Inventions through history have often made everyday tasks easier and some, like trains, the cotton gin, printing press, and computers, have been revolutionary. But other inventions have backfired and proven to be detrimental in the long run. Among those who contributed some of ...read more

One of the Allies' greatest fears during World War II was that Adolf Hitler and his Nazi forces would unleash so-called Wunderwaffen, or “wonder weapons.” Some of the rumored weapons were outlandish, such as earthquake generators and death rays. But others, like bacterial ...read more

At 10:00 p.m. on December 3, 1973, a 37-year old trucker from Overland Park, Kansas named J.W. Edwards stopped his rig suddenly in the middle of Interstate I-80 near Blakeslee, Pennsylvania and picked up his CB radio microphone. The insurrection he was about to start, using his ...read more

When the autopsy was performed on the diver in 1900, they found bubbles in his brain and heart. There were so many bubbles, in fact, that when examiners lifted the heart, it gurgled with froth. The cause of death was decompression sickness. And while doctors knew the cause of ...read more

In 1857, two rival police forces were operating at the same time in one major U.S. city—it did not end well. The unusual situation in New York City was the outcome of a corrupt mayor and opposing political parties heading the state and city governments and would eventually erupt ...read more

On December 29, 1929, just after 2:00 a.m., the Coast Guard patrol boat C.G. 290 lay in wait by a small group of islands in Naragansett Bay, Rhode Island. The islands provided cover for rumrunners who regularly dashed their shipments of illegal liquor to the mainland during the ...read more