Mario Segale, Developer Who Inspired Nintendo to Name Super Mario

In China, Lotus shoes were used to bind women's feet to keep their feet small

The humble word “pen” carries a rich history rooted in ancient times, derived from the Latin word penna, meaning “feather.” Long before modern pens revolutionized writing, feather quills—especially from geese—were the essential tools of scribes, scholars, and artists. This article journeys through the origins of the pen, its evolution, and fascinating trivia about the timeless connection between feathers and writing.

David Vetter lived his whole 12 years in sterile “bubble”. He was “outside” for 20 second after being removed from his mother’s womb. He never touched any human.

On April fool's Day, 1976, the BBC convinced many listeners that a special alignment of the planets would temporarily decrease gravity on Earth. Phone lines were flooded with callers who claimed they felt the effects.

Roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin. In the 1880s, hosiery businessman LaMarcus Thompson didn’t like that Americans were going to places like saloons and brothels and created the first roller coaster on Coney Island to persuade them to go there instead.

A protestant man and a Catholic woman who weren't allowed from being buried together in a graveyard in 19th-century Holland turned their graves into a monument showing them holding hands across the wall separating them.

Identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons were born on 11 April 1963 at a military hospital in Aden, Yemen where their father worked as part of the Royal Air Force.

Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr was also a mathematician and the inventor of frequency hopping spread spectrum, a technology still used for bluetooth and wifi

Between 1950 and 1960, Las Vegas offered “Atomic Tourism” in which guests could watch atomic bombs being tested in the desert as a form of entertainment.

These are the mugshots of Will West and William West, and they are not related. They were both sent to Leavenworth Prison at the same time, in 1903, and after some confusion, the staff understood they had two different prisoners with the nearly same name, who looked exactly alike. They are part of the reason fingerprints are now used as identification.

During WW2, there was a special unit of men dubbed the ‘Ghost Army’. The unit was made of artists, creative and engineers and their job was to create deception about the enemy. From inflatable tanks to phony convoys to scripted conversations in bars intended to spread disinformation, they used all possible tricks to fool the enemy.

Australian blood donor James Harrison has been one of our most impressive and valued donors, having donated for 60 years. Know his story, how he was a pioneer of our Anti-D program, and why this matters.

The 18th century marked a turning point in the quest for women’s rights, as passionate voices challenged centuries of gender inequality and laid the groundwork for modern feminism. From pioneers like Mary Wollstonecraft to revolutionary declarations and early advocacy, this era sparked debates on education, political participation, and social justice that continue to resonate today. Journey through the origins of women’s rights movements and discover how their bold ideas shaped the fight for equality.

The Arabia was a steamboat that sank in the Missouri River in 1856. Over time, the river shifted 800 meters to the east, eventually turning the site of the sinking into a field. The steamboat remained under 45 feet of slit and topsoil until 1988, when it was excavated. The mud, as it turned out, was such a great preserver that most of the artifacts on board were found to be intact. They even found jars of preserved apples that were still edible!

In 1859, wealthy settler Thomas Austin released 13 wild rabbits on his Australian estate. By 1920, their population grew to 10 billion.

At the 1912 Olympics, a marathon runner quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 20.379 seconds.

1850 Dmitri Mendeleev walked almost a thousand miles to Moscow so he could apply for the University of Moscow. Although he was not accepted, he walked to St. Petersburg where he was accepted, And with that education, he developed the the periodic table of the elements

Marion Stokes, a Philadelphia woman began taping whatever was on television in 1979 and didn’t stop until her death in 2012. The 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes she made are the most complete collection preserving this era of TV. They are being digitized by the Internet Archive.

Poto and Cabengo, as the two girls called each other, communicated in their own language. The twins were ignored by their parents and secluded from the outside world because their father felt they were developmentally retarded, and their unique language evolved as a result of that neglect.

Over 1,800 years ago, long before modern technology, the ancient Chinese astronomer and inventor Zhang Heng created the world’s first seismograph in 132 AD. This ingenious bronze device could detect distant earthquakes by releasing small balls from dragons’ mouths into toads’ mouths—each indicating a different compass direction. Its historic detection of an earthquake 400 miles away astonished the imperial court and transformed the way societies understood and responded to seismic events.

Thomas Baker instructed his team to leave him with a pistol and eight bullets propped up against a tree after he was injured. Later, American troops discovered the now-deceased Baker in the same location, lying next to eight dead Japanese soldiers and carrying an empty pistol.

When Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs first opened in 1916, the owner hired people to dress as doctors and eat hot dogs outside his shop, to convince people his hot dogs were healthy.

In Cleveland, Ohio, United Way broke the world record by deflating nearly 1.5 million balloons as part of a publicity stunt to raise money. The balloon obstructed a US Coast Guard search for two boaters who were subsequently discovered to have drowned, blocked airport runways, and blocked land and waterways.

American environmental activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill lived in a 1500-year-old California Redwood tree for 738 days to prevent it from being cut down by the Pacific Lumber Company. The Simpson’s episode “Lisa the Tree Hugger” was inspired by Hill’s story.

In the bustling vaudeville scene of early 20th century New York, a mysterious performer known as "Sober Sue" captured public imagination not for jokes or songs, but for her unshakable stoicism—she never smiled or laughed. A local theater even offered a tempting reward of $1,000 to anyone who could make her laugh, drawing crowds and famous comedians eager to claim the prize. Despite countless hilarious attempts, Sue remained expressionless, a mystery that baffled performers and audiences until it was revealed that she suffered from facial paralysis, explaining her unchanging demeanor.