Stories

In 2005, the CIA looked beyond drones and satellites to fight Al-Qaeda in the Middle East. They turned to the toy aisle.

In the darkest days of World War II, a Spanish chicken farmer decided he needed to do something for the good of humanity.

Rising nearly 600 feet out of the dense Sri Lankan jungle, an enormous column of granite known as Sigiriya, or Lion Rock, holds the remnants of an ancient, violent family feud.

In August 1913, amid a graduating class of nearly 100 new Chicago police detectives, stood a single woman who would soon become famous for kicking down doors in custom gowns while brandishing a tommy gun.

In 564 BC, the ancient Olympic Games hosted a combat sports finale so extreme that the ultimate winner was a dead man.

In 1781, one of the founding fathers of the United States drafted a formal scientific proposal to completely change the odor of human flatulence.

In the year 897, a decomposing corpse was dressed in lavish papal robes, propped upon a wooden throne, and subjected to a formal legal trial.

Applying daily cosmetics has historically involved rubbing known poisons, toxic chemicals, and unusual bodily fluids directly onto the skin.

In 2004, a state-run television broadcast informed an entire nation that growing their hair too long would consume their brain’s nutrition and reduce their intelligence.

In the middle of World War II, American pilots flying dangerous bombing missions over enemy territory created a secretive society.