HISTORY

Good thing Napster's Sean Parker wasn't around to tell Bronx officials to drop the the.

Why Is It Called “The Bronx” Instead of Just “Bronx”?

The Bronx’s appellative history began with Jonas Bronck, an intrepid Swedish settler who didn't even live there for that long.

Poster for a horror movie, or cute family photo from Halloween 1960?

Warning: These Vintage Halloween Costumes May Give You Nightmares

Here are vintage photos of terrifying costumes from Halloweens past. Sorry in advance for the nightmares.

New York City's Short Tail Gang, photographed in 1887. The gang supposedly got its name from the short-tailed coats its members wore.

The Origins of 11 Historical Gang Names

If you’re a fan of the TV show 'Peaky Blinders,' you already know that historical gangs could get very creative with their names. Here’s how 11 other creatively-named gangs came up with their monikers.

An 18th-century painting of an exorcism.

6 Chilling Historical Exorcisms

Exorcism has a fascinating, unsettling history, and it’s left an indelible mark on pop culture thanks to films like 1973's 'The Exorcist.' Here are six historical exorcisms that are every bit as chilling as anything Hollywood can produce.

A turnip carved for the Isle of Man's 2017 Hop-tu-Naa festival.

Before We Carved Pumpkins for Halloween, People Carved Turnips

Halloween might evoke visions of carved pumpkins, but turnip jack-o’-lanterns have been around for longer.

RonBailey // iStock via Getty Images Plus

The Strange History of the Worst Sentence in English Literature

"It was a dark and stormy night" has become so ingrained in our literary culture that we rarely give much thought to its origins.

From Public Executions to Game-Day Chili: Retracing the History of Tailgating

Before there was football tailgating, crowds used to gather for parties before public executions. Find out more about the history of this sports ritual.

When Marie and Pierre Curie Investigated a Psychic Medium

Marie and Pierre Curie admitted to not fully understanding the source of radioactivity. Could a psychic medium named Eusapia Palladino reveal some clues?

The Historic Reason Why Brits Put Milk in Their Tea

Britons may take milk in their tea for the flavor today, but that wasn't the original intention centuries ago.

The story of the S.S. Ourang Medan is one of the strangest to emerge from the sea.

'I Die': The Bizarre Tale of the S.S. Ourang Medan

A tale involving a cargo ship begging for help and its crew being found dead of unknown causes in the 1940s has become an urban legend. But there might be some truth to this ghost ship lurking underneath the water.

Jerry Springer tapes an episode of his show in December 1998.

20 Memorable Moments From Talk Show History

From Wendy Williams’s “Dula Peep” coinage to a guest’s death on ‘The Dick Cavett Show,’ here are the talk show incidents we’ll never stop talking about.

6 Misconceptions About the Vikings

From those famous horned helmets to the vaunted fiery funerals, we're busting your favorite Viking misconceptions.

Masturbation and Mascots: The Strange History of Cereal

From health trends to the evolution of marketing, we can learn a lot about American culture from the history of breakfast cereal.

9 Delicious Facts About Oysters

We don't know if oysters are really aphrodisiacs—but we do know that professional oyster shuckers use a knife called the Chesapeake stabber.

Four years of toil led Michelangelo to create arguably his greatest work. It came with plenty of headaches.

'My Poor Ass': Michelangelo Wrote a Poem About How Much He Hated Painting the Sistine Chapel

The legendary artist created a masterpiece inside the Sistine Chapel, and he was absolutely miserable while doing it.

An illustration of members of the Molly Maguires, a secret society that planned assassinations and destructions of property for higher wages.

9 Mysterious Secret Societies From Around the World

Some of history's most infamous secret societies have planned revolutions and assassinations—others, are happy enough just to hang around college campuses.

James Gillray's 1802 cartoon depicted anti-vaxxers' predictions of the smallpox vaccine's effects.

8 of History's Most Misguided Anti-Vaxxers

Life-saving medical advances shouldn't be scary, but these notorious anti-vaxxers in history didn't get the memo.

To this day, no one knows what happened to Masterpiece.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Masterpiece the Poodle

Masterpiece the Toy Poodle was a prized pet. But despite his fame, his mysterious disappearance in 1953 remains unsolved.

If you ever had to endure the Presidential Fitness Test, you know that kids today have it easy.

8 Ways Gym Class Used to Be So Much Worse

Physical education in centuries past was sadistic, sexist, and just plain bizarre. Be grateful you never had to experience these P.E. nightmares.

A small fort along Hadrian's Wall in northern England.

New Interactive Tool Lets You Explore England's Hidden Archaeological Wonders From the Comfort of Home

Stonehenge is there, of course. So are Iron Age farms, Bronze Age burial mounds, Industrial Age coal mines, and more.

11 Facts About Lizzie Borden

Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks ... or did she? Let's separate the fact from the fiction of Lizzie's legend.

When the Titanic sank in April 1912, its architect, Thomas Andrews, went down with it.

13 Inventors Killed By Their Own Inventions

From the inventor who disappeared along with the lighthouse he designed to the daredevil whose contraptions vaulted him to fame then cut his life short, these are the sad stories of inventors killed by their own inventions.

Scary stories are often inspired by even scarier stories.

11 Things That Inspired Classic Horror Novels

From angry dogs to real claims of demonic possession, your favorite horror novel just might have a true story behind it.

In the 1960s, Fidel Castro's beard became the target of a CIA plot.

11 of the Strangest Plots Hatched by the CIA

Over the years, your tax dollars have gone toward Osama bin Laden action figures, reconnaissance pigeons, psychedelic drugs, and some homemade porn.

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