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People hated shopping carts when they were invented in 1937.

  • Woman shopping in grocery store with cart
Woman shopping in grocery store with cart
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Author Nicole Villeneuve

August 22, 2025

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During the Great Depression in the 1930s, most Americans were just trying to get by, and few had the luxury of coming home from the grocery store with extra items. But that didn’t stop an Oklahoma grocer from coming up with the idea of a shopping cart, an invention that started out almost as disdained as it was practical.

The man behind the idea was Sylvan N. Goldman, owner of the Humpty Dumpty grocery chain. Interested in increasing his sales, he often paid close attention to how people shopped. One thing stood out: Customers would stop shopping once their handheld baskets got too heavy. Goldman started thinking: What if there were a way for shoppers to carry more with less effort? As an experiment, he took a folding chair, added wheels to the legs, and placed a basket on the seat. He then attached a platform between the chair’s supports to hold a second basket, creating a two-tiered cart that shoppers could push.

When he rolled out these new grocery carts in 1937, he expected a runaway hit, but the reaction wasn’t exactly enthusiastic. Women, already used to pushing strollers, weren’t eager to push another one at the store. Men, on the other hand, preferred not to push something stroller-like at all. To get people on board, Goldman got creative. He hired store greeters to hand shoppers a cart, and even paid actors to walk around shopping with them. Slowly, the idea caught on, and once it did, there was no going back.

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The first modern barcode scanned at a checkout was on a pack of Wrigley’s gum.

On June 26, 1974, the first UPC barcode — featuring the Universal Product Code used today — was scanned at a supermarket checkout. This took place at a grocery store in Troy, Ohio, and the item was a package of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum. Barcodes had been in development for decades by this point — early designs included a bullseye — and that first successful scan was a high-tech milestone. However, the barcode had much more analog roots: It was first conceived of in the late 1940s as a drawing in the sand at a Miami beach. Despite these humble origins, barcodes marked the beginning of a retail revolution, making checkouts faster, improving inventory tracking, and paving the way for the modern supply chain.

Ancient people slept on pillows made of stone.

  • Egyptian headrest
Egyptian headrest
Credit: Penta Springs Limited/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Kerry Hinton

March 26, 2024

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Choosing a pillow in the 21st century is no simple task. The options can seem overwhelming. Memory foam, down, feathers — the list goes on. There are even customized pillows that sell for around $5,000. But long before humans had their pick of soft, comfortable pillows, many ancient cultures developed early versions that barely resemble the cushy supports we use today. 

The earliest pillows can be traced to Mesopotamia — the region known as the “cradle of civilization,” centered in modern-day Iraq — around 7000 BCE. These curved stone bolsters served a practical purpose: keeping bugs and vermin out of the mouths, eyes, and noses of the wealthy. Ancient Egyptians improved on the formula some 5,000 years later with the elevated headrest. Made of wood or stone, the Egyptian headrest consisted of a base and stem attached to a cradle to raise the user’s head. Most Egyptian headrests consisted of a flat, rectangular base with a straight shaft and curved neckpiece, and the user’s head was meant to mimic the sun rising in the horizon. The Egyptians also added a spiritual element to pillow use, often placing them in the tombs of the deceased; Pharaoh Tutankhamun was laid to rest with no fewer than eight ancient pillows in his tomb. Ancient Egyptians believed that protecting the head was essential even in the afterlife. Headrests were also thought to dispel demons, and many were adorned with images of Egyptian gods such as Bes and Taweret, believed to banish evil from the dark night in both life and death. 

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The first Saturday in April is International Pillow Fight Day.

Although pillow fights have likely existed since the days of ancient Rome — the Romans were among the first cultures to use soft pillows, stuffed with reeds and straw, or feathers for wealthier citizens — they didn't become globally organized until the 21st century. Combining this ancient pastime with the modern-day flash mob, International Pillow Fight Day is organized by the Urban Playground Movement, whose internet-promoted activities have included massive pie fights, dance parties, and zombie marches. The first International Pillow Fight Day was held in 2008, across 25 cities around the world, reaching approximately 5,000 participants in New York City alone. It is now held each year on the first Saturday in April.

In 1788, Austria accidentally fought itself in war.

