Stories

The history they skipped in class. Explore the bizarre, disastrous, dark, and ridiculous true stories that make history anything but boring.

The Great Boston Molasses Flood: When 2.3 Million Gallons Hit Boston

On January 15, 1919, a giant storage tank burst in Boston’s North End, unleashing more than two million gallons of molasses into the streets. It sounds ridiculous—until you realize 21 people died. A Very Strange Disaster Boston’s North End was busy on January 15, 1919, when residents heard something coming from a massive molasses storage…
The Halifax Explosion: The Collision That Destroyed Part of a City

In 1917, two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One of them was packed with explosives. What happened next became one of the largest human-made explosions the world had ever seen. A Collision in Halifax Harbour On the morning of December 6, 1917, Halifax was a major wartime port.The French ship Mont-Blanc was carrying a dangerous…
The Exploding Whale: Oregon’s Most Ridiculous Cleanup Plan

In 1970, Oregon officials had an eight-ton dead whale rotting on a beach and needed to get rid of it. Their solution involved half a ton of dynamite—and resulted in chunks of whale blubber raining from the sky. An Eight-Ton Problem Washes Ashore On November 9, 1970, a roughly 45-foot sperm whale washed ashore near…
The Great Emu War: When Australia Sent Machine Guns After Birds

In 1932, Australian soldiers armed with Lewis guns were sent to deal with thousands of emus destroying crops. The birds proved considerably harder to defeat than expected. Australia Had an Emu Problem In 1932, farmers in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt were struggling. Thousands of emus moved into farming areas, damaging wheat crops and fences. Many of…
The Radium Girls: The Women Who Were Told Radioactive Paint Was Safe

Young women were hired to paint glowing watch dials with radium. They were taught to shape their brushes with their lips. Years later, their bodies revealed what their employers should have taken far more seriously. The Glowing Jobs During and after World War I, thousands of young women worked painting luminous numbers onto watches, clocks…
Centralia: The Pennsylvania Town With a Fire Burning Underneath It

In 1962, a fire reached abandoned coal workings beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania. Attempts to stop it failed. Eventually, most of the town disappeared. It Started With a Fire Centralia was a small Pennsylvania coal town when a fire began in May 1962. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says the fire reportedly originated with the controlled…
John Sedgwick and the Civil War’s Most Infamous Last-Words Story

Union General John Sedgwick reportedly mocked Confederate sharpshooters by saying they couldn’t hit an elephant at that distance. Then a sharpshooter killed him. But there’s a catch: those probably weren’t actually his final words. A General Under Fire On May 9, 1864, Major General John Sedgwick was commanding the Union VI Corps during the Battle…
The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre: The Bounty That Created More Rats

French colonial officials wanted fewer rats in Hanoi, so they paid people for rat tails. The people responded by cutting off the tails—and keeping the rats alive so they could make more rats. Hanoi Had a Rat Problem At the turn of the 20th century, French colonial authorities were modernizing Hanoi.Part of that modernization included…
The Cadaver Synod: When the Church Put a Dead Pope on Trial

In 897, Pope Stephen VI had the corpse of a former pope dug up, dressed in papal robes, seated on a throne—and put on trial. Apparently Being Dead Wasn’t a Good Enough Defense Pope Formosus died in 896.Normally, that would have ended his involvement in church politics.It did not. Several months later, Pope Stephen VI…