History – Intriguing Facts

How 10 U.S. presidents kept themselves fit

Radha Perera — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 23:49:45 +0000

Being president is hardly a relaxing desk job. And to deal with that stress, many former presidents had some special routines that kept themselves fit & were a regular part of their days. Here’s how ten American presidents kept themselves fit. Which of these routines would fit into your life?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

George Washington’s foxhunting miles on horseback

Before most people were even awake, George Washington was on horseback chasing foxes across uneven Virginia fields. He’d go on long rides with hounds over mud & hills. In his journals, Washington described these hunts happening constantly, sometimes for hours, and it wasn’t casual, either. Riding like that took a lot of core & leg strength.

Thomas Jefferson’s daily exercise rule

Thomas Jefferson treated movement as something he couldn’t skip. He pushed his family to block time out every single day, usually for long walks or horseback rides, and he also suggested target practice as a good way to stay active. For him, exercise was a part of the schedule.

John Quincy Adams’s Potomac swims at daybreak

John Quincy Adams had a rather specific routine that involved walking a couple of miles from his place and swimming across the Potomac River. He’d then walk back home like it was nothing. And it didn’t even matter how the weather was because he always did it before breakfast, rain or shine.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s therapeutic swimming at Warm Springs

But Adams wasn’t the only one who liked to swim. Franklin D. Roosevelt liked going to the warm pools in Warm Springs, Georgia, to exercise after polio, and he’d spend hours in the water doing therapy sessions. He also swam laps. In fact, Roosevelt made the trip rather often and made it a regular part of his physical routine.

Theodore Roosevelt’s jiu-jitsu lessons in the White House

For Theodore Roosevelt, jogging around or doing light stretches wasn’t enough. No, he invited a Japanese judo master, Yoshiaki Yamashita, to teach him jiu-jitsu right inside the White House, and he also paid for lessons for a few friends. Roosevelt learned throws & holds in the East Room.

Herbert Hoover’s morning “Hooverball”

Hooverball was a game that, unsurprisingly, Herbert Hoover played. It worked like volleyball, except the ball was a heavy medicine ball that he & his friends would throw on the South Lawn. They’d toss it back & forth over a net, and keep score like any pickup game. Sure, it sounds odd, but it was intense cardio that kept him in shape.

Harry S. Truman’s fast morning walks

Of course, not every president relied on doing strange fitness routines. Harry S. Truman went for a fast morning walk that often had his bodyguards trailing behind, trying not to lose pace. He clocked about 120 steps per minute according to the reporters who timed him. Truman kept these walks up daily, often for a few miles around D.C.

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s golf habit

Dwight D. Eisenhower loved golf long before he putted on the White House lawn, but it became part of his recovery after he had a heart attack in 1955. Doctors encouraged him to do steady, moderate movement. Golf fit the bill. Eisenhower also had the South Lawn fitted with a putting green so he didn’t have to leave to play.

Barack Obama’s pickup hoops and a full-court upgrade

Basketball was Obama’s favorite sport. Rather than squeezing in gym time, he’d just call up staff or friends & run pickup games on the White House grounds, later converting the old tennis court into a full basketball court. He took the game rather seriously & it apparently was one of his favorite ways to keep fit.

Richard Nixon’s late-night bowling sessions

Richard Nixon didn’t stick to daytime exercise, as he bowled at night, usually downstairs in the single-lane alley beneath the North Portico. Sometimes he’d bring a few people along, other times, he played alone. It actually became a regular thing for him. And it was especially important during long stretches at the White House since it gave him a break.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

7 Fascinating Facts About Earth’s Earliest Humans

Hasthi Wand — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:29:43 +0000

Our ancient relatives were far busier than we usually give them credit for. Yes, they used to build things & carve shells long before modern humans had even appeared. You can still see some of their handiwork today. Here are seven fascinating facts about Earth’s earliest humans. Which of these discoveries interests you the most?

A 476,000-year-old wooden structure used interlocking logs

Archeologists once discovered two ancient logs notched together at Kalambo Falls in Zambia. What made these logs so interesting is that they worked like a simple joint. They’d been there for approximately 476,000 years.

Clearly, whoever made them knew what they were doing with wood and may have used them to create a platform or walkway of sorts.

