Utterly interesting

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 the summer of 1973, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's marriage faced turmoil. Ono proposed an unconventional solution: Lennon should engage...

In 1961, Jimi Hendrix faced a big decision following a legal entanglement related to his involvement with stolen vehicles: either two years of incarceration or enlistment in the Army. He opted for military service and was subsequently assigned to the 101st Airborne Division in May of that year.  Thus began his tenure in the Army, a period often overshadowed by his subsequent rise to fame but nevertheless significant in understanding the man behind the music. Despite the deman

In 1981 Paul McCartney flew to Monteserrat, where Beatles producer George Martin had installed a state-of-the-art studio, to begin work on his Tug Of War solo album. One song in this album is Get It, to which recording session he invited Carl Perkins to provide vocals. Carl loved the experience and the following morning he wrote My Old Friend for Paul in appreciation. In fact, he recounted to Paul that usually when he writes he needs a pen and a sheet of paper to record his t

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.

Joe Arridy didn't request a final meal, and it's doubtful he comprehended the notion. At just 23 years old, he possessed an IQ of 46. As...

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.

Early Life and Ideological Foundations Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, more widely recognised as Carlos the Jackal, was born on October 12, 1949,...

The Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda , is arguably “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most...

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.

This is a gorgeous example of French presentation from the 1920s, the fragrance "L’Orange Variée" by Les Parfums de Marcy is presented in...

The Society for Photographing the Relics of Old London, led by Alfred Marks, focused on places that gave off a certain view of the city....

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...

The Rolling Stones tend to get introduced as one of the greatest live bands in history, and fair play, they’ve spent nearly sixty years proving it. Even now, they still show up and blast through sets as if the whole ageing process was merely a suggestion. But for a band so famously loud and loose on stage, their studio work is just as interesting, even if it tends to get pushed aside in favour of tales about hotel-room furniture flying out of windows. Behind the scenes, Jagg

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...

From a car repair shop in Gateshead to Compass Point in Nassau and a studio bell recorded after a pigeon problem this is the real story of how Brian Johnson joined AC DC and helped craft Back In Black the album that changed rock forever.

There have been many great 'adventurers'. People who have through force of will or luck or the ability to bullshit really REALLY well, have carved their names into the pages of history. Little people who do extraordinary things. One of my favourites is the illiterate Irish farmer who managed, without any support, to create for himself his own kingdom in India. Known as the "Jehazi Sahib" he briefly created a whole new state, with himself as a rajah, in the wild and dangerous

On June 24, 1908, history was made with the London Olympic Marathon, held amidst scorching heat on a newly resurfaced, unforgivingly hard...

On 22nd February, 1876, on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, a child was born who would grow up to challenge the very system that tried to erase her. She would become known to the world as Zitkála-Šá, meaning “Red Bird” in the Dakota language. At various points in her life she was called Gertrude Simmons, Gertrude Bonnin, a violinist, a teacher, a writer, an agitator, and a reformer. But through it all, she chose to sign her most powerful work with her Dakota na

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