A.J. Jacobs

Joined: Nov 21, 2012

A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. Among his books are The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, and Thanks a Thousand, in which he travels the globe to thank everyone who had even the slightest role in making his morning cup of coffee. He is a contributor to NPR, The New York Times, and Esquire, among others. He has given several TED talks, including ones about living biblically, creating a one-world family, and living healthily that have amassed over 10 million views. He was the answer to 1-Down in the March 8, 2014 New York Times crossword puzzle.

Bobbing for apples wasn’t even the worst of it.

5 Ways Halloween Used to be Terrible

5 Wild Ideas Rejected by the Constitutional Convention

3 of History's Most Fascinating Armchair Treasure Hunts (Plus One You Can Try Yourself)

6 Ways the Past Stank—Literally

10 of the Greatest Puzzles in History

Criteria include ingenuity, staying power, the puzzles’ effect on history—and whether they gave the author a good kind of headache or bad kind of headache.

Edgar Allan Poe's Cipher Challenge

Edgar Allan Poe loved ciphers—and in 1841, "The Raven" author issued a cipher-related challenge.

"Technology has made my life an open book."

"My in-laws are making the entire family go on a cruise. Can I beg off?"

In the past, courting often involved things like being accompanied by chaperones and talking through tubes.

7 Ways Dating in the Past Was Terrible

Online dating and swiping on Tinder have nothing on romance in the past, which was often humiliating, dangerous, and exhausting.

If you wanted to find love in the Victorian era, you'd need to do a little decoding first.

3 Types of Victorian Era Love Puzzles (Plus 3 Puzzles to Solve Yourself)

In Victorian England, romance was a literal puzzle. Here are three ways that 19th-century singles pitched woo.

Old Gold Puzzle: Courtesy of Crown Publishing; Jigsaw Puzzle: MerveKarahan // iStock via Getty Images Plus

The Great Rebus Craze of 1937 (Plus 4 Rebuses to Solve Yourself)

How did Americans make money during the Great Depression? Some sold apples on street corners and others became migrant farmers. But about 2 million Americans tried to strike it rich another way: By doing puzzles.

6 Ways Christmases Past Used to be Terrible

It wasn’t always the most wonderful time of the year. In centuries past, Christmas was often violent, scary, and disgusting. So for all those Grinches who are skeptical of today’s Yuletide customs, be thankful you weren’t alive centuries ago.

If you ever had to endure the Presidential Fitness Test, you know that kids today have it easy.

8 Ways Gym Class Used to Be So Much Worse

Physical education in centuries past was sadistic, sexist, and just plain bizarre. Be grateful you never had to experience these P.E. nightmares.

Shutterstock/Nana_Studio (stack of photos); Hulton Archive/Getty Images (parade)

4 Ways Amusement Parks of the Past Were Not So Amusing

Today's amusement parks have long lines, loud rides, and obnoxious patrons—but amusement parks of yore were far worse. They were bloody, sexist, racist, and basically a hellish mess.

If you were a woman who wanted to go for a swim 200 years ago, you'd first have to hop in a bathing machine.

4 Reasons a Day at the Beach in Times Past Was No Day at the Beach

Yes, beach trips today mean sand everywhere. But beachgoers in the past had to endure much worse than just sand.

8 Historical Things That Prove Privacy Issues Aren't a Modern Problem

A.J. Jacobs shows that although privacy may be endangered in the digital age, we’re still better off than many of our ancestors. In the past, everyone was all up in your business.