-
Being a hobo was hard—’Hoboglyphs’ made it easier Sketched with coal or chalk in places where migrants were likely to pass, hoboglyphs – the secret code of hobos – were pointers for other travelers.
Henry Koczur ate potato soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There was little else to eat. It was 1932, and Koczur was 16, living in East Chicago with his mother, father, and five siblings. In the midst of the Great Depression, work was scarce and poverty abundant. Thinking he would relieve his family of one more mouth to feed, Koczur did what many other teenagers did: he left home. Heading for California, Koczur thought he was going someplace where fields were bountiful and, he said, “a land where I didn’t think anyone could starve.” So, his journey began. “We caught a Southern Pacific passenger train to Niland, California, riding the…
You May Also Like
The 15 red flags that reveal you’re about to get fired It's better to have quit than having been fired. Look out for these signs that definitely mean your company wants you gone.
The unending frustrations of a sex shop clerk Friendly advice from a dildo salesperson.
Cruel and unusual: history’s most disturbing medical treatments Let's be grateful for how far healthcare has come.
-
The weird underbelly of Texas: 10 of the Lone Star State’s oddest sights Everybody's heading to Texas these days. Make sure you experience these weird places with unlikely histories and even weirder people.
Texas is potentially the state with the most individuality and liberty per square mile, and it makes no apologies for it. With little use for the opinion of authorities before they stick a spade in the ground, Texans have adorned their state with an array of strange and unique physical landmarks and properties. Sparky Park (Austin) Watch this video on YouTube Topping the charts is the very unique Sparky Park, Austin. That such a prime piece of land has been given over to artwork is impressive, particularly since, according to Texas Land, 96% of land in the state is privately bought and sold on the open market. Sparky Park, built from…
You May Also Like
Struggles of a royal mistress: the women who went to any length to obtain their kings In order to have sex with a king, you had to be one accomplished mistress.
7 scandals PornHub doesn’t want you to know about PornHub believes itself above all laws—including those against child pornography. No wonder 946k people have signed to shut it down.
The absolute worst foods you can buy at a dollar store You go to the dollar store for convenience, but these awful dollar store foods prove that sometimes the convenience and cost just isn't worth it.
-
This 1950s science kit for kids came with real uranium What’s even better than a nice refreshing huff of DDT? Giving children uranium to play with to their heart's desire, of course.
Want to know what’s even better than a nice refreshing huff of DDT? Giving children uranium to play with to their heart’s desire. This may sound bizarre today, but in the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab science kit from the 1950s, it was a reality. Blame the uranium boom During the 1950s, the uranium boom was substantial. Since it helped the government construct nuclear weapons, they mined for that stuff like crazy, hardly considering the consequences for those who dug it up. But I mean, it powered some epic bombs, so what was the issue, right? The real problems started when the substance began to find its way into normal…
You May Also Like
The quest to put our sleeping brain to work New study suggesting we can do basic processing and, perhaps, even math in our sleep, is a big step forward.
Does snuff porn actually exist? A look at the history of porn's most enduring legend.
5 scientific ways strangers can tell you’re gay (even if you’re in the closet) We don't endorse stereotypes unless they're funny or we have science on our side, and the data is in: the "gaydar" is anything but a myth.
-
From ballet to nylon: The strangest things to cause riots Some riots will be leaving historians scratching their heads forevermore.
When it comes to tension surrounding race and Super Bowl victories, rioting makes perfect sense. But occasionally, the strangest things—like eggnog and nylon—can induce a riot, leaving historians scratching their heads forevermore. Straw hats Perhaps one of the weirdest riots to ever take place was the Straw Hat Riot of 1922, when people were rampaging through the streets of New York and beating up anyone wearing a straw hat. Straw hats had appeared in the 19th century as summertime wear and initially it was not considered good form for men to wear these in big cities. By the early 20th century, they were considered acceptable day attire in North American…
You May Also Like
10 movie villains who were actually the good guys Villains from throughout cinematic history who, on further examination, were definitely actually the good guys.
5 reasons Santa Claus is clearly a villain When you take an investigative lens to his seemingly flawless image you find more than a few bone-chilling pieces of evidence to the contrary.
Man brings ancient Greek music to life and the result is amazingly avant garde Discoveries and breakthroughs de-mystify the actual sound of ancient Greek music.
-
The Christmas party that stopped a world war They defied the orders of their superiors, laid down their rifles, and celebrated Christmas with the enemy in No Man's Land.
On Christmas Eve 1914, when WWI was well underway, soldiers lay in their trenches ready for the enemy to attack. But soldiers on the both sides of the Western Front had misgivings about killing their fellow man on a day that celebrates Peace on Earth. These men defied the orders of their superiors and for a day laid down their rifles and celebrated Christmas in No Man’s Land. Through the eyes of British, French, and German soldiers we see how fragile it was, and how brave these men were to celebrate peace in a time of war. “What a different sort of Christmas Eve” On Christmas Eve 1914 a young…
You May Also Like
Deadliest Place on Earth: Disneyland rides with blood on their tracks “The Happiest Place on Earth” is littered with the ghosts of fallen visitors.
Why Hollywood gets World War II so wrong Hollywood liberals see World War II as the last morally unquestionable war but so often get their facts wrong.
Top 10 most inadvertently funny movies in horror history You won’t pee your pants out of fear but you might poop yourself from laughing.
