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How Voltaire Made a Fortune Rigging the Lottery
While history knows him as a great Enlightenment thinker, Voltaire was once Francois-Marie Arouet, the charismatic and rebellious youngest son of a middle-class French family. In his early life, Voltaire fell consistently afoul of
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How Seattle, Washington Got Its Name
Today I found out how the city of Seattle got its name. Seattle is one of the only major cities in the United States to be named after a Native American chief. In his
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People in Columbus’ Time Did Not Think the World Was Flat
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… with a whole lot of maps and information about the very round Earth. Contrary to popular belief, not only did Columbus realize the world was round, so
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1816- The Year That Had No Summer
For those who are used to a year with four seasons, imagine how hard it is to believe there could ever be a year where summer never came. In 1816, people living in the
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The Siberian Family Who Didn’t See Another Human for Over 40 Years
To this day, the Siberian wilderness is still one of the most isolated places in the world. Known as the Siberian taiga (meaning “forest” in Russian), its harsh, cold climate greatly discourages human habitation.
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Vasili Arkhipov: The Man Who Saved the World
In 1962, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were on the brink of possible mutual destruction- the world as a whole was facing a possible nuclear winter and all the devastation that would come
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Et Tu Brute? Not Caesar’s Last Words
In terms of famous last words, Julius Caesar’s supposed “Et tu, Brute?” may be the most well known of any in history. For context, William Shakespeare would have us believe, Julius Caesar, in his
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The Nazi Origin of the Volkswagen Beetle
Hard to believe but true- the industrial production of the lovable VW Bug was partially the brainchild of none other than Adolf Hitler. While most of us, when we think of Hitler and the
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The First Stock Market Crash: The South Sea Company
Building on a long tradition of catastrophic financial market crashes, the economic meltdown caused by the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008 is only the latest in a long line of epic stock
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The Origin of Humpty Dumpty
Nevin asks: Why is “Humpty Dumpty” always depicted as an egg? As you seem to have noticed, in the “Humpty Dumpty” nursery rhyme, nowhere does it say that Humpty is an egg, yet he
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