May 12, 2012

On October 29, 1933, the London Sunday Referee published a report that a man named Otto Fischer had flown a 24-foot long rocket six miles above Earth. Did Space Nazis really exist? Did Space Nazis Exist? This story comes to you straight from io9. And it’s a wild one. No, the Nazis didn’t really send…

April 29, 2012

In 1275, famed explorer Marco Polo set foot in China’s Mongol court, the first leg of an epic journey that ultimately encompassed 24 years and 15,000 miles. Or did he? Did Marco Polo really go to China? Back in August 2011, we first discussed the controversy surrounding Marco Polo’s supposed travels to China and back…

April 16, 2012

In 1976, two American space probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2, landed on Mars. After collecting data and performing experiments, scientists decided the planet was lifeless. But now, several scholars are beginning to question that conclusion. Is there life on Mars? Is there Life on Mars? “To paraphrase an old saying, if it looks like…

April 12, 2012

In 1862, the Union and Confederacy locked horns at the Battle of Shiloh. More than 3,000 people died and another 16,000 received wounds. As the fighting came to an end, something strange started to happen. Wounds started to glow. And this glowing seemed to have a miraculous effect, leading to saved lives and faster-healing wounds….

March 16, 2012

Who’s the better U.S. President? Barack Obama? Or the little-known Rutherford B. Hayes? Battle of the Presidents: Barack Obama vs. Rutherford B. Hayes? In what promises to be the strangest President vs. President battle of 2012, President Obama knocked President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) yesterday over his apparent dislike of the telephone. “One of my…

February 27, 2012

In 1820, the U.S. whaling industry was just a blip, generating about $1 million in revenue per year. Thirty years later, it had grown nearly 1,000%, making the U.S. the global leader in whaling. By 1900, U.S. whaling revenues had declined an astonishing 90%. What happened? The Mysterious Decline of the U.S. Whaling Industry? The rise…

February 21, 2012

In 1893, Teddy Roosevelt published The Wilderness Hunter. In that tome, he told a strange story about an encounter with an “unknown beast creature” that walked on two legs. Did Teddy Roosevelt do battle with the mysterious Bigfoot? Did Teddy Roosevelt Battle Bigfoot? First, thanks to Sean McLachlan over at Civil War Horror for providing the idea…

February 20, 2012

Who was the Greatest President in U.S. history? Most historians tend to share common ground when it comes to ranking U.S. presidents. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or Franklin Delano Roosevelt receive the top honor in practically every single poll. However, recent attention has fallen to a far more unusual candidate…Grover Cleveland. Who was Grover Cleveland?…