From theatre fires to collapsing bridges, these forgotten public disasters exposed everyday dangers and helped create safety rules we now barely notice.
From mercury and arsenic tonics to heroin cough syrup, radioactive water, and lobotomies, discover popular historical medicines and treatments that often caused more harm than the illnesses they were supposed to cure.
The Hoaxers Behind The HeadlinesHistory is full of supposedly impossible discoveries that turned out to have very ordinary people hiding behind them. Fake fossils fooled scientists, forged diaries embarrassed historians, and paper fairies convinced famous...
When The Name Outlives The InventionInventors usually dream about creating something that lasts. A few did something even stranger: they created names that lasted longer than their original creations. Their machines were rebuilt, redesigned, computerized,...
From fake princes and royal heirs to invented nations and bogus Shakespeare manuscripts, meet the bold historical impostors who fooled governments, courts, bankers, scholars, and high society.
From Niagara barrels to Balloon Boy and homemade rockets, discover the publicity stunts that made ordinary people famous—then brought disaster.
When Confidence Becomes A CredentialMost of us assume an expert has been checked out by somebody. Surely the hospital verified the doctor, the university checked the résumé, and the publisher confirmed the brilliant writer’s sources....
Charles Guiteau failed as a student, lawyer, preacher, writer, and politician before assassinating President James Garfield and helping reshape American politics.
From Titanic's lifeboats to factory fire exits, seat belts, airbags, smoke alarms, and airplane warning systems, discover the safety devices society resisted until deadly disasters proved they could no longer be ignored.
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