Homo erectus engraved a zigzag on a freshwater shell

Not every human wrote on cave walls. In fact, long before we wrote on caves, someone picked up a huge shell in Java & scratched a zigzag pattern onto it. Who did it?

Apparently, it was Homo erecuts, an early human species that lived half a million years ago. You can see the markings under a microscope. They’re that sharp.

DNA from lice points to clothing beginning roughly 170,000 years ago

Body lice can’t live without clothes. That’s good news for scientists because they can work out where they split from head lice to see when we started wearing clothes.

We supposedly began covering ourselves up around 170,000 years ago. People likely wore hides or woven fibers as protection in those days.

Early humans butchered a giant ground sloth the size of a car

Early humans had to deal with a lot of dangerous animals. One of those was a ground sloth species called Mylodon.

In southern Chile, archeologists found evidence that humans took down the animal 17,000 years ago. They carved it with stone blades & the animal’s bones still show clean slices. Our ancestors simply stripped the meat away.

Early humans had lead exposure long before industrialisation

Bizarrely, pollution existed even in the time of early humans. Fossil teeth records prove that ancient hominins (early humans) had lead traces in their bodies over a million years ago. Where did it come from?

It’s likely just contaminated soil or volcanic ash, maybe from water. Either way, their natural world wasn’t as clean as you might believe.

Neanderthals stored seashells full of pigment

Discoveries near the coast of Italy showed that Neanderthals had some interesting collections. They used to gather seashells & turn them into small containers. Why?

So they could store red & yellow pigment, possibly to paint their skin or for tools. Some of them even reused the shells multiple times.

Ancient humans used eagle talons as jewelry 130,000 years ago

Neanderthals also collected eagle talons. Archeologists discovered a handful of eagle claws in a Croatian cave that have tiny cut marks where early humans shaped & strung them together. They’re approximately 130,000 years old.

The fact that their edges are smoothed proves that early humans wore them instead of using the talons only as trophies.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

13 bizarre riots that started over everyday objects

Arvyn Braich — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:05:00 +0000

You’d think people only riot over politics or sports. But no. Crowds have gone wild over hats & dolls, even jars of Nutella, creating the kind of trouble that forces officials to get involved.

Here are thirteen riots that started over everyday objects. Which one is the worst to you?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Straw hat (1922)

In 1922, in New York City, people began tearing straw hats off those walking the streets because they continued wearing them after hat season had unofficially ended.

Fights erupted in Harlem & on bridges. They also emerged along the streets. Over eight days, the city saw arrests and injuries, with the mess becoming a genuine hat-war scandal.

Vinyl records (1979)

Promoters invited fans at Chicago’s Comiskey Park to bring disco records to blow up between games. It soon got out of hand.

Pretty quickly, dust & debris were everywhere, causing the field to get trashed, and even the police became involved. The second game was eventually called off.

Cabbage Patch Kids (1983)

Stores got overrun when the Cabbage Patch Kids craze hit. In Charleston, WV, 5,000 people caused chaos inside a department store, wrecking displays & shoving each other.

It actually got so bad that the police had to step in to restore order. All that drama for, quite literally, a kid’s doll.

“Tickle Me Elmo” (1996)

In 1996, a Canadian Walmart had 48 dolls for a midnight sale. There were 300 people outside chanting for Elmo.

When they finally got in, it turned into a mosh pit, with one poor employee getting knocked over & stomped on. It was so bad he ended up in the hospital with cracked ribs and a concussion.

Air Jordan XI “Concord” (2011)

Sneakerheads camped out in front of malls everywhere in December 2011 for the latest kicks. By sunrise, the Air Jordan XI “Concord” drop was more of a riot than a shoe sale.

Windows smashed & shoppers shoved each other, while police in several cities used pepper spray just to calm things down. A few were even stabbed trying to skip lines. It was that serious.

iPhone 4S (2012)

Outside Apple’s Beijing store, hundreds of people waited all night for the new iPhone 4S. But then the staff delayed opening. As such, the customers’ patience ran out, and they started throwing things everywhere.

Security was forced to lock the place down. It got so bad that Apple actually suspended in-person sales in parts of China. Who knew that people would get so desperate for a phone?