  • Battle during the Austro-Turkish War
Battle during the Austro-Turkish War
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Author Michael Nordine

August 13, 2025

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As you might imagine, the Austro-Turkish Wars took place between what are now Austria and Turkey. This being between the 16th and 18th centuries, however, the official belligerents were the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. Perhaps the most (in)famous skirmish of that conflict didn’t involve both sides, though. What’s been called “history’s worst friendly fire incident” was officially known as the Battle of Karánsebes and took place in present-day Romania on the night of September 21, 1788. As the Austrian army consisted not only of Austrians but also of soldiers from modern-day Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, and Croatia, communication wasn’t always smooth — especially when alcohol was involved.

Such was the case on this fateful night, during which different groups of Austrian soldiers were on opposite sides of the Timiş River. When fistfights and eventually gunfire broke out on one side of the river over a drunken dispute, troops in Karánsebes proper believed their foes had arrived and began shouting, “Turks! Turks!” The inebriated soldiers then ran toward their comrades to assist them but were mistaken for Turks, leading to further miscommunication and friendly fire. When the Turks did arrive two days later, they took Karánsebes with little resistance.

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One of the Habsburgs became emperor of Mexico.

Over the course of more than 600 years, the House of Habsburg reigned over not just Austria but also the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Hungary, and Bohemia, among other European territories. Their royal dominion wasn’t confined to the European continent, however, as one member of the family even became emperor of Mexico. Maximilian was the younger brother of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, and a bit of younger sibling jealousy may have played into him naively believing that Mexico had voted for him to become their ruler in 1863. His installation on the throne was actually the result of a backhanded deal between Napoleon III, who was hoping to further France’s ambitions in the country via a weak leader, and conservative Mexicans plotting to overthrow their liberal government led by President Benito Juárez.

Charles Dickens was in a paranormal investigation society called the “Ghost Club.”

  • Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
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Author Nicole Villeneuve

March 20, 2024

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Charles Dickens is known for a good ghost story. Some of his most famous works, including the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, revolve almost entirely around the supernatural. The English author’s interest in spirits even extended beyond the written word: He was an original member of the Ghost Club in London, an exclusive group interested in dissecting all things otherworldly. 

The Ghost Club claims to be the oldest society of its kind. It was formally founded in 1862, although its history dates back to informal gatherings of Cambridge University academics in the mid-1850s. Along with Dickens, the group has counted such literary luminaries as W.B. Yeats, Siegfried Sassoon, and Arthur Conan Doyle among its members. Spiritualism was a hot topic in Victorian-era England, and the curiosity and discussion around it was widespread: Physicists, philosophers, biologists, and more were found among the early Ghost Club members. The club kept minimal records, and little is known about specific investigations at the time of Dickens’ membership, but research suggests that ghostly encounters, clairvoyance, and exposing frauds working as mediums were all on the table.

Dickens, for all his obvious spiritual inclinations — including dabbling in hypnosis — was also healthily skeptical. “All such narratives must be received with the greatest circumspection, and sifted with the utmost care,” he wrote in an 1853 article about haunted houses. “Nothing in them must be taken for granted, and every detail proved by direct and clear evidence, before it can be received.” Dickens died in 1870 and the Ghost Club later disbanded, although not for long. It was revived in 1882, and despite fluctuations in activity, the club endured, and remains an active organization today. 

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Mary Todd Lincoln held seances in the White House.

On February 20, 1862, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln died in the White House after battling typhoid fever. The death of young Willie Lincoln devastated the family, and Mary Todd sought solace by communicating with the spirit world. She brought mediums into the White House and, eventually, started holding her own seances, some of which were even attended by the president. The practice brought the grieving mother some relief. “Willie lives,” she once told her half-sister. “He comes to me every night and stands at the foot of the bed with the same sweet adorable smile he always has had.” Visiting with Willie, Mary Todd said, was her younger son Eddie, who had died just before his 4th birthday. The Lincoln children were not the last of the family to appear as apparitions on the premises: Years later, several people, including Winston Churchill, claimed to see the ghost of Abraham Lincoln throughout the White House.

Edinburgh Castle is built on an extinct volcano.

