On an unseasonably warm day in April 1954, hundreds of women in cowboy hats gathered outside Tupperware™’s Florida headquarters to dig for buried treasure. There, in a nearby swampy area dubbed the “Forest of Spades,” 600 shovels stood at the ready. The excitement was palpable. At the appointed signal, the women raced for the roped-off soil, grabbed shovels, and began to hunt frantically for loot.
In 2012, a television commercial aired in the UK for Bakers dog food that was conceived and produced specifically to attract the attention of dogs. The spot used high-frequency sounds that are inaudible to human ears. In theory, the dog would be so captivated by the advertisement that owners would take note and perhaps purchase Bakers for their next meal.
When iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld died at age 85 in 2019, he left a portion of his $300 million fortune to longtime companion Choupette. The female Burmese cat will, presumably, eat only the fanciest of feasts for the duration of her well-heeled life.
For Lyudmila Pavlichenko, killing Nazis wasn’t complicated. “The only feeling I have is the great satisfaction a hunter feels who has killed a beast of prey,” she once said of her job.
It takes a strong personality to stand out in a sport full of them, but Roderick George Toombs, otherwise known as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (1954-2015), managed to sustain a career as one of the most colorful characters in the history of professional wrestling. For more on “Hot Rod,” including his martial arts background and his unlikely turn as a big-screen hero, keep reading.
For 60 years, Americans poisoned themselves by pumping leaded gasoline into their cars. Then Clair Patterson, a scientist who helped build the atomic bomb and discovered the true age of the Earth, took on a billion-dollar industry.
You might think that dying while famous means a well-documented death proceeding from an obvious cause, but nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout history, notable figures have spent their final hours in situations clouded with uncertainty, rumor, and suspicion. Whether the deceased is an ancient emperor or a modern aviator, the potential culprit arsenic or a faulty radio, the circumstances surrounding these six strange historical deaths may never be fully understood.
It’s inevitable that words will change over time. In some instances, words gain new meanings entirely different from their original definition.
In the 1910s, the city of New York demolished the apartment building David Hess owned to extend a major thoroughfare. But the city didn’t seize the entirety of his land—and he wasn’t about to give it up lightly.
In May 1918, Henry Johnson found himself alone in the Argonne with a wounded ally, an empty rifle, and dozens of German soldiers closing in. He didn’t run. He fought.