Between the 1930s and 1970s, employees at Merriam-Webster…

Between the 1930s and 1970s, employees at Merriam-Webster created a massive “backward index.” It was a card catalog, containing all the words in its dictionary typed backwards. It eventually included around 315,000 index cards. The reason for creating this thing was to allow the company to find words with similar endings. Such as all words […]

The first person to perform a cardiac…

The first person to perform a cardiac catheterization was not allowed to perform the procedure on a patient, so he decided to perform it on himself and then walk all the way to the X-ray room with the catheter still in his arm to prove that the tube had reached his heart. 10

In 2000 a man looking for a barber chair…

In 2000 a man looking for a barber chair at a garage sale purchased a two deteriorated boxes of items for $45. He later found the boxes contained 65 glass plate negatives from photographer Ansel Adams worth $200 million. 00

An Italian mob pulled an elaborate heist…

An Italian mob pulled an elaborate heist involving olive oil, using adulterated and chemically treated oils and labeling their containers as extra virgin. The profit margin of this heist was said to have “three times the profit margin of cocaine.” 00