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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Empress Sissi (Elisabeth of Austria)
The Empress and the File
What does a 19th-century empress do in a room called the Toilette- und Turnzimmer?
She walked ten hours a day, fenced twice some days, and kept gymnastic rings rigged in her bedroom doorway. At fifty-six she weighed 96 pounds and had been diagnosed with edema of hunger. Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the Hofburg's hungriest athlete.
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The Paper Men Who Launched a Barnyard Into the Sky
The king suggested testing the balloon on condemned prisoners. The Montgolfiers had a better idea.
The Knight Whose Insult Became a Mozart Composition
He had a second, fancier iron hand built for Sundays.
The Boy Who Kept Scorpions in Matchboxes
The zoo that once refused to hire him now sends its directors to the training academy he built.
