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The human wonders of America’s long lost sideshows The freak show lives on as reality shows, but the fantasy world dreamed up by PT Barnum lies as a relic in the depths of the American imagination.
American freak shows are something of a cultural Atlantis, an artifact of the entertainment industry immersed deep beneath the rising waters of modernity. An up-close exploration of this now-abandoned institution takes the curious visitor back in time to the origins of show business, celebrity, and the modern art of the spectacle. The freak show as we know it arose at the intersection of industrialization and Victorian culture. Before the nineteenth century, malformed bodies were considered evil omens, products of witchcraft, or God’s punishment to sinful parents. Deviant bodies were exhibited in the form of single acts – traveling alone or with family members – who were forced to wrest their…
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The catchy genius of the ‘nonsense song’ It's easy to dismiss nonsense songs as silly and dumb, but they have a rich history and channel the very lifeblood of rock'n'roll.
Does snuff porn actually exist? A look at the history of porn's most enduring legend.
Five true tales of beer saving the day Beer has often turned hairy situations right-side-up just by existing and isn't getting enough credit.
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Bored of regular dreams? Here’s the science on consciously manipulating them with ‘lucid dreaming’ Becoming consciously aware of and able to control your dreams isn't a myth—it just takes some training.
Your white knuckles clutch onto a cold concrete ledge as you peer down at the ant-sized people scurrying about below you. You’re about to fall, but what if you knew it was all just a dream? Would you take a leap of faith, spread your arms wide, and soar over the city lights? What if it was possible to consciously experience wild adventures like that in the safety and comfort of your bed? Welcome to the world of lucid dreaming. A person with a typical lifespan will spend six years dreaming, and those six years will probably be the strangest in their life. Decreased activity in your brain’s prefrontal cortex—the…
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Five true tales of beer saving the day Beer has often turned hairy situations right-side-up just by existing and isn't getting enough credit.
The 11 best Goosebumps monsters Writing at a breakneck pace, R.L. Stine churned out sixty-two now classic Goosebumps. These are his best monsters.
20 badass facts about about pirates Arrrr, did you know?
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‘Doop Doop’ and other theories that explain music hits Computers may soon write our hits from scratch. One algorithm can predict with 60% accuracy whether a song will be a Top 5 hit.
We have all heard the line: “Pop music is so formulaic.” But what does that mean? What is that formula? What makes a pop hit a hit? And how can we write one so we can get the royalties from that next Katy Perry chart topper? It turns out that a lot of researchers have been asking the same question. The Hit Potential Equation In 2011, a team of researchers at the University of Bristol came up with a Hit Potential Equation, for the purpose of predicting the next UK hit. The Equation is based on musical features, such as tempo, beat-variation, loudness, time signature, “danceability,” and simplicity. The formula…
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Adorable facts about history’s greatest dictators Finally an excuse for those kawaii dictator memes.
The most badass Latin phrases Latin's utility has long since faded, but there's still something inherently awesome about it.
15 most legendary Reddit threads of all time From a guy running the same Civ game for 10 years, to another guy borking his mother, we have something to suit your taste.
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The benefits of being a family nurse practitioner A full overview of one of the best jobs out there in the healthcare industry.
When it comes to the world of nursing, there are few professions quite as exciting or as rewarding as working as a full-time family nurse practitioner. No matter whether you are thinking about studying to become a nurse, are already a nurse but want to change your career path, or are currently studying to be a family nurse practitioner and want to remind yourself of the various benefits that such a career can bring, this guide has been created to show you the types of benefits that can be involved when you follow this career path. First of all it makes sense to understand that nurse practitioner’s role is both…
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How close did we actually come to Fallout’s nuclear future? Nuclear cars, robots, mutants, the atom-bomb apocalypse... where did Fallout’s grim retro-futurism come from, and how close did we come to a Fallout future?
Ok, boomer—and 20 more horrific realities of becoming an adult And there's nothing you can do about it.
20 vintage ads that will make you squirm, possibly cry Advertising is a Mad Men world minus anything that can conceivably offend someone. It wasn't always that boring.
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Eilmer of Malmesbury: the flying monk of medieval England The first known serious flight attempt in world history occurred about a thousand years before the Wright brothers, in an English abbey.
