May 31, 1889

This Dam Break Was One of the Worst Man Made Disasters in American History. It Could Have Been Prevented. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a42384940/johnstown-flood/

January 1973

Ghosts on the Glacier https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/09/world/americas/aconcagua-mountain-expedition-photos.html

September 19, 1976

1976 Tehran UFO incident http://www.iiaf.net/tehran-dogfight-incident/

How the Italian Mob Changed Pizza Forever https://thedigestonline.com/dining/how-the-italian-mob-changed-pizza-forever/

All about Phossy Jaw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phossy_jaw

April 3, 1817

Princess Caraboo arrives on scene

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Caraboo

The Little-Known Legend of Jesus in Japan https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-little-known-legend-of-jesus-in-japan-165354242/

December 7-13, 1941

An insane adventure that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor

April 20, 1972

A Chinese cigarette tin launched D.C.’s 50-year love affair with pandas https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/03/16/pandas-china-nixon-dc/

Confessions of a Werewolf: The Trial of Peter Stump https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/a-german-werewolfs-confessions-horrified-1500s-europe

How Nikola Jokić Became The World’s Best Basketball Player https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/how-nikola-jokic-became-the-worlds-best-basketball-player

Six bull sharks inadvertently made their home on an Australian golf course. Then they vanished https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/18/sport/carbrook-bull-sharks-australia-golf-course-spt-spc-intl/index.html

“The Rus” (An Arab among the Vikings) https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/12938.ch01.pdf

June 6, 1944

Allied Forces on D-Day Used a Popular Tourist Guide to Help Liberate France

https://www.military.com/history/allied-forces-d-day-used-popular-tourist-guide-help-liberate-france.html

Hollywood's real Tiger King: Insane big cat movie Roar getting VOD rerelease https://ew.com/movies/roar-movie-vod/

Inside The Nintendo Power Hotline https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/02/22/inside-the-nintendo-power-hotline

Who Killed Louis Le Prince? On the forgotten father of film https://harpers.org/archive/2022/04/who-killed-louis-le-prince-on-the-forgotten-father-of-film/

Thomas Edison: The Unintentional Founder of Hollywood https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2021/03/thomas-edison-the-unintentional-founder-of-hollywood

May 25, 1940

The Crypt of Civilization https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/crypt-of-civilization/

A 45 foot long, 8 ton sperm whale washed ashore at a Florence, Oregon Beach and was blown up with dynamite by the Highway Division

How do you get rid of a beached whale before it explodes? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/17/how-do-you-get-rid-of-a-beached-whale-before-it-explodes

Jonathan the Tortoise https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-oldest-living-land-animal-a-tortoise-named-jonathan-turns-191-180983392/

February 13, 1997

Lego Lost at Sea https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/whimsical-legos-are-still-washing-ashore-decades-after-they-were-lost-at-sea-180979580/

November 7, 1637

The Trial of Anne Hutchinson https://www.famous-trials.com/hutchinson/2395-hutchinson-1637-account

April 29, 2007

Rebuilding The Maze https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a60433142/macarthur-maze-reconstruction-cc-myers/

June 25, 1874

Rose O’Neill : Artist and Suffragist https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/rose-oneill

May 24, 2007

C.C. Myers delivers early and builds the maze in record time.

Rebuilding The Maze p2 https://youtu.be/-TKjwblp1XI?si=pcAFthBY_vVzV0ss

April 6, 1956

Frank Dux https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Dux

McGruff The Crime Dog Has Been In Prison For A Decade https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/cltr/mcgruff-the-crime-dog-prison.html https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2015746/m1/

August 30, 1904

The 1904 Olympic Marathon May Have Been the Strangest Ever https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-1904-olympic-marathon-may-have-been-the-strangest-ever-14910747/

August 25, 1835

Belief, Legend, and the Great Moon Hoax https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/08/the-great-moon-hoax/

May 9, 1671

The Irish Man Who Stole the Crown Jewels https://britishheritage.com/history/man-steals-crown-jewels

One of the most unusual heists in America seems to be unfolding at Taco Bell https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/taco-bell-ebay-mark-smith-paintings-19464177.php

August 1302

The One Where England’s Treasury War Robbed https://medium.com/@madmedic11671/the-one-where-englands-treasury-war-robbed-9727181fc8b

Testicular Tanuki Tales: Japanese Folk Humor for Children with a Ribald Satirical Twist https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/2017/09/tanuki/

Early 1980's

Keeping Up with the Khordadian https://www.bidoun.org/articles/keeping-up-with-the-khordadian

June 20, 1904

Myrtle R Douglas: Mother of Convention Costuming https://youtu.be/DasGQQkj-xY?si=VfZUtkyjqRuSZL23

