'I've never scored a goal in my life without getting a pass from someone else.'

'A penalty is a cowardly way to score.'

-Soccer legend Pelé (1940-2022)

'Without goals, training has no direction.'

- Twelve-time Olympic swimming medalist Natalie Coughlin (1982-present)

Title IX helped push women’s soccer to the world stage

In 1999, Title IX-era stars Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain helped the US win the 1999 World Cup, drawing a then-record 18 million viewers and popularizing US women’s soccer. Many suggest this would not have been possible without the NCAA’s role as a talent incubator, attracting over 20,000 international athletes annually.

A quote by athlete Walter Payton

"When you're good at something, you'll tell everyone. When you're great at something, they'll tell you."

Watch all 17 World Cup goals from Brazil's Marta Vieira da Silva

Brazil's Marta Vieira da Silva has scored more goals at the World Cup than any other player in the world, male or female, with 17. Take a look back at all of her goals for Brazil at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in this video reel.

Camus was a soccer goalie as a teenager

The writer played for Algiers Racing University but had to quit after contracting tuberculosis. He remained a fan, though, once suggesting that the game taught him important lessons about morality. In the 1957 interview below, he briefly reflects on his time as a goalie and speaks about his recent Nobel Prize.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

England's sole World Cup win featured a 'ghost goal'

The 1966 match is known for Geoff Hurst's controversial third goal—called a "ghost goal." Watch the original footage, including the legendary call from announcer Kenneth Wolstenholme, and decide for yourself if the ball went in.

'A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.'

- Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player (1919-1972)

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Axelle Berthoumieu bit Ireland's Aoife Wafer during the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter‑final in 2025

Biting, waxing pool balls, and modifying ski suits are just a few of the various instances of bad sportsmanship in 2025. It appears that cheating is much harder to get away with in the era of smartphones.

Cocaine financed Uruguayan soccer player Sebastián Marset's childhood dream

Sebastián Marset was one of the most successful drug traffickers in South America. In order to launder the profits from his cocaine empire, he bought and sold professional soccer teams—which he played on.

Henry Chadwick invented the box score in 1859—and wrote off walks as a pitcher's failure

The English migrant adapted cricket statistics for baseball, publishing the first box score in the game's early days. Baked into that was a dismissal of the walk as reflecting a batter's skill, instead implying it was a pitcher's mistake. That assumption kept walks out of the box score for more than a century, concealing the skill involved in drawing walks.

NHL players used to not wear helmets or masks

Until the 1970s, hockey goalies didn't wear masks to protect their faces with any regularity. Instead, they took pucks off their cheeks, foreheads, and mouths, resulting in serious scars. Any player who entered the league after June 1, 1979, was required to wear a helmet, but several players who'd started before then chose to continue playing without one.

'The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.'

- Fashion icon Anna Wintour (1949 – present)

'After you make a fool of yourself a few hundred times, you learn what works.'

- Musician Gwen Stefani (1969-present)

Possibly my favorite English football fun fact: The Story of Ali Dia

Two decades after his one appearance for Southampton, Ali Dia is the most famous phoney in the history of British football. But how did his move come about? And where is he now?

The World Cup ball has had 23 different designs

Adidas has supplied the official ball for the last 15 iterations. The first World Cup final featured two different balls: one provided by Argentina and one supplied by Uruguay. Argentina was winning 2-1 before the balls were switched. Uruguay went on to win the match 4-2.

Some athletes warm up with equipment from other sports

Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani uses a cricket bat; his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws a javelin. Quarterback CJ Stroud shoots free throws. The reasons are partially physical (it's good to exercise different parts of your body) and partially mental (it's nice to take the pressure off with someone else's game).

In 1980, a woman cheated her way to a Boston Marathon win

Rosie Ruiz, an unknown runner, finished first in the Boston Marathon, cutting her qualifying New York time by over 20 minutes. The world would soon learn, though, that Ruiz hadn't run the entirety of either race, something that her first interviewer seems to piece together by her strange answers to basic questions.

'Scorigami' attempts to chart every NFL game score

The rules of the sport set bounds on possible final outcomes, so this adept statistician mined some fascinating takeaways. Some scores are impossible (like 5 to 1) and some are more common (like 20-17, occurring over 300 times since 1944). Watch for a deluge of numbers.

'I got my start by giving myself a start.'

- Businesswoman Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919)

Autograph hunters form secretive networks to trade celebrity access tips

Inside the rarefied world of the autograph collector, individuals who will go to great lengths to gather celebrities' signatures.

'One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world'

- Activist and author Malala Yousafzai (1997-present)

Abigail Adams received no formal schooling, but educated herself through reading

Despite receiving no formal education—standard for women of her era—Adams became well-read, largely through self-directed reading and extensive correspondence with leading political thinkers of her time, such as Thomas Jefferson and Mercy Otis Warren.

A Guardian writer turned midlife chess slump into an obsession

Journalist Stephen Moss embarked on a chess self-improvement journey described in "The Guardian." Not a how-to, but a reflection on loss, drive, and whether mastering chess can mean mastering oneself.

‘The Artist Is Present’ was inspired by an earlier performance titled ‘Nightsea Crossing’

In the ‘80s, partners Abramović and Ulay sat across from each other in public without moving or speaking. Ulay was unable to continue after a certain point, but Abramović kept going. “The Artist Is Present” marked Abramović continuing the performance without him.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

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.

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.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

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

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

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

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

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

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Shooting stars, or meteors, are fragments of asteroids and comets that burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks in the sky called meteor showers.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Marburg virus, related to Ebola, is also extremely deadly, and has no available vaccine.