The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope

"Canada"

We love Canada. It’s close to home, but weird enough that you feel like you’re in another country or something.

a woodcut depicting the Confederate raid on St. Albans, VT

Rapscallions!

"surprised and excited"

A grab bag of Confederate plots: Fake peace conferences! Robbing banks! Burning down cities! Kidnapping the vice president!

Categories: History, Series 14

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John Yates Beall

Rapscallions!

"Resist at Your Peril!"

The only thing standing between John Yates Beall and Johnson's Island was the USS Michigan... that and a terrible con man and the cowardice of his own men.

Categories: History, Series 14

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Thomas Henry Hines

Rapscallions!

"Patience is Sour"

Thomas Henry Hines had a cunning plan to free Confederate prisoners-of-war and establish a "Northwest Confederacy." Too bad it was doomed to fail.

Categories: History, Series 14

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a (historically inaccurate) woodblock print of the flaming steamship CAROLINE being carried over Niagara Falls

Dangerous Excitement

good times never felt so good

The Canadian revolution seemed over... and then the Redcoats seized an American ship, set it on fire, and sent it plunging over Niagara Falls.

Categories: History, Series 13

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illustration from an edition of The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk

Nuns on the Run

The Awful disclosures of Maria Monk

In 1835 Maria Monk claimed that Montreal's Hôtel-Dieu convent was a vice den. She was making it all up... but Americans desperately wanted to believe her.

Categories: History, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 13

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the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull

Lost Legacy

the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull of Doom

It is the embodiment of all evil? Can it kill with a thought? Can it unlock the secrets of the universe? Whatever it can do, it's the Skull of Doom!

Categories: Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Series 9, Wild Card

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The Kensington Runestone monument (larger than life-size)

Westward Huss

Minnesota Vikings can be found far beyond U.S. Bank Stadium

In which the vikings of Minnesota challenge the patriots of New England for the right to claim Vikings beat Columbus to the New World.

Categories: Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Series 8, The Quest for the Past

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Dighton Rock

Westward Huss

in which America asks the question: whither Vinland?

For years, archaeologists have searched in vain for the location of Leif Eriksson's Vinland. They should have just asked the good people of New England.

Categories: Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Popular Facts & Fallacies, Series 8, The Quest for the Past

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"Prince" Michael Keyfor Mills

Exceeding Great

that's Ezekiel 9:9 for those of you reading along at home

How many times will folks fall for the same old tricks? You might be surprised. The story of Prince Mike, King Ben, and the Houses of Israel and David.

Categories: Eccentrics & Prophecies, Least Popular, People & Places, Series 5

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Simon Girty chewing gum card

He Whooped to See Them Burn

Simon Girty (1741-1818) -- renegade and traitor, or man of principle?

Was "white savage" Simon Girty (1741-1818) a renegade and traitor, or a man of principle? We reexamine his history and try to figure out what made him tick.

Categories: Biography, History, Most Popular, Series 4

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