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Dust Bowl storms caused red snow in Boston.

Dust cloud, 1936
Credit: RBM Vintage Images/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Michael Nordine
May 31, 2026

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The Dust Bowl wasn’t entirely confined to the actual Dust Bowl states. Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico were certainly the most affected by the extreme drought that ravaged the Great Plains in the 1930s, a natural disaster that followed overcultivation and proved disastrous for both the land and the people living on it. But some of the dust storms that resulted were so extreme that their clouds reached cities more than 1,500 miles away on the East Coast. Boston, Massachusetts, even saw red snow due to red clay soil becoming concentrated in the atmosphere.

One of the worst storms hit the Great Plains region on April 14, 1935, which became known as Black Sunday. What started as a sunny morning quickly turned into an oppressive haze that dropped temperatures more than 25 degrees in an hour and turned the sky black. This “black blizzard” displaced an estimated 300,000 tons of topsoil, an agricultural disaster that led to further hardship and a number of casualties. Woody Guthrie immortalized the event in his song “The Great Dust Storm” from the album Dust Bowl Ballads, which included the line, “It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down / We thought it was our judgment, we thought it was our doom.”

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Most “Okies” weren’t from Oklahoma.

Anyone who’s read The Grapes of Wrath knows that “Okie” was a pejorative term for people fleeing the Dust Bowl — even if they weren’t from Oklahoma. The catchall insult applied equally to folks from Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas and could be found on signs such as this one outside a California diner: “Okies and dogs not allowed inside.” Most people who fled the Dust Bowl didn’t venture that far west, though, more often migrating to nearby states in the hopes of restarting their farms in unaffected areas. John Steinbeck’s novel won both the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize on its way to becoming one of the most celebrated books of the 20th century, but not everyone was pleased with it. Lyle Boren, who represented Oklahoma in Congress, described The Grapes of Wrath as “a lie, a black, infernal creation of a twisted, distorted mind.” 

Only one person was both the son and father of a president.

Portrait of John Scott Harrison
Credit: © Niday Picture Library/Alamy
Author Michael Nordine
May 22, 2026

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There have been only two father-son pairs to serve as U.S. president: John Adams and John Quincy Adams and George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. (Robert A. Taft, the son of President William Howard Taft, came somewhat close to joining their company but failed to secure his party’s nomination despite three close attempts.) 

As the only person to be the son of one president and the father of another, however, John Scott Harrison occupies an even rarer place in history. His father, William Henry Harrison, was the shortest-serving president in U.S. history, having died 31 days into his term on April 4, 1841. John Scott Harrison’s son Benjamin Harrison occupied the White House from 1889 to 1893.

John Scott Harrison was 36 when his father died, and he went on to represent Ohio’s 2nd congressional district from 1853 to 1857 — first as a Whig and then as a member of the anti-slavery Opposition Party in his second term. He declined to run for governor in 1855 and, after losing his seat in Congress, retired to Point Farm, his estate near North Bend, Ohio. He passed away in 1878 and didn’t live to see his son become president.

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John Scott Harrison helped put an end to grave robbing.

John Scott Harrison’s story didn’t end with his death at the age of 73. Grave robbers absconded with his remains just days later and brought his body to Ohio Medical College, which had a reputation for acquiring its anatomical subjects in unseemly ways. Harrison’s son Benjamin, the future president, led the efforts to recover his father’s body. He was ultimately successful, and the incident led to the passage of the Ohio Anatomy Law of 1881, which allowed medical schools to use unclaimed bodies and helped hasten the end of grave robbing. All three Harrisons (as well as several other family members) are now at rest in the same tomb in North Bend.

Ben Franklin wrote a satirical essay on farting. 

Benjamin Franklin writing at desk
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Author Bess Lovejoy
May 22, 2026

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Sometime around 1781, while serving as minister to France, Benjamin Franklin set his pen to paper to address an important subject. Not liberty, diplomacy, or trade relations — passing gas. 

