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Hannah Ocuish was 12 years old when she was hanged by the state of Connecticut in 1786 for the murder of Eunice Bolles, marking her the youngest person to have ever been executed in the United States. The story of her conviction and death leaves room for serious doubt about whether it should have happened at all.
Fordlandia, Henry Ford’s attempt at building an industrialized utopia in the Amazon rainforest, is a story of hubris and failure on an impressive scale. The titan of American manufacturing thought he could create a picture-perfect, self-sustaining city that would produce rubber for Ford tires, but it never did.
When the Billy Doll hit the shops in 1997, it was widely touted as “the first ‘out and proud’ gay doll;” older generations were right to meet the claim with skepticism—they remembered Gay Bob, the original gay doll.
On September 7, 1978, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was waiting at a bus stop in London’s Strand when he felt a sharp jab in his leg. Little did he know that he had just become the victim of a sophisticated assassination involving an iconic Cold War weapon: the umbrella gun.
Discover the museum filled with more oddities and absurdities than any other. This exhibit hosts intriguing and unique displays, including mosaics made of butterfly wings, a portrait of soviet canine astronauts, and a collection of folk remedies. How did this strange place come to be, and is it worth a visit?
At first glance, Alan Smithee appears to be a prolific, but untalented, director. Despite having over 100 directing credits to his name, Smithee’s name isn’t widely known. Perhaps this is because of the many flops in his repertoire, or perhaps it is simply because Alan Smithee never existed.
Once upon a time, in a rotating chicken-legged hut in the depths of the forest, there lived Baba Yaga, the preeminent witch of Slavic folklore. Don’t let her wrinkled face or bony leg fool you—she is a fierce enchantress, a force to be reckoned with!
At the Boomerang Nebula, 5,000 light-years away, a dying star is shooting out gas so quickly that it actually cools down as it expands; the surrounding clouds are barely above absolute zero, making it the coldest place in the universe.
Billionaire Marc Lore is building the utopian mega-city of Telosa from scratch in the American desert. Here’s why he’s doing it, what the city will look like, and how he plans to get it done.
The Hasanlu Lovers are a unique archaeological find: two ancient skeletons from a doomed city, locked in a tender embrace long after their deaths. The revelation that they were both male has sparked controversy and debate.
In 1184, during the resolution of a land dispute in Erfurt, dozens of German nobles met a grisly end when the floor collapsed beneath them, plunging them into a lake of human excrement. More than 60 of them drowned in the latrine, and the future Holy Roman Emperor barely escaped with his life.
In Iceland’s rugged wilderness, legends of the huldufólk linger on. These mysterious elves, said to be able to jump between dimensions, reside within the very rocks and hills themselves—which is why Icelanders are careful not to let American companies disturb their landscape!
When a plan to eradicate cobras in 19th-century Delhi backfired spectacularly, the incident became known as the “Cobra Effect.” It has since become a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of well-meaning policies, and a reminder of the importance of understanding the systems within which we operate.
John Harvey Kellogg was a Seventh-Day Adventist who believed that self-gratification was the sin of all sins. But did he invent cornflakes as a sort of anti-masturbatory meal? A sticky question, for sure, and one we just have to flake…
Surfers worldwide recognize the hang loose sign, or shaka, as a symbol of goodwill and friendship. But the story of its Hawaii origins aren’t as simple as one might think. Through a combination of language, tragedy, mystery, and advertisements, the hang loose sign found its way into the cultural zeitgeist.
One of Santa’s most intriguing companions, Knecht Ruprecht is a legendary figure in German folklore, attested as early as the 17th century. A wild, shaggy-haired figure dressed in dark, fur-trimmed clothing, he is said to roam the countryside during the Christmas season, dolling out punishments to all the naughty children, while Santa rewards the good.
Dwight K. Shrute: What about an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas? Drink some gluhwein, enjoy some hasenpfeffer. Enjoy Christmas with saint Nicolas’ rural German companion, Belsnickel. Jim Halpert: Yes! That, that, that! We’re definitely doing that. Are we all in agreement? OddFeed: Yes, yes, a resounding yes!
The life and works of Zdzisław Beksiński are each engrossing in their own ways. His journey from war-torn Poland in the 1940s to a fantastical style of painting in the 70s and beyond gave the contemporary art world a visual jolt of deformed bodies and vivid hellscapes that were horrific and mesmerizing to behold.
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