Amazing Stories for Curious Minds

The Habsburg jaw, well known, little understood—until a team of researchers detailed the inbreeding behind the royal smile.

Insults never die they just evolve. Medieval insults were surprisingly creative and some are still relevant to frustrations we face in modern life.

In 536 AD a volcanic eruption coated the Northern hemisphere with ash and produced a fog that plunged Europe into darkness.

Enveloped in tradition for over five centuries, the bundling bag custom has intrigued Western Europe and North America alike. As evidence suggests, it continues to thrive within select New England religious communities, exemplifying enduring cultural practices.

George Everest was a British surveyor and geographer, he is most famous for having the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, named after him, despite the fact he never really had anything to do with the discovery.

Chinese water torture, often likened to a relentless dripping faucet in the still of the night, has been etched into history as a horrifying practice, its chilling notoriety accentuated by Houdini’s exhilarating, death-defying renditions.

James Jameson, grandson and heir of Jameson Irish whiskey magnate John Jameson, was an esteemed nineteenth-century naturalist. He would become infamous for his alleged role in the murder and cannibalization of a young African girl.