Category: Culture
In 1924, Universities Were Already Planning to Teach Classes by Radio
Long before online courses, video lectures, and virtual classrooms became part of everyday education, American universities were already considering whether new technology could bring lessons…
Washington Food Vendor Arrested for Cooking With Water From a Horse Trough
Washington, D.C., health officials had a blunt warning for food and drink vendors in the summer of 1923: keep it clean or face arrest. Dr….
Chicago Woman Sought Divorce After Husband Refused to Remove “Who’s Boss” Sign
A Chicago woman reportedly decided she had endured enough of her husband’s sense of humor, especially after he refused to remove a provocative sign hanging…
Grieving New York Impresario Searched for a Singer Who Sounded Like His Dead Wife
After the death of his young wife, Russian impresario Max Rabinoff set out to find something that seemed almost impossible: another woman who could sing…
Strange Businesses Once Found on the Streets of New York City
At the turn of the 20th century, New York City offered just about any service a person could imagine, along with quite a few that…
Advertisers Urged to Give Away Drinking Cups To Stop Sharing
In the early 1900s, public health officials were trying to convince Americans to abandon one of the most ordinary, and potentially unsanitary, habits of daily…
British Soldiers Came to Teach the U.S. Army Military Gymnastics
In 1902, the United States Army was looking across the Atlantic for a new way to train its soldiers. After American generals watched British troops…
A Strange Edwardian Fashion Accessory Saved a Missouri Teen’s Life
When a heavy elevator cable crashed through the roof of a car at a St. Louis hotel, it struck 17-year-old Laura Wind directly on the…
North Dakota Man Unearthed a Copper Spearhead Near Mysterious Burial Mounds
Oliver Smith was digging on his property near Lake Metigoshe when his tool struck something unusual beneath the soil. About six inches below the surface,…
Ohio Undertaker Used a Corpse as a Business Sample
Mr. Pearce, an undertaker in Ardmore, Ohio, believed his work deserved to be seen. After all, shoemakers displayed their shoes, tailors hung their finest garments…
