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Ancient Romans used concrete more durable than modern concrete. 

  • Trajan’s Market in Rome
Trajan's Market in Rome
Credit: Adam Eastland Art + Architecture/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

August 6, 2025

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The ancient Romans are known for many innovations that were ahead of their time, including running water and a rotating dining room. But some of the civilization’s construction work seems ahead of even our time. Case in point: Concrete used in some ancient Roman construction is much stronger than most modern concrete, surviving for millennia and getting stronger, not weaker, over time. Roman concrete endures even in seismically active regions and without reinforcement. The secret ingredient? The sea.

According to a recipe by Roman engineer Marcus Vitruvius from 30 BCE, builders mixed this ancient mortar with a combination of volcanic ash, lime, and seawater, poured it into wooden molds, then soaked it in additional seawater. This created a strong concrete suitable for dramatic structural designs. The material essentially reinforced itself over time, especially in, but not limited to, marine environments. Some 2,000-year-old sea walls, such as those lining the Italian coast, are near-indestructible, and the basic method has also kept walls in the Trajan’s Market archaeological complex standing since the second century CE.

As the ancient concrete ages, moisture dissolves volcanic ash and triggers a chemical reaction that causes small crystals to form. These crystals resemble materials that engineers add to concrete to toughen it up today, but because they develop naturally after the structure is already in place, they’re able to further bind the concrete together, particularly in porous areas that are usually weak.

Roman concrete is also more environmentally friendly than most modern cement — the key active ingredient in today’s concrete — which requires extremely high temperatures to create. The volcanic ash and similar compounds, collectively called pozzolan, bake at much lower temperatures, and the resulting crystals don’t require heat to form.

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The first reinforced concrete bridge in the U.S. is still standing.

Not all modern cement structures are crumbling. The first reinforced concrete bridge in the U.S., despite opening in 1889 in seismically active San Francisco, is still standing strong. The 29-foot Alvord Lake Bridge in Golden Gate Park was built by engineer and architect Ernest L. Ransome with a system of reinforcing steel bars that Ransome himself invented. Just a decade later, the very same system was being used to build 100-foot bridges. The Alvord Lake Bridge survived the highly destructive 1906 San Francisco earthquake with no damage, and has continued to survive every earthquake since.

Ireland had its own time zone for 36 years. 

  • Irish flag in Dublin
Irish flag in Dublin
Credit: Niravr/ iStock
Author Rachel Gresh

March 20, 2024

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“Dublin Time” might sound like a metaphor for enjoying a pint of Guinness, but it was once an actual time zone observed throughout Ireland. Before clocks were standardized in Ireland and Great Britain in the late 19th century, local time was set by region, resulting in a whole lot of confusion. Almost every town kept their own time, determined by the location of the sun. To regulate the system, Ireland and the U.K. were given their own respective time zones under the Statutes (Definition of Time) Act of 1880 (even though Ireland was technically part of the U.K. at the time). For 36 years, Ireland’s time zone, known as Dublin Mean Time, was 25 minutes and 21 seconds behind England, which followed Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), based on the location of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. Dublin Mean Time was set according to the longitude of the Dunsink Observatory, an 18th-century astronomical observatory located just outside the capital. 

However, because the economies of Ireland and England have long been codependent, the time zone differences created issues in travel, communication, and business, especially as both regions continued to grow with the Industrial Revolution. To mitigate these issues, business lobbyists urged the British government to change Ireland’s time to be consistent with the rest of the U.K. The change went into effect with the Time (Ireland) Act on October 1, 1916 — just months after the Easter Rising in Dublin, part of the ongoing fight for Irish independence. The Emerald Isle made the switch to Greenwich Mean Time as daylight saving time came to an end that fall; the clocks in Ireland were set back 35 minutes instead of one full hour to accommodate the 25-minute difference and synchronize the two time zones.

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The United States began using time zones because of railroads.

Trying to catch a train in the mid-19th century was no easy feat: At the time, more than 144 local time zones were spread across North America. Before the invention of railway travel and train schedules, these slight time discrepancies weren’t a big deal, but by the end of the 19th century, they were causing logistical chaos. To solve the schedule issues, four standard time zones were established across the continental U.S.: Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time, and Pacific Time. The railway industry initiated the change, which was enacted on November 18, 1883. Due to the importance of the railroads, the federal government eventually followed suit. In 1918, the Standard Time Act made these time zones official, and also established daylight saving time. 

Mount Rushmore was supposed to include the bodies of the presidents.

