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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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15 unintentionally offensive domain names (gone very sexual) All time classics in naming fails that have gone decidedly sexual.
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The tragic story of a Victorian swindler and his spectacular underwater fantasy world Upon first glance, Britain's Witley Park in Surrey is just like any other extravagant Victorian mansion. But look closer.
Upon first glance, Britain’s Witley Park in Surrey is just like any other extravagant mansion, but there’s much more to this Victorian masterpiece than meets the eye. From the secret underwater ballroom to dramatic suicide deaths, the story behind the man who built the mansion is surprisingly tragic. Shady entrepreneur James Whitaker Wright Long before J. Whitaker Wright built his sprawling mansion in England, he was just a bright-eyed son of a Methodist Minister. Wright was the eldest of five children, and one of his younger brothers actually went on to invent the reversible trolley pole, a device that emits electricity from a wire to the motor of a trolleybus.…
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The finest film foxes of the fifties Let's brush up on babe history.
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.
From Bach to 50s weirdness: Everything you need to know about classical music An 8-step cheat sheet to classical music that will make you cultured in one reading.
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6 incredibly stupid cons that actually worked You are being hunted by polish priests and need to pay the CIA $160k to protect you. These are the cons that make Nigerian 419 scammers look like Ocean's Eleven.
Some cons are so assed-out lame, they prove that it isn’t stupidity that makes someone fall victim to a scam. It can’t be. If it were stupidity, the victims in the following scams would be literally dumber than rocks. After all, if you approach a rock and say, “give me your money,” or “let me examine your lady business,” the rock won’t budge. Here are six successful cons that make Nigerian 419 scammers look like Ocean’s Eleven. 1. “Your Computer Has Been Infected by Polish Priests Attempting to Take Over the US Government.” How Much Did This Lie Make? Authorities believe twenty million dollars. That’s almost 1/10 as much as…
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10 serial killers caught for the stupidest reasons If you're thinking of asking the task force trying to catch you if it's safe to send them the floppy disk you used to keep personal files on, read this first.
How people used to download games from the radio Downloadable games are the format of the future, but they’re not a modern invention. Eager computer users were downloading wirelessly over 30 years ago.
The future of humanity depends on this secret society and their 200 million samurai They can raise 200 million samurai at will.
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8 sweet little grandmas who committed serious crimes Grannies gone wild.
Grandmothers are supposed to be sweet, loving old ladies with a plate of fresh baked cookies in one hand and a handful of lemon drops in the other, ever ready to dispense hugs and wisdom. The ladies on this list need to re-read their job description and start knitting more afghans. The Bank Robber When called upon to help out family, most grandmothers supply tea, sympathy, and oatmeal cookies. 74-year-old Marilyn Devine took a slightly more aggressive approach to fixing her son’s financial woes after she finally got tired of taking out tens of thousands of dollars in loans for him. When he called her in his hour of need…
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11 obscure kung fu movies you need to watch For every big-budget martial arts spectacular, there were dozens of cheaper films. But these are just as good as the hits.
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.
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20 badass facts about about pirates Arrrr, did you know?
Whether it’s the classic one-eyed, peg-legged, crow-sporting classic pirates or the modern day Somalian pirates in their boats of unfortunate quality… as long as there are oceans, there will be pirates lookin’ for booty. This is all stuff you already knew about pirates, but here are 20 badass things you might not have known about our favorite treasure-seeking friends, starting with a slight embarrassment. Julius Caesar crucified a whole pirate colony after being temporarily inconvenienced Julius Caesar was not someone to fuck around with, but he still found himself captured by some pirates when he crossed the Aegean Sea. The pirates thought they had scored big and demanded a hefty…
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How people used to download games from the radio Downloadable games are the format of the future, but they’re not a modern invention. Eager computer users were downloading wirelessly over 30 years ago.
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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.
Even with fractional-reserve banking, banks still house millions upon millions in their vaults so they can credibly create credit and grant SBA loans to your small business or whatever type of loan you might need. Thieves dream of getting just a fraction of that money so they can retire early and live comfortably. Bank robbers lacking in creativity simply point a gun at the bank teller and demand money, but that usually doesn’t yield much cash. Instead, the greatest bank robberies in history often involve complex plans and organization. These are our picks of the 15 greatest bank heists in history based on monetary value and overall interestingness. “The original…
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The tragic story of a Victorian swindler and his spectacular underwater fantasy world Upon first glance, Britain's Witley Park in Surrey is just like any other extravagant Victorian mansion. But look closer.
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10 serial killers caught for the stupidest reasons If you're thinking of asking the task force trying to catch you if it's safe to send them the floppy disk you used to keep personal files on, read this first.
Serial killers are hunted by the finest detectives and law enforcement agencies in the world, and it’s only a matter of time until a tiny error or oversight leads to the capture. But those errors – seen in hindsight or not – are sometimes pretty damn stupid. Dennis “the BTK killer” Rader Between the years of 1974 and 1991, Dennis Rader murdered 10 people in Sedgwick County, Kansas. He was known as the BTK killer for his murder M.O.: bind, torture, kill. And he was caught due to one of the dumbest mistakes in crime history. Like some other entries on this list, Rader thought he was smarter than everyone…
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How to get drunk at children’s birthday parties I like my children, but I LOVE them even more after a few beers. This is the true secret to raising children.
Andrew Jackson’s 1400-pound block of cheese Jackson was a legend. And, at some point, he was gifted a humongous wheel of cheese. This is the story of that cheese,
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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.
Remember the viral video of a police chase ending up with the car disappearing into thin air? Watch this video on YouTube Cops have to deal with a lot of weird shit, and the paranormal – or what seems to be – is sometimes part of it. Here are the freakiest creepy stories and paranormal encounters put to print by former and current cops. The indian procession My dad used to work as a CO (corrections officer) at a rural prison. He drove perimeter, which just means he made circles around the jail in a truck, checking empty buildings for runaway inmates and just generally being bored for eight hours…
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How I survived a year of SHTF in 90s Bosnia No electricity, no food, no running water, no law. In a now legendary forum thread, a user named Selco tells preppers about his experiences and what he and his family did to stay alive.
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This is what it’s like selling drugs on the deepweb A story about an Excel spreadsheet and how I don't deserve to live.
Around 4 years ago, I was a vendor on the darknet. It was a relatively shortlived thing, I was just doing it because I was too lazy to get a job and at the time didn’t want to settle for the 9-to-5 thing. I wanted to start my own business, and use the drug money as a start up. I had been using myself for years, along with that I met lots of people into the dealing scene, and eventually started dealing myself. I have a lot of anxiety though, so I hated meeting up with people in parking lots and I definitely didn’t want anyone to know where I…
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Too freaky to fake? 5 legendary TV curses One might be tempted to dismiss this as the inevitable result of an industry that attracts famewhores and the mentally ill. Then again...
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The joker brokers: a tale so stupid it can’t be a lie We all have financially retarded relatives, but this story from a /biz/ thread takes the fucking cake.
We all have financially retarded relatives, but this story from a /biz/ thread takes the fucking cake. It started simple enough with this post from MYNFWavb: You guys have genius parents compared to my father. Can’t get into details ATM, but basically he’s been working a job that makes absolutely no sense for over 7 years without making any money whatsoever, and he still 100% believes it’s going to make him a billionaire in less than a week. Every week. I’d really like to see someone beat this. He continued: I’m dead serious. He and an astonishingly large number of people sit all day on Skype playing pretend broker, where…
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