Eduard Baltzer encouraged 'natural eating' in the 1860s

Before launching his cereal company, John Harvey Kellogg promoted natural food at a sanitarium

Kellogg was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, a health resort in Michigan, where he served patients vegetarian dishes, including early experiments with meat substitutes. Kellogg espoused a philosophy of "Biologic Living," which suggested consuming natural food would lead to "racial hygiene" for white Americans, a tenet of the eugenics movement.

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.

Health food broke into the mainstream by the 1980s

A 1984 New York Times story noted that Americans were eating less red meat than a decade prior, and that, in general, the country was “talking, thinking and worrying about what they eat to a degree unique in the nation's history.” The feature then details foods that were then considered bizarre: whole-grain muffins, hummus, and a variety of vegetarian dishes. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Listen to how the 1902 'poison squad' experiments changed food safety in America

As part of government research, a group of young men were paid to eat standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—which revealed the dangers of unregulated food. The work was led by the first FDA commissioner, Harvey Wiley, who helped end the "century of the great stomachache."

Unpacking Thoreau's diet, which once included a woodchuck

The writer's diet was notoriously simple, preferring an inexpensive combination of rice and vegetables to meat, though he usually ate it when offered. In "Walden," he mentions eating a woodchuck after it got into his beans, which one Thoreau biographer said was likely true.

What constitutes a 'healthy' diet?

A natural diet, typically high in plant-based foods and low in processed foods, appears to be the main contributor to a healthy, diverse gut microbiome.

The birth of the multivitamin

In 1912, biochemist Kazimierz Funk, often anglicized as Casimir Funk, proposed that there existed an essential nutrient in food that could prevent deficiency diseases, such as scurvy or rickets. This article explores the origin of the multivitamin, an invention that has garnished...

Anorexia as religion: from the Middle Ages to modern message boards

Humanity's interest in anorexia nervosa can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the rise of "fasting girls." This article explores the history of the eating disorder as a religion. The first recorded anorexics appeared during the 13th century...

The ancient Romans invented the first known artificial sweetener—it involved lead

The product was known as "sugar of lead." It was made by boiling wine in lead pots, concentrating the grapes' natural sugars and adding sweetness from the lead that leached into the grapes. The substance was used until roughly the 1880s for medicinal purposes and also to sweeten wine. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

Gladiators followed a mostly vegetarian, high-calcium diet

Analysis of skeletons from a gladiator cemetery at Ephesus by researchers at the Medical University of Vienna found little meat consumption but unusually high calcium levels—likely from drinking wood ash mixed with water to promote weight gain and protect vital organs.

Proof of 'natural' food claims are voluntary for most food products

Unlike the enforcement done by the USDA for meat, dairy and eggs, the FDA offers loose guidelines for using a "natural" food label on most foods, and following the guidelines is voluntary. As a result, many products labeled as "natural" can contain processed ingredients and synthetic additives.

Why pickles became a thing

Pickles began in Mesopotamia around 2400 BCE as a way to preserve vegetables amid heat (and spoilage). They spread through Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where Julius Caesar reportedly fed pickles to his soldiers, and brining was treated as a culinary art. The technique is broadly useful, as salt and water can extend the shelf life and deepen flavor for almost anything.

Martin Luther is often cited as the first to decorate the Christmas tree—though the practice began decades earlier

Luther lore claims he may have been the first to link tree decorations to Jesus, as he used candles to symbolize the Nativity star. However, German bakers had adorned evergreens with apples and sweets as early as 1419 for Christmas Eve displays.

Rachel Carson didn't argue for wholly organic farming

Her 1962 book, “Silent Spring,” inspired many people to consider the chemicals used to grow their food, but Carson didn’t think that manufactured fertilizers needed to be banned from farming, writing that “The ultimate answer is to use less toxic chemicals so that the public hazard from their misuse is greatly reduced.” When she testified to Congress in 1963, she said, “I think chemicals do have a place.”

France's first restaurant guide helped spread the concept across Europe and the US

"Almanach des Gourmandes" was published in 1804 and featured restaurant reviews and dining advice, articulating the burgeoning restaurant culture of 19th-century France. The publication helped spread the concept and its values across the map, leading to more formalized restaurants in other countries.

There’s some confusion over who founded the Bavarian Brewery that later became Budweiser

While many traditional histories credit German immigrant George Schneider with founding the Bavarian Brewery in 1852, an investigation from St. Louis Magazine found that it was actually started in 1857 by a fascinating German physician named Dr. Adam Hammer.

Analyzing the anti-Nazi history behind Bauhaus' sleek typography

Following World War I, the Nazi Party used the ornamental Fraktur typeface, hoping to give its materials a classical sheen. The Bauhaus school responded with a sleeker design style, including bolder, rounder fontfaces. Quartz digs into the history behind that decision and how the style can still be found in widely used typefaces like Helvetica.

The discovery of insulin led to a controversial Nobel Prize in 1923

For centuries, Type 1 diabetes was fatal. The 1920s "discovery" of insulin netted two of its creators—Frederick Banting and his boss, John Macleod—a Nobel prize. Separately, the German doctor Georg Zuelzer synthesized an effective version of the life-saving drug years earlier but was interrupted by World War I.

Exposing fetuses to certain flavors in the womb could lead to children being less picky eaters

A new study found that 3-year-olds were less averse to the smell of vegetables they had been repeatedly exposed to in utero, suggesting that what mothers eat in late pregnancy can leave a lasting imprint on their children's tastes.

One prankster started a movement to clothe animals in the mid-20th century

G. Clifford Prout founded the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, saying that animal nudity was rude and immoral. The campaign continued for years until CBS employees realized Prout was actually a comedian named Buck Henry.

Even in recent history, adaptations to the environment drove human evolution

Through genetics, environmental pressures, and cultural influences, humans have evolved to tolerate lactose, develop varying skin pigmentation, and acquire genetic resistance to diseases like bubonic plague. The metabolic and digestive systems of Indigenous peoples have adapted to their diet, which is influenced by the availability of food and water.

'Mental hygiene' was the 1843 term for mental health

It was coined by American psychiatrist William Sweetzer to reference the same idea as personal hygiene. Mental hygiene, in Sweetzer's view, needed to be maintained in the same way people attend to their personal cleanliness, an idea that was supplanted by better understanding of the complexities of mental health disorder causes in the decades that followed.

Early 20th-century ID cards protected trans people in Germany using hormone therapy

A small number of passes were granted by the German police—with clinician support—between 1909 and 1933 that nominally allowed them to dress in ways that matched their gender identity, use experimental hormone therapies, and even receive early sex reassignment surgeries. At the time, individuals could be charged with "public nuisance" without the pass.

What is pumpernickel bread?

Pumpernickel is a dark rye bread made without wheat flour in Germany and exported to over 100 countries. It's one of the oldest breads in the world, having been made for at least 500 years. It's traditionally consumed alongside something hearty like meat. It lasts for years in a tin, and some recipes require it to be baked for up to 24 hours in its own steam.

The temperance movement loathed toasting

The 19th- and 20th-century groups opposed to drinking alcohol viewed toasting as a vile practice that encouraged excess and debauchery. One reverend wrote in 1881 that "toasting is a relic of the vile custom of drinking to the honour, applause and commemoration of depraved men and women, whose persons should have been despised, and whose memories should be perished."

...and allowed newly arrived European immigrants to maintain their cultures

19th-century public schools often included Protestant spiritual instruction, something that was disturbing for Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, and elsewhere, who found homes in neighborhood “parochial” schools.

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

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

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.

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.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

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.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

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.

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.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

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 first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

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