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Mansa Musa is widely considered the richest person in history.

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
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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
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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.

Ireland had its own time zone for 36 years. 

Irish flag in Dublin
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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
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.

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

Eisenhower signs the Highway Act of 1954
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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
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
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.

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

Monopoly board game
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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.

Amelia Earhart had her own clothing line.

Amelia Earhart portrait
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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.

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