  • Gutzon Borglum with Mount Rushmore model
Gutzon Borglum with Mount Rushmore model
Credit: George Rinhart/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images
Author Michael Nordine

August 5, 2025

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Like many artistic endeavors, Mount Rushmore went through several phases before its final concept was decided upon. Before it was a tribute to four U.S. presidents, the massive sculpture was intended as a tourist destination honoring icons of the American frontier; potential figures included Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Buffalo Bill, and Lakota leader Red Cloud. But Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor responsible for Mount Rushmore, had a different idea. He wanted his “Shrine of Democracy” to honor George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt; he also wanted the sculpture to include their full bodies, but funding ran out. When Borglum died in 1941, 14 years after the project officially began, South Dakota deemed the sculpture complete with just the busts of the presidents. 

Even in this limited form, it took more than 400 workers to finish the monument, none of whom perished during its construction (a rarity at the time). The four presidents were chosen to represent America’s birth (Washington), expansion (Jefferson), preservation (Lincoln), and development (Roosevelt). Jefferson oversaw the Louisiana Purchase, Lincoln prevented the country from splitting in two, and Roosevelt supported the construction of the Panama Canal. Known to the Lakota people as Tunkasila Sakpe Paha, meaning “Six Grandfathers Mountain,” the landmark was renamed for New York lawyer Charles E. Rushmore, who visited the site in 1885 and remarked that it needed a name.

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Susan B. Anthony was almost added to Mount Rushmore.

Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill, and Red Cloud weren’t the only people who almost made it onto Mount Rushmore. Susan B. Anthony, the activist who played a vital role in the women’s suffrage movement, was considered as well. This came at the behest of a woman named Rose Arnold Powell, who wrote letters to President Calvin Coolidge, Borglum, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to advance her cause. After Roosevelt wrote her own letter to Borglum, he politely declined because he felt the addition of a fifth face was contrary to his original artistic vision, but he clarified that “no man living has a greater respect or a greater admiration for, or places woman in a more lofty position in civilization than I do.” 

Borglum went on to write, “I have resented all my life any and all dependence or second place forced upon our mothers, our wives or our daughters, as has been the history of men’s civilization, but I feel in this proposal that it is a very definite intrusion that will injure the specific purpose of this memorial.” A bill was nevertheless introduced to Congress suggesting Anthony be included on Mount Rushmore, but it was unsuccessful. Her visage was later immortalized on a dollar coin produced by the U.S. Mint between 1979 and 1981.

“Teenagers” didn’t exist until the 20th century.

  • Teenage couple at soda counter, 1950s
Teenage couple at soda counter, 1950s
Credit: ClassicStock/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Michael Nordine

August 5, 2025

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For most of human history, you were either a child or an adult. The word “teenager” first entered the lexicon in 1913, appropriately enough, but it wasn’t until decades later that it took on its current significance. The ages spanning 13 to 19 are formative no matter what you call them, but three developments in the mid-20th century had a major influence on the creation of the modern teenager. 

The first was the move toward compulsory education, which got adolescents out of farms and factories and into high school, where they spent more time among their peers. The second was the economic boom that followed World War II, which created a new, highly sought-after demographic for companies and advertisers. And the third was the widespread adoption of cars among American families, which afforded 16-year-olds unprecedented independence.

Because one generation criticizing — and, to a certain extent, fearing — the next is a tale as old as time, not everyone was thrilled about this. In 1953, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI published a report warning that “the nation can expect an appalling increase in the number of crimes that will be committed by teenagers in the years ahead.” Two years later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower called on Congress to pass legislation that would “assist the states in dealing with this nationwide problem” during his State of the Union address. But as anyone who’s ever been told “OK, boomer,” knows, the generation gap has yet to be bridged more than half a century later.

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The New York Times once published a Teenage Bill of Rights.

As early as 1945, the issue of how to not only deal with but also understand teenagers was confounding parents. In response to this apparent crisis, the Jewish Board of Guardians met to plan a series of studies that resulted in a “Teen-Age Bill of Rights” that The New York Times saw fit to print. The 10 proposed rights were “the right to let childhood be forgotten,” “the right to a ‘say’ about his own life,” “the right to make mistakes, to find out for himself,” “the right to have rules explained, not imposed,” “the right to have fun and companions,” “the right to be at the romantic age,” “the right to a fair chance and opportunity,” “the right to question ideas,” “the right to struggle toward his own philosophy of life,” and “the right to professional help whenever necessary.” All in all, it seems a reasonable list that even the teens of today would likely welcome.

