Utterly interesting

Six and a half months before Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland, an unsettling event took place in New York City’s Madison Square Garden...

Yakov Dzhugashvili, Joseph Stalin’s eldest son, lived a life overshadowed by his father’s power. Captured during World War II, his death in a Nazi camp remains shrouded in controversy and tragedy.

In 1915, Cecil Chubb went shopping for dining chairs and came home with Stonehenge. Discover how his impulse buy became a national treasure.

In August 1990, Playgirl Magazine advertised the chance to “Sleep with Donald Trump” on its cover to its predominantly female audience....

In 1908, London saw a bizarre spectacle: duels fought not with lead but wax bullets. Competitors donned masks and armour for this “bloodless sport” that blurred the line between honour and entertainment. Discover the short life of wax bullet duelling

The concept of concentration camps is often associated with Nazi Germany, but their origins stretch deep into British history. Over the...

Dirk Bogarde, whose real name was Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde, was serving as a captain in the British Army at the...

Julie d’Aubigny, better known as La Maupin, was a woman of remarkable contradictions. In an era when women’s roles were sharply defined...

This is a timely insight from a 1959 interview with the philosopher Bertrand Russell about what he would say to a distant future...

Shackleton set out to cross Antarctica. Instead Endurance was crushed, the men spent months drifting on ice, then reached Elephant Island. Six sailed the tiny James Caird to South Georgia and every man survived. A calm, human survival story like no other.

During their 1982 tour, Van Halen made a unique request in their tour riders: a bowl of M&M's, but with all the brown ones taken out, to...

Today is 3 October, and on this date in 1283, Dafydd ap Gruffydd met an infamously grisly end at the hands of the English crown. He...

In 1981 Paul McCartney flew to Monteserrat, where Beatles producer George Martin had installed a state-of-the-art studio, to begin work...

Tucked just a stone’s throw from the Museum of London, where the modern office blocks of the City of London give way to quieter streets,...

Woody Guthrie wasn’t just America’s folk hero — he was a radical, flawed troubadour who sang the struggles of workers and migrants. Discover the protest verses, politics, and myths behind This Land Is Your Land.

Few know that Gwrych Castle in North Wales once sheltered hundreds of Jewish Kindertransport children fleeing Nazi Germany. From straw beds to community support, this forgotten Holocaust story shows resilience, survival, and the kindness of strangers.

Mensur, Germany’s ritualised form of academic fencing, left more than just memories. Student fraternities fought duels with sharp blades, earning scars of honour that became symbols of courage, discipline, and identity across generations.

The two longtime pals met in 1973 as Juilliard students and were best friends up until Reeve's death in 2004. In his autobiography 'Still...

Pirates weren’t only after gold. During the Golden Age of Piracy, many entered matelotage — partnerships that blended love, loyalty, and inheritance. Discover the fascinating history of pirate unions and how they challenged life ashore.

Every year on Baishe Srabon , the 22nd day of the Bengali month of Shravan, people across Bengal pause to remember a man whose words...

There have been many great 'adventurers'. People who have through force of will or luck or the ability to bullshit really REALLY well,...

Ignaz Semmelweis, the Hungarian doctor who discovered handwashing prevented childbed fever, saved countless lives but was ridiculed in his lifetime.

Shipwrecked in Papua New Guinea, Swedish sailor Carl Emil Pettersson didn’t just survive — he married a princess, became king of Tabar Island, and lived a life of love, loss, and adventure. His true story is stranger than fiction. Read more at utterlyinteresting.com

If you could encapsulate madness in a film, Apocalypse Now  would undoubtedly be the crown jewel of cinematic insanity. The filming...