All That's Interesting • January 31 2026

'Things That I Will Never Forget': Inside The Dark History Of The Infamous Pennhurst Asylum

Nestled amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, Pennhurst State School and Hospital was once heralded as a progressive solution, a modern haven for society’s most vulnerable. Instead, it became a nightmarish center of neglect, abuse, and systemic cruelty.

For nearly 80 years, Pennhurst Asylum, as it’s come to be known, operated as a human warehouse. Thousands of children and adults with disabilities were hidden away from the world, and subjected to conditions that, when later ex...

All That's Interesting • January 30 2026

Beach Erosion Has Revealed A 136-Year-Old Shipwreck In New Jersey's 'Graveyard Of The Atlantic'

The skeletal remains of a 19th-century schooner that sank during a violent storm more than 136 years ago have emerged from the sands of Island Beach State Park, offering a tangible link to New Jersey’s treacherous maritime history.

Park officials announced the discovery of the wreck, identified as the Lawrence N. McKenzie, on social media. Pieces of the vessel, which was caught in heavy fog and foundered on the shoals off Barnegat Bay in 1890, were uncovered by recent beach erosion and tidal ac...

All That's Interesting • January 30 2026

Did Controversial Psychologist Eugene Landy Really Save Brian Wilson's Life — Or Did He Nearly Destroy It?

Brian Wilson, the singer, songwriter, and producer behind The Beach Boys, said that psychotherapist Eugene Landy saved his life. With such a high-profile endorsement, Landy should have been one of the most lauded psychologists in modern American history. But this was just part of the story, and the broader picture would prove to be far more controversial.

As The Beach Boys’ musical genius gradually succumbed to depression and substance abuse, Landy stepped in with a radical, controversial solut...

All That's Interesting • January 29 2026

Doctors Are Warning Of The Dangers Of Liquid Nitrogen Cocktails After One Caused A Man's Stomach To Burst

Liquid nitrogen-infused cocktails are a fairly common staple of modern bars, but while most people consider this smoky flair to be a harmless addition, the truth is quite the opposite.

Recently, a 34-year-old man in Mexico was admitted to the hospital due to intense pain he felt in his stomach after drinking a liquid nitrogen cocktail at a bar. As it turned out, the drink had ruptured his stomach.

So, what caused this to happen?

While the effect created by adding liquid nitrogen to a drink is...

All That's Interesting • January 29 2026

How Maud Lewis Persevered Through Chronic Pain And Poverty To Become One Of Canada's Most Renowned Folk Artists

Despite being recognized today as one of Canada’s most renowned folk artists, Maud Lewis spent most of her life impoverished and physically constrained.

Although she was born into a relatively comfortable middle-class family, a lifelong struggle with multiple congenital disorders and increasingly painful arthritis made it difficult for her to be physically active and perform many traditional household tasks. Thanks to her mother’s encouragement, however, Lewis developed a love of painting — a l...

All That's Interesting • January 28 2026

He's Been Called The 'Ugliest Tiger In The World' — But The Truth Is Much More Heartbreaking

Since the 2000s, photos of Kenny the “tiger with Down syndrome” have made him an online sensation. Countless people have been captivated by his story, in which “the world’s ugliest tiger” was rescued from an abusive breeder who determined that he was “too ugly” to sell. Both his story and his appearance garnered enormous amounts of sympathy online — and Kenny wasn’t alone.

Untold numbers of stories about animals with Down syndrome have made their way around the internet, thanks to Facebook, Ins...

All That's Interesting • January 28 2026

Rock Climbers In Italy Stumble Upon Evidence Of An 80-Million-Year-Old Sea Turtle Stampede

Rock climbers in northern Italy have stumbled upon an extraordinary paleontological find: fossilized evidence of what scientists believe was a massive sea turtle stampede dating back 80 million years to the Late Cretaceous period.

The initial discovery was made in the spring of 2019 by free climbers exploring the limestone cliffs of eastern Italy’s Monte Cònero. They noticed unusual markings in the rock face and reported their findings to local geologists, who surveyed the area. Now, the result...

All That's Interesting • January 27 2026

New Research Suggests The T. Rex Had A Longer Lifespan Than Previously Believed — And Didn’t Reach Full Size Until 40 Years Old

Much like trees, dinosaur bones contain concentric growth rings that can point to a fossil’s age. A recent study of the leg bones of the Tyrannosaurus rex revealed that some of these rings are easier to see than others — and this discovery is completely rewriting the lifespan of the “king of the dinosaurs.”

While previous analysis of T. rex growth rings suggested that the massive reptiles died by 30, scientists now believe they may have continued growing until they were at least 40 years old....