  • Edinburgh Castle in Scotland
Edinburgh Castle in Scotland
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Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

August 13, 2025

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Edinburgh Castle, where Scottish monarchs lived for hundreds of years, sits atop an imposing rock outcropping called Castle Rock. Along with the Royal Mile, a hilly thoroughfare gently sloping down one side of the castle, it’s one of Scotland’s biggest tourist attractions. But for a long time, it was just an incredibly convenient rock, from a defensive standpoint, with sheer cliffs along three sides. Ancient people started using it in the Bronze Age, and flattened its top around 900 BCE. 

What those ancient people didn’t know is that hundreds of millions of years prior, that rock was the inside of a volcano. During the Carboniferous Period, roughly 340 million years ago, the volcano went dormant (and eventually extinct) and the magma inside solidified. That left what geologists call a volcanic plug, a rock formation that’s exceptionally sturdy and erosion-resistant — the perfect eventual location for a stronghold. As glaciers shaped the Scottish landscape, the sturdy dolomite plug stood steady as most of the sedimentary rock around it eroded away. Some of the sedimentary rock on the eastern side, now the Royal Mile, was protected by the plug.

Scottish tribes built a massive fortress atop Castle Rock in the late Roman era, which traded hands among the tribes a few times and eventually expanded into a more traditional castle in the Middle Ages. Today, the earliest building still standing dates to the 12th century. 

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The Scottish Crown Jewels were forgotten in Edinburgh Castle for a century.

After Scotland and England united in 1707, the Honours of Scotland, commonly known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, were put away in a pretty logical place — locked in a chest in the Edinburgh Castle crown room — and then forgotten. Over the following century, the Honours became the stuff of legend, and one historian even wrote that “no mortal has been known to have seen them.” Finally, in 1817, King George IV gave the famed writer Sir Walter Scott and a small team permission to search the castle for the jewels. The team had to smash a few padlocks to get into the room and open the chest, but they eventually found the relics wrapped in linen, just as they’d been left.

There’s a 2,400-year-old ship at the bottom of the sea, and it’s virtually intact.

  • 3D shipwreck model
3D shipwreck model
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Author Nicole Villeneuve

March 20, 2024

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Ancient Greek shipwrecks have proved to be unparalleled sources of historical insight. The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known analog computer, for instance, was discovered in a wreck found in the Mediterranean in 1901. And in 2018, a primitive Greek trading vessel was discovered in the Black Sea that provided previously unknown information to historians — because despite its age, the 2,400-year-old ship was almost entirely intact.

The 75-foot vessel dates back to about 400 BCE and was found lying on its side roughly a mile below the water’s surface. Its mast, rudders, and rowing benches were all in place and in excellent condition. The unique preservation is thanks to the Black Sea’s deep waters being anoxic, meaning they don’t contain oxygen. Beyond a distance of about 500 feet near the shore, the oxygen levels drop to zero — a crucial component in the preservation of organic materials such as wood. More than 60 other shipwrecks have also been discovered in the fruitful area.

Before the ship was found, researchers had only seen its kind in ancient Greek artworks such as the Siren Vase, a piece of pottery depicting the ship of the mythical hero Odysseus. The discovery, according to the archaeology team that found the ship, serves as an important piece of a historical puzzle, providing a real-life look at previously theoretical shipbuilding and maritime practices.

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The Titanic might be completely gone from the ocean floor by 2050.

It was once considered a mighty engineering marvel, but the Titanic is fading away — and the remains may be completely gone in the not-too-distant future. Resting on the ocean floor since it tragically sunk in 1912, the iconic ship has been subject to a harsh marine environment, including not only the strong North Atlantic Current, but also microorganisms that feed on the iron in the ship. Research and tourism expeditions have contributed to the ship’s decline, too, as submersibles sometimes land on or bump into the wreckage. Deterioration has been observed since the site of the famous shipwreck was found in 1985, and researchers from Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University as well as UNESCO suggest it might only take a few more decades for it to entirely disappear. The U.S. company that owns the salvage rights to the site is planning another expedition to recover historic artifacts, but the government maintains that it should remain undisturbed and respected as the gravesite that it is.

Victorian doctors prescribed beards for healthy throats. 

