Stories

On August 23, 1994, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, members of the K Foundation and formerly of the musical duo The KLF, burned £1 million in cash. The event took place in a disused boathouse on the Scottish island of Jura, and they recorded the act on film.

In 2016, the High-Heel Wedding Church was unveiled in Budai Township, Taiwan. Standing at 55 feet tall and 36 feet wide, the structure was designed in the shape of a giant high-heel shoe made entirely of blue-tinted glass.

In 1929, Mary Ware Dennett was convicted for mailing her pamphlet, The Sex Side of Life, under the Comstock Act, which labeled sex education as obscene. Written for her teenage sons, the booklet offered honest discussions about sex and its natural role in life.

In June 1940, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portugal’s consul general in Bordeaux, faced thousands of desperate refugees outside his office. With the Nazis advancing, they needed visas to escape through Spain to neutral Portugal.

The Diomede Islands consist of two small land masses in the Bering Strait: Big Diomede, controlled by Russia, and Little Diomede, belonging to the United States. They are separated by just 2.4 miles of water but lie on either side of the International Date Line.

Anthropologist Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, known as the Queen of Latrines, has spent 25 years studying ancient Roman toilets to uncover details about hygiene and daily life. Public toilets, called foricae, often connected to bathhouses, lacked privacy and were hubs of communal activity.

On August 24, 1961, Jackie Cochran flew a Northrop T-38 Talon near Edwards Air Force Base, aiming to reclaim her title as the fastest woman alive. At age 55, Cochran achieved an average speed of 844.20 mph, shattering the previous record held by French pilot Jacqueline Auriol by 129 mph. Over seven weeks, Cochran set seven more records, including reaching an altitude of 56,071 feet.

In 2012, Australian researchers conducted studies to identify the world’s least appealing color. Their goal was to discourage smoking by using unattractive packaging. The result was Pantone 448 C, a drab greenish-brown shade described as resembling “death” and “dirty.”

In December 1750, Benjamin Franklin attempted an unusual culinary experiment: killing a turkey using electricity. Franklin believed that a turkey killed by an electrical charge would be more tender and flavorful than one killed conventionally. Using a Leyden jar, a device that stored static electricity, he conducted a demonstration for his friends.

In December 1919, Boston’s Post Office Square hosted a unique Christmas celebration—for workhorses. Organized by the MSPCA, the event featured a tree decorated with corn and carrots, barrels of oats, and apples for the horses. Passersby helped chop carrots and feed the animals.