World’s Strangest

In the latter part of the 18th century, before television, radio, or even movies with sound, traveling exhibitions were the biggest form of entertainment most people encountered. Oh yes, the circus! At the same time, newspapers and novels told of the adventures Americans experienced settling the western half of the country: exploring, fighting the natives, [...]

Last week, I stumbled upon Uke Springsteen’s MySpace. Uke, who by day is Pat Healy, an editor at the Boston Metro, is a one-man cover band, using his ukulele to strum out renditions of popular Bruce Springsteen songs. (His remix of “Atlantic City” rivals The Band for best cover of the iconic song.) Perhaps not [...]

It seems strange that a man best known for creating the quintessential detective, who based his deductions solely on reason, would also be one of the biggest proponents of Spiritualism around the turn of the last century. Equally strange is that a man who based his career of performing illusions and magic tricks was one [...]

“QUANTUM SHOT” #596Link – article by M. Christian and A. Abrams “Pipe Dreams” with Magnificent Sound: Quite Simply, The Blockbusters of Their Time Some of the most epic and magnificent music masterpieces were created to be played on a large pipe organ – made even better if listened inside soaring gothic cathedrals with pretty much perfect acoustics. [...]

Fire safety is something many people take for granted until it’s too late. In honor of National Fire Safety Month, here are some stories of tragic fires, each of which contains typical “what went wrong” elements that could have lowered the death toll. Each disaster led to more stringent laws and/or safety precautions, to prevent [...]

The diving horses performed at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier in the 1920s and 1930s. The horse would jump into a tank of water, typically with a young woman riding on its back. Some dove with their front legs straight out, while others tucked up their legs as if they were going over a jump. One horse [...]