Thomas and Anne Rogers were famous counterfeiters in 17th-century England

Governments have historically used counterfeiting for economic warfare

Inserting fake currency into an economy can help destabilize it. During the American Revolution, for instance, the British distributed counterfeit “Continental Dollars” in an effort to devalue the currency being used in the US at the time with the goal of undermining America’s growing financial credibility. The Nazis also ran an extensive counterfeiting scheme during WWII.

Colonial Americans used tobacco, wampum, and land-backed notes to solve a chronic coin shortage

British coins rarely circulated in the colonies due to an unfavorable trade balance, forcing colonists to improvise. They traded in Spanish dollars, Native American shells, tobacco warehouse receipts, and eventually paper money backed by land rather than gold.

A man who counterfeited over $1M explains how to counterfeit money

In 2019, after Jeff Turner forged US banknotes such as the 1996-series $100 bill and the 2013 “blue note,” he was indicted on federal conspiracy and served 10 months in prison. In this video, Turner explains how to spot a fake banknote, and provides information about the materials and processes required to make fake money.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Pre-coin currencies like shells were subject to counterfeiting

While it is difficult to pinpoint the very earliest form of money that was used, a type of shell called cowrie shells were used as currency as far back as 3300–2000 BCE. These shells were imitated using ivory, bone, clam shells and more.

The United States had a washing machine that cleaned dirty dollar bills

In the early 1900s, the US Treasury Department had a machine that washed and ironed old, soiled paper bills. The machine helped the Treasury save money by decreasing printing costs for new dollar bills, but had nothing to do with the modern understanding of money laundering.

Some coin denominations have ridges on their sides in part to prevent counterfeiting

You may have noticed that dimes and quarters feature small ridges on their sides that other coins, like pennies and nickels, don't have. This video can help you learn more about why the practice, called "reeding," was first started—and why it's still used today.

The Medicis of Italy innovated 'bills of exchange,' precursors to checks

At the time, lending money for interest (also known as usury) was banned in much of the Christian world. The enterprising Medicis developed bills of exchange to allow merchants to promise payment without cash or coin (with some discrete means of earning interest woven in). Learn more about how this family laid the foundation for modern banking.

An 18th-century woman tricked doctors into believing she gave birth to rabbits

Mary Toft was a poor servant in Surrey who reportedly sought fame and money by perpetuating the story of her "monstrous birth." After having a miscarriage a month earlier, Toft claimed to still be pregnant and called obstetrician John Howard to witness her give birth to animal parts, including a cat without a liver, a rabbit’s head, the legs of a cat, and nine dead baby rabbits. Eventually, after fooling the court physicians of King George I, she confessed to orchestrating the births.

Mini-portraits were shared as love tokens in Elizabethan England

Art historians are identifying previously unknown works by Nicholas Hilliard, Elizabeth I's court painter, whose thumb-sized watercolors on vellum served as love tokens, diplomatic currency, and status symbols. They were believed to be passed secretly between courtiers and monarchs.

The US Mint was among the first federal agencies to hire women

In 1795, the US Mint hired two women, named Sarah Waldrake and Rachael Summers, as adjusters. At the time, adjusters weighed blank coins and “adjusted” those weighing too much by filing them down.

Chip technology replaced magstripes to stop easy card cloning and fraud

The magstripe on bank cards always gives the same data, making it simple to copy using a device called a grabber. In contrast, embedded chips create a unique code with every transaction, making it much harder to clone or steal card information.

The typo that scandalized a continent

One printing mistake in the 17th century proved so unfortunate it cost two men their careers and scandalized religious folks for centuries. Read the story here.

