Subjects
42 subjects are ready to play. Every one is four suits of nine stories, and every story lists its sources.
Sports
Baseball
Thirty-six true stories from the ballpark: a catcher who spied on the atom bomb, a roof that killed the grass, and the mud on every ball.
Basketball
Thirty-six true stories from the court: a janitor's peach baskets, a game played behind locked doors, and a hundred points nobody filmed.
Boxing
Thirty-six true stories from the prize ring: rules named for the wrong man, a fight that ran 110 rounds, and gloves that began as swimwear.
College Football
Thirty-six true stories from the college game: a mascot named before the brand, a tie the paper called a win, and a Heisman used as a doorstop.
Cricket
Thirty-six true stories from cricket: turf carried between grounds, a ball bowled clean through the stumps, and a final settled on boundaries.
Cycling
A Tour invented to sell newspapers, a champion who never wore yellow, and a mile ridden behind a train: true stories of bikes and their riders.
Football
Thirty-six true stories: a league founded in a car showroom, a championship played on an 80-yard indoor field, and a team owned by its own fans.
Formula One
Grand Prix racing since 1950: a first race on a wartime airfield, a fan car that was never banned, and a wall that collects champions.
Golf
Thirty-six true stories from the links: a hole sized by a blacksmith's cutter, a champion changing in a parked Daimler, and a six-iron on the Moon.
Hockey
Thirty-six true stories from the rink: a Stanley Cup that began as a flower bowl, a coach in goal at 44, and a pioneer with one good eye.
Horse Racing
Thirty-six true stories from Thoroughbred racing: a colt born during an eclipse, a boxer who started Saratoga, and a racetrack under a reservoir.
Rugby
Thirty-six true stories from rugby union and league: a tournament to save a club, a cup melted down from rupees, and a Test on a polo field.
Soccer
The world's game, from an 1863 London tavern to the World Cup: legends, famous clubs and stadiums, great tournaments and the rules' odd history.
Stock Car Racing
Thirty-six true stories from stock car racing: a minnow pond that bent a speedway, a monkey in the passenger seat, and a win with no trophy.
Summer Olympics
Thirty-six true stories from the Summer Games: a marathon finished 54 years late, and two vaulters who cut their medals in half to share them.
Tennis
Thirty-six true stories from the lawn: a 15-year-old champion, a major named for a fighter pilot, and a tiebreak announced by red flags.
Winter Olympics
A century on snow and ice: a flame lit in a fireplace, a bolt lent to a rival, and a medal that arrived fifty years late.
In research
- Track and Field
- Swimming and Diving
- Wrestling
- Martial Arts
- Volleyball
- Bowling
- Surfing and Skateboarding
- Figure Skating
- Skiing and Snowboarding
- Lacrosse
- Women in Sports
- Chess
- Fishing
- Rodeo
- Billiards and Pool
- Sailing and Rowing
History
African Kingdoms
Kush, Aksum, Mali, Great Zimbabwe and Benin: the gold and salt that paid for them, the rulers who spent it, and the stories Europe got wrong.
Age of Exploration
Ocean voyages from the 1400s to the 1600s: the instruments, the ships, the people who sailed and the people already there.
Aztec, Maya and Inca
Cities on lakes and mountaintops, kings and queens, a shell that meant zero, and a famous doomsday that was only a page turning.
Kings and Queens of England
Nine centuries of English and British monarchs: the palaces they built, the jewels they remade, and the coronations that did not go to plan.
Samurai Japan
Shoguns, castles and tea rooms across nine centuries, including the famous samurai code that turns out to be a book written in English.
Pirates
Real pirates, real ships, and the famous details that turn out to be invented, from a smoking beard to the flag nobody flew until the end.
The Renaissance
Europe reinvents itself: painters who missed deadlines, printers who cut corners, bankers who paid for it, and a rhinoceros nobody had seen.
Roman History
Rome from the she-wolf to the last emperor: roads and water, games and street food, and a few famous stories that turn out to be wrong.
In research
- Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Mesopotamia
- Ancient Greece
- Ancient China
- Ancient India
- Vikings
- Medieval Europe
- Islamic Golden Age
- American Revolution
- French Revolution and Napoleon
- U.S. Presidents
- U.S. Civil War
- The Old West
- Industrial Revolution
- World War I
- World War II
- The Cold War
- The Space Race
- The Roaring Twenties
- Civil Rights Movement
- Women Who Changed History
- Polar Exploration
Cars and Machines
Cars of the 1900s
Steam, electric or gasoline? In the brass era nobody agreed, and motoring was a dusty, noisy argument on wheels.
Cars of the 1910s
Moving assembly lines, electric starters, the first Indy 500s and trucks at war: true stories from motoring in the 1910s.
Cars of the 1930s
Streamliners, sixteen-cylinder engines and a hot dog on wheels: how the automobile grew up while the Depression squeezed everyone building one.
In research
- Cars of the 1920s
- Cars of the 1940s
- Cars of the 1950s
- Cars of the 1960s
- Cars of the 1970s
- Cars of the 1980s
- Cars of the 1990s
- Cars of the 2000s
- Railroads
- Aviation
- Great Ships
- Motorcycles
- Trucks and Tractors
Food and Drink
Chocolate and Candy
Chocolate from ancient Amazon pottery to modern bars, plus the surprising people, machines and myths behind famous candy.
Coffee and Tea
Goats, popes, smugglers and a webcam: true stories of how coffee and tea were found, fought over, brewed and carried around the world.
Culinary History
Sushi aged for three years, a stove built by a blind Nobel laureate, and a sandwich story nobody can prove: true tales of how we cook and eat.
Desserts
Cakes, pies, cookies and ice cream, and the real people, lawsuits and legends behind them, from Vienna's cake war to a fruitcake in Antarctica.
Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food
Thirty-six true stories from the Italian table: a noodle made of gold, a Roman hill of olive oil jars, and the magazine behind the Marco Polo myth.
In research
- American Food Classics
- Cheese
- Bread and Baking
- Spices and the Spice Trade
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Soda and Soft Drinks
- Street Food Around the World
Science and Nature
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs in true stories: giants and hunters, the finds that changed science, and the fossil hunters and feuds behind the famous names.
Inventions and Inventors
The tailor behind riveted jeans, a sweetener found on an unwashed hand, and the plumber who never invented the toilet.
Space and Astronomy
Thirty-six true stories from the sky: a planet named by an 11-year-old, a famous nose made of brass and a galactic crash that may never happen.
In research
- The Human Body
- Oceans and Sea Life
- Dogs
- Cats
- Weather
- The Chemical Elements
- History of Medicine
- Volcanoes and Earthquakes
- Great Scientists
- Birds
- Insects and Spiders
- Wild Animals
- Trees and Plants
- Rocks, Gems and Minerals
- Mathematics
- Computers and the Internet
Arts and Entertainment
Classical Music
Composers, masterpieces, instruments and great halls: the true stories behind classical music, with a few famous myths set straight.
Jazz
Jazz from New Orleans to Tokyