• The Legend Of The Jersey Devil Explained

    If you happen to find yourself in New Jersey's Pine Barrens, keep an eye out for a scary cryptozoological creature which, these days, usually goes by the friendly name of the Jersey Devil. And no, it has nothing to do with hockey. This is the legend of the Jersey Devil explained.

    By Nicholas Conley June 9th, 2020 Read More
  • Why The Coronavirus Isn't Going To Disappear Like SARS Did

    SARS came and went -- which seems like a real glass-is-half-full potential outcome for the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Unfortunately, there's a small pile of reasons why it's unlikely that we'll see the same miraculous contagion disappearing act this time around.

    By Tom Meisfjord June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Real Reason Julius Caesar Was Kidnapped By Pirates

    Get ready to buckle your swash, me hearties, to hear a tale of long ago from the High Seas, and there's a celebrity, and there's pirates! This one happened back around 75 BCE and it involves one of the few people from Ancient Rome that almost everybody can name: Julius Caesar.

    By Eric Meisfjord June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Truth About Italy's Underwater Ghost Village

    It sounds like the stuff of fantasy. An underwater ghost village in the Mediterranean? That's got to be a lost suburb of Atlantis, right? Do mermaid ghosts live there, and do they swim or just eerily pass through the water like it doesn't exist?

    By A. C. Grimes June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Truth About The Deadliest Octopus In The World

    "Small and kind of cute" doesn't necessarily mean "small and kind of cute and harmless," as any Peter Dinklage fan knows. Add "kind of cute, for something boneless" and it doesn't change. Case in point: the blue-ringed octopus. Small, and kind of cute, but astonishingly deadly.

    By Eric Meisfjord June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • Forrest Fenn's Hidden Treasure Finally Found

    One of the most enduring treasure hunts in the past decade finally came to an end this week. Forrest Fenn, who hid a treasure box possibly worth over $1 million, confirmed on his website someone found his buried chest of booty in the Rocky Mountains.

    By Emilia David June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Truth About The Secret Drug Use During The Vietnam War

    As documented by the U.S. State Department Office of the Historian, during a 1965 meeting at the White House, President Lyndon Johnson voiced "serious concerns" about whether westerners stood a chance, "in the absence of intelligence," of winning the Vietnam War.

    By A. C. Grimes June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • This Is Where You Can Find The World's Oldest Liquor Store

    Yes, even your ancestors enjoyed the occasional nippitaty — that is, according to Merriam-Webster, a very strong drink. But while colonists couldn't call upon Postmates or head over to the nearest Trader Joe's wine shop, mom-and-pop liquor stores have served the public since the United States was founded.

    By Nicole Rosenthal June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Truth About Eminem's Feud With Nick Cannon

    Eminem's disses leave third-degree burns on their coolest setting. So unless you want Eminem to melt you with his mouth, it's best not to light a fire under him because you will probably be no match in a feud. But Nick Cannon didn't choose his fire fight in 2009. Eminem chose him.

    By A. C. Grimes June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • Here's What Mythbusters Taught Us About Star Wars

    It might seem impossible, trying to nail down the realities of the Star Wars universe. The events described in the movies, books, and video games occurred, allegedly, far, far away, and not even recently. Still, the good folks at MythBusters never let a childish premise stop them.

    By Tom Meisfjord June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Truth About San Francisco's Black Plague Scare

    As bad as coronavirus is -- and it is bad, make no mistake about it -- Black Plague was worse. (So far, anyway.) Also known as Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, in the mid-1300s it ravaged Western Europe. It would rear its head again in San Francisco.

    By Eric Meisfjord June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Real Reason Abraham Lincoln Created The Secret Service

    The Secret Service's mandate wasn't expanded to presidential security until 1901, when President William McKinley was assassinated while in office. The first president to be assassinated was Abraham Lincoln, in 1865 ... and, in a deep historical irony, it was Lincoln who established the Service.

    By Eric Meisfjord June 8th, 2020 Read More
  • The Truth About Billy Joel's Heavy-Metal Band

    Before going solo as the Piano Man, Billy Joel showed off his less polished side as one-half of a band named Atilla, which was a fusion of prog-rock, psychedelic, and heavy metal. It might've led to the worst rock album of all time.

    By Nicole Rosenthal June 7th, 2020 Read More
  • The Real Reason HD DVD Failed

    In March 2006, a bright new dawn peaked over the technological horizon, when Toshiba released its first consumer HD DVD player. It would be an understatement to describe this device as the pinnacle of man's engineering aptitude. It could do anything, from playing HD DVDs, to ... uh.

    By Tom Meisfjord June 7th, 2020 Read More