The Man Who Walked Around the World, Collecting the Autographs of the Rich & Famous https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-man-who-walked-around-the-world-collecting-the-autographs-of-the-rich-and-famous-180979841/

Why 76 Beavers Were Forced to Skydive into the Idaho Wilderness in 1948 https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/running-ponies/why-76-beavers-were-forced-to-skydive-into-the-idaho-wilderness-in-1948/

Cynthia the Mannequin: A Curious Star Is Born https://time.com/3877720/life-with-cynthia-the-world-famous-mannequin/

October 2020

The 'Target Husk' in Hollywood Opens at Last, 12 Years After Work Began https://lamag.com/featured/hollywood-target-opens

~70 BC - 79 AD

What the Graffiti of Ancient Pompeii Teach Us About Our Modern Selves https://blog.degruyter.com/graffiti-ancient-pompeii-teach-us-modern-selves/

When Kids Played With Alligators in Los Angeles https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/alligator-farm-los-angeles-180957172/

August 6, 2005

How to Raise a 165-Year-Old Cat https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-to-raise-a-165-year-old-cat

Year of the Five Emperors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_the_Five_Emperors

January 6, 2023

Is This the First Recorded Footage of a Colossal Squid Living Freely? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/is-this-the-first-recorded-footage-of-a-colossal-squid-living-freely-180984482/

The Underground Catacombs of L.A.'s Lizard People https://lamag.com/news/citydig-the-underground-catacombs-of-las-lizard-people

November 30, 1954

For the Only Person Ever Hit by a Meteorite, the Real Trouble Began Later https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/only-person-ever-hit-meteorite-real-trouble-began-later-180961238/

The Literary Mystery of the Icelandic Dracula by Valur Grettison https://grapevine.is/mag/2022/05/09/the-literary-mystery-of-the-icelandic-dracula/

How Fertilizer Madness Sparked a Turd War and Turned Guano Into Gold https://www.thedailyscoop.com/news/retail-business/how-fertilizer-madness-sparked-turd-war-and-turned-guano-gold

1992-1995

The Real Transporter – Helge Meyer And His Ghost Camaro https://www.motorpunk.co.uk/carclub-18-30/the-cars/real-transporter-helge-meyer-ghost-camaro/

Throngs of Himself https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2018/fall/cordwainer-smith-paul-linebarger/

The Sci-Fi Writer who Invented Conspiracy Theory https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/science-fiction-conspiracy-theory-psyops/678195/

Stuart Little leads art historian to long-lost Hungarian masterpiece https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/27/stuart-little-art-historian-long-lost-hungarian-masterpiece

Penny Arcades Would Be Nothing Without the Pioneering Dennison Sisters https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/penny-arcade-dennison-sisters

Inside Quebec’s Great, Multi-Million-Dollar Maple-Syrup Heist https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/maple-syrup-heist

The 1920s Lie Detector That Forced Suspected Criminals to Confess to a Skeleton https://www.openculture.com/2023/05/the-1920s-lie-detector-that-forced-suspected-criminals-to-confess-to-a-skeleton.html

New York monument honors victims of giant octopus attack that never occurred https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/01/new-york-staten-island-ferry-octopus-attack-fake-monument

The fastest knife in the West End’: The history of one of London’s most famous surgeons Robert Liston https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7326303/The-history-one-Londons-famous-surgeons-amputate-leg-30-seconds.html

August 1, 1939

California's coastline used to be covered with 'sin ships' https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/los-angeles-gambling-ships-history-mob-prohibition-19612830.php

October 27, 1966

We Need a Blockbuster, Charlie Brown! The Making of The Great Pumpkin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qu8_pwQKHE

Notorious Victoria: The First Woman to Run for President https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/20/notorious-victoria-first-woman-run-for-us-president

The Great Marketing Deregulation https://bettermarketing.pub/the-great-marketing-deregulation-2125a0efe094

Milicent Patrick & Her Enduring Design of the Creature from the Black Lagoon https://www.jahernandez.com/posts/milicent-patrick-her-enduring-design-of-the-creature-from-the-black-lagoon

In 1998, These SF Men Got a Tattoo to Snag Free Tacos for Life. https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/casa-sanchez-tattoos-free-meal-promo-san-francisco-16465800.php

June 4, 1974

Remembering 10-Cent Beer Night, one of baseball’s most infamous fiascos https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/04/10-cent-beer-night-1974-cleveland-indians-texas-rangers/

The Tragedy of the World’s First Seed Bank https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-tragedy-of-the-worlds-first-seed-bank/