  • Bearded man, late 19th century
Bearded man, late 19th century
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Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

August 14, 2025

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The well-coiffed men of the Victorian era wore finely tailored suits, trim waistcoats, and fancy statement hats. These men also, in contrast to their generally prim and proper aesthetic, sometimes had truly impressive beards. The Victorian “beard movement,” which started around 1850, was partially about looking manly and rugged — especially after British soldiers came back from the Crimean War unshaven in 1856. But beards were also, according to some medical professionals at the time, a way to ward off disease.

At the time, many doctors endorsed the miasma theory of disease, which (incorrectly) held that illnesses such as Britain’s common cholera outbreaks were caused by bad air. (To be fair, rampant air pollution was making people sick, just not in ways that scientists understood at the time.) Facial hair, some reasoned, could provide a natural filter against breathing in so-called “miasms.”

“[T]he moustache is emphatically nature’s simple respirator, while the hair covering the jaws and throat is intended to afford warmth and protection,” one doctor wrote in the Edinburgh Medical Journal in 1861. Clergymen and other public speakers were particularly encouraged to have beards to protect their voices.

Beards started losing popularity by the 1880s. Changing standards of masculinity played a role, but the medical justification was also weakening as microbial biology and germ theory took hold. Beards, it turns out, can hold a lot of microbes.

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Mustaches used to be mandatory in the British army.

Most U.S. soldiers have to be clean-shaven while on duty. But for decades in Great Britain, soldiers were forbidden from shaving their upper lips. In the first half of the 19th century, facial hair was increasingly popular for several reasons, including its supposed medical benefits. And in the 1860s, mustaches went from popular to mandatory in the British army. Regulations stated that “moustaches are to be worn, and the chin is to be shaved (except by pioneers, who will wear beards also). Whiskers, when worn, are to be of moderate length.” The regulation fell apart during World War I for a few logistical reasons, including difficulty putting on a gas mask over a mustache.

Mansa Musa is widely considered the richest person in history.

  • Emperor of Mali Empire
Emperor of Mali Empire
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Author Rachel Gresh

March 20, 2024

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Move over, modern-day billionaires — the wealthiest person of all time lived seven centuries ago. Musa I of Mali was a 14th-century king (called a “mansa”) who came into power in 1312 CE. He greatly expanded the Mali Empire, culminating in a large swath of West Africa, from the Atlantic Ocean to Timbuktu and beyond. The empire had significant reserves of salt and gold (nearly half of the world’s supply of gold at the time), and it became incredibly wealthy. Mansa Musa also controlled some of the biggest trade centers in Africa, establishing Timbuktu as a major hub. Some sources speculate that his wealth was equivalent to roughly $400 billion today — though an exact figure is impossible to calculate, many historians believe he is the wealthiest person in history. By comparison, most modern billionaires have net worths of around $200 billion, though sources put Elon Musk’s wealth between $300 billion and $400 billion as of 2025, so it’s possible Mansa Musa won’t hold his title for much longer.

In 1324, the Muslim ruler decided to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. He traversed the Sahara Desert with tens of thousands of followers dressed in Persian silk (including soldiers, enslaved people, merchants, and the entire royal court). Adding to the spectacle, 100 camels carrying hundreds of pounds of gold were also in tow. The caravan reportedly spent three months in Cairo, Egypt, where Musa handed out gold as if it were candy. In fact, Musa’s trek through the Middle East caused the price of gold to plummet in Egypt due to the sheer amount of treasure he brought into the region. Although Musa died sometime in the 1330s, his legacy continued. He made Mali a well-known empire, and it was added to the Catalan Atlas (one of the most popular medieval maps) for the first time in 1375. On the map, a golden-crowned Musa is depicted holding a scepter and a gold nugget.

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Pineapples were once so expensive, they were rented as a status symbol.

