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Culture

The Astor Place Riot: New Yorkers Almost Burned Down Manhattan Brawling Over Who Was the Best Shakespearean Actor
What Was the Historic Context of the Biblical Narrative of Bears Mauling Children for Mocking a Prophet’s Baldness?
Bad Fads – The 1939 Goldfish Swallowing Craze That Swept American Colleges
Did a Real Life Natural Disaster Inspire the Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah Narrative?
The Men Who Made Ancient Athens – Aeschylus, the Playwright Who Invented Acting as We Know it Today
Fat Men’s Clubs – When Obesity Was Celebrated, and Thin Was Not In
Shipwreck Kelly, the Eccentric Who Kicked off a Flagpole Sitting Fad
Victorians Used ‘Escort Cards’ to Get Around Chaperones, and Secret Romance Codes to Flirt in Public
Obi Wan Kenobi in World War II: Sir Alec Guinness in the Royal Navy
Pet Rocks, a Drunken Joke that Turned Into a 1970s Fad and Made its Creator a Millionaire
After the Fame – The Kid From the ‘Little Mikey’ Ads Grew Up to Become an Ad Executive
Costly Mistakes – The Studio That Surrendered the Star Wars Merchandising Rights
Fashion History – The French Revolution Ended Elaborate Aristocratic Outfits, and Introduced Modern Simplified Styles
Weird Beliefs – Nineteenth Century Doctors Urged Men to Grow Thick Facial Hair to Filter Out Germs
After the Fame – Charlie Bucket of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory Gave Up Acting to Become a Veterinarian
Fashion History – 1970s Fish Tank Shoes
After the Fame – The Grady Twins From ‘The Shining’