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A Roman emperor declared war on the sea.

  • Bust of Emperor Caligula
Bust of Emperor Caligula
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Author Michael Nordine

January 10, 2024

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To say that Caligula was not well liked in his time is putting it lightly, as the first historians who wrote of him are said to have been so biased against the eccentric Roman emperor that it’s difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Nevertheless, his erratic behavior is well documented, including the fact that he once declared war on the sea. He appears to have done so in order to declare a symbolic victory on the vast ocean. Roman historian Suetonius wrote of the incident in 40 CE, “And while no one could imagine what he intended to do, he suddenly commanded them to gather up seashells, and fill their helmets and the folds of their tunics with them, calling them ‘the spoils of the sea due to the Capitoline and the Palatine.’”

The seashells were then brought back to Rome, though historian David Woods has suggested that “seashells” is a mistranslation of the word “conchae,” which was also used to denote British ships captured in the English Channel. To celebrate his triumph, Caligula had a lighthouse built, gave his soldiers 100 denarii (Roman silver coins) each, and told them, “Go your ways and be merry; for now you are rich!” 

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A movie based on Caligula’s life was banned in several countries.

Any movie that properly conveyed the emperor’s life was bound to be controversial, but the filmmakers behind Caligula probably didn’t expect the level of pushback they received. Produced by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, who wanted to make the film as explicit as possible, Caligula was disavowed by screenwriter Gore Vidal and original director Tinto Brass due to extensive changes made during production. Guccione refused to submit the film to the MPAA, which he assumed would grant it an “X” rating, and instead gave it a “Mature Audiences” label. Among the countries that went even further by banning it outright for its graphic sexual content were Russia, Belarus, Canada, and Iceland, while England cut more than eight minutes before deeming it acceptable or even legal to screen. The countries that did allow it still didn’t like it — Caligula received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with Roger Ebert calling it “sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash” in his zero-star review. Contemporary appraisals have been kinder, especially with 2023’s release of the “Ultimate Cut,” which is 17 minutes longer than the theatrical version and intended to be closer to Vidal’s vision.

Oklahoma has a panhandle because of the Missouri Compromise.

  • Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850
Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850
Credit: IanDagnall Computing/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Bennett Kleinman

March 6, 2025

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The Oklahoma Panhandle is an unusual boundary that exists due to a law passed 87 years before Oklahoma even became a state: the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The law admitted Missouri to the union as a slave state and Maine as a free state to maintain the existing balance, and prohibited slavery above the 36 degrees 30 minutes north parallel in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase. The panhandle was formed after the Republic of Texas was admitted to the union in 1845 as a slave state south of this line, but with a little sliver of land jutting above the boundary. Rather than separate Texas into two portions, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, in which Texas ceded the land. The region became known as the Public Land Strip, or colloquially as “No Man’s Land.”

From 1850 to 1890, this narrow, rectangular tract of land, roughly 167 miles long and 35 miles wide, existed as a separate entity from any state or territorial government, making it an attractive destination for homesteaders and outlaws. The land was bordered by Texas to the south, the New Mexico Territory to the west, and unorganized territories to the north and east. The Organic Act of 1890 finally brought an end to this unusual situation, as the Public Land Strip was assigned to the new Oklahoma Territory. The panhandle remained a part of Oklahoma when it became the 46th U.S. state on November 16, 1907, giving the Sooner State its unique shape.

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The world’s first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City.

In 1930, there were an estimated 500,000 vehicles in Oklahoma, mainly throughout its namesake capital city. This created a lot of unwanted congestion, as people who worked downtown would occupy all available parking spaces for the entire day, forcing potential customers to park far away from the retail district. Though the city tried to solve this issue with parking enforcement, those efforts fell short, so in 1932, inventor, lawyer, and newspaper publisher Carl C. Magee was hired to come up with a solution. 

Magee conceived of a mechanical device that could not only track how long a car was parked, but also collect money for the right to park. It took three years to design and manufacture the newfangled machines, but 175 parking meters were finally installed around Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935, to test the concept. The “Park-O-Meters,” as they were known, were highly successful at both limiting congestion and generating revenue, inspiring other cities to follow suit.

Magic mushrooms have been used since prehistoric times.