Nutella (2018)

French store chain Intermarché knocked 70% off Nutella in 2018. Shoppers went wild. Soon enough, people began grabbing jars straight out of each other’s hands, with some even climbing over displays just to reach the last few tubs.

This forced the police to be called. Apparently, France takes its chocolate spread very seriously.

Sugar and cooking oil (2011)

In Algeria, basic groceries became a source of drama after the price of sugar & cooking oil shot up overnight.

People hit the streets & rioters burned tires. They also smashed storefronts and clashed with police for several days, forcing the government to slash food taxes just to calm things down.

Onion (2010)

Onions are practically a necessity in India. So when prices tripled, tempers did too, leading to rioters raiding markets and blaming traders for their issues.

They dragged politicians into the outrage, and this meant the government scrapped import taxes & rushed in extra supplies. Nothing stings quite like an onion shortage in India, apparently.

Toilet paper (2013)

Most people remember the 2020 toilet paper shortages. But it was even worse in Venezuela in 2013.

Shortages were so bad that new shipments caused stampedes, with shoppers packing aisles shoulder-to-shoulder & clearing entire pallets in minutes. Bizarrely, officials actually imported millions of extra rolls to make up for the shortfall.

Cheese (1766)

Yes, cheese. In 1766, prices at Nottingham’s annual Goose Fair suddenly spiked, and the crowd wasn’t having it, so they chased off sellers.

They also rolled cheese wheels down the streets like bowling balls & some ended up dumped in the river. To scatter the mob, the authorities literally read the Riot Act.

Black Friday (2014)

Britain’s first real “Black Friday” was supposed to be fun. Instead, grocery stores across the country became wrestling rings packed with people shoving & shelves collapsing.

Police fielded dozens of emergency calls, targeting 15 stores in Manchester alone. By dawn, several shoppers were cuffed, and TV anchors referred to it as “America’s worst habit.”

Bread (2010)

The cost of bread quickly went up in Mozambique & people’s frustration spilled out fast. In Maputo and nearby towns, people poured into the streets, blocking roads & throwing stones.

Police had to fire rubber bullets and tear gas to push crowds back. Sadly, several people were killed & hundreds were hurt in the mayhem.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

Why one U.S. bridge has a reputation for swallowing ships

Arvyn Braich — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 14:25:02 +0000

Driving across Florida’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a weird experience. It feels like it hovers slightly above the water & has massive tankers gliding underneath, although that’s not the reason sailors and locals feel queasy around it.

It’s the deadly accidents that happened on the bridge that gave it its reputation for swallowing ships. What happened? Let’s find out.

Key takeaways

Here’s what you’ll learn about:

Details about the bridge’s height & shape
What led up to the 1980 crash, and how it happened
What engineers learned from the crash
How the crash gave the bridge its reputation

A long single-stem channel that funnels big ships

Tampa Bay’s shipping lane is quite thin, and it cuts through shallow seafloor, measuring approximately 70 miles from the Gulf to the port docks. There are about 42 miles of deepwater channel. They are roughly 500 ft wide & 43 ft deep.

The Skyway Bridge crosses above the only safe path of this shipping lane, so every oil tanker or bulk carrier that’s going to Port Tampa Bay will need to pass directly under it. It’s the same story for cruise ships going to Port Manatee.

The clearance

The newest version of the bridge has quite a bit of clearance at around 180.5 ft (55 m) at high tide. But even that’s not enough for big ships. There’s an NOAA station built into the bridge that shares the live number, known as an air gap reading, to boats to make sure they know how much space they have.

Staff on the boat will check these numbers before each approach. They will then match the figure with their own ship’s stats, including the antennas & masts. It’s much better than guesswork. Knowing exactly how many feet they have to spare before going beneath the cables helps them avoid similar disasters to the 1980 one.

The day everything went wrong

The disaster happened on May 9, 1980. Shortly after 7:30 a.m., the MV Summit Venture, a bulk carrier, was going towards Tampa Bay. Then the weather changed. Visibility fell & winds became rather strong across the narrow channel. These factors caused the ship to veer just so slightly off course.

Unfortunately, “slightly” was all it took for disaster to strike because the ship struck one of the bridge’s support piers. It tore away around 1,400 ft of roadway. Sadly, several vehicles went straight into the water below, including a Greyhound bus, and 35 people were killed. It was one of the worst transportation disasters in the state’s history, even to this day.

