Benjamin Franklin once wrote a satirical essay about passing gas

Ben Franklin’s edit helped define the Declaration’s philosophy

When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration, he wrote that its truths were “sacred and undeniable.” Benjamin Franklin urged replacing that phrase with “self-evident,” grounding the document in reason rather than religious authority and sharpening its Enlightenment logic.

The Benjamin Franklin letter that anticipated daylight saving time

Benjamin Franklin did not invent daylight saving time. But while living in Paris, he did pen a satirical letter to Parisians suggesting they could save money on lamp oil by changing their sleep schedules. Read it in full here.

Scientists seeking gut insights are attaching flatulence sensors to volunteers' underwear

This fart-tracking device detects gas generated in the gut, providing insights about gut microbial activity. The underwear sensors measure a component of what is technically called flatus—digestive system gas.

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

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor scientific achievements that make people laugh, then think

These prizes show that even seemingly trivial work can gain attention, build momentum, and connect with broader audiences when presented engagingly. Winners include creating a toilet that analyzes your poop and understanding why scientists lick rocks.

Mark Twain had many gripes with the US Postal Service

Twain often complained about the cost of postage and the service's inefficiencies, often sharing these criticisms in newspaper opinion pieces. Still, in 1907, the USPS issued a commemorative stamp featuring his face.

Voltaire's writing sent him into exile

In 1717, the writer's satirical poem "La Henriade" landed him in prison for a year. By 1726, the French government's distaste for his work caused him to leave the country for England, though he returned a few years later. That would be short-lived: In 1734, his "Lettres Philosophiques" sent him packing again, moving to Champagne, then Berlin, then Switzerland, before finally returning to Paris in 1778.

Benjamin Franklin described a series of static electricity storage jars as 'batteries'

Discovered over 50 years before the first electrochemical cell was invented, Leyden jars stored electric charge between the metals inside and outside a liquid-filled container. Franklin was the first to use the term "battery" in an electrical sense, though his multiple-jar device—lacking chemical reactions—was actually a series of capacitors.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Sartre admired American novelist William Faulkner

In addition to writing philosophy and fiction, Jean-Paul Sartre was also a literary critic. His 1939 essay on Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" focused on the way the American novelist commented on time, favorably comparing him to Marcel Proust. Ultimately, Sartre argues Faulkner's "despair" about a "closed future" is a result of the "social conditions of our present life." Ever the existentialist, though, Sartre suggests this reality is something that should inspire rather than depress.

George Washington was a fan of barbecue

The first US president celebrated laying the cornerstone of the US Capitol by hosting a barbecue, the centerpiece of which was a 500-pound ox. By the 19th century, barbecue was a standard component of public celebrations, including Independence Day and Memorial Day.

Thomas Jefferson dismissed the Erie Canal as 'little short of madness'

When first proposed, President Jefferson scoffed at the idea of carving a 363-mile waterway through wilderness and rock. With no precedent in American engineering, the canal seemed impossible.

A list of five scientific theories that were accepted and later disproved

Humoral theory held that everyone's personality derived from different combinations of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The phlogiston theory stated that all combustible materials possessed a fire element—phlogiston—that was released and absorbed by the air during burning. When the air became saturated with phlogiston, the fire would go out.

One of the earliest known satires is an ancient Egyptian parody of life advice

“The Satire of the Trades” mocks the then-popular “wisdom literature,” which imparted life advice. In the text, a father, a scribe, explains why his son should work the same job, detailing the miseries of several other lines of work. His ultimate argument is that it’s best to be a manager rather than a worker: “See, there is no office free from supervisors except the scribe's. He is the supervisor!”

An antiperspirant ad campaign in the early 1900s dubbed body odor "B.O."

The product was marketed toward women and framed excessive sweating as a medical disorder that needed to be addressed with the product.

Einstein warned the president that splitting atoms could lead to powerful bombs

In a 1939 letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Albert Einstein explained that nuclear fission could produce immense energy—and devastating weapons. The warning helped spur the Manhattan Project, a role Einstein later deeply regretted.

Why your wine smells unpleasant

Ever had the experience of receiving a bottle of wine with a janky, less-than-favorable odor? This Esquire article ventures to answer this question and offers the explanation that the culprit is likely corked wine. Read to understand why corks can create a moldy or musty scent, and feel emboldened to send a corked bottle back for something with improved quality.

Fracking originated in the American Civil War

After witnessing how artillery created fissures in narrow water channels, a Civil War veteran wondered if the process could be replicated in underground wells to extract oil. He patented an "exploding torpedo" for this purpose, which became the foundation for future fracking techniques.

Alexander the Great, Rudyard Kipling, and more may have died from food poisoning

Though it is hard to prove decades or centuries after their deaths, some researchers suspect that food poisoning killed a variety of historical figures, including US President Zachary Taylor in 1850: Some researchers believe he may have consumed food contaminated with *Salmonella*.

The magazine competition that pitted Houdini against the author of 'Sherlock Holmes'

In 1922, Scientific American magazine launched a contest to prove, or disprove, the existence of ghosts and define the limits of Spiritualism. This article details how this competition furthered the growing ideological split between escapologist...

Paris and Boston were redesigned partly to combat cholera's spread

Georges-Eugène "Baron" Haussmann, who oversaw Paris's redesign in the 1800s, replaced many of the city's narrow streets with wide boulevards. This was done at least in part to bring more air and light into the city to help control cholera. Architect Arthur Gilman redeveloped Boston's Back Bay to similarly combat cholera, among other reasons.

'Most of man's problems upon this planet, in the long history of the race, have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage.'

-Frances Perkins (1880-1965), first female member of US Cabinet

Reflections from Ben Giles, history's greatest stain remover

Starting out as a freelance window cleaner, the British cleaning legend started taking on jobs cleaning out people's garages and shacks. He soon realized people would pay top-dollar to have their worst messes cleaned up by someone else.

Well before the publication of 'Walden,' Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown

On April 30, 1844, the transcendentalist set a campfire that quickly grew out of control, burning 300 acres of woods near Concord, Massachusetts. For years, Thoreau remarked that other residents called him the "woods burner." Thoreau, though, felt no guilt, writing in 1850, "It has never troubled me from that day to this more than if the lightning had done it."

'I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.'

-Comedian George Burns (1896-1996)

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

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...

Pineapple research helped scientists solve Los Angeles' smog mystery

In the 1950s, chemist Arie Haagen-Smit applied methods he'd used studying pineapple plant chemistry to smog-filled air—discovering that sunlight reacting with car exhaust produced photochemical smog from hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, not factory smoke.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

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.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

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

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

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

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

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.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

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