“It is universally well known,” the great statesman and polymath wrote, “That in digesting our common Food, there is created or produced in the Bowels of human Créatures, a great Quantity of Wind.” Because letting this “wind” escape is usually “offensive to the Company,” he continued, most well-bred people try to restrain the “Efforts of Nature,” at the risk of causing pain or even disease to themselves.

The essay was addressed to the Royal Academy of Brussels in response to its “Mathematical Prize Question,” though Franklin never actually sent it. He found the academy’s question — “given a certain geometric figure, how could one determine the greatest number of smaller figures that could be contained inside the first?” — so silly, he was moved to lampoon it. He especially took issue with the fact that the academy had advertised the question as having practical value. 

What would have far more utility, Franklin reasoned, would be figuring out a way to make farts smell better.

What if, the statesman conjectured in his essay, scientists could create some kind of “Drug wholesome & not disagreable, to be mix’d with our common Food,” that might make this gas smell as pleasant as perfume, and thus make people less likely to try to hold it in? Franklin went on to lay out examples of how food can change the smell of excreta. Administering such a drug with dinner might even become part of hosting duties, he mused: “The generous Soul, who now endeavours to find out whether the Friends he entertains like best Claret or Burgundy, Champagne or Madeira, would then enquire also whether they chose Musk or Lilly, Rose or Bergamot, and provide accordingly.”

Though Franklin never sent his essay to the academy, he did send it to friends and eventually published it in his collection of “bagatelles,” or trifles. It was far from the only time he used satire to make a point, of course: When he wasn’t making fun of math prizes, Franklin often wrote satirically to argue against subjects such as slavery, British domination, and witch hunts, and in favor of freedom and equality.

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Franklin’s fart idea eventually received an official response.

Franklin’s essay didn’t just linger as an 18th-century joke: It eventually earned a real, if playful, scientific reply. More than 240 years later, the modern successor to the Royal Academy of Brussels — the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts — was asked whether it might respond to the founding father’s infamous challenge.

The academy took the question seriously enough to consult microbiome experts, including Belgian researcher Sarah Lebeer and British professor Glenn Gibson. Their answer? Franklin’s idea of a “wholesome” additive to make gas more pleasant wasn’t entirely off base. The smell of flatulence, they explained, largely comes from gases such as hydrogen sulfide produced by gut bacteria; in theory, altering the microbiome through probiotics or diet could reduce those odors.

In the 1800s, some Americans lived inside massive tree stumps.

Cedar stump house, Edgecomb, Washington
Credit: Historic Collection/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd
March 27, 2025

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Before the logging industry wiped out millions of wooded acres across the United States, the trees in old-growth forests were hundreds of feet tall, with gnarled bases and trunks that could measure more than 20 feet across. To fell the trees, loggers would build platforms 10 to 12 feet off the ground where the tree’s shape was smoother. So when settlers moved into the cleared forestland, they had a lot of giant stumps to contend with. Some stumps were removed, sometimes using perilous methods such as fire or dynamite. But others, particularly the larger ones, were repurposed.

The bases of these massive trees had soft wood interiors and sometimes even hollow areas, so it was relatively easy to carve out the center of a stump and turn it into a building, such as a barn, post office, or even the occasional home. The most famous of these stump houses was the Lennstrom Stump House in Edgecomb, Washington, crafted from a cedar stump 22 feet in diameter. Three adults and three children lived in the stump until they could build a larger house on their property. Unfortunately, the Lennstrom home was severely damaged in 1946. But in Arlington, Washington, just a few miles from Edgecomb, an extant 18-foot stump house is on display outside the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum.

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A 17th-century treehouse is still standing in England.

The centerpiece of the Pitchford Estate, a historic thousand-acre farm in rural Shropshire county, England, is an Elizabethan mansion decked out in ornate half-timbering. But there’s a much smaller house that’s equally of note: a treehouse, complete with matching half-timbering, that dates back to at least 1692. The timbering is a later edition — the treehouse was originally built to look like a stone building. When it was first built, the cottage was entirely supported by the lime tree beneath it, but some adjustments have been necessary as both have aged. Now, the structure is held aloft by metal struts, but it’s stable enough that visitors can explore it on tours.