The original structure versus the strike

The original bridge was quite different from the one that exists today. The original bridge opened in 1954 & its steel cantilever span was built in 1971. The Summit Venture struck the concrete base first with its bow, then its upper hull slammed directly into the pier’s vertical support.

What made this disaster so bad was that the bridge had no outer barrier to absorb any extreme shocks. The force of the strike went straight into the truss & snapped it like a matchstick.

What changed afterward

The 1980 disaster forced engineers to rebuild the bridge, and they did so with different ideas in mind. They created the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge in 1987. It stands higher than the original & has fewer piers in the water, with each one sitting inside a circle of large concrete dolphins.

However, those dolphins aren’t merely for design. They’re designed as circular walls that can absorb the impact of a ship striking the bridge before it reaches the support columns.

That’s not all. The bridge also features a secondary fender system that’s made to deform & take the energy from any smaller hits. These structures work together to protect the bridge from another incident like the one in 1980.

How ships are guided and protected at bridges

Ships also travel rather differently past the bridge & no longer rely on guesswork. They use radar ranges and GPS positions to work out exactly where they are, while also receiving local traffic control updates from port authority stations.

Ships going past other bridges across the country do the same thing. In cities like New York & San Francisco, engineers used the mistakes of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to learn how to improve bridge safety.

They added bigger fenders & warning lights, as well as remote monitoring. National safety standards were a direct result of the Skyway disaster.

What “ship-swallowing” really means

So why do people say that the bridge swallows ships? The nickname came from the wreckage of the disaster, when drivers saw the bridge vanish under the ship’s bow. It looked like the water had eaten it.

Today, the nickname has stuck because it shows just how quickly conditions can change and spell out disaster. The modern version of the bridge is mostly prepared for this. It has high clearance & strong fenders, along with live air-gap data. Engineers have mapped the channel right down to the foot.

These days, the only thing that “swallows” the ships is the horizon when they disappear past the bay’s curve.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

12 quirky inventions people once swore would change the world

Arvyn Braich — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 11:24:58 +0000

Some ideas seem like they’re going to be so impressive. They show up with fireworks & headlines, but a few years later, they disappear entirely. History is packed with “next big things” that went nowhere.

Here are twelve inventions that people genuinely believed would change the world, yet they failed. Which do you wish had been successful?

Segway personal transporter

During the early 2000s, people thought that the Segway would be the ride that would change cities forever. They pictured streets full of commuters gliding around on them. Reality said something different.

Not only did they cost around five grand, but a string of accidents made people go off these “revolutionary” devices rather quickly. They stuck to being used as tourist rentals & in warehouses.

Google Glass smart glasses

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Google Glass would change the world, since they really did look like something out of a sci-fi movie. They were supposed to change the way we interacted with practically everything.

Unfortunately, nobody likes being filmed without warning, and the devices themselves were rather expensive. It didn’t take long for Google to cancel the glasses.

Sinclair C5 electric trike

British inventor Clive Sinclair revealed the Sinclair C5 electric trike in 1985. It ran around 15 miles an hour & he claimed that it would revolutionize the way that people travel.

But the future had something different to say. It didn’t fare well in rainy weather and couldn’t even take on hills successfully. The factory producing the trike shut down the same year that it launched.

Moller Skycar M400

Essentially, the Moller Skycar M400 was a red flying car that looked like it came from The Jetsons. Its creator, Paul Moller, promised that it would make traffic jams a thing of the past, since it allowed people to take off vertically & have a fast flight. It didn’t.

The Skycar never made a free, manned flight, so the dream of a flying commute failed to clear the runway.

Juicero press

Who needs a Wi-Fi-connected juicer? According to the makers of the $699 Juicero press, everybody. It was supposed to completely change the way people drank juice and enable them to have a healthier diet. But it was a flop.

It was far easier & faster to squeeze the special juice packs by hand, leading to sales of the Juicero press collapsing. It shut down in 2017.

The :CueCat barcode reader

Around 2000, the :CueCat barcode reader was launched, and millions of people received a free copy of it in the mail. It allowed people to scan barcodes from magazines & go straight to the website, a little like QR codes.

However, typing the URL manually was much easier. The reader never managed to change the way that we go online in the way that the company expected.