The Heroic Story of Nikolai Vavilov and The Saviors of the Seeds https://campfirestoriespodcast.medium.com/the-heroic-story-of-nikolai-vavilov-and-the-saviors-of-the-seeds-c46e9efb076a

The Zeno Voyage https://archive.org/details/voyagesofvenetia00zenorich/page/n33/mode/2up?view=theater

February 18, 1928

The strange tale of Old Rip, the horned toad on display in a Texas courthouse https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texana/2018/10/05/the-strange-tale-of-old-rip-the-horned-toad-on-display-in-a-texas-courthouse/

1899-1922

Did An Artist's Flights Of Fancy Depict Early Aviation? https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/Did-an-artist-s-flights-of-fancy-depict-early-5909915.php

Inverse Archaeology: Sending a Message to the Future https://www.stochastication.com/2016/06/13/inverse-archaeology/amp/

When the Birds and the Bees Were Not Enough https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/when-the-birds-and-the-bees-were-not-enough-aristotle-s-masterpiece/

September 19, 1910

American Hippopotamus https://magazine.atavist.com/american-hippopotamus/

The Irish American Gangster Whose Family Rose from Chicago's Ashes https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/big-jim-oleary-chicago-crime-boss

Mark Twain Had a Lifelong Feud with the United States Postal Service https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mark-twain-had-a-lifelong-feud-with-the-united-states-postal-service

The Man Who Built a 40-Foot Spite Fence Around His Neighbor’s Home https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/94298/crocker-spite-fence-san-francisco

He Was Both Fire Captain And Prolific Arsonist. His Novel Put Him In Prison. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-29/john-orr-glendale-fire-captain-prolific-arsonist

Nasir Al-Din Shah And The Art Of Indifference https://new.bidoun.org/articles/redolent-delusions

Game Breaking: How Cheat Codes Changed Video Games Forever https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a33650224/cheat-code-history/

December 1950

The Students Who Stole The Stone Of Destiny https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-63130942

May 1884

Cannibalism at Sea: The Starving Victorian Sailors Who Ate a Cabin Boy https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/cannibalism-at-sea-sailors-ate-the-cabin-boy/

December 20, 1965

How to Become a Fan of the Supermarket Sweep TV Game Show https://www.wikihow-fun.com/Become-a-Fan-of-the-Supermarket-Sweep-TV-Game-Show

False Fang: When the CIA Staged a Vampire Attack https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/cia-philippines-vampire-attack

State of Jefferson https://www.ijpr.org/state-of-jefferson

September 8, 1897

Rube Waddell https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/rube-waddell/

November 8, 1960

14 US Presidents And Their Favorite Restaurants https://www.tastingtable.com/1717213/us-presidents-favorite-restaurants/

November 2003

Montana Tech Professor Memorializes Berkeley Pit dog https://www.montanaliving.com/blogs/people/76403205-montana-tech-professor-memorializes-berkeley-pit-dog

April 21, 1855

The Lager Beer Riot: Chicago’s ‘First North Side War’ https://brewedculture.org/2017/05/04/the-lager-beer-riot-chicagos-first-north-side-war/

December 3, 2004

Meet the Yes Men Who Hoax the World https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/dec/13/mondaymediasection5

The True Story of Roland the Farter, and How the Internet Killed Professional Flatulence https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/roland-the-farter-professional-flatulence

May 9, 2009

The True Story of Roland the Farter, and How the Internet Killed Professional Flatulence https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/roland-the-farter-professional-flatulence

Tippi Hedren's humanitarian work with Vietnamese refugees inadvertently created a multi-billion dollar industry.

Nailed It https://tubitv.com/movies/629631/nailed-it

Mid 1960s

The Low-Tech Genius of the Cardboard Pizza Box https://www.eater.com/2016/9/28/13065010/pizza-box-design

The Death of Pythagoras https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/The_Death_of_Pythagoras

In 1303 the French King Sent Goons to Attack and Kidnap the Pope https://www.history.com/articles/french-king-kidnapping-pope-philip-iv-boniface-vii

Napoleon's brother sees a cryptid after moving to Jersey.

After beginning his rise to power in 1799, Napoleon crowns himself emperor and installs his siblings in positions of power all over Europe.

Edward I (Longshanks) wages a years-long war at the Scottish borders.

July 26, 1908

Hackney, London

Nicknamed the "Mole-Man of Hackney", he dug tunnels under his home for 40 years until sinkholes opened up, swallowing cars and revealing his secret.

Stephen Reece Lewis, CEO of collapsed crypto-scam hedge fund Hyperverse is found to not actually exist at all.

Coins the term "behavioral sink"

Gray Wolves Reintroduced to Yellowstone