  • Psilocybin mushroom
Psilocybin mushroom
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Author Anne T. Donahue

December 14, 2023

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Though research into the therapeutic effects of psilocybin is a relatively modern development, people have experimented with magic mushrooms (fungi with hallucinogenic effects) since the early days of human civilization. Following the discovery of a mural in northern Australia depicting mushroom-like figures and psychedelic drawings, archaeologists surmised that mushrooms likely played a social and cultural role in Sandawe and Bradshaw cultures as far back as 10,000 BCE. Similar mushroom-headed figures have also been found in prehistoric caves in North Africa and Spain.

While little is known about these early psychedelic dabblings, the Aztecs’ ritual use of magic mushrooms has been well documented. Known in that culture as “teonanacatl,” or “flesh of the gods,” the fungi were used in religious ceremonies to induce trances, produce visions, and communicate with gods. Magic mushrooms were later outlawed by 16th-century Spanish colonizers, who cited their use as barbaric and anti-Catholic. As a result, the Spanish destroyed all records and evidence of psilocybin (the hallucinogenic chemical found in psilocybe mushrooms), and drove the ritual use of mushrooms underground, where it stayed for centuries.

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Magic mushrooms were stigmatized because of the hippie movement.

If it weren’t for the 1960s “hippie” counterculture, the West’s relationship with magic mushrooms might be a lot less controversial today. In 1957, Swiss chemist Albert Hoffmann isolated psilocybin from the fungi and began to use the compound in medical trials — albeit briefly. The early research was promising, but the rampant use of psychedelics within the hippie movement led to federal backlash against the drug in the U.S., discouraging medical studies. Much of the decade’s social and political turbulence was attributed to psychedelic drug use, and this fueled the DEA’s push to ban the use of magic mushrooms and their hallucinogenic counterparts. As a result, psilocybin was outlawed under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and research didn’t pick back up until the turn of the 21st century. 

During WWII, the U.S. coded messages in the Navajo language.

  • Navajo code talkers
Navajo code talkers
Credit: Alpha Historica/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

December 14, 2023

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Diné bizaad is an Indigenous language primarily used by the Navajo, or Diné, people of the American Southwest. Not only is the language complex, but it’s traditionally passed down orally. During World War II, the United States military used this to its advantage by recruiting Navajo people fluent in both English and Diné bizaad, dubbed “code talkers,” to transmit secret messages among Allied forces.

The U.S. military wasn’t the first to use the tactic — members of Cherokee, Lakota, and other nations used their native tongues to evade German detection in World War I. The Marines, however, established the first formal training program for code talkers, and 29 Navajo completed the training in 1942. Recruits developed and memorized a two-part secret code inside a guarded room. The first part used 26 Diné bizaad words to stand in for letters of the English alphabet. The next part was more complex, and required making up hundreds of terms for English words that didn’t have a direct translation — for example, “iron fish” for “submarine,” and “humming bird” for “fighter plane.”

Even after recruiting more trainees into the program, the Marines struggled to find enough soldiers fluent in both languages to scale the program. But where code talkers were deployed, they passed along information with incredible security and accuracy. The Navajo Marines provided a valuable and often dangerous service to the U.S. military and its allies, but ironically, many had attended government or church-run boarding schools where they were punished for speaking languages other than English. After the war, the code talkers and their service went completely unacknowledged for decades. Their mission stayed classified until 1968, in case the military wanted to use the code again. In 2001, the original 29 code talkers were finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, and the rest were awarded the Congressional Silver Medal.

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Indigenous people had high enlistment rates during WWII.

In 1941, the year Pearl Harbor was bombed, the estimated Indigenous population of the United States was below 400,000, around 45,000 of whom saw active duty in World War II. Among them was Corporal Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian and one of the soldiers pictured in the famous flag-raising photo at Iwo Jima. While many Indigenous peoples were motivated to protect their ancestral lands, enlistment rates varied among different tribes. For instance, Hopi principles prohibit bearing arms, and Thomas Banyacya, a leader in the Hopi tribe, spent seven years in jail for refusing the draft. In 1953, he secured conscientious objector status for any Hopi who requested it.

The baby boom caused a nationwide diaper shortage.