DigiScents iSmell

Smell-o-vision was almost a reality. The DigiScents iSmell was a plug-in device that would send smells through a computer, allowing you to literally “smell” the games you were playing or websites you were on.

It would’ve changed internet browsing by making it a 4D experience. However, investors soon realized that nobody wanted to download perfume files or buy the hardware. The iSmell failed before it even got out of the gate.

3D TVs for the living room

There was a time when practically every electronic store pushed 3D TVs, particularly after 2010’s Avatar mania. These TVs were supposed to bring movie-theater magic to your living room. The key phrase there being, “supposed to.”

The glasses were too annoying to use & the cost of upgrading to a 3D TV just didn’t seem worth it. No wonder Sony & LG dropped 3D completely in 2017.

OLPC XO

The idea of the OLPC XO was great. It involved giving every child in developing countries a special $100 laptop to help them with their education. In theory, it would minimize the digital gap between developing & developed countries.

Some countries bought small batches. However, the project never scaled the way it was intended to & failed to close the digital gap.

Solar Roadways

People genuinely believed roads could power the world. Solar Roadways built panels with LEDs & sensors that were supposed to produce clean energy far more efficiently than other technology of the time. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.

The tiles were fragile and hard to clean, for starters, while maintenance bills were high. Most of the panels couldn’t produce enough energy to be reliable.

Segmented sleep pods

Segmented sleep pods promised users that they could get 20-minute naps at work that would leave them feeling fully recharged. Advocates of the device claimed they’d help the world become more productive, as workers could put in more hours at the office.

But they never went mainstream. The cost & space of the pods were enough to turn people off, and most places stuck with coffee instead.

Telautograph

During the time before faxes & email, the telautograph was supposed to be the next best thing. Inventor Elisha Gray patented it in 1888 with the claim that you could send your handwriting over wires in real time using it. You could sign contracts & send notes from miles away, without using a typewriter, completely changing communication.

At least, in theory. The telautograph was slow & expensive. The telephone was a lot faster to use, not to mention cheaper.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

10 foods loved by U.S. Presidents

Radha Perera — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:36:34 +0000

The White House menu hasn’t always been caviar & champagne. Nope, a lot of presidents had favorite foods that were surprisingly simple…or sometimes just odd. Here are ten foods that U.S. presidents loved, according to history books. Which of these would you pick to cook for dinner tonight?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Hoecakes with honey at Washington’s breakfast table

George Washington enjoyed starting his day with hoecakes, which are essentially griddled cornmeal cakes. He always had them drenched in honey. In fact, his step-granddaughter, Nelly Custis Lewis, left behind instructions describing how he would make sure the batter went right onto the griddle & flipped once before serving it with butter.

Jefferson’s macaroni, parmesan, and a pasta press

Thomas Jefferson wasn’t shy about experimenting in the kitchen. He actually drew diagrams of a macaroni press & wrote notes on the process of how to make it. This was based on what he saw in Naples. Back in America, he often imported Parmesan and recorded recipes for macaroni & cheese.

Lincoln’s fondness for gingerbread

Once upon a time, Abraham Lincoln joked on the campaign trail about how he loved gingerbread. He also confessed that he very rarely got much of it as a kid, claiming, “I loved it better than any other man, and got less of it.” Still, it seems that gingerbread was a treat he never truly forgot.

Taft’s “possum and ’taters” banquet in Atlanta

In 1909, Atlanta threw William Howard Taft a banquet. However, it wasn’t your regular banquet, since the star of the meal was roast opossum with sweet potatoes, instead of steak or duck. Hardly something you’ll find on most plates. Even so, Taft apparently loved the meal, and this wasn’t his first time eating it, either.

FDR’s hot-dog picnic for a royal visit

You’d expect Britain’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth to eat fancy roasts or delicate pastries when they showed up at Hyde Park in 1939. But no. Instead, Franklin Roosevelt served them hot dogs on paper plates & told them to dig in. The royals were game enough to try them.

Eisenhower’s own vegetable soup

Sure, Dwight Eisenhower was a general who later became president. Yet he also liked cooking. He had a vegetable soup recipe, where he insisted on using a beef bone for flavor & allowed it to bubble away for hours. You’d hardly expect this from a guy who commanded armies.

