A cabinet of lovable weirdos
Tiny true stories,
lovingly odd.
Weird science, forgotten history, and human quirks — each one true, each under a minute, each a little stranger than you’d expect.
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Stubbins Ffirth
The Man Who Drank the Plague
He built a small closet, filled it with the vomit of the dying, and sat inside breathing deeply — all to prove yellow fever wasn't contagious.
He poured infected vomit into his eyes. He fried it in a pan and inhaled the steam. He built a small closet and sat inside it, breathing. Then he drank it — and noted the taste was "very slightly acid." Stubbins Ffirth never got sick, declared victory, and graduated. He was right for entirely the wrong reasons: the man who drank the plague.
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The Man Who Weighed the Earth and Hid From His Housekeeper
He measured the density of the entire Earth. When he saw his housekeeper on the stairs, he built a second staircase.
The Man Who Loved a Pigeon
Nikola Tesla loved a pigeon as a man loves a woman. When she died, he said his life's work was finished.
The Man Who Was Emperor of America
Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor, and San Francisco largely agreed.
The Man Who Ate Everything
William Buckland was a leading scientist who also made eating animals a research side quest.