curiosities

The Totally Weird Origins Of English Idioms

If nothing else, social media has taught us that at some point all of us start to sound like our moms and dads. The Bible might give the mouths of babes all the credit, but some pretty strange things can come out of adult lips as well: those confusing old...

By All That's Interesting • Jun 16, 2014

The Totally Weird Origins Of English Idioms

If nothing else, social media has taught us that at some point all of us start to sound like our moms and dads. The Bible might give the mouths of babes all the credit, but some pretty strange things can come out of adult lips as well: those confusing old...

By All That's Interesting • June 16, 2014

These Creepy Masks Prove Just How Odd Humanity Is

This little item is one of the more disturbing objects on the list. A ‘Scold’s bridle’ is a fearsome looking thing from the 1500s whose purpose was to cure your gabbing woman of her nasty—and apparently singularly female—tendency to fight or gossip. When secured to the woman’s head, this contraption...

By Erin Kelly • Jun 15, 2014

These Creepy Masks Prove Just How Odd Humanity Is

This little item is one of the more disturbing objects on the list. A ‘Scold’s bridle’ is a fearsome looking thing from the 1500s whose purpose was to cure your gabbing woman of her nasty—and apparently singularly female—tendency to fight or gossip. When secured to the woman’s head, this contraption...

By Erin Kelly • June 15, 2014

11 Interesting Events You May Not Have Learned In History Class

An unknown beast that led a deadly rampage through 1760s France? An unexplained explosion as powerful as 1,000 atomic bombs in Siberia? These little-known, interesting events bring history to life more than any textbook ever could.

By Katie Serena • Jun 13, 2014

11 Interesting Events You May Not Have Learned In History Class

An unknown beast that led a deadly rampage through 1760s France? An unexplained explosion as powerful as 1,000 atomic bombs in Siberia? These little-known, interesting events bring history to life more than any textbook ever could.

By Katie Serena • June 13, 2014

The Most WTF Science Experiments Ever Conducted

From trying to "cure" homosexuality to severing dogs' heads to study artificial lungs, we give you the most WTF science experiments known to humankind.

By All That's Interesting • Jun 9, 2014

The Most WTF Science Experiments Ever Conducted

From trying to "cure" homosexuality to severing dogs' heads to study artificial lungs, we give you the most WTF science experiments known to humankind.

By All That's Interesting • June 9, 2014

6 Of The Most Interesting Diseases To Have Ravaged Humanity

Poor health is one of those things, like divorce and the loss of a loved one, that you know will touch your life at some point but would rather not think about too much. At least, we generally expect that somebody, somewhere is “working” on the problem. Certain especially interesting...

By Richard Stockton • Jun 7, 2014

6 Of The Most Interesting Diseases To Have Ravaged Humanity

Poor health is one of those things, like divorce and the loss of a loved one, that you know will touch your life at some point but would rather not think about too much. At least, we generally expect that somebody, somewhere is “working” on the problem. Certain especially interesting...

By Richard Stockton • June 7, 2014

Bee Beards, Your New Favorite Hobby

Bored and near a colony of bees? We've got just the hobby for you: bee bearding.

By Mamta Bhatt • Jun 6, 2014

Bee Beards, Your New Favorite Hobby

Bored and near a colony of bees? We've got just the hobby for you: bee bearding.

By Mamta Bhatt • June 6, 2014

5 Of The World’s Weirdest Mental Disorders

Are you normal? It seems like an easy question, but our grip on reality can be thinner and more tenuous than you think. This shouldn’t be surprising, since everything that you are—your hopes, your memories, your conditioned responses—is contained in one small, fragile brain. The brain is just an organ,...

By Richard Stockton • Jun 3, 2014

5 Of The World’s Weirdest Mental Disorders

Are you normal? It seems like an easy question, but our grip on reality can be thinner and more tenuous than you think. This shouldn’t be surprising, since everything that you are—your hopes, your memories, your conditioned responses—is contained in one small, fragile brain. The brain is just an organ,...

By Richard Stockton • June 3, 2014

What We Love This Week, Volume LXVII

Remembering Maya Angelou The world’s greatest writers are never just that. Using the written word as their shovel, they dig deep into the most devastating and dazzling facets of our humanity and present their findings–namely, truth–in their most organic and compelling forms. Such is the case with poet, activist and...

By Savannah Cox • May 30, 2014

What We Love This Week, Volume LXVII

Remembering Maya Angelou The world’s greatest writers are never just that. Using the written word as their shovel, they dig deep into the most devastating and dazzling facets of our humanity and present their findings–namely, truth–in their most organic and compelling forms. Such is the case with poet, activist and...

By Savannah Cox • May 30, 2014

Ridiculous Beliefs Of The World’s Most Acclaimed Thinkers

Ridiculous Beliefs: Pythagoras Pythagoras is a world-renowned mathematician credited with coming up with the Pythagorean Theorem. This theorem forms the crux of trigonometry and, as any half decent geometry student should know, posits that the square of a right triangle’s hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of...

By Mamta Bhatt • May 25, 2014

Ridiculous Beliefs Of The World’s Most Acclaimed Thinkers

Ridiculous Beliefs: Pythagoras Pythagoras is a world-renowned mathematician credited with coming up with the Pythagorean Theorem. This theorem forms the crux of trigonometry and, as any half decent geometry student should know, posits that the square of a right triangle’s hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of...

By Mamta Bhatt • May 25, 2014

The Animal Kingdom’s Most Fascinatingly Bizarre Color Mutations

Nature is filled with beauty, especially when it's on accident. Such is the case with color mutation in animals.

By Erin Kelly • May 22, 2014

The Animal Kingdom’s Most Fascinatingly Bizarre Color Mutations

Nature is filled with beauty, especially when it's on accident. Such is the case with color mutation in animals.

By Erin Kelly • May 22, 2014

6 Interesting Religions You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Bad news, monotheists: you’re not even close to having a monopoly over the world’s narratives on purpose and morality. At present, it’s estimated that over 4,000 religions exist across the world, ranging from the well-established to the cult-like. Whatever your divine quest, it seems there’s a spiritual niche just for...

By Erin Kelly • May 21, 2014

6 Interesting Religions You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Bad news, monotheists: you’re not even close to having a monopoly over the world’s narratives on purpose and morality. At present, it’s estimated that over 4,000 religions exist across the world, ranging from the well-established to the cult-like. Whatever your divine quest, it seems there’s a spiritual niche just for...

By Erin Kelly • May 21, 2014