This is the story of a boy, a dream, and a very spicy sauce. As a young man growing up in a village near Saigon, David Tran dreamt of creating the Asian equivalent of ketchup—something everybody would want to slop onto everything. During the Vietnam War, he and his family made a living selling dipping sauces that were packaged in recycled baby food jars. As the condiments grew popular with soldiers, one product became a clear favorite—a spicy, oil-based sauce, usually served with grilled meat. It was... READ ON
The hottest thing about chili peppers isn't the way they taste; it's everything else they can do for you. 1. They Strangle... READ ON
If there's a case to be made for intelligent design, we're not sure it should begin with the spiny dogfish. The fact is, their reproductive acts are nothing short of disturbing. If you're up for the nature's greatest argument for faking headaches, read... READ ON
Created by the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, the Witness Protection Program (WPP) does exactly what the movies say—it hides witnesses from vengeful thugs by giving them new identities (not to mention $60,000 a year in subsistence payments, one reasonable job opportunity, and—of course—psychological counseling). Since its inception, some 17,000 people have participated in the system, and no one who's followed the program guidelines has ever been killed. With that in mind,... READ ON
According to 3 Would-Be Holy Books That Got Left Out of the Bible Book: The Infancy Gospel of James Didn't Make the Cut: Because prequels are never as popular as the original story (we're looking at you, Mr. Lucas). The Infancy Gospel of James focuses on the early life of the Virgin Mary and is the source of most extra-biblical traditions about her. Here, Mary is a miracle baby, born to aging parents and sent to live with priests. And Joseph isn't her husband, but a widower who... READ ON
When Life Gives You Massive River Flooding, Make Lemonade In a fit of early 1900s nature-subduing enthusiasm, the good people of California decided to turn Imperial Valley (a desert) into a vast agricultural paradise (not a desert). To do so, they started cutting irrigation channels from the Colorado River. When those filled up with silt, they cut a little deeper, digging out a large gap in the River's bank to increase flow. Then, in 1905, the floods came, washing out the engineered canal and... READ ON
YOU WILL NEED Friends"¦with benefits The ability to make new friends when your old ones disappear Step 1: Pick the Right Crowd The tiger keelback snake is native to Japan and several other nearby islands, where it's known for defending itself by spraying a toxin called bufadienolides into the eyes of its attackers. The toxins prevent proper heart function and give the snake a great getaway plan, but for years, scientists suspected that the tiger keelback wasn't capable of producing... READ ON
YOU WILL NEED A Sense of Humor Poor... READ ON
Hide It Although widely beloved as a sort of satirical Santa Claus today, any rational look at the biography of Mark Twain would reveal a very different man. The real Mark Twain was more often depressed than jolly, more bitter curmudgeon than wacky old coot. Then there was the atheism, the temper, and, oh yeah, the fact that he spent his later years surrounded by a flock of adoring underage girls. That last bit wasn't as bad as it sounds. The girls were always chaperoned and, apparently, the whole... READ ON
YOU WILL NEED A way with women A flexible moral compass One At a Time Frank Lloyd Wright, the man who revolutionized American architecture, was equally, uh, revolutionary, when it came to his love life. In 1889, he married Catherine Lee Clark Tobin and set about raising a family of six with her. However, that version of his personal life came to an abrupt end in 1909, when Wright went on an extended vacation to Berlin, Germany—with Margaret Cheney, the wife of a client, in tow. The pair spent... READ ON
5 Questions: Burger Time
Saved by the Bell Sports
The littlest president was James Madison. He was 5'4" and weighed about 100 pounds.
