Mike Rampton
The Agonizing Case of ‘The Atomic Wedgie Killer’
In 2015, Brad Lee Davis had a drunken argument with his stepfather and gave him a wedgie. Not just any wedgie — David pulled his stepfather’s underwear over his head, leading to death from a combination of asphyxia and blunt force trauma
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- By Mike Rampton
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How ‘The Big Lebowski’ Turned the White Russian into a Milk of the Gods
As the turn of the century neared, the White Russian was just another bad, outdated cocktail from the 1970s. Then The Dude arrived and ensured that it wasn’t just ‘another caucasian, Gary’
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Original Crypto Bros and the Undiscoverable Buried Treasure Somewhere in Virginia
Codebreakers and treasure-hunters have spent decades trying to figure out the mysterious papers known as the Beale Ciphers in hopes of finding the $50 million in gold and silver they alleged reveal. But are they the work of a genius or a 19th century grifter?
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Self-Fellator Who May Have Found the Key to All Knowledge in the Universe
Ior Bock was a Finnish man who barely wore clothes; may have slightly shot his brother; was stabbed a great many times; and claimed to be part of a long line of people who sucked their own penises in a ‘swallow your own seed and remain one of the purest humans who understand everything’ sort of deal
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- By Mike Rampton
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The One-Liner That Made a Man a Saint
How a gag delivered while being cooked to death over hot coals turned St. Lawrence into a comedy legend
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- By Mike Rampton
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When Pro-Wrestling’s Dirtiest Trick Came to Soccer
To stave off certain defeat against Brazil in a World Cup qualifying match, Chile’s goaltender decided to make things a little bloody
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Most Irrational Thing the World’s Most Logical Thinker Ever Did
Kurt Gödel was by any metric a genius — a mathematician, logician and philosopher who reshaped the world of mathematics as we know it, coming up with theorems that heavily influenced computing and machine learning. But later in life, all of that fearsome logic went right out the window
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Nutty Case of the Haunted Scrotum
One of modern science’s most famous nutsacks is an incredible example of pareidolia, or seeing a face where there is no face at all — in this case, the MRI of a 45-year-old man’s ballbag
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Search for Dr. Condom, Birth-Control Pioneer
The word ‘condom’ doesn’t really linguistically mean anything or make any sense. One theory is that Charles II had a physician, Dr. Condom, who prescribed him cloth models when he couldn’t stop having illegitimate children. But that story is probably fake. Dr. Condom, where are you?
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Science of Being Completely Full of Sh*t
The world is full of liars, but can some of them not help it?
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Disowned Dan Aykroyd Movie That Prompted A Murder Investigation
How did a long-forgotten buddy movie attract the homicide division?
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- By Mike Rampton
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How A Backstreet Boys’ Fart Topped the Charts in Romania
‘The Call’ features backing vocals from Howie D’s butt
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- By Mike Rampton
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The 300-Pound Victorian Fraudster Who Inspired ‘The Simpsons’ Most Polarizing Episode
Many allege Season Nine’s ‘The Principal and the Pauper’ is the exact moment the animated series jumped the shark. But its creator says those critics have it all wrong — including the man whose life he drew upon for the story of Principal Skinner’s true identity
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- By Mike Rampton
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‘Hi Terrible, I’m Dad’: Why Corny Jokes (Even the Good Ones) Get No Respect
Why are goofy puns so vilified?
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- By Mike Rampton
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The Wacky World of International Mr. Bean Look-Alikes
Impersonating the near-mute manchild isn’t just a big business, it’s a global one
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- By Mike Rampton
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Execution by Elephant: History’s Most Jumbo Way to Die
Capital punishment used to involve being crushed under some incredibly large feet
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- By Mike Rampton
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Would Living Under Power Lines and Eating Paint Chips Really Have Made Tommy Boy That Dumb?
How about repeated blunt-force trauma to the head?
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- By Mike Rampton
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