10 Weird Distractions from the Great Depression
The Great Depression was one of the darkest chapters in American history. Millions of people lost jobs, homes, and savings; breadlines and shuttered factories became part of daily life. Yet even in that bleak decade, the human spirit refused to break. Families found creative, inexpensive ways to laugh, play, and connect. From homemade haunted houses […]

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10 Fictional Kings Who Go from Good to Bad
It’s always sad when heroes fall from the light. They often start with the best intentions, but in trying to act on them, they clash with the world at large. That clash mires their journey in hardship. The heroes grow to resent their circumstances, turning to extreme measures to right those wrongs. This fate can […]

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The Fantastic Chemistry Behind Why 10 Popular Foods Taste So Good
We all enjoy eating foods that taste good, but we often don’t fully understand the chemistry that makes them so delicious. In this list, we’re going to take a deep dive into ten foods that everybody loves. We’ll look at the chemistry that creates incredible flavors, textures, and ultimately, unforgettable dining experiences. Eating is an […]

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10 Futuristic Fungal Technologies
Fungi are miraculous. They provide us with food, alcohol, medicine, and the essential decomposition that keeps life going. And yet, their potential may be far greater. Fungi can be made into computer chips, bio-batteries, circuit boards, insulation, self-repairing building materials, and reactive clothing. They can even devour plastic, absorb heavy metals, and clean pollution. Make […]

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10 Not-so-Spooky Events That Also Happened on October 31
Halloween is known for costumes, decorations, and trick-or-treating, and with U.S. consumers spending billions on these items each year, perhaps rightfully so. But beyond pumpkins and candy, October 31 has also marked key turning points in world history. From reformations and revolutions to scientific pardons and radio hoaxes, here are ten memorable events that happened […]

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10 Unsettling Ghost Stories to Tell This Halloween
In 2024, a global survey revealed that about 41% of Americans believe in ghosts and 64% believe in some form of paranormal entity. Percentages vary slightly worldwide, but most major countries hover just above the 40% mark. It’s no wonder that so many hauntings are reported across the globe. People often see or experience something […]

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10 Truly Evil People Who Used Halloween as the Perfect Cover
Halloween uniquely complicates the concept of safety because the night is defined by intentional fear, masking genuine threat within theatrical play. This widespread acceptance of costumes and chaotic activity gives real criminals an immediate advantage, allowing them to commit malicious acts with a much lower risk of immediate detection. The psychological impact of a Halloween […]

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10 Wildly Different Movie Takes on Nuclear War
The Cold War spawned more than fallout shelters and duck-and-cover drills. During that era when geopolitical tension hung over audiences like a mushroom cloud, filmmakers channeled the nuclear threat into art, satire, and spectacle. Some explored human frailty, others turned to monsters or absurdity, but all reflected the fears—and sometimes the dark humor—of the atomic […]

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10 Places Where Folklore Is Alive and Well
Folklore and superstition never really die. We all know someone who still avoids stepping on cracks on the sidewalk. Or someone who refuses to whistle at night. Even in modern life, these ancient beliefs still creep in, filled with smartphones and AI. Superstition adapts itself, quietly moving along with technology and progress. Here are ten […]

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10 Events That Unexpectedly Changed American Life
There seems to be no shortage of significant moments that changed the American way of life. The American Revolution alone would seem obvious, along with the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. More recently, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War were all cultural touchstones and massive, unsettling events that brought sweeping […]

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10 Cases of Grabbing Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
The desire for victory is a common trait that connects all life on planet Earth. A tree will grow in the direction that provides the most sunlight for its leaves to maximize its probability of survival. Lionesses will mate with the strongest male lion to maximize the probability of their offspring’s viability and success. But […]

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10 Common Misconceptions About the Renaissance
The Renaissance roughly spanned the 15th and 16th centuries and saw the revival of classical antiquity, with European scholars dedicating themselves to studying art and literature from Ancient Greece and Rome. It’s when William Shakespeare wrote his plays, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, and later thinkers like Isaac Newton continued the spirit of inquiry into […]

