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Pad Thai for everyone was once the party line.
food

The Oddly Autocratic Roots of Pad Thai

The sweet and salty noodle dish started out in a prime minister's kitchen.
Alex Mayyasi November 7, 2019
San Bernardino, California

Mitla Cafe

The Route 66 institution that inspired Taco Bell also served as an important headquarters for Mexican-American social movements.
Whale fat was widely used to wage war⁠—and make margarine.
animals

Hitler’s Secret Antarctic Expedition for Whales

Whales meant margarine, and margarine meant victory.
Luke Fater November 6, 2019
Behind the Iron Curtain, shelves were empty but champagne was affordable.
dictators

How Stalin and the Soviet Union Created a Champagne for the Working Class

In 1936, the Party suddenly switched from denouncing bubbly to mass producing it.
Jessica Gingrich November 5, 2019
New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Turtle Mound

Mariners once used this prehistoric landfill as a navigational landmark.
sports

For Sale: A Relic From Babe Ruth’s Ill-Fated Year in Brooklyn

At the end of his career, the Bambino wanted the Bronx and got a different borough instead.
Isaac Schultz November 4, 2019
The bank.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

First Bank of the United States

Alexander Hamilton’s creation caused quite a bit of controversy.
Now part of Bear Mountain State Park, the abandoned hamlet has zero (living) residents but three cemeteries.
cemeteries

In This New York Ghost Town, the Graveyards Keep Growing

Doodletown was shuttered by the state in 1965. That hasn't stopped Doodletowners from burying their dead there.
Shane Cashman October 31, 2019
The "Bacardi Bomber" now resides at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
military history

Bacardi's Head Honcho Once Tried to Bomb Castro's Cuba

After many a misadventure, his warplane is on display today.
Anne Ewbank October 31, 2019
In the late 19th century, "ghost hoaxers" wore costumes to terrify unsuspecting victims.
victorian

The Mischievous 'Ghost Hoaxers' of 19th-Century Australia

To stave off boredom, some people donned sheets and menaced the public.
Joseph Hayes October 29, 2019
A machine for making fortune cookies on display.
Brooklyn, New York

Museum of Food and Drink

Here, exhibits come with a side of edible history.
The Porcineograph: A pig-shaped map of the United States.
maps

Why an 1875 Map Imagined the U.S as a Giant Hog

New York is the nose, Alaska the tail, and Cuba is a giant sausage. 
Reina Gattuso October 28, 2019
Eerie lights are a common sight in Clinch County, Georgia.
mystery

Searching for 'Spooklights' in Southern Georgia

This rural region may be the will-o'-the-wisp capital of America.
Shaun Raviv October 25, 2019
An 1876 map showing Laurel Cemetery.
cemeteries

The Grim History Hidden Under a Baltimore Parking Lot

After an African-American cemetery was bulldozed, families wondered what happened to the graves.
Sarah Laskow October 25, 2019
The Johnson memorial at Little Zion Church in Greenwood, Mississippi, where most sources indicate he is buried.
cemeteries

The Not-So-Mysterious Missing Grave of Blues Legend Robert Johnson

The supernatural has surrounded the guitar virtuoso for decades. 
Matthew Taub October 23, 2019
Court Barn from Lee-on-Solent.
Chichester, England

Weald and Downland Living Museum

This open-air heritage museum illuminates centuries of historic English life from a West Sussex village.
New York, New York

Ear Inn

One of the city’s oldest watering holes was originally the home of a famous James Brown (not that one).
Powell Museum.
Green River, Utah

John Wesley Powell River History Museum

Contains a wealth of information about the first exploration and later use of the Green and Colorado Rivers.