Showing posts with the label History

The Ill-fated Jeannette Expedition to The Arctic

Jan 13, 2024

In the mid-19th century, explorers and geographers were seized by an idea that was first floated in the 16th century by the English cartogra...

Pratt And Smith: The Last Men To Be Executed For Sodomy in England

Jan 8, 2024

On the morning of November 27, 1835, two men—James Pratt and John Smith—were publicly hanged in front of Newgate Prison in London. Just thre...

Paul-Félix Armand-Delille: Europe’s Rabbit Killer

Jan 3, 2024

In the 1950s, Australian sheep and cattle farmers decided to tackle the country’s rabbit problem by unleashing a biological weapon—the myxom...

Mobro 4000: The Infamous Garbage Barge

Dec 22, 2023

Americans generate an enormous amount of trash. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA, the average U.S. residen...

Bottle Kicking in Hallaton

Dec 18, 2023

In the village of Hallaton in Leicestershire, England, a unique tradition unfolds every Easter Monday. The residents of Hallaton and the nea...

Bloody Island: Missouri’s Infamous Dueling Ground

Dec 14, 2023

In the late 1790s, a large sandy island emerged in the middle of the Mississippi River, across from St. Louis, Missouri, as a result of the ...

Talking Gravestones of Amrum and Föhr

Dec 11, 2023

About 60 km north of Heligoland in the North Sea, off the western coast of Germany, lies the islands of Amrun and Föhr. Part of the North F...

Dejima: The Island That Was Once Japan’s Only Connection To The Outside World

Dec 7, 2023

For over two centuries, spanning from the 16th to the 19th centuries, Japan adopted a strict policy that prohibited foreigners, particularly...

The Mysterious Jerome of Sandy Cove

Nov 24, 2023

The story of a legless mystery man known as “Jerome” who turned up one day in 1863 in Sandy Cove is well-known in Nova Scotia. He was found ...

TÅ· Unnos: The One Night House

Nov 22, 2023

Near the village of Llanycefn, in Pembrokeshire, in south-west Wales, stands a small stone cottage. Legend has it that the cottage was built...