Billy A

Long before she was a pixilated princess guiding Link on fantastical quests, Zelda was a real-life literary darling of the early 20th century. The iconic video game heroine actually inherited her name from Jazz Age writer and socialite Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of The Great Gatsby scribe F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The folded paper containers with wire handles that carry billions of orders of Kung Pao chicken, lo mein, and egg rolls each year actually originated right here in the United States. The quintessential Chinese takeout box was invented in Chicago in 1894 by an American named Frederick Weeks Wilcox.

When we peer up at the Milky Way's misty band of light, we’re viewing it as it appeared in the Stone Age due to the vast distance involved. That's because light from the galaxy's center takes an estimated 25,000 years to reach our planet.

Strolling though a shaded Melbourne park, a gnarled tree with twisting branches catches your eye. Its solid presence exudes sage experience weathering city life’s commotion. So on a whim back home, you email this stalwart tree a friendly update on your week - and soon receive a thoughtful treemail response!

The rainbow spectrum of hues bathing our world holds beauty and mystery. Yet for a rare fraction of people, that palette appears far wider and richer. Thanks to quirks of genetics, some humans receive enhanced color vision known as tetrachromacy, a true superpower allowing people to distinguish 100 million shades - 100 times more than the rest rest of us.

The fascinating history of Rome is filled with intriguing tales and mysteries, but few are as captivating as the story of Caligula's pleasure barge. Uncovered by none other than Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, this tale combines ancient Roman debauchery, a stunning lake, and the iron-fisted rule of a 20th-century fascist leader. Join us on this adventurous journey as we explore the luxurious world of Caligula's pleasure barge and the lengths Mussolini went to uncover it.