History, we are often told, controls the future. One common refrain is that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” But which history? Do “actions speak louder than words?” Or is “the pen mightier than the sword?” What are the lessons of history? Do such lessons even exist? Control the…
In 1816, average global temperatures fell. A strange fog drifted across the Northern Hemisphere. Sunlight dimmed. Crops died due to unusual amounts of dust. What caused “The Year without a Summer?” What was the Year without a Summer? “The Year without a Summer” was indeed a strange year. It was most apparent in the northeastern…
On March 10, 2011, Forbes Magazine declared Mexican industrialist Carlos Slim to be the richest person in the world. This marks his second year in a row in that position. But how does his fortune of $74 billion rank against wealthy people from the past? Who is the Richest Person of All Time? There are…
A sphinx is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. According to the ancient Greeks, any traveler who wished to enter Thebes had to first solve “The Riddle of the Sphinx.” Those who failed to answer it correctly were strangled and eaten. What was the riddle? And…
In 1967, Dial Press published a book called Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace. It remains one of the most controversial works of all time. Who wrote the Report from Iron Mountain? What does it say? And most importantly…is it real? What is the Report from Iron Mountain? The Report from…
In 1999, Barry Halper, often considered the “Father of Baseball Collecting,” auctioned off his entire collection. It sold for a whopping $37.5 million. But since that time, troubling questions have arisen, questions that have led many people to ask: Was Barry Halper the Bernie Madoff of memorabilia? Barry Halper: Legendary Collector of Baseball Memorabilia? Back…
On July 18, 1817, Jane Austen, the famed author of Pride and Prejudice, died. Over the years, researchers have attributed her death to a number of ailments, including Addison’s disease, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bovine tuberculosis, and typhus. But recently uncovered evidence suggests a startling new possibility…arsenic poisoning. Was Jane Austen Poisoned? A couple of years ago,…
During the 1500s, a group of European missionaries traveled to South America hoping to convert the locals to Christianity. To their horror, they discovered that Amazonian witch doctors actively used a strange potion…a potion which they considered “the work of the devil.” But modern analysis indicates that this mixture, known as Ayahuasca, is far from evil. Could this…