Kennedy’s New England fish chowder

John F. Kennedy’s love for fish chowder wasn’t a secret in his family, and he had a preference for the creamy, rich kind. It had to be packed with haddock & salt pork, as well as potatoes. For him, this was pure New England comfort food. Kennedy even sent a recipe to a young fan who asked what he liked to eat.

LBJ’s Pedernales River chili

Lyndon Johnson was president with strong opinions about chili. He wanted no beans, ever, and his recipe, known as “Pedernales River Chili,” was heavy on beef, onions, peppers & spice. He liked it so much that White House staff handed it out. However, it was hardly a mild chili. Anyone eating it would have to be prepared to sweat through a bowl.

Nixon’s cottage cheese and pineapple

Honestly, cottage cheese sounds like an odd choice for presidential food, but that’s Richard Nixon for you. Sometimes he put pineapple on top, sometimes he’d put ketchup. His last meal before resigning in 1974 was actually a simple plate of cottage cheese & pineapple, along with a glass of milk.

Reagan’s jelly beans

Ronald Reagan kept jars of jelly beans within reach almost everywhere he went, including his desk & Air Force One. He even had them during cabinet meetings. Originally, he ate them to quit smoking back when he was California’s governor…and then never stopped. The company Jelly Belly even made special colored mixes for the White House.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

6 myths and facts about pirates

Arvyn Braich — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 16:36:02 +0000

Most people imagine eye patches & parrots whenever they think of pirates, and a whole lot of “arrr.” Unfortunately, films & books did a great job of mixing fact with fiction. The truth about them is a lot stranger than the stories, so here are six myths & facts about pirates. Which of these myths fooled you the longest?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Pirate speech sounded like “arrr”

Everyone knows that classic pirate growl. But it turns out that it’s not real, as it came from a 1950 film featuring the actor Robert Newton, who played Long John Silver with a West Country accent. Audiences loved it. So much so that everyone started thinking it was how pirates talked, when really, they spoke in whatever accents they grew up with, like a London or American one.

Every pirate flew the skull-and-crossbones

Not every ship had the same black flag with bones & skulls. Some had red flags, while others painted hourglasses or bleeding hearts, mostly because being a pirate wasn’t a brand. The goal of a flag was to scare the target into giving up quickly. In fact, the famous Jolly Roger flag was just one of many designs at sea, although it’s probably the most remembered one.

Piracy only happened in the Caribbean

Piracy didn’t simply involve palm trees & rum. Actually, the Indian Ocean was one of the most popular places for pirates, who would strike along East Africa & India. Even Madagascar had bases for crews who sailed out to rob trade routes. Sure, the Caribbean was busy, but piracy stretched across almost every ocean & wasn’t confined to this one place.

Pirate ships had no rules or structure

Many people imagine pirates as being lawless crews on board a ship. But records show the opposite. Usually, crews wrote down articles that worked like contracts, covering pay & discipline, as well as injury insurance. They also elected captains and had quartermasters to balance their power, meaning that even these rogues ran things with surprising organization.

Pirates made people walk the plank

One of the most famous pirate myths is that they made people walk the plank as punishment. Sadly, it’s not real, as the idea only really appeared in the late 1700s. This was long after the so-called Golden Age of piracy. It’s thanks to writers in the 1800s who kept using it in adventure stories that we have this myth. Actual pirate punishments were usually quicker & more brutal.

Pirates drew “X marks the spot” maps

Treasure maps with giant Xs are a product of fiction that started with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Scholars haven’t been able to find any authentic pirate maps that have these markings. That’s mostly because pirate crews very rarely buried their loot. And even if they did, they would hardly leave behind handy diagrams for anyone to follow.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

Why we toss coins into fountains, and the origins of 7 other superstitions

Radha Perera — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 11:35:07 +0000

We all love a good superstition. And some of the oldest ones are still alive today, like throwing coins into fountains or refusing to walk under a ladder. Each superstition has an interesting origin that’s worth knowing about, so here are eight of them. Which one of these origins surprises you the most?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Coins in fountains

Long before people made wishes at the mall fountain, ancient Romans left coins in sacred springs. Archaeologists have found more than 12,000 coins dating back to the 2nd–4th centuries CE in Bath, England. They believe the Romans threw them into waters dedicated to local goddesses, as a kind of offering.

