Halloween costumes get stranger
Besides timeless classic Halloween costumes — witches, monsters, and the like, it’s fun to see what’s trending in any given year. With that in mind, here…
Category: Seasonal
Soul cakes may have started the treating tradition
These days, Halloween night features little ones (and not-so-little ones) parading from house to house in search of sweets. And while the origins of…
Creepy trivia
Getting buried alive used to be a world-wide phobia. You would pass out or go into a coma and everyone would just rush you into a really early grave. It…
October invention The tuxedo: A brief but convoluted history
Whether you remember renting one for prom or a wedding, you likely associate a tuxedo with formal or semi-formal occasions. But have you ever wondered how…
Magic–high tech and low tech–still amazes
All things creepy and mystical abound in October, including things magical, and, increasingly, tech magic. Magic has always followed the culture. It…
The evolution of Columbus Day
Almost from the first day it was observed, the Columbus Day holiday has evolved. The first Columbus Day observation took place in 1792, a celebration in…
Leif Erikson: He made a discovery that had potential
With stories of Vikings becoming popular, Leif Erikson also has renewed popularity as the explorer (and warrior) who was one of the early Europeans to…
Shorter version of Leif Erikson story
Leif Erikson: His discovery had potential Christopher Columbus thought he hit gold and was wrong. Leif Erikson did hit gold (at least in the metaphoric…
Effort rescues Caribbean honey bees
Within days of the 2017 hurricane in Puerto Rico, a unique set of relief flights started landing on the island. On board: emergency bee protein….
Be a bee helper
If there are two things we’ve learned about bees in the past decade, it might be summarized this way: they do way more than make honey, and they are worth…