The submarine that attacked New York — in 1776
The first submarine attack in history did not involve steel, engines, or torpedoes. It involved a hand-cranked wooden barrel, a single exhausted volunteer, and a…
Category: Seasonal
This year’s fair food has gone gloriously off the rails
Somewhere between the Ferris wheel and the prize hogs, the American fair has become the place where dinner goes to lose its mind. Two exhibits…
A small gland may hint at how you are aging
Tucked behind the breastbone sits a gland most people never think about — the thymus. New research suggests it may reveal something about how well a…
There is no such thing as a male watermelon
One of summer’s most repeated bits of produce-aisle wisdom holds that round melons are “female” and sweet, while long, oblong ones are “male” and watery….
More ways to spot a ripe melon
The creamy yellow ground spot is the single best sign of ripeness. A few more cues stack the odds in your favor. Heft it. A ripe melon feels heavy for its…
Watermelon was buried with King Tut
When Howard Carter opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, the food left for the young pharaoh’s afterlife included watermelon seeds, sealed away more…
The Indiana banana that rarely shares its fruit
The pawpaw is the largest edible fruit native to North America, and it grows wild in the woods of Indiana — which is how it earned the nickname Indiana…
This year’s fair food has gone gloriously off the rails
Somewhere between the Ferris wheel and the prize hogs, the American fair has become the place where dinner goes to lose its mind. Two exhibits star this…
Nobody got rich inventing the funnel cake
Nobody got rich inventing the funnel cake. That squiggle of fried batter under a blizzard of powdered sugar is a Pennsylvania Dutch folk recipe, carried…
Roller Coaster Nation
According to the Roller Coaster Database, about 6,200 roller coasters operate in roughly 4,500 amusement parks worldwide In the U.S. today, 854 roller…