Gibraltar forgot it was a city for 180 years.  

Pinpointing location of Gibraltar
Credit: Ben Gingell/ Shutterstock
Author Michael Nordine
October 10, 2024

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As both a city and a British overseas territory, Gibraltar has held a unique status since Queen Victoria granted it cityhood in 1842. It seems no one wrote that down in 1842, however, because the territory bid to become a city in advance of the queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 — leading some to remark that Gibraltar itself simply forgot it was a city. After the bid, researchers realized that Gibraltar had already held that vaunted status for 180 years, but due to a technicality with the paperwork, its cityhood was overlooked by future officials and largely forgotten. 

Only four other locations outside the United Kingdom have received similar recognition as British cities: Hamilton, Bermuda; Jamestown, St. Helena; Douglas, Isle of Man; and Stanley, Falkland Islands. It’s up to the monarch to make the final decision on such matters, though they do so on the advice of ministers who consider such factors as population and whether a would-be city has a cathedral or university. In the case of Gibraltar, one can only assume that having a very large rock proved advantageous as well. 

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There are wild monkeys in Gibraltar.

If you want to see wild monkeys in Europe, look no further than Gibraltar. Barbary macaques roam the city — including the Rock, where there are thought to be some 230 of them — and are among its most popular attractions. They’re the only wild monkeys on the European continent; they’re also endangered. Direct interaction with the macaques is thus strongly discouraged, not that tourists — or the monkeys themselves — always listen. 

A full-scale replica of the Parthenon was built in the U.S.

Parthenon in Nashville
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Author Bennett Kleinman
December 7, 2023

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The Parthenon — an ancient Greek temple built in Athens, Greece, between 447 and 432 BCE — is one of the most famous landmarks in the world. But many people don’t realize that a full-scale replica was built far across the world in Nashville, Tennessee, to celebrate the state’s Centennial Exposition in 1897. Nashville had earned the nickname “the Athens of the South” due to its commitment to culture and higher education, and opted to honor the moniker by recreating one of ancient Greece’s most famous landmarks.

At the time, the Parthenon in Greece had fallen into disrepair, and organizers in Tennessee aimed to replicate the building as it looked in its heyday. Crews laid the first stone in 1895, and worked for two years to construct the many pillars and other features of the 65-foot-tall temple. While the exterior of the final product was an exact replica, the building’s interior featured a different layout than its Greek counterpart, and was used to display the many paintings and sculptures that were acquired for the exposition.

Initially, Nashville’s Parthenon was built using temporary materials and the plan was for it to be destroyed after the event. However, it was beloved by locals, so the city decided to rebuild the landmark with permanent materials. The structure reopened in 1931, though it still lacked an important original feature: the 42-foot-tall statue of the goddess Athena, for whom the original Parthenon was dedicated. Nashville commissioned work on the statue in 1982 and it was unveiled in 1990. In 2002, the statue was gilded and painted, adding the final touches to the replica.

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There’s a quarter-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty in France.

On July 4, 1884, the Statue of Liberty was gifted to the United States by France. Five years later, France was given a Lady Liberty of its own, albeit a much smaller one. The quarter-scale replica was a gift from American communities living in Paris to honor the centennial of the French Revolution.

Oddly, Americans chose to unveil the gift on July 4, a day that lacks any notable meaning in France. The statue was initially placed on Pont de Grenelle (a bridge on the River Seine) and inaugurated during a ceremony attended by Statue of Liberty sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi insisted the replica be oriented toward New York City, though it wasn't until the 1960s that his wish was granted, when the bridge was rebuilt and the replica was relocated to Île aux Cygnes, an artificial island on the Seine.

In 1923 a jockey died mid-race — and still won.