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s road trip inspired the interstate highway system.

  • Eisenhower signs the Highway Act of 1954
Eisenhower signs the Highway Act of 1954
Credit: Everett Collection Historical/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Timothy Ott

August 5, 2025

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In 1919, Dwight D. Eisenhower, then a lieutenant colonel in the Tank Corps, learned of the U.S. Army’s plan to test the capabilities of its transport vehicles by moving 80 military vehicles across the United States from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. A cross-country expedition of this scale had never been attempted, and as Eisenhower later explained in his memoir At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, he volunteered his services as an observer “partly for a lark and partly to learn.”

After missing the first leg of the trip to Frederick, Maryland, Eisenhower joined the expedition, known as the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy, for the remainder of its two-month, 3,000-mile journey along the Lincoln Highway to California. As per the requirements of his involvement, the young officer dutifully submitted a report that analyzed the performances of the various military vehicles, the discipline shown by participating soldiers, and the quality of the roads encountered along the way. He also offered suggestions on how to allocate resources toward improving highway conditions — demonstrating how the journey piqued his interest in a future United States linked by a system of well-maintained roads.

A quarter-century later, Eisenhower, as supreme commander of the Allied forces during World War II, observed how Germany’s modern highways enabled the speedy, efficient transport of materiel. His interest in an improved road network again ignited, Ike made the development of America’s highways a centerpiece of his domestic agenda upon being elected U.S. president in 1952. His vision became a reality with the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which established the Interstate Highway System, the vast network of roads that crisscross the country today.

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The First Transcontinental Motor Convoy was a hard and dangerous trip.

Eisenhower's memoir recounts the welcome reception the First Transcontinental Motor Convoy enjoyed in some towns and the practical jokes he and a buddy enjoyed at the expense of recruits, but overall, this trip was no joy ride. Along with weathering the regular mechanical malfunctions of its vehicles, the convoy's personnel endured numerous tense and even life-threatening situations, especially as they navigated the lesser-developed regions of the West. Once, a massive rainstorm turned the Nebraskan dirt road into a muddy, slippery mess that required 25 trucks to be pulled out of ditches. Another harrowing situation saw one of the vehicles lost for good when it tumbled over the side of a mountain. The War Department's official report noted the expedition's 230 motor-related accidents, as well as the difficulties endured by travelers due to insufficient sleep and shelter, fluctuating temperatures, and sand storms. Small wonder, then, that the convoy's members received medals upon reaching San Francisco, although there's little to commemorate this pioneering mission today besides the Zero Milestone marker of the journey's starting point on the Ellipse south of the White House.

$2 bills are older than the United States.

  • $2 bill
$2 bill
Credit: Alicia Razuri/ Unsplash
Author Rachel Gresh

March 20, 2024

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In the spring of 1775, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired, beginning the American colonies’ arduous journey to sever ties with the British monarchy. As the war pressed on, the colonies faced a pressing matter: They needed funds. The Second Continental Congress voted to issue bills of credit equal to 2 million Spanish milled dollars, and the first Continental Currency notes (referred to simply as “Continentals”) were born. These notes featured various denominations including the first standardized $2 bills, which were issued on May 10, 1775, more than one year before the U.S. officially declared independence on July 4, 1776. 

The Continental Currency notes not only funded the war, but also symbolized a new nation in defiance of England. Founding father Benjamin Franklin was an early printer of Continentals, which were developed and printed in Franklin’s native Philadelphia. He also suggested inspirational sayings for the notes, as seen in one famous $2 bill design from 1776, which includes the motto “Tribulatio Ditat,” or “Troubles make us stronger.” That particular bill design features an image of grain being separated from the chaff. Franklin also devised a way to fight counterfeit bills by producing notes with raised patterns cast from actual leaves from trees. 

The $2 bill looks very different today. The modern version was first printed in 1862 and featured a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who established the First Bank of the United States in 1791 and served as the first U.S. Treasury secretary. Since 1869, the $2 bill has featured a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president. On the reverse side is a print of John Trumbull’s painting “Declaration of Independence,” which depicts the Founding Fathers presenting a draft of the historic document to Congress.

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A small town printed wooden money during the Depression.