Often dubbed the 'king of bank robbers,' George Leonidas Leslie stole an estimated $7M (equivalent to $200M today) and charged other criminals a $20K fee to evaluate their heist plans

Leslie studied architecture and used blueprints of safes and banks to execute meticulously planned bank heists across the Northeast between 1869 and 1878. Although Leslie was an infamous bank robber by night, he posed as a member of high society by day, providing critical intel on the institutions he'd rob and helping conceal his crimes. Months before his largest planned heist, where he planned to turn on his gang, Leslie's body mysteriously washed up along the Hudson River. His killer remains a mystery.

How Mary Cassatt pioneered printmaking

In 1890, the artist attended an exhibition in Paris featuring a vast collection of 725 Japanese woodblock prints. Inspired by the work, she told a friend she could not stop thinking about "color on copper," and eventually used a metal plate "intaglio" technique to execute her vision. This video recreates how she made it happen.

Circulating libraries helped the novel's popularity surge

As literacy rates began to rise in the 19th century, so did the demand for reading materials. The only problem? Newspapers and books weren’t cheap, and newly literate middle-class families struggled to afford literature. That changed when booksellers began offering small fees for patrons who decided to borrow rather than purchase books. This was eventually called a circulating library, an innovation that would satisfy the burgeoning readership of novels and increase literacy rates further.

Watch someone follow an early American recipe using 19th-century technology

Following an old cookbook, one woman makes meatballs, pastries, potatoes, and spinach over her fireplace. The springtime dinner is taken from a 1778 book titled The Art of Cookery, which remained a bestseller throughout the 1820s.

10 of the original 14 copies of the Bill of Rights still exist

Clerks produced 13 copies for the states, plus one federal copy. Today, eight states still hold theirs. Georgia's and New York's were likely burned, Pennsylvania's was stolen, and Maryland's whereabouts remain unknown.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Cardboard thieves are making millions

The global market for recycled cardboard is worth billions of dollars—and it's attracting criminals. Specifically, people are making a fortune from taking used cardboard that's been left outside to be recycled, then proceeding to sell it. As a result, legitimate recycling firms and local authorities are missing out on millions. Learn more here.

Twain invented a clasp that's still used for bras

In 1871, Twain patented an “improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments.” Although he intended it for “vests, pantaloons, or other garments requiring straps,” it’s mostly used today in brassieres.

Why the Gunpowder Plot failed, and other questions answered by historians

The 1605 Gunpowder Plot aimed to blow up the English Parliament and King James VI and I. Guy Fawkes, often associated with the plot, was not the mastermind; Robert Catesby and Thomas Wintour led it. They selected Parliament as their target due to...

Paper boarding passes have become rarer in recent years

Many travelers have shared their attachment to the documents as their utility fades. This sharply illustrated timeline reviews the development of the paper boarding pass as technology evolved.

Oxford scientists turned Fleming’s mold discovery into medicine

In 1939, a team at Oxford—including Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley—revived Fleming’s forgotten discovery. Using makeshift equipment like bedpans and milk churns, they purified enough penicillin to prove it could treat deadly infections.

The first 3D printing patent was filed in 1967

Wyn Swainson, an English literature graduate student, filed a patent in Denmark for a system that scans an object and uses the scanning data to rebuild it using lasers that harden light-sensitive plastic. However, he never developed a working prototype. The idea originated from wanting to produce recreations of sculptures.

One of Hamilton's first published works was an anonymous pamphlet

While on a scholarship at King's College, Alexander Hamilton anonymously published a series of political pamphlets defending the Continental Congress, engaging in a sustained, sharply argued back-and-forth with loyalist writer Samuel Seabury that drew wide attention.

Financial hardships forced functionality into every piece of Marie Curie's wardrobe

Curie's upbringing in a family that lost its fortune when participating in failed uprisings for Polish independence instilled frugality in her. Much of the clothing she purchased, including for special occasions like her wedding, was repurposed for lab use.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The term 'algorithm' originated from the Latinized name of al-Khwārizmī, a 9th-century mathematician whose works introduced Arabic numerals and the decimal-based numeral system to Europe and whose treatise 'Al-Jabr' gave algebra its name.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.