Caturday (uh, Saturday) at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C.

13 Noteworthy Things That Happened on a Friday the 13th

From the discovery of dinosaur eggs to the birth of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a lot of notable (and non-scary) things have happened on Friday the 13th.

10 People With Photographic Memories

It's hard to say whether eidetic memory really exists, but plenty of people have claimed to possess it.

12 Things We Learned About the Psycho Shower Sequence from 78/52

'78/52,' a new documentary by Alexandre O. Philippe, spends 90 minutes dissecting one of the most iconic sequences in film history.

Douglas Adams's Abandoned 'Doctor Who' Episode is Being Completed Nearly 40 Years Later

The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, will step back into the iconic role.

Courtesy of CURIOUS GEORGE is a production of Imagine, WGBH, and Universal. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and using under license. Licensed by UNIVERSAL STUDIOS LICENSING LLC. Television series: (c) 2015 Universal Studios. All rights reserved.

How a Makeshift Bicycle Saved Curious George From the Nazis

The real-life tale of how the beloved children's book character came to be rivals any movie.

4 Famous Recipients of the Nansen Passport, the Travel Document Created for Refugees

Named after legendary adventurer Fridtjof Nansen, the special passport restored the right of half a million stateless people to cross borders and prove their identities.

In 1909, a Door-to-Door Catnip Salesman Incited a Riot in New York

"Why don’t you arrest the catnip? That is collecting the crowd. Not I,” he argued.

For $666, You Can Spend Halloween Eve in a Recreated Alcatraz Jail Cell

For thrill-seekers who prefer true crime to fake blood.

Why People Walked Differently in Medieval Times

Your gait would probably be a little different if you walked around without soles on your shoes, too.

Frank Janssen, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

These Connected Graves in the Netherlands Prove Love Conquers All

This pair used a crafty design to get around the cemetery's restrictions.

Doctors Didn't Actually Wear Beaked Masks During the Black Plague

The birdlike accessory is credited to French doctor Charles de Lorme, who was chief physician to King Louis XIII.

Courtesy of the George C. Marshall Library, Lexington, Virginia

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.

7 Fast Facts About AIM to Make You LOL

The game-changing instant messaging service is going offline.

That Time The U.S. Confirmed You Can Only Kill A Yeti In Self-Defense

Just because the creatures are mythical doesn't mean there aren't hunting regulations.

Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine, Hanging of Traitors, 1794

6 People Executed in Effigy

How do you execute a criminal who has already escaped? Make an effigy of them.

Divers in Michigan Discover 93-Year-Old Shipwreck at the Bottom of Lake Huron

On September 21, 1924, the cargo steamship SS Clifton sank in Lake Huron—and for nearly a century, its watery grave remained a mystery.

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