Vespasian

The Rise and Fall of Pay Toilets

Vespasian's most useful contribution to history may well have been creation of pay toilets.
Piltdown man

Whatever Happened To Piltdown Man?

Piltdown Man was once considered the missing link between apes and humans. What happened?
Johnny Appleseed

The Real Story Behind “Johnny Appleseed”

Johnny Appleseed was based on a real person, John Chapman, who was eccentric enough without the legends.
Painting: Dessert No. 4 by  Carducius Plantagene Ream, depicting cake, raspberries, and ice cream

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dessert_No._4_by_Boston_Public_Library.jpg

The First Celebrity Chef

Alexis Soyer frequently cooked for royalty and dignitaries, but also displayed a healthy social conscience.
Sheffield Radishes

Community Gardens Were All the Rage…in the 1700s

An eighteenth-century precedent for today's community gardens in Sheffield, England.
Conspiracy theories

The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories boil down to a rejection of the absurdity, meaninglessness, and randomness of life and history.
John R. Brinkley

This Doc Was Really Nuts

Nuts! is a new documentary about John R. Brinkley, whose claim to fame was transplanting goat testicles into men in the 1920s.
Image of ice in sparkling water

The Irish Were Way Ahead of the Soda Water Trend

Soda water is a popular beverage now, but it was once considered a cure, among other things.
Egg Cream

The Egg Cream Mob

What's in an egg cream? No eggs. No cream. And a dose of mafia history.
Marshall "Major" Taylor

The Moral Threat of Bicycles in the 1890s

The bicycle craze of the 19th century, in which both men and women participated, was seen as a moral affront by church leaders.