  • Woman tying a baby’s diaper, 1955
Woman tying a baby's diaper, 1955
Harold M. Lambert/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Author Nicole Villeneuve

March 6, 2025

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Living in America during World War II often meant going without everyday necessities. At the end of the war, ration restrictions were lifted, but the U.S. still found itself in short supply of a crucial item: diapers. The country was in the nascent stages of a postwar baby boom, and as the young population surged with soldiers returning home and starting families, cloth diaper production remained in its wartime slowdown. 

Government agencies such as the War Production Board (WPB) denied the diaper shortage and said manufacturing was on pace to meet the demand. But textile insiders said otherwise, claiming that after the war, manufacturers had shifted looms away from diaper cloth to make more profitable cotton fabrics. The National Institute of Diaper Services blamed government officials who were not fathers and therefore didn’t understand infant needs, while retailers said shipments were not arriving quickly enough. On top of everything else, diaper prices were on the rise. Ultimately, frustrated parents and caregivers were left navigating the consequences.

The shortage wasn’t entirely unexpected. Diaper services — which, before the advent of disposables, collected soiled diapers and delivered fresh ones — were already under strain before the baby boom was in full swing. In 1943, wartime fuel rations made it difficult to run delivery trucks, and with many women working in war industries, fewer families had the time or resources to wash diapers at home. In June 1946, John K. Jones, president of the National Institute of Diaper Services, introduced a new folding technique in an attempt to help families cope with the ongoing shortage. Known today as the “kite fold,” it involved folding the corners of a diaper to create extra thickness in the center, making the diaper more absorbent and thus ideally able to last longer than a traditional triangle fold. The diaper shortage made headlines across the country for years, but by 1947, mention of it had tapered off.

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Sugar was the first and last food rationed in the U.S. during World War II.

After the U.S. entered World War II, many goods, including food, were rationed to ensure military troops and manufacturers had enough supplies, and to enforce fair distribution among civilians. Sugar was the first food placed under rationing, mainly because of supply shortages: Before the war, the U.S. imported most of its sugar from the Philippines, but that supply was cut off after Japan occupied the islands in 1941. At the same time, cargo ships that once transported sugar were, like many things at the time, prioritized for military use. 

Even after the war ended in 1945, low crop yields and the rebuilding of trade networks meant that sugar remained in short supply. The U.S. government continued rationing sugar for two years, finally lifting restrictions in 1947 — making sugar not only the first but also the last food to be restricted during World War II.

Historians recently discovered a hidden fragment of the Bible.

  • Stack of ancient books
Stack of ancient books
Volodymyr Zakharov/ iStock via Getty Images Plus
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

March 6, 2025

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As detailed in a 2023 research paper, an Austrian medievalist examining texts in the Vatican Library discovered an ancient fragment of the Book of Matthew, which had been hidden for around 1,500 years under two other layers of text. The biblical text is an interpretation of parts of Matthew 11 and 12 that had never been seen before. It’s from one of the earliest translations of the Bible, written in Old Syriac. The Old Syriac translation dates back to the third century CE — even before the New Testament canon was officially established — but was lost for centuries, and only four examples have been unearthed in modern times, including the 2023 discovery. 

Some of the earliest versions of the Gospels — the four canonical New Testament books that tell the story of Jesus Christ — originated in Syria, which was home to major early Christian hubs such as Damascus and Antioch; these early versions were written in or translated to Old Syriac. The text unearthed in 2023 dates back to the sixth century, so it’s possible it was in widespread use before its disappearance.

When the earliest forms of the Bible were taking shape in the first few centuries CE, scholars wrote on parchment made from animal skin. (Paper didn’t reach the Middle East until the eighth century CE.) Since it wasn’t easy to come by, pieces of parchment were often erased and used for other works. Today, historians can use ultraviolet photography to reexamine materials that have already been in academic or religious libraries for a long time and see what was originally written beneath. In the case of the 2023 discovery, it’s believed the parchment containing the Old Syriac Gospel was covered by a Greek translation of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers (a collection of stories about early Christian hermits in Egypt), which was covered again by a Georgian manuscript. 

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Archaeologists discovered a 4,250-year-old library in Syria.

