Ridiculous History

Whether you call it table tennis, whiff-whaff or ping pong, there's no denying this fun sport of "tennis for the home" has become a global phenomenon. But where did it come from? In today's episode, B...

Today, Isaac Newton is best known for his scientific pursuits -- but he also served as Warden and, later, Master of the Royal Mint. And this wasn't some sort of honorary position, either: Newton took ...

Oof! Atari! As our producer Max likes to say, 'it was a thing.' In the second part of this two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max explore the pioneering rise of Atari, corporate overtake, and the final wo...

Nowadays most people either play video games, or know someone who does -- yet this wasn't always the case. As civilization skyrockets toward gaming experiences that feel increasingly immersive (and, i...

Naval legend Admiral Nelson died on October 21st, 1805 shortly after being shot by a French sniper while standing on the deck his ship, Victory. Following the British victory at the Battle of Trafalga...

Words are everywhere -- and we're grateful, because we can't do this show without them. But all words were, at some point, just made up. So how does society decide what counts as a "real" word? In tod...

What if you could hop from France to New York in less than four hours? Traveling twice the speed of sound, with caviar, lobster, champagne and cigars? This was the pitch of the Concorde jet -- a revol...

In late 17th-century England, it was almost impossible for anyone outside of the upper class to successfully get a divorce -- the process was expensive and required approval from both the church and t...

As the Western world embarks on 2026, Ben, Max and Noel welcome everyone's New Year's resolutions. (Here's hoping that gym schedule continues through February!) In celebration of a "New Year, New Me" ...

Nowadays beef, chicken and pork are the most common meats in the US -- but, not so long ago, that could have all changed. Join the guys as they travel back to the early 1900s, when Louisiana congressm...