-
Colonial Americans were pretty much always drunk The American Revolution was built on a foundation of booze, led by tavern addicted Founding Fathers who could drink any frat boy under the table.
Images of our Colonial forefathers usually involve powdered wigs, petticoats, and the thrill of throwing tons of tea into the Boston Harbor. Although we often think of their era as proper and civilized, it turns out that the people who led the American Revolution knew how to party. In fact, the American Revolution was built on a foundation of booze, led by tavern addicted Founding Fathers who could drink any college frat boy under the table. Beer saved the Mayflower The first settlers brought with them the English tradition of beer drinking. Even during the famous 1620 voyage of Pilgrims on board the Mayflower, beer saved the voyage. The water…
You May Also Like
10 absurd inventions that prove you should never drink while inventing These are all real inventions and the illustrations are taken directly from their official patents.
The Christmas party that stopped a world war They defied the orders of their superiors, laid down their rifles, and celebrated Christmas with the enemy in No Man's Land.
Inside the spectacularly bizarre fan subculture of ‘shipping’ A look into the world of people who pair fictional character into romantic relationships online.
-
Cruel and unusual: history’s most disturbing medical treatments Let's be grateful for how far healthcare has come.
You probably don’t enjoy going to the doctor (who does?), but seeking medical treatment today is worlds better than it was in the past. Can you imagine setting up an appointment about a persistent headache and the doctor prescribing an ice pick to your eye socket? Of course, as ridiculous as some of these treatments sound, practitioners honestly believed that they were giving patients the best possible care. But that hardly changes the fact that many of these treatments did more harm than good. After reading about history’s most infamous and unusual medical treatments, you’ll be grateful for how far healthcare has come. Mercury Ancient Chinese and Indian people were…
You May Also Like
Bob Marley’s weird legacy Followers of his religion are "physical immortalists" and their bible is a rambling psychedelic dog's breakfast titled the "Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy."
8 real-life Ron Burgundys of local TV news Burgundy’s coiffed mane, bright red blazer, and on-air fuckups aren’t so far from reality.
How to survive a tornado A closer look at these fearsome freaks of nature and what you can do to protect yourself if one touches down in your area.
-
The true history of absinthe, and the reason it was banned for 100 years The drink has a colorful history involving everything from medical miracles to murder.
Absinthe has a bad reputation, even compared with other alcoholic beverages. But from its early use as a medical elixir to the wave of absinthe bans that occurred during the early 1900s, the drink has a very colorful history involving everything from medical miracles to murder. Medicinal roots Absinthe is an anise-flavored, distilled spirit that was originally developed not as an alcoholic beverage, but for medicinal purposes. Early prototypes of the beverage were used by the ancient Greeks in childbirth. Scholars credit Madame Henriette Henirod from the Swiss village of Couvet as the first individual to create recognizable absinthe during the mid-eighteenth century. The earliest written recipe is dated to…
You May Also Like
5 reasons Santa Claus is clearly a villain When you take an investigative lens to his seemingly flawless image you find more than a few bone-chilling pieces of evidence to the contrary.
8 incredibly bizarre postage stamp controversies You wouldn’t think that the little strips of paper your grandmother used to send you your birthday check could cause riots, but you would be wrong.
From rites of passage to hipsters: The evolution of tattoos Whether it's a classic “MOM” on your arm or distinctions of class and social hierarchy, tattoos have always been around—and probably always will be.
-
4 adorable facts about history’s greatest dictators Finally an excuse for those kawaii dictator memes.
Saddam Hussein wrote romance novels Really sappy ones too. Before he was found in a hole and hung from his neck while having someone record the snuff video, he was a jolly dictator who had hobbies. One of them was to write love stories on the side to show his softer side. When finding time out of his day to stop torturing people and shooting AK-47s into the air, he wrote the book Zabiba and the King. Zabiba and the King was a piece of historical fiction that portrayed Iraq as Zabibah, the lead female in the story. She was abused and raped by her sadistic husband, who was very…
You May Also Like
Are you being followed? How can you tell if you're being followed? Don't bother looking for men peering around corners. The secret to identifying a tail is all in the shoes...
15 terrible students who became wildly successful The report card doesn't matter much in the real world.
Cruel and unusual: history’s most disturbing medical treatments Let's be grateful for how far healthcare has come.
-
The stomach-turning online world of ‘popping’ We examine an online subculture forming around the world's worst boils, zits, recluse spider bites, and exotic skin conditions. Disgusting images ahead!
Human beings are gross. We’re barely-functional assemblages of fluids and bones, held together by a barrier of skin that constantly struggles with an atmosphere full of pollutants. And when that delicate membrane gets irritated, things get even grosser. So gross, in fact, that the resulting video looks like something out of horror sci-fi. Welcome to the world of r/Popping, the Reddit destination for “pictures, videos, and stories about cysts and pimples.” Over 86,000 people subscribe to this Subreddit to see and share the nastiest boils, zits, recluse spider bites, and assorted skin conditions in grisly detail. Here’s a warning, right off: we’re about to share some insanely disgusting images, videos,…
You May Also Like
Here are all the mentions of prostitutes in the leaked US diplomatic cables I sifted through WikiLeaks' dump of secret government cables for entries about sex work.
The greatest bank heists in history The greatest bank robberies in history often involve complex plans and organization, and sometimes a good dose of sheer dumb luck.
YouTube’s 15 most insane science projects The age of the lone inventor tinkering away in his own backyard is far from over—but this stuff is barely legal.
