Tomás Reyes
History & Geography EditorA born storyteller who believes every map is a lie and every border is an argument. Spent a decade as a travel journalist before joining the feed.
Articles by Tomás Reyes
Connecticut's Bouncing Pickle Law: The Absurd Food Safety Standard That Never Died
Connecticut's 1940s pickle freshness law requires pickles to literally bounce when dropped. Decades later, it's still technically on the books—and never enforced.
North Dakota's Bizarre Beer-and-Pretzel Ban Is Still Somehow Law
One Midwestern state has an active law prohibiting bars from serving beer and pretzels at the same time. The rule is real, it's still on the books, and nobody quite remembers why.
Washington State's Unhinged Cryptid Protection Law Is Somehow Still in Effect
Skamania County, Washington has a binding ordinance making it illegal to kill Bigfoot, complete with up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The creature doesn't officially exist.
Why Nobody Can Actually Tell You How Long a Coastline Is
The length of Britain's coastline depends entirely on how closely you measure it. Zoom in far enough, and it becomes infinite.
Australia Declared War on Emus—and Lost
In 1932, the Australian military deployed soldiers with machine guns to cull invasive emus destroying crops. The birds won.
Norway's Coastline Is Longer Than Russia's. Yes, Really.
Norway, a country smaller than Texas, has a longer coastline than Russia—the world's largest nation. Blame the fjords.
Alaska Is Somehow Both the Easternmost and Westernmost State in America
Alaska's Aleutian Islands straddle the 180th meridian, making the state simultaneously the furthest east and furthest west point in the United States—a geographic paradox that breaks most people's mental maps.
The Dancing Plague That Seized a Medieval City
In 1518 Strasbourg, hundreds of people danced uncontrollably until collapse. This wasn't mass delusion—it actually happened, and we still don't know why.
Cleopatra Was Closer to the Moon Landing Than to the Pyramids
Cleopatra lived 2,530 years after the Great Pyramid was built, but only 1,939 years before Apollo 11. She was temporally closer to the Space Age than the age of pharaohs.