Imagine walking the streets of Georgian-era London and seeing an aristocrat on a stroll with a pineapple tucked under their arm, proudly showing off the golden fruit. Pineapples, sometimes known as “king’s fruit,” were one of British society’s most sought-after status symbols for 250 years. They were often displayed at dinner parties on special plates but typically weren’t eaten. Hosts saved thousands of dollars by renting pineapples instead of buying them — one pineapple cost a whopping £60 (around $17,000 today) in the mid-17th century. The fruit earned its luxurious reputation during the 16th century, when it was first imported from the Caribbean, and by the 18th century, growing pineapples became a pastime of the upper class. The end of the fruit’s reign was marked by the emergence of steamships in the late 18th century, which transported pineapples from the American colonies. Soon, the tropical fruit was so readily available that the working class could afford it, and the wealthy moved on to newer, less spiky status symbols.

Only four sitting vice presidents have been elected U.S. president.

  • John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H.W. Bush
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, and George H.W. Bush
Credit: (from left): wynnter/ E+ via Getty Images; GeorgiosArt/ iStock via Getty Images Plus; Historical/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images; Bettmann via Getty Images
Author Michael Nordine

August 14, 2025

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America has had 50 vice presidents, 15 of whom went on to become president. Only four of them were elected president while still serving as veep, however: John Adams (1796), Thomas Jefferson (1800), Martin Van Buren (1836), and George H.W. Bush (1988). Several other sitting vice presidents have run for the highest office in the land but were unsuccessful, including Richard Nixon in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968, and Al Gore in 2000. So while the vice presidency stands as perhaps the single best springboard for the Oval Office, it’s far from a sure thing.

Elsewhere in government, 19 House of Representatives members, 17 senators, 17 governors, and 12 military generals have gone on to become president of the United States. In other anomalies, Woodrow Wilson is the only commander in chief to have obtained a Ph.D., Andrew Johnson is the sole president to later be elected to the Senate, and William Howard Taft is the only one to also serve as chief justice (which was his real ambition all along). Only two vice presidents have resigned: John C. Calhoun, who found serving under Andrew Jackson frustrating and moved to the Senate in 1832, and Spiro Agnew, who left office in 1973 after pleading no contest to a felony charge of tax evasion. Nixon replaced Agnew with Gerald Ford, who became president when Nixon himself resigned less than a year later.

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The presidential line of succession wasn’t made official until 1967.

Nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency due to their predecessor either dying in office or resigning. Until the 25th Amendment was passed in 1967, however, this was done as a matter of course rather than being official policy. The language of the amendment is unequivocal, with Section 1 reading simply, “In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.”

The U.S. government had a “president” before George Washington.

  • Portrait of John Hanson
Portrait of John Hanson
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Author Darren Orf

March 20, 2024

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Though George Washington is indisputably the first president of the United States, he technically wasn’t the first person in the federal government with the title of “president.” Washington was elected under the government formed by the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788 — he even won the vote unanimously — but the Constitution wasn’t the only government-forming document in the nation’s history. Ratified in 1781, the Articles of Confederation — the United States’ first constitution — formed what’s known as the Confederation Congress, and this governing body was led by a president who held a one-year term. 

The Confederation Congress was an extension of the Continental Congress that had existed in different forms since 1774, and was renamed after the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781. Samuel Huntington of Connecticut was serving as the president of the Continental Congress at the time, and became the first president of the new government. He resigned that July, however, and was succeeded by Thomas McKean of Delaware; McKean himself was replaced when the first new delegates to Congress were chosen on November 5, 1781. They elected John Hanson, the delegate from Maryland, as the new leader, and he was the first to serve the full year-long term in the role. Each of these men held the title of “president,” but they didn’t possess the powers of the position that would eventually be enumerated under the U.S. Constitution. And though they presided over some of the most consequential years in the nation’s history, their contributions were soon eclipsed by Washington’s inauguration in 1789. 

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General Washington lost more military battles than he won.

Many Americans see George Washington as an almost mythical figure — a military genius who led a ragtag army against the world’s most powerful military and won. But the famed general actually lost more battles than he won: Of the 17 battles that Washington fought during the Revolutionary War, the Americans won six, the British won seven, and four were considered a draw. Still, the general’s long-term vision eventually proved the famous wartime truism of “losing the battle, but winning the war.” His true talent was his ability to accurately survey a battlefield, pressing every advantage while also knowing when to retreat to fight another day. This strategy didn’t make him popular — a cabal even tried to remove him from the top spot — but it did prove to be effective, leading the Continental Army to victory over Great Britain.

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