Stories

In February 1945, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-Black, all-female unit, arrived in England. Tasked with clearing a massive backlog of mail for U.S. troops in Europe, the battalion was led by Major Charity Adams, the first African American woman to be an officer in the Women’s Army Corps.

In 1927, a Georgia Tech student named Ed Smith mistakenly received an extra admissions form and decided to have some fun. He filled it out for a fictitious student named George P. Burdell and submitted it to the university.

Thaddeus Stevens, a Pennsylvania congressman, was one of the strongest voices for abolition in the 19th century. Born poor and with a clubfoot, he overcame immense challenges, eventually becoming a powerful figure in Congress, where he relentlessly fought for the abolition of slavery.

In 1958, the Soviet Union established the Pole of Inaccessibility research station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth. Located 878 miles from the South Pole, the station was intended for meteorological observations.

Starting in the second trimester, parents may feel their baby moving inside the womb. But did you know that babies also practice crying before birth? While you can’t hear or feel it, research using ultrasound technology suggests babies may start developing the facial expressions of crying before they even take their first breath.

In 1951, London physician Richard Asher identified a strange pattern in certain patients. These individuals presented with dramatic medical histories and symptoms, often arguing with doctors and leaving hospitals against advice. Asher labeled this condition Munchausen syndrome, after the fictional character Baron Munchausen, known for telling wildly exaggerated stories.

The “demon core” was a plutonium core originally meant for use in a nuclear bomb during World War II. It was prepared as a backup for the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945, but after the war ended, it was retained for experiments at the Los Alamos Laboratory.

During World War II, London was under siege, and while many citizens rationed food and worked in factories, a small group of scientists took a different path. Led by J.B.S. Haldane at University College London, they experimented with diving physiology to help solve the Allies’ underwater problems.

On October 7, 1897, New York City marked a milestone with the first test of its pneumatic tube mail system. Using compressed air, the U.S. Post Office sent a container through underground tubes on a 7,500-foot round-trip journey. In just three minutes, it transported important documents, including a Bible wrapped in an American flag, copies of the U.S. Constitution, and President McKinley’s inaugural address.

In 2016, an impersonator, a 19-year-old girl, nearly destroyed Wizkid’s reputation by posing as him online. The scammer defrauded multiple international clients and even students at the University of Lagos, collecting over $53,000.