Horses racing at Belmont Park
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Author Michael Nordine
May 20, 2026

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There’s nothing in the horse racing rulebook that says a dead person can’t win a race — which is exactly what happened to one Frank Hayes about a century ago. The 22-year-old, who had just made the jump from stable hand to jockey, had the misfortune of suffering a fatal heart attack while atop his faithful steed, Sweet Kiss, and the good fortune of finishing — and, because he didn’t fall off, winning — the race anyway. 

The steeplechase (a race involving obstacles for the horses to jump over) took place on June 4, 1923, at the Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York, and was the only race Hayes ever won. Given that Sweet Kiss had 20-1 odds, the victory would have been an impressive feat even if the ill-fated Hayes had been alive to enjoy it. 

There are competing theories behind the cause of Hayes’ heart attack, with one newspaper suggesting he had overexerted himself trying to lose enough weight to qualify for the race. “He was confronted with the task of taking off nearly 10 pounds in 24 hours,” the Buffalo Morning Express wrote at the time. “This morning he spent several hours on the road, jogging off surplus weight. He strove and sweated and denied himself water and when he climbed into the saddle at post time he was weak and tired.” Others believe the thrill of the race was simply too much for the inexperienced rider to handle. 

Though unconfirmed, it’s believed that Sweet Kiss never raced again — and earned the nickname “Sweet Kiss of Death.”

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Every horse in the Kentucky Derby has to carry the same amount of weight.

It’s no coincidence that jockeys are so diminutive; averaging between 4 feet, 10 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches tall and around 110 pounds, they strive to put as little additional strain on their horses as possible. In races such as the Kentucky Derby, there are even weight limits — every male horse has to be carrying exactly 126 pounds, and every female carries 121 pounds. In addition to protecting the equines themselves, this ensures an even playing field. That number includes not only the jockeys but also their saddle and other equipment. If the number comes out to less than 126 pounds for a colt or under 121 pounds on a filly, dead weight is added. The numbers are the same at the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, the other two Triple Crown races.

In the ‘dancing plague’ of 1518, hundreds of people danced uncontrollably for two months.

Dancing mania
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Author Bennett Kleinman
November 29, 2023

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The phrase “dance the night away” took on a more literal meaning back in 1518, when as many as 400 people were struck by a “dancing plague” in the city of Strasbourg in modern France. The epidemic began in July with a single woman known as Frau Troffea, who spontaneously began boogying away in the middle of the street. She danced alone and continuously for an entire week before several dozen others found themselves overcome by the urge to dance as well. By month’s end, the number had grown to several hundred. The mysterious dancing eventually waned, and Strasbourg returned to normalcy in September.

Authorities were concerned by this inexplicable rise in dance fever, though ill-informed physicians attributed the ailment to “hot blood” and suggested people simply needed to dance until they no longer felt the urge. As the weeks went on, several dancers collapsed from exhaustion, and some suffered fatal heart attacks. Locals sought answers, and some feared they had been cursed by St. Vitus, the patron saint of dance. Many modern historians posit that stress, coupled with the rise of new and untreated diseases such as syphilis, likely induced this mass hysteria. There had been numerous reported outbreaks of “dancing plagues” around the Holy Roman Empire in the preceding 500 years, including a significant one in 1374. Another theory points to a fungus known as ergot, sometimes found on bread. The fungus causes convulsions if consumed, and may have been responsible for the uncontrollable dancing as well as other instances of mass panic.

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A Tanzanian boarding school suffered a laughter epidemic in 1962.

Laughter really can be contagious, as attendees of a girls’ boarding school in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) discovered in 1962. In January of that year, three students at a school in the town of Kashasha began laughing hysterically out of nowhere. The epidemic soon spread to other students, as individuals suffered laughing fits that lasted anywhere from a few hours to 16 days. With doctors unable to explain the phenomenon and students unable to focus, the school temporarily closed in March, though the issue only grew from there. The girls returned home and “infected” those communities, and entire towns were suddenly overcome with insatiable laughter. Fourteen schools closed throughout the country, with each wave of laughter lasting for around a month. In the end, there were thankfully no fatalities, though more than 1,000 people were affected by this mysterious event.