More than 4,000 years ago, the city of Ebla in northwestern Syria was a major hub of manufacturing, education, and agriculture. In 1974, archaeologists were excavating the former site of its royal palace when they discovered 42 tablets filled with cuneiform script. The palace, including the wooden shelves where the tablets were stored, had burned down around 2250 BCE, but the fire baked and preserved the clay tablets. Archaeologists kept digging and eventually found more than 17,000 cuneiform tablets, containing everything from commercial ledgers to literary works.

The Civil War started and ended on the same person’s property.

  • Wilmer McLean’s house
Wilmer McLean's house
Credit: Alpha Stock/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Rachel Gresh

December 7, 2023

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The 1860s brought war to the doorsteps of many Americans, but none as literally as Wilmer McLean, who witnessed the beginning and end of the Civil War from his own home. McLean and his wife, Virginia Mason, moved to Manassas, Virginia, in 1853, shortly after their wedding. A few years later, the couple was surprised when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard commandeered their property to serve as his headquarters ahead of the first major land battle of the Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run (although several smaller skirmishes had been fought during the months prior). The home was so close to the action that a cannonball soared through the kitchen and landed in the fireplace. The battle ended on July 21, 1861, in a Confederate victory, and as the fighting continued, the McLeans decided to head south.

As fate would have it, by 1863, the McLeans were reestablished in a small village called Appomattox Court House in southern Virginia. On April 9, 1865, the couple received a knock on their door. It was Charles Marshall, the aide to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, asking for a secure meeting location for the general. McLean showed Marshall surrounding properties, but none was as suitable as his own home, which he eventually volunteered. Later that day, Lee arrived at the McLean house, followed by Union General Ulysses S. Grant. It was at this meeting in the parlor that Lee formally surrendered to Grant, signaling the end of the American Civil War.

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The “S” in Ulysses S. Grant’s name has no meaning.

Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, though as a child he often went by his middle name, Ulysses. In 1839, he applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the benefactor who oversaw the application, Ohio Congressman Thomas Hamer, mistakenly wrote “Ulysses S. Grant” on the document, apparently taking the initial from Grant’s mother’s maiden name, Simpson, though Simpson was never Grant’s middle name. In fact, the erroneous “S” in Grant’s name doesn’t stand for anything, and Hiram, his real first name, was completely dropped — yet the name stuck. Grant’s attempts to correct the error were curbed by delays and more paperwork, so he eventually accepted his new moniker. In an 1844 letter to his future wife, Julia Dent, Grant quipped, “Find some name beginning with ‘S’ for me.” 

Queen Elizabeth I’s teeth turned black from too much sugar.

  • Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I
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Author Darren Orf

December 13, 2023

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You may think you have a sweet tooth, but it likely doesn’t compare to the sugar craze that swept through the English upper crust in the 16th century. Due to colonial trade, sugar — a rare seasoning and preservative in the medieval period — flowed into Elizabethan England. Yet because of its high cost, the sucrose could only be purchased by the wealthy. The treat became the central ingredient of lavish banquets, and cookbooks of the well-to-do began to collect delectable dishes made with this new confection. However, sugar’s deleterious dental effects weren’t as well known at the time, and the most high-profile victim of this sweet ignorance was none other than Queen Elizabeth I herself.

It was no secret that the queen possessed a legendary sweet tooth; historians say she even used a sugar-based toothpaste to polish her teeth, which 10 out of 10 dentists don’t recommend. In 1599, a German traveler named Paul Hentzner described the 65-year-old queen and revealed what a lifelong sugar addiction can do: “Her Lips narrow and her Teeth black… a defect the English seem subject to, from their too great use of sugar.” Yet the queen’s black, rotting teeth didn’t detract from her appeal. Because only the rich could afford sugar (and the tooth decay it engendered), black teeth became seen as fashionable, and people would artificially blacken their teeth with soot to fit in, a fad that eventually faded after the reign of Elizabeth I.

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Queen Elizabeth I made red hair fashionable.