If you’re into extreme sport athletes jumping off cliffs and high towers and what not, you can thank Eilmer (or sometimes known as Elmer) the Flying Monk. He was doing it way before parkour was cool, because Elmer lived in the 11th century. “Wherefore a certain Monk of our Monastery, by name Eilmer … was a man learned for those times, of mature age and in his youth had hazarded an attempt of singular temerity. He had by some contrivance fastened wings to his hands and feet so that, mistaking fable for true, he might fly like Daedalus, and, collecting the breeze on the summit of a tower, he flew for…
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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.
7 hilariously stupid self-defense systems that will get you killed dead As long as there’s an Internet, there’ll be people utterly incapable of defending themselves – especially against people saying “Buy this, it’ll totally help you defend yourself!”
20 most inappropriately hilarious Yahoo! questions & answers Some are weird. Some are sad. Some are creepy. All will make you question the future of humanity.
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The stories behind the 15 most haunted places in America If you don’t believe in the supernatural, you may just start now.
America is rich with a history linked to the dark and the mysterious, and wherever there is evidence of antiquity, there is the potential for a haunting. If you don’t believe in the supernatural, you may just start now. Not convinced? Well, maybe one of our founding fathers will convince you. The Stanley Hotel Watch this video on YouTube “Heeeere’s Johnny!” The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado has a lot of history. Not only was the Colorado resort the inspiration of Stephen King’s “The Shining,” it also carries a dark history that reportedly continues to haunt the property, including the ghost of the hotel’s head housekeeper and the hotel’s…
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This is why some people have that disgusting cheesy feet smell The answer, surprisingly, comes via malaria research.
From super glue to the Slinky: the odd stories behind 15 accidental inventions Necessity is the mother of invention, but this list proves that sometimes the best inventions are created by accident …or maybe fate?
Adorable facts about history’s greatest dictators Finally an excuse for those kawaii dictator memes.
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How live online casinos revolutionized the gambling industry Virtual gambling has been at the forefront of internet technologies for over 20 years.
In the blink of an eye, the gambling industry is changing the way people think and feel about gambling. It wasn’t that long ago that people had to jump on a plane and head off to some faraway destination if they wanted to play casino games of chance for real money. Now all anyone has to do if they want to play Blackjack or slots is to pick up their favorite mobile device or laptop and visit an online casino. While online casinos have been operating on the internet for over 20 years now, there is still this move towards giving online casino players the most realistic gaming experience possible.…
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Cops share their creepiest paranormal encounters Cops have to deal with a lot of weird shit, and the paranormal—or what seems to be—is sometimes part of it.
Does snuff porn actually exist? A look at the history of porn's most enduring legend.
r/InstagramReality is the best subreddit for all the wrong reasons Looking like an IG model isn't easy, and many choose to cheat. And they really, really suck at it.
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Freaky water accidents that could have resulted in death—but didn’t The ocean is beautiful—and deadly.
Drowning is the fifth leading cause of unintentional injury for people of all ages, and the second leading cause of injury death for children ages one to four – as reported by the CDC. However, drowning is by no means the only event that can take place in water, with jet skis, water vehicle crashes, and reckless boating being just a few risks for lovers of the deep blue. Water is also home to a series of wacky accidents that have provided a sigh of relief to more than one person who could have lost their life, but didn’t. These are just a few of the craziest watery accidents. North Sea…
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8 world records in the field of penis achievement Get ready to question your manhood.
46 things I learned from being gulaged Varlam Shalamov spent much of the period from 1937 to 1951 gulaged in the arctic cold of Kolyma. This is what he learned from the experience.
The gentleman’s guide to hacking Tinder We put the best experts in a room and distilled the essence into this thing.
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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…
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The mad logic of fear We most fear the least likely dangers, and we’re often not afraid of the most lethal.
How to throw a punch (all 5 styles) There are many skills that every man should possess, but the most important one will always be how to punch someone.
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.
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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…
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Cops share their creepiest paranormal encounters Cops have to deal with a lot of weird shit, and the paranormal—or what seems to be—is sometimes part of it.
10 celebrated scientific breakthroughs that turned out to be hoaxes Come with us on a journey into scientific iniquity as we spotlight bogus science in near and far history.
20 badass facts about about pirates Arrrr, did you know?