Touch wood to ward off mischance

Kids in 1730s Britain played a chasing game where you were only safe when you touched wood. Sounds familiar? In fact, this game became so popular that adults picked up the habit, too. They used “touch wood” to avoid bad luck after bragging, which is why we say the same phrase when we want to avoid “jinxing” something.

Tossing spilled salt over your left shoulder

Once upon a time, people treated salt like treasure. As such, when they spilled it, it was a bad omen, so by the 1800s, advice books said you should throw a pinch over your left shoulder to cancel misfortune. Some writers took it a step further by saying it keeps evil spirits & the devil out of your blind spot.

Avoid walking under ladders

Leaning ladders sure are awkward. But they also form a triangle shape against the wall, and in Christian symbolism, that triangle was similar to the Holy Trinity. Breaking it was a bad idea. This led to English guides in the 19th century warning people to step around ladders to keep luck on their own side…as well as for their own safety.

Hang a horseshoe over the door

A horseshoe on the door does look rather rustic. Blacksmiths worked with fire & iron, which were materials people thought could scare away spirits. In fact, a 10th-century legend involves Saint Dunstan tricking the Devil by nailing a horseshoe to his hoof & only freeing him after he swore he’d never enter homes with one nailed above the door.

Breaking a mirror brings extended bad luck

Mirrors weren’t always made from glass. Back in the day, they were polished metal, which was expensive & fragile. People also thought it held part of the soul & that made breaking one a big deal. The idea of seven years of bad luck may have come from Roman ideas about the body renewing itself in seven-year cycles.

Don’t open an umbrella indoors

Surprisingly, the rule about umbrellas has less mystical origins and more practical ones. Early umbrellas were rather bulky, with wooden poles & steel ribs, so opening one in a cramped parlor in the 1800s would likely break something. You might also spook the oil lamps. These accidents turned into bad luck, so parents began warning kids not to open umbrellas indoors.

Blue “evil eye” beads to deflect envy

The belief that jealous stares could harm crops or babies goes back to Mesopotamian & Greek texts. In Ottoman Turkey, craftsmen began melting glass with cobalt. This was to mimic an eye that could watch back & people hung them everywhere. They believed they’d out-stare the curse.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

Famous historical figures connected by blood or family

Arvyn Braich — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:34:55 +0000

Not all famous people from history crossed paths in books. Nope, a few of them were literally related, with blood ties & family links connecting people from all walks of life. Here are eight famous historical figures who were weirdly connected. Which family tie here do you think is the strangest one?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Eleanor Roosevelt was Theodore Roosevelt’s niece

Sure, Eleanor Roosevelt was a First Lady, but she also grew up calling Theodore Roosevelt “Uncle Teddy.” Her dad was Theodore’s younger brother, Elliott. Eleanor did lose both of her parents rather young, and when she married Franklin Roosevelt in 1905, it was Uncle Teddy himself who gave her away at the ceremony.

Napoleon III was Napoleon I’s nephew

France used to be a country that kept things in the family. Napoleon III, born Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, was the son of Louis Bonaparte, who was Napoleon I’s brother. He spent years of his life as an exile, even escaping prison in 1846 & eventually, he took power as President in 1848, then as Emperor.

Nicholas II and George V were first cousins

The Russian Tsar & the British King were first cousins, as their mothers were sisters. They were daughters of King Christian IX of Denmark, making Nicholas II and George V family. In fact, the resemblance was so strong that people joked about it when they saw photos of them side by side. They often wore the same uniforms and had the same beard style, just to prove the point.

Franklin Pierce was related to Barbara Bush

Franklin Pierce is often remembered as one of the quieter presidents & he actually shares an ancestor with Barbara Bush. Both come from Thomas Pierce, who settled in Massachusetts back in the 1600s. As a result, Barbara Bush & her presidential family, husband George H. W. Bush & son George W., are distant cousins of Franklin.

Princess Diana was related to Winston Churchill

Sure, Diana Spencer married into history. But she was already connected to it. She and Winston Churchill both came from the Spencer-Churchill line, which is an aristocratic family that had been part of Britain’s upper ranks for centuries. Her father was the 8th Earl Spencer. He was part of the same family tree that also produced Churchill.

Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt shared a common ancestor

It’s weird how tangled Presidential family trees can get, and one good example is how Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt were cousins, far removed. This was through Jonathan Delano, a settler in early New England. In fact, the Delano line kept branching for generations until it connected these two men, each of whom was rather important to American history.

George Washington was related to Robert E. Lee

That’s not all for American historical figures. While Robert E. Lee didn’t have Washington’s blood running through his veins, he still ended up in the extended Washington family. George Washington Parke Custis was the president’s step-grandson & Lee’s father-in-law. Lee also lived at Arlington House, which Custis had built in memory of America’s first president.

Barack Obama and George W. Bush are distant cousins

Barack Obama’s family traces back to colonial Massachusetts and has a Bush connection. It turns out Obama and George W. Bush are 11th cousins, with a shared ancestor in Samuel Hinckley of Cape Cod. He lived in the 1600s. Of course, that’s not exactly close family, but enough to land them on the same family tree.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:

The strangest jobs from medieval times

Arvyn Braich — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 14:11:06 +0000

When you hear “medieval jobs,” you probably think of knights & a blacksmith hammering away. Yet there were some pretty odd jobs back then that sound absolutely bizarre today. Here are ten of the strangest jobs from medieval times. Which of these would you have hated to do?

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.

Gong farmer

Being a gong farmer meant heading out at night with a shovel & bucket, but not to garden. Nope. You were there to scoop human waste from cesspits. They worked after dark, so smells didn’t bother the townsfolk during the day & they hauled everything to dumping sites. It was as unpleasant as it was necessary. Medieval towns wouldn’t have worked without them.

Ale taster

Some people were actually paid to taste beer. These ale tasters, or “ale-conners,” walked around checking batches for strength, flavor & fairness in pricing. They’d hand out fines to anyone who made a brew that didn’t measure up. Records show towns swore them in every year because quality control for your pint was an actual job back then.

Alnager (cloth inspector)

Textiles were a pretty huge business back then & the alnager kept everyone making them honest. They were armed with a measuring stick called an ell, which they’d use to check each piece of cloth for width & quality. Any pieces that passed received an official seal. Any that didn’t couldn’t be sold.

Fuller (cloth scourer)

It wasn’t always easy to make your clothes soft & cozy. To do this in medieval times, someone had to stomp on them in tubs of water & clay, sometimes even stale urine. Yeah. This job was known as being a “fuller,” and they pounded fabric until it thickened. They used their feet before mills with big wooden hammers replaced them.

Treadwheel crane operator

Treadwheel cranes worked by having a grown man walking inside what was practically a giant, wooden hamster wheel. Why did they do this? To lift stones for cathedrals & castles. Many medieval building accounts mention people using these machines for huge construction projects all across Europe.

Bridge hermit

Not every hermit sat in a cave. During medieval times, some of them lived beside bridges and actually had the job of keeping chapels tidy & collecting alms. They also helped travelers cross. Essentially, they were part caretaker, part toll collector, and a few of these tiny stone bridge-chapels still survive.

Conduit keeper (town water guard)

Clean water used to appear in medieval towns through pipes & public fountains called conduits. And to stop people from stealing or tampering with them, cities hired conduit keepers, who guarded waterhouses & fined cheats. They made sure brewers or cooks paid for what they used. They were effectively security guards…for plumbing.

Royal swanherd

Swans were royal property, and someone had to manage them in the past. Enter the royal swanherd. Their job was to round up flocks & mark their beaks with notches, then keep records in official “swan rolls.” This job was particularly important around the Thames in London. Disputes over who owned which bird were rather common over there.

Garbler of spices

London once had an official garbler. Their job? Sorting imported spices and cleaning pepper & ginger to make sure no dust or fillers were mixed in. Merchants had to pay him for the service. Like with other jobs, if the garbler found fraud, merchants could be fined. City ordinances show that the role existed as far back as the 1300s.

Leech collector

Doctors wanted leeches for bloodletting. So, someone had to pull them out of ponds & marshes, and that job fell to leech collectors. Some would wade in barefoot & let the creatures attach themselves. Others dangled bits of meat in the water. Either way, they’d get jars of wriggling leeches sent to apothecaries and barber-surgeons’ shops across medieval Europe. Yuck.

The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article: