Hogg wild in New Haven
Two men were tried and one was executed for bestiality in early New Haven. The evidence: the birth of piglets that looked suspiciously like the accused.
Category: Politics & law
Creative taxes
Early modern England had some creative property taxes: window, chimney, brick, and wallpaper tax. Early modern England also had some creative methods of tax avoidance: sealed windows, stolen chimneys, larger bricks, and plainer wallpaper.
European rainforest
The largest national park in the European Union is in South America.
Cat-in-chief
Who rules the cats of England? Since at least the 1920s, 10 Downing Street has had an official cat: the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.
Totalitarian elections
Every four or five years there is an election in North Korea. They are not especially competitive. Or at all competitive.
Emperor of the United States
On September 17, 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton proclaimed himself Emperor of the United States. He would reign for 21 years.
Post-truth propaganda
Propaganda is ages old, but the 20th and 21st centuries have given it a set of new tricks.
Hobo news
From 1913 to 1929, the hobos had their own newspaper.
Harem conspiracy
The Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses III was murdered in a conspiracy formed by one of his harem wives that included magicians, physicians, and butlers.
Werewolf witches
Within the witch panic of Medieval Europe was a strange subset of trials that accused people of being both witches and werewolves.
Double time
Almost all of China uses only one time zone. In the extreme west of China, the Xinjiang region uses two time zones at the same time. This is very confusing.
Castle licence
If you wanted to build a castle in medieval England, you needed permission from the king. They’re supposed to be for the defence of the realm, but sometimes you just want to fake out the neighbours.
Moving island
In the 1960s, Australia proposed moving the entire population of Nauru onto another island. Instead, the Nauruans opted for independence.
Tree war
In 1976, North Korea, South Korea, and the United States almost went to war over a single tree.
Dictator vs. rock music
Manuel Noriega was the CIA-funded dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989. When the United States invaded Panama, they drove him out with The Clash’s cover of I Fought the Law.
The five million dollar comma
In 2017, because of a missing comma, a Maine company had to pay out five million dollars in a legal settlement.
The Generalist Academy 