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10 Crazy Things Resulting from Hidden Contract Provisions
We often scroll past pages of endless fine print and click “I agree,” never imagining the bizarre, life-altering consequences buried within. These legal documents—from software End-User License Agreements (EULAs) to celebrity film contracts and even property deeds—are crafted to grant sweeping power to the issuer. But what happens when companies slip absurd demands, perpetual rights, […]

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10 Unusual Facts About Calories
Calories—those tiny numbers printed on the backs of food packages—rule modern life. They determine how we eat, how we exercise, and often how we feel about our bodies. But for something so common, calories are deeply misunderstood. They are treated as absolute truths, yet the science behind them is full of quirks, loopholes, and downright […]

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10 Days of Humiliation When the Person Should Have Stayed in Bed
Humiliation is one of the most powerful human emotions. We never forget it when it happens to us, and when channeled effectively, it can help us to become the best versions of ourselves. However, humiliation is an extremely uncomfortable experience; we don’t like it when it happens to us, and we certainly don’t like to […]

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10 Surprising Ways Game Theory Rules Your Daily Life
Every day, we perform tiny rituals, make awkward choices, and engage in behaviors that seem completely normal—until you step back and realize they’re secretly battles of strategy. From holding the elevator door in silence to double-texting someone you like, from fighting over toilet paper orientation to hoarding office snacks, our mundane actions often metaphorically mirror […]

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10 Popular (and Weird) Ancient Foods
Many foods cherished by our ancestors continue to find a place on tables worldwide. From the staple presence of bread to the remarkable status of beer, countless ancient delights have withstood the test of time. But other foods have faded into oblivion and been mostly uneaten for centuries. Whether due to animal extinction or shifting […]

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Ten Bizarre Creatures from Beneath the Waves
Our oceans and seas are a hotbed of weird and wonderful nature, home to some of the most remarkable species known to science. In these extreme ecosystems, bizarre creatures thrive and perform feats that scientists once thought were impossible. In this list, we plunge beneath the waves to explore some of the most surprising life […]

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10 Unexpected Things Scientists Made Using DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, holds the genetic information passed from parents to offspring. But researchers are driven by a bigger question—beyond inheritance, what more can you do with DNA? The results are mind-bending. From sperm plastic to woolly mammoth meatballs, here are ten projects that prove DNA is a freakishly malleable material. Related: 10 Awesome […]

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10 Surprising Things Found or Left on the Moon
The Moon’s surface is a desolate place, a landscape composed of dusty craters and barren mountains. But since 1959, its inventory of objects has been steadily expanding thanks to humanity—beginning with the Soviet probe Luna 2, the first human-made object to reach the lunar surface. While it’s well known that the Moon is now a […]

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10 Unique Ancient Peoples Whose Cultural Footprints Still Shape the World
History has a funny way of remembering the loudest voices—the emperors, conquerors, and generals whose names echo through textbooks and tourist guides. But for every Caesar or Alexander, countless quieter civilizations shaped the world we live in today. Their contributions hide in plain sight, etched into our laws, our languages, our festivals, and even the […]

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10 Inventors Who Died Before Seeing Their Creations Succeed
In the course of time, inventors, engineers, clever thinkers, and business-minded individuals have propelled humanity forward. Their unique ideas and remarkable creations have helped improve mankind and make society more seamless in countless ways. These advancements have ranged from incremental improvements to monumental leaps—and they span industries and inventions from medical breakthroughs to technological marve … ⌘ Read more

10 Shocking Crimes Where the Perpetrator Walked Free
The legal system operates on a fundamental principle: a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. For the general public, this can sometimes lead to jarring and controversial outcomes. In certain high-profile cases, the facts of a crime seem clear. Yet, the legal defenses and trial procedures result in a stunning […]

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10 Representations of Death from Myth, Legend, and Folktale
Death is one of humanity’s oldest mysteries—universal, inevitable, and endlessly interpreted. Across time and culture, people have tried to make sense of what comes next by giving death a name, a face, or even a personality. Sometimes it’s a cloaked skeleton with a scythe, sometimes a beautiful queen ruling a frozen underworld, and sometimes a […]