The Tudor dynasty, which ruled England from the coronation of Henry VII in 1485 until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, was known for its redheads. Henry VIII, the most infamous of the Tudor kings, was described as having golden-red hair, but it was his daughter Elizabeth who really made fiery manes fashionable. A natural redhead, Elizabeth chose to forgo the use of wigs (which were fashionable at the time) in favor of her own red locks, and even dyed her horses’ tails the same color. There are a few theories as to why her majesty chose this striking color, including that she wished to put questions about her legitimacy to rest by highlighting the hair color she shared with her father, the former king. Whatever the reason, the fashion trend stuck, and courtesans dyed their hair and beards to show their allegiance. The Elizabethan era was a golden age not just for England, but for redheads, too.

The U.S. used to have half-pennies.

  • Back of an 1826 U.S. half-cent
Back of an 1826 U.S. half-cent
Credit: Amber Howell/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Sarah Anne Lloyd

February 26, 2025

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Cash just isn’t what it used to be in America, and that especially goes for pennies, which are often more convenient to drop in a take-a-penny, leave-a-penny tray than your own pocket. Many countries have even ditched their 1-cent coins, including Canada, Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand, and the United States may be next.

For now, the penny survives as the smallest unit of U.S. currency — but that wasn’t always the case. When the U.S. Mint was established in 1792, it made 10 denominations of coins, and the smallest was the half-cent. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed the half-cent for two reasons: so America’s poorest residents could buy smaller quantities of items for less money, and so merchants could price their wares more competitively in smaller increments. Average wages in the 1790s were around $65 a year, so a half-penny made sense for purchasing everyday items.

Half-cent coins declined in popularity over the next few decades, and their production waned until they were discontinued in 1857. By that time, they were mostly used by the Post Office, which still made change in half-cent amounts. But not long after they were taken out of the mix, half-pennies generated new interest as collector’s items, and appeared in numismatic publications as early as 1869.

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The first 1-cent coins were bigger than modern quarters.

When Congress jettisoned the half-cent in 1857, it also downgraded the size of the 1-cent piece into something closer to the modern penny. One-cent coins minted before then, known by collectors as “large cents,” were 100% copper and around 1 1/16 inches in diameter. This made them quite heavy, at more than 13 grams. Modern quarters, by comparison, are just under an inch wide and weigh under 6 grams.

Nebraska’s abbreviation was changed from NB to NE in 1969.

  • Omaha, Nebraska Airmail Field
Omaha, Nebraska Airmail Field
Credit: Len Collection/ Alamy Stock Photo
Author Bennett Kleinman

December 7, 2023

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In October 1963, the United States Postal Service published an updated list of two-letter state abbreviations, 49 of which have stayed the same ever since. Nebraska is the sole exception, changing from NB to NE in 1969. State postal abbreviations originated in 1831, when there were 28 states and regions in the U.S. The initial abbreviations included “O.” for Ohio and “Mic. T.” for the Territory of Michigan, among others. As new states were admitted, the USPS updated the list in 1874, 1943, and finally 1963.

The 1963 list updated previous abbreviations that ranged from two to five letters long (including NEB for Nebraska), adopting universal two-letter abbreviations nationwide. However, six years later, the Canada Post unveiled an abbreviation list of its own, which shortened the province of New Brunswick to NB. The Canada Post asked the U.S. Postal Service to change Nebraska’s abbreviation in order to avoid any confusion when sending mail across North America. The request was met without resistance, and the abbreviation for Nebraska was changed from NB to NE in November 1969.

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Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska.

Kool-Aid was invented in 1927 by Edwin Perkins, a resident of Hastings, Nebraska. While working at his father’s general store, the young Perkins grew fascinated by the idea of inventing new products. He performed various experiments with foods such as Jell-O, and even patented a tobacco-based medicine known as Nix-O-Tine. After moving to Hastings in 1920, Perkins introduced locals to a sweet beverage he concocted called Fruit Smack. This soft drink concentrate was sold in six flavors and became extremely popular, though the fragile glass bottles caused shipping issues. Ever the chemist, Perkins figured out how to remove the liquid and sell the product as a mixable powder in bright paper envelopes, which he renamed “Kool-Ade.” By 1931, the product was such a hit that Perkins moved operations to Chicago, and in 1934, he again renamed the drink “Kool-Aid.” Perkins later sold Kool-Aid to General Foods — the manufacturer of Jell-O — in 1953.

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