In December 1931, amid the Great Depression, the Citizens Bank of Tenino in Washington state ran out of money, and it was the only bank in town. This was a common occurrence throughout the country, and many towns and cities printed scrip notes or IOUs so that residents could purchase necessities. Local Tenino newspaper publisher Don Major suggested a new type of temporary scrip that residents could use to buy things in town until the economy recovered: wooden money. It was made from slices of spruce — an appropriate material for a Pacific Northwest logging town — that were only one-eightieth of an inch thick and laminated. The city council approved the plan, and the bills were printed in denominations of 25 cents, 50 cents, and $1. It turned out to be a successful publicity stunt. Over the next few years, $10,000 worth of wooden bills were sold, and apparently, only about $40 of that was ever redeemed (wealthy collectors bought most of them), leaving the town with a significant profit. The peculiar wooden currency is alive and well today; Tenino prints souvenir and commemorative wooden bills, and more than a dozen local businesses still accept the novelty bills as currency.

The ancient Greeks had waffle irons.

  • Waffle iron, circa 1947
Waffle iron, circa 1947
Credit: Chaloner Woods/ Valueline via Getty Images Plus
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

July 29, 2025

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It’s easy to assume waffles are a recent invention after cooking them (or having them cooked for you) on electric appliances your whole life. But waffle irons are far older than one might expect. All you need to make a waffle is metal, heat, and batter, and ancient Greeks had all three at their disposal. 

Ancient Greeks (and later, ancient Romans) used a pair of cooking irons (flat or patterned metal plates with long handles) over a fire to cook a batter of flour and either water or goat’s milk. The result was a wafer-like treat called panis obelius, named either for its suggested retail price (one obol coin) or because it was described as being roasted on a spit known as obeloi. 

These ancient waffles could have all kinds of add-ins, including olives, figs, cheese, herbs, or honey, and were eaten during festive rituals. The treat eventually evolved into the ancient Roman crustulum, a sweet, crisp, biscuit-like food made with honey, flour, lard, and a couple of hot irons. 

Europeans continued to evolve the waffle throughout the Middle Ages. In Italy, ferratelle biscuits, a popular homemade treat made with patterned irons, may have developed directly from ancient crustulum. The Catholic Church used similar iron plates, inscribed with religious designs, to make Communion wafers, and eventually street vendors started selling a leavened, secular version. The traditional “waffle” pattern emerged sometime in the 1200s, and such waffle irons even appeared in medieval and Renaissance art.

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An iconic Nike shoe was made with a waffle iron.

Bill Bowerman was obsessed with creating lighter, more efficient running shoes, first as an athletics coach at the University of Oregon, and then, in the 1960s, as the co-founder of Nike. He was having breakfast with his wife one morning in 1971 when he realized the pattern of the waffle iron would be ideal for a grippy sole for training shoes. He developed the perfect pattern by pouring rubber into multiple waffle irons until he got it right, and Nike still sells those “waffle shoes” today.

The practice of tipping dates back to the Middle Ages.

  • Engraving of servant at a meal
Engraving of servant at a meal
Credit: Classic Image/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Bess Lovejoy

July 30, 2025

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Though it’s often seen as a quintessentially American custom today, tipping has its roots in the feudal societies of medieval Europe. In the Middle Ages, wealthy landowners occasionally gave small sums of money to their servants or laborers for extra effort or good service. This paternalistic gesture later evolved into a more formal custom: By the Tudor era, guests at aristocratic households were expected to offer “vails” to the household staff at the end of their stay. These payments soon became obligatory — and widely resented by guests.

In the 19th century, wealthy Americans who traveled in Europe began to mimic the custom back home, bringing tipping to the U.S. just as an influx of poor European immigrants, familiar with the practice, were arriving. But many people viewed tipping as deeply un-American — a holdover from the rigid class systems of Europe. Critics called it servile, corrupting, and even a threat to democracy.

Tipping took hold in the U.S. after the Civil War, when newly freed Black Americans entered the workforce with limited options. Employers in restaurants and railroads hired them but refused to pay a living wage, requiring them to rely on tips instead. The Pullman Company, which operated luxury railcars, institutionalized the practice by hiring Black porters at meager wages, assuming passengers would make up the difference.

Though some states banned tipping in the early 20th century, the laws were eventually repealed. Then in 1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act established a federal minimum wage, restaurant workers were excluded — effectively enshrining tipping into law.

Ironically, while Americans today are among the world’s most generous tippers, many European countries have moved away from the practice entirely. In places such as France, service charges are included by law. Meanwhile, in the U.S., tipping remains both a standard in many establishments and a source of continued debate over fairness and labor rights.

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“Tip” is not an acronym.

