Month: June 2017
On June 12th, 1817, a German inventor took a spin around Mannheim on his dandyhorse. Local aristocrat Baron Karl von Drais managed a 14km trip in less than an hour. …
What if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union? In Red Son, Superman’s an idealistic young farm-boy from the Ukraine who believes in the goodness of communism. Because of …
Luxemburgers have been hopping for 500 years in honor of a British saint. The Hopping Procession is Europe’s largest traditional dancing procession. Every Whit Tuesday, some 12,000 hoppers merge …
Some tulip bulb varieties were, briefly, the most expensive objects in the world in 1637. According to Charles Mackay, tulip mania swept the entire nation in the 1600’s: “The …
The hole in the doughnut is often credited to Hanson Crockett Gregory, a 19th century New England sailor. Gregory’s mother Elizabeth regularly made doughnuts for him and his crew to enjoy …
Placing living Russian brown frogs in milk to keep it fresh led to a big leap in antibiotics. This ancient practice in Russia and Finland often worked. Frog skin’s …