All That's Interesting • January 27 2026

The Shocking Story Of William Joyce, Nazi Germany's Most Infamous English-Language Propaganda Broadcaster

His voice was impossible to forget: a nasal, haughty sneer, an exaggerated mimicked poshness of the British upper class, warped by a malevolent glee. The British press dubbed him “Lord Haw-Haw,” the host of a pro-Nazi, English-language radio program called Germany Calling that became the mocking soundtrack to the Blitz.

But even though he was part of the Nazi propaganda machine, broadcasting from a radio station in Germany, Lord Haw-Haw was not German.

His real name was William Joyce, and he w...

All That's Interesting • January 26 2026

Research Reveals That Edmond Halley Wasn't Actually The First Astronomer To Identify Halley's Comet

Halley’s Comet may be in need of a new name, according to recent research. The comet, which returns roughly every 76 years, has long been associated with astronomer Edmond Halley. In 1705, Halley determined that comets observed in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were actually the same celestial body — and then correctly predicted its return in 1758.

However, new research has revealed that an 11th-century English monk named Eilmer of Malmesbury actually recognized the comet’s periodicity centuries before H...

All That's Interesting • January 24 2026

Owen Hart Won WWE Fans Over With His Over-The-Top Performance — Then Tragically Died In A Stunt Gone Wrong

On May 23, 1999, Canadian wrestler Owen Hart, known by his stage name The Blue Blazer, fell to his death off-camera during a pay-per-view event as he prepared to make a stunt entrance from the rafters of the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

The next evening, wrestling fans tuned in to an atypically somber, quiet episode of Raw is War. Rather than being greeted with WWE’s (then WWF) usual in-your-face pyrotechnics and high-energy aggression, viewers saw almost the entire roster of WWE wres...

All That's Interesting • January 23 2026

Scientists May Have Just Discovered A New Life Form While Studying Fossils Of An Extinct, Fungus-Like Organism

In the mid-19th century, scientists examined the prehistoric fossil of a strange life form dubbed Prototaxites, meaning “early yew.” At roughly 400 million years old, these organisms predated trees. They stood 25 feet tall and towered above the Lilliputian plants, mushrooms, and bugs that dotted the landscape.

But the question of exactly what these spire-shaped objects were has remained a mystery. Now, a new study published in Science Advances could explain why Prototaxites have been so difficu...

All That's Interesting • January 22 2026

Astronomers Just Discovered A Mysterious Cloud Of Iron Inside The Ring Nebula That Measures 3.7 Trillion Miles Across

Ever since it was first discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier in 1779, the Ring Nebula has been a continuous subject of study — one that continues to reveal new secrets, nearly 250 years later.

Recently, researchers observed a large, bar-shaped cloud of iron atoms stretching roughly 3.7 trillion miles across the face of the nebula. This discovery was made thanks to the new WEAVE spectrograph that came online in conjunction with Spain’s William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in 2023. Alt...

All That's Interesting • January 22 2026

Philo Farnsworth Was Named The 'Father Of Television' — Then His Genius Invention Nearly Ruined His Life

Today, it’s easy to take the television for granted as one of many options for entertainment available to us, especially during the age of the internet and the ongoing popularity of social media. But it cannot be understated just how radically television transformed culture.

The word “television” was first coined by Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi at the International Congress of Electricity during the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900. But it took the work of numerous inventors, scientists, a...

All That's Interesting • January 21 2026

A Metal Detectorist In England Unearthed A Roman Figurine Depicting A Big Cat Pawing A Man’s Severed Head

A rare Roman artifact discovered by a metal detectorist in Harlow, Essex in 2024 has been officially declared Treasure by the British government.

The artifact is a small, copper-alloy sculpture depicting a large cat resting its paw on a detached human head. It was dated to approximately 43 C.E. to 200 C.E., a few hundred years before the fall of Rome, and experts believe it was likely affixed to the straps used to yoke an animal to a carriage or wagon.

It is the only known Roman vehicle fittin...

All That's Interesting • January 20 2026

Employees At An Illinois Distillery With Ties To Al Capone Just Found A Prohibition-Era Gun Hidden In The Wall

Hidden in the walls of Thornton Distilling Co. in the Chicago suburb of Thornton, Illinois, workers recently found a shocking relic of the past: a gun from the Prohibition era. The weapon, identified as a Colt Model 1908, was still loaded with bullets that appeared to be from the 1920s.

The distillery is known to have had deep ties to Al Capone — but employees said they never expected to find proof of the infamous criminal’s connection to the business.