Despite the popular belief that “tip” stands for “To Insure Promptness” (or “Performance” or “Prompt Service”), the word is not an acronym at all. Its roots lie not in the initials of a quaint coffeehouse sign, but in the slang of 18th-century criminals. Around the early 1700s, “to tip” was used by petty thieves and hustlers to mean “to give” or “to share,” and it slipped into mainstream English from there. The earliest known example of “tip” as a verb comes from the 1707 play The Beaux’ Stratagem, which includes the line, “Then I, Sir, tips me the Verger with half a Crown.” By 1755, the word “tip” was also recorded as a noun. The acronym theory — charming though it may be — is a classic case of folk etymology. Besides, tipping often happens after service, not before, making the idea of “insuring promptness” a nonstarter.  

Amelia Earhart had her own clothing line.

  • Amelia Earhart portrait
Amelia Earhart portrait
Credit: Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

March 13, 2024

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Amelia Earhart broke into an almost entirely male-dominated profession to become one of the most famous aviators of all time, but being one of a small handful of female pilots came with plenty of obstacles. One of the more annoying problems was a lack of flight apparel designed to fit women’s bodies. At the beginning of her career, Earhart was saddled with ill-fitting clothing designed for men, which only bolstered her lifelong interest in fashion. As a child, Earhart sewed clothing for herself and her dolls; later in life, she had a reputation for wearing practical clothing, much of which was custom-made.

In 1933, with a couple of transatlantic flights under her belt, Earhart released Amelia Fashions, a clothing line “for the woman who lives actively”; while some of the line was made for aviation, some of it was just stylish and comfortable. Earhart didn’t just lend her name to the label — she approved every step of the process and helped sew some of the garments, too. Many of the designs incorporated aviation materials, such as buttons and buckles made of ball bearings, oil cups, and bolts. Some shirts were made from parachute silk and included tails, which were mostly exclusive to menswear at the time. She also designed hats, which she used as prizes for flying contests with the Ninety-Nines, an all-woman aviation society she helped establish. What ultimately doomed the clothing line was that Earhart cared too much about it, and she found that working as a full-time designer took her focus away from flying and lecturing.

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Winston Churchill had several custom-made onesies.

In Britain during World War II, one never knew when they’d have to rush to an air raid shelter — including Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Wanting to make sure he could dress quickly in the event of an emergency, Churchill commissioned upscale shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser to make a series of one-piece suits that could be donned quickly — similar to work coveralls, but in a variety of fancy fabrics and patterns like pinstripes. The prime minister didn’t need an actual emergency to make use of his “siren suits” though, and he was known to wear them while carrying out official duties; he even owned a black velvet romper for formal dinners. One of the few surviving examples is sewn from green velvet and still has a cigar jammed in the breast pocket.

During WWII, the British used Monopoly games to help POWs escape.

  • Monopoly board game
Monopoly board game
Credit: James Boardman/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Bennett Kleinman

March 13, 2024

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Monopoly has been beloved for generations, but the history of the classic board game isn’t all fun and games. During World War II, specially manufactured Monopoly boards were used to help prisoners of war escape from captivity. In 1940, the British government struck a deal with Waddingtons, the company that manufactured London-themed editions of Monopoly, in which MI9, a secret department of the War Office, tasked Waddingtons with creating a version of Monopoly that contained various tools and information to aid POWs in their potential escape efforts.

The sneakily altered Monopoly boards were distributed to Nazi-run POW camps as part of larger aid packages. In addition to the standard thimble and dog game pieces, each board contained metal “playing pieces” that were actually escape tools, such as a file and magnetic compass. Each version also contained silk maps provided by the intelligence agency, which could be unfolded discreetly without drawing attention. What’s more, these special editions swapped out fake Monopoly money for real German, Italian, and French currency that could be used to bribe guards. The British government also contracted game company John Jaques & Son to create chess sets and versions of Snakes and Ladders that contained hidden compartments with escape tools.

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Standard Monopoly locations are based on Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Monopoly is based on an earlier board game called the Landlord’s Game, an anti-capitalist game created by a woman named Elizabeth Magie. It became so popular that people made homemade versions featuring locations in their own regions. One of these directly inspired the standard Monopoly board we know today, and can be traced back to a woman named Ruth Hoskins. In the 1920s, Hoskins moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and introduced the Landlord’s Game to her friends there. The group decided to create a new version featuring locations and prices that were directly tied to Atlantic City’s actual property values at the time. One of Hoskins’ friends — Charles Todd — later presented the Atlantic City-themed version to his own friend Charles Darrow, who sold the Monopoly concept to Parker Brothers in 1935. While designing the official board, Parker Brothers stuck with the Atlantic City-based locations, which became the standard.

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