Douglas Bader, RAF pilot and incorrigible escape artist, literally had his leg handed to him by the German army in WWII. Bad Show Dangling from his damaged plane …
If there ever was an athletic event that should be a movie, it’s the 1904 Olympic Marathon. The “performance enhancing” rat poison and brandy! The runner who stopped for …
In the Great Whiskey Fire of 1875, a crazy cocktail of fire, whiskey and malt liquor flowed down Dublin’s Ardee-street, Chamber-street, Cork-street, and Mill-street. Contemporary illustrations showing the whiskey …
The 13 mischievous troll brothers of Christmas, called the Yule Lads, have thrilled and terrified Icelandic children for hundreds of years. Parents used to torment children with such disturbing …
Barbie’s first career was as a “golddigger, exhibitionist, and floozy” cartoon in the Hamburg tabloid, Bild-Zeitung. While she might have spent most of her time flinging herself at “balding, jowly …
If there’s something weird in space, does anyone know? Paul Quast has published the first space catalogue of every message and artifact humans have beamed up. It’s hard to …
Two bothers, the “Dumb and Dumber” of Spain, tried to sell a fake Goya to a Sheikh, only to be paid in fake money. Back in 2002, they’d been …
Definitely my favorite Medieval trial by ordeal, the Trial by Cake involved swallowing a dry lump of consecrated bread, or “corsned,” without choking, turning pale or shaking. If he …
In 1994, a Maryland man became a modern mummy using ancient Egyptian techniques. National Geographic dubbed him “Mr. Mummy” . Ronald Wade, director of the state anatomy board, called …
Barred from working in Nazi Germany as a Jewish actor, Leon Reuss (born Leon Reiss) tricked the Nazis into celebrating him as an Aryan idol. Reuss retreated to a …
A prisoner filed a lawsuit against Satan and his staff in United States District Court. It was dismissed on procedural grounds. Gerald Mayo, a 22 year old inmate at Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, filed a claim before the United States …
Big Nose George Parrott was an 1880s Wild West outlaw who grew up to become a pair of shoes. As for his nasal nickname, well, one legend goes: “The …