Owner Andrew Howell and head distiller Ar...

All That's Interesting • January 18 2026

Franca Viola, The Sicilian Woman Who Refused A 'Reparatory Marriage' To Her Rapist

Up until the 1960s, many Italians followed a legal and social custom known as matrimonio riparatore, or “rehabilitating marriage.” Under this convention, women who were raped could avoid being “dishonored” by marrying their rapists. And men who raped women could avoid being accused of a crime by marrying their victim. But a young woman named Franca Viola bravely challenged this cultural norm in 1965.

Then, Viola refused to marry her rapist, her ex-fiancé Filippo Melodia, after he abducted and r...

All That's Interesting • January 16 2026

Scientists Uncover Evidence Of The Oldest Known Arrow Poison On 60,000-Year-Old Arrowheads

Archaeologists have found the world’s oldest direct evidence of poisoned arrowheads, revealing that hunter-gatherers in modern-day South Africa were using sophisticated weapons to hunt prey as far back as 60,000 years ago.

A new study, published in the journal Science Advances, details how researchers detected traces of toxic compounds on tiny quartz arrow tips excavated from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province. The findings pushed back the earliest confirmed u...

All That's Interesting • January 16 2026

Inside Ed Warren's Death: How The Infamous 'Conjuring' Demonologist Died In 2006

Ed Warren, the self-proclaimed demonologist whose paranormal investigations inspired films like The Conjuring and The Amityville Horror, had a controversial life. Critics claim that Ed and his wife Lorraine were fraudsters, perpetuating hoaxes and taking advantage of scared, misled people in order to turn a profit. Believers, on the other hand, would prop up the Warrens as the most famous paranormal investigators in history. But in the years since Ed Warren’s death, his story has become even big...

All That's Interesting • January 15 2026

This Medieval ‘Super Ship,’ The Largest Of Its Kind Ever Found, Was Just Discovered Off The Coast Of Denmark

Maritime archaeologists in Copenhagen have discovered the world’s largest cog, a type of medieval cargo ship that was once the backbone of Northern European trade. This particular vessel had been hidden just under the seabed for 600 years in the waters between Denmark and Sweden.

The vessel, named Svaelget 2, measures about 92 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 20 feet high, with an estimated cargo capacity of 300 tons. Built around 1410, it represents the largest example of its type ever found.

“Th...

All That's Interesting • January 14 2026

Archaeologists In Siberia Have Uncovered Medieval Children's Graves Containing Silver Jewelry And Ornate Belts

Archaeologists working in Siberia have discovered several medieval child burials containing grave goods like ornate belts and jewelry.

Researchers say these finds are shedding new light on the social structures of medieval Siberia and how status played a role even from a young age. The artifacts, experts say, were not indicative of parental love or ritual traditions — they were about publicly affirming elite identity.

A study into these medieval graves and other, more recent, child burials was...

All That's Interesting • January 13 2026

The Prehistoric ‘Ötzi The Iceman’ Mummy May Have Just Upended Experts’ Theories About The Origins Of HPV

Both Ötzi the Iceman, the oldest well-preserved human ever found, as well as a prehistoric man who lived in Siberia 45,000 years ago were recently found to be carriers of a cancer-causing strain of human papillomavirus (HPV), according to new research posted to bioRxiv.

Since his discovery along the Austrian-Italian border in 1991, Ötzi has been the subject of several scientific analyses that have revealed details of his life some 5,300 years ago. Researchers have, for instance, learned that he...

All That's Interesting • January 12 2026

A Farmer Plowing His Field On Scotland’s Isle Of Bute Stumbled Upon A Tomb That Dates Back 4,000 Years

While plowing his field on Scotland’s Isle of Bute, a farmer accidentally unearthed the graves of a man and a young woman from the Bronze Age. The 4,000-year-old burial chamber had first been discovered in 1863, but it had been forgotten about and remained undisturbed until 2022.

Since then, the site has been excavated and the bodies have been taken away for analysis. Now, researchers have shared details of that analysis, revealing more about the story of these two people who lived and died mor...

All That's Interesting • January 10 2026

Inside David Bowie's Death Following A Private Battle With Cancer — And Six Heart Attacks He Kept Secret Beforehand

“Look up here, I’m in heaven,” sings David Bowie in “Lazarus,” a single from his 25th and final album, Blackstar. That album, largely recorded in secret and released in January 2016, was greeted with excitement and enthusiasm from fans and critics alike. Little did they know that at the time of the release, David Bowie was nearing his death.

For 18 months before the release of Blackstar, the legendary rock star had been battling liver cancer, a fact that was known only to a few people close to...