While You Were Pooping

Bananas are berries. Strawberries aren’t. Welcome to the chaotic, rule-breaking world of botanical fruit classification.

There’s a billion-pound stockpile of cheese buried in Missouri— and the U.S. government put it there. Here’s why it exists, and who gets the cheddar.

Dad jokes are older than you think— like, ancient civilization old. Here’s where they came from, why they work, and why they’re here to stay.

During WWII, one village quietly changed all its clocks to throw off Nazi spies— and it actually worked. Here’s how time itself became a weapon.

In 1945, a chicken survived being beheaded— and lived for 18 months. Here’s how it worked, and how he became a touring sideshow star.

Slicing onions releases a tear-inducing gas that your eyes hate. Here's the science behind the burn— and how to stop the crying.

In the 1800s, doctors used leeches to treat ear infections and hearing loss. It sounds gross, but there was real science behind the slime.

In 1954, a woman was struck by a meteorite while napping on her couch. She survived—but her life got way weirder after that.

In 897, Pope Stephen VI put a long-dead pope on trial, dressed the corpse up, and shouted accusations at it. Here’s how that went.

Deep beneath your feet, there may be an entire ocean trapped in rock. Here’s how scientists found it—and why it matters.