Before fingerprinting, police used ear length to identify criminals.

Officer measuring a prisoner's ear
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Author Michael Nordine
May 20, 2026

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Even if you’ve never been hauled downtown in a paddy wagon, there’s a chance you’ve had your fingerprints taken. They’ve been used to establish people’s identities for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until the early 20th century that police used them to track criminals. 

Before that, the Bertillon system was the standard identification method in much of Europe and the U.S. It measured more than a dozen different body parts — including the ears, nose, arms, head circumference, sitting height, and standing height — to identify suspects and criminals. Eye color, scars, and other distinguishing features were noted on a standardized card that also included a mug shot.

The system was named for its creator, French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon, who developed it in 1879. By 1898, 10 American cities including New York, Philadelphia, and Boston had begun using the system and coordinating with one another. But its flaws soon came into focus during the Will West case. Two men, named Will West and William West, who looked nearly identical and whose Bertillon measurements were likewise indistinguishable, ended up in the same prison, and it wasn’t until their fingerprints were compared that Will was able to prove his (relative) innocence. The case marked a turning point in police methodology, with fingerprinting emerging as the standard form of identification.

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Koala fingerprints are nearly indistinguishable from those of humans.

With their penchant for low-nutrition eucalyptus and high rates of chlamydia, koalas are, shall we say, special creatures — not always in a good way. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the marsupials, however, is that their fingerprints are nearly indistinguishable from ours. In fact, koalas are the only non-primates that even have fingerprints. Biological anthropologist and forensic scientist Maciej Henneberg has suggested the possibility that law enforcement might even have trouble telling human and koala fingerprints apart. “Although it is extremely unlikely that koala prints would be found at the scene of a crime,” he told The Independent in 1996, “police should at least be aware of the possibility.” In addition to providing better grip strength for climbing, fingerprints provide greater sensitivity when inspecting food sources — a helpful trait for koalas, who are famously finicky when it comes to what they eat.

Archaeologists have found 3,000-year-old pots of honey that are still edible.

Wooden honey stick
Credit: Naffisa/ Shutterstock
Author Nicole Villeneuve
November 21, 2023

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Ancient Egyptian royals were often buried with objects they believed were needed for a harmonious transition to the afterlife. Items such as jewelry and games were common inclusions in their tombs, as were everyday staples such as clothing and food. And while we might expect any ancient food to decompose past the point of recognition, archaeologists have actually uncovered 3,000-year-old pots of honey that were, remarkably, intact — and still edible.

Honey’s extraordinary shelf life is the result of several factors. Its low water content and high sugar levels create an environment that’s inhospitable to bacterial growth, and it also contains trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which acts as a natural microbial inhibitor. While other foods with similar sugar makeup tend to spoil faster, honey has its sophisticated alchemists to thank for its resilience: Bees use their rapidly flapping wings to evaporate most of the honey’s water, and an enzyme in their stomachs contributes to honey’s unique antibacterial property. Egyptians were some of the earliest known organized beekeepers, and along with sending honey into the next life with the deceased, they also offered the sweet substance to their deities.

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The bear that inspired Winnie-the-Pooh preferred condensed milk.

Winnie-the-Pooh is often seen in books or cartoons with a paw in a jar of honey. But the real-life bear that Pooh was based on preferred a different sweet snack: condensed milk and, sometimes, corn syrup. The inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh children’s book was a Canadian black bear cub who was adopted by a soldier named Harry Colebourn during World War I. Colebourn named the bear after his hometown of Winnipeg — “Winnie” for short — and trained the bear with rewards of condensed milk and corn syrup. He eventually donated the bear to the London Zoo, where she became a popular attraction. Local author A.A. Milne’s son, Christopher Robin Milne, often visited the zoo and became smitten with Winnie, spending time with her and doling out one of her favorite snacks: condensed milk. 

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