Damn Interesting

All Items • Page 43/52
Article:

Phineas Gage’s Brain Injury

In 1848, a twenty-five-year-old construction foreman named Phineas Gage won nationwide fame by way of a hole in his h...
Written by Alan Bellows • 16 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

The Most Powerful Bomb Ever Constructed

On 30 October 1961, over the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Sea, Soviet scientists detonated the most powerful...
Written by Alan Bellows • 13 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

The Hazards of Eating Bats

Bats, along with spiders and snakes, are one of the most frequently feared animals. Ask any bat lover, and they will...
Written by Bryan Lowder • 13 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

Hole-y Cow

Animals can live a surprising amount of time with a permanent hole to their stomach, especially if it is a surgically...
Written by Daniel Lew • 12 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

Prepare for Ludicrous Speed

In 1957, German theoretical physicist Burkhard Heim publicly outlined a new idea for spacecraft propulsion. It was ba...
Written by Alan Bellows • 11 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

A Coffee For When You Feel Like Crap

Coffee connoisseurs are known to be willing to shell out large sums of money for a high-quality bean. The high-end be...
Written by Cynthia Wood • 11 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio/Podcast:

Nuclear Landmines

In 1950s-era Germany, the British forces which had been stationed there after World War 2 were understandably nervous...
Written by Alan Bellows • 10 Jan 2006 • Read/Listen →
Curio:

When They Became Him

If someone used their political position to alter English grammar, would it work? If that sentence bothered you, t...
Written by Cynthia Wood • 09 Jan 2006 • Read →
Article:

Amputation Fetishism

In the early 20th century, there was a sharp increase in the number of people openly seeking to have one or more of t...
Written by Alan Bellows • 08 Jan 2006 • Read →
Curio:

More Than Just a Tune

For some people, whistling is more than just a way to hail a cab. The language of “Silbo Gomero,” found on the Canar...
Written by Daniel Lew • 07 Jan 2006 • Read →
×
... in donations in the next ....