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10 of the Weirdest Ways the Universe Works
The cosmos is full of mysteries that stump even the smartest thinkers—Einstein himself once fudged his equations to make sense of the universe’s expansion. For every elegant law of physics that we uncover, a dozen baffling questions still lurk in the dark. But that’s what makes astronomy so exciting. Telescopes are constantly pulling back the […]

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10 Crazy News Stories No One Expected to Read in 2025
Over the past couple of weeks, things have been extremely tense and volatile in the U.S. and pretty much everywhere else. The news is full of stories and events making people even angrier, and it seems that the boiling point is not far off. To lower the temperature a bit, so to speak, it might […]

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10 Bizarre Cases of Killer Seniors
They say murder is a young person’s game. Think again. Court records are full of murderous Methuselahs, senile slashers, and wrinkled reapers. Sometimes they kill out of mental illness; other times, dementia. Some become violent after strokes. Others may be scam victims fighting for survival. A few start early and evade detection well into their […]

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10 Signs That “Made in the U.S.A.” Still Lives
In an age of global supply chains, the phrase “Made in the U.S.A.” might seem like a fading echo of the past. Yet, the story of American manufacturing is one of evolution, not extinction. In the early 1900s, at the height of its industrial revolution, the United States accounted for about a quarter of all […]

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Top 10 Songs That Tell Stories Better Than Books
Some songs are more than just a catchy hook or a beat you can nod along to. They’re stories—self-contained, vivid, and often more emotionally effective than the 400-page novels gathering dust on your nightstand. In just a few verses and a chorus, the right songwriter can conjure entire worlds: doomed lovers, forgotten heroes, apocalyptic visions, […]

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10 Ways News Media Manipulate Readers
Media bias is often responsible for reader manipulation, but what constitutes bias in news reporting? Individuals and groups are likely to disagree with both the criteria for determining what puts the “slant” in slanted news and the findings of such considerations. Even to discuss this issue, though, a benchmark of some sort must be used, […]

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10 Crazy-Specific Rules Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Must Follow
Being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader is one of the most high-profile off-field jobs in all of professional sports. The iconic uniforms, the backing of one of the most followed NFL teams in the country, and the throngs of cheering fans at games and events all make it so. The Cowboys’ cheerleaders are undoubtedly the most […]

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10 Reasons We’ll Always Need Superman
From very early after Superman’s creation, he was considered to be futuristic. In fact, at the time of New York’s 1939 World’s Fair, Superman was called the “Man of Tomorrow.” In many ways, Superman represents the best of humanity: what we aspire to become one day. That is why he resonates with so many people […]

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10 Ancient Places That Dropped Surprising New Finds
Human history is pockmarked with missing information, and that’s what makes new discoveries so valuable: they plug the gaps and provide a more complete timeline. Such finds should be rarer at well-studied sites. And yet, famous monuments are still dropping revelations that change the way we see them. In recent years, new finds showed that […]

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Ten Mind-Boggling Discoveries About Birds
The term “bird-brained” is often used to describe something simple or dopey. So it might surprise you to learn that our feathered friends are more complex creatures than we frequently give them credit for. From Kenya’s charitable starlings to the toxic avians of Papua New Guinea, there are fascinating birds to be found all over […]

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10 Foods With Secrets That You Were Never Told
Every living thing on our beautiful blue planet needs some form of nutrition or energy source to survive. As human beings, we typically eat food every day without knowing every detail of how it actually provides the nourishment we need. But there’s a lot that we don’t know about the foods that we choose, and […]

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10 Movie Characters Who Make Us Laugh at Unemployment
For one reason or another, most people have been between jobs at some point and experienced the frustration, uncertainty, and various problems that come with unemployment. That’s why movies that deal with being out of work in a lighthearted way can be so appealing. Humorous depictions of what is normally such a stressful time may […]

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10 Obscure Facts About America’s Empire in the Philippines
When the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain in 1898, she first had to forcibly assert her rule and put down the Filipino struggle for independence. After the bloody war that betrayed all of America’s principles and idealism, the U.S. began to atone in some measure for her sins, and though imperialist greed and […]

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10 Bizarre Facts About Cabbage Patch Kids
Cabbage Patch Kids, the beloved and quirky dolls that became a cultural sensation in the ’80s, are far more than just cuddly toys. Behind their round faces and soft bodies lies a world of bizarre facts that are sure to surprise even the most dedicated fans. From the dolls’ unusual origins to their unexpected impact […]

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10 Recent Times the Earth Acted Bafflingly Strange
We like to think Earth is a well-oiled planetary machine—spinning reliably, shifting gradually, and following natural rhythms. But every now and then, it throws us a curveball. From pulsating seismic events to disappearing landmasses and bizarre atmospheric phenomena, these recent examples prove that our planet still has secrets. Whether explained after the fact or still […]

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10 Presidential Mysteries That Are Still Unsolved
There’s no shortage of mysteries and unsolved uncertainties when it comes to the various presidents who have run the United States. Every single term, in fact, it seems like more mysteries crop up. Of course, you can attribute many of those to conspiracy theories and the like. And hey, who are we to say whether […]

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10 Fascinating Facts About Life in Hawaii Before the U.S. Arrived
Hawaii joined the Union on August 21, 1959. Its history immediately before and after joining the United States is well known. Americans have long learned about the attack on Honolulu’s Pearl Harbor in 1941. Many recognize Hawaii’s role as a Pacific hub for logistics, trade, and transportation. The islands offer economic opportunities in commercial fishing […]

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10 Amazing Facts About the Remarkable Life of Roxelana
The courts of kings past were full of interesting people vying for power and plotting against one another. These people were, of course, often men from privileged backgrounds. But Roxelana, who rose to power in the palace of Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566, was neither of these things. […]

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10 Incredibly Specific Oreo Facts You’ll Think About at 2 A.M.
You’ve twisted them, dunked them, and crumbled them into milkshakes—but odds are, you don’t really know Oreos. Behind the world’s best-selling cookie is a labyrinth of marketing manipulation, food science secrets, and flavor experiments so bizarre they’re hidden from the public. These aren’t your standard “Oreo was invented in 1912” trivia tidbits. These are the […]

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10 Good Things That Happened in the Year Without a Summer
The volcanic winter brought on by the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia made 1816 the Year Without a Summer. In a previous list, we enumerated the disruptions inflicted on human society by the famines and diseases unleashed by the Tambora eruption. Yet, not everything about 1816 was gloom and doom. There were positive aspects […]

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Ten FBI Facts You Won’t Believe Are True
The FBI is definitely one of the most interesting organizations of any involved in the United States government. They are the nation’s most powerful (and arguably most well-known) law enforcement arm. And the more you read about them, the more it seems like they have their hands mixed up in every major thing that occurred […]

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10 Unsettling Incidents We Still Can’t Explain
When something strange happens, we try to make sense of things by putting the scattered puzzle pieces together. For example, when Flight MH370 dropped off the radar in 2014, most people eventually accepted the theory that the pilot was suicidal. But how do we know that for a fact? The reality is that no one […]

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10 Movies That Missed the Point of Their Source Material
When adapting books and comics into movies, certain changes must be made to accommodate the new medium. While fans sometimes bristle at plotlines and characters being altered—or even cut out completely—there’s no way for adaptations to be entirely faithful. However, some film adaptations seem to entirely miss the point of their source material. That isn’t […]

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10 Tantalizing Stories About Money
In the early 21st century, money has become such a fundamental part of everyone’s life. Even though we’re moving more and more to electronic transactions and digital currencies, stories about money in all of its forms, including bills and coins, still thrill and fascinate us. In 1987, one of the most popular films about money, […]

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10 Unusual Things Famous Historical Figures Did for Love
Everyone has their own opinion about what love and relationships should be like, but one thing is certain: they can make people do some strange things. Even some of the past’s most famous figures approached the tasks of finding and holding onto lovers in ways that seem very unusual today. Some were merely following the […]

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10 Epic Construction Projects That Took Centuries to Complete
These ten cathedrals and basilicas around Europe (and beyond) were built over many generations, reflecting changes in style, politics, and technology. From the Sagrada Família in Barcelona to the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, each project faced delays due to wars, funding shortages, and shifts in power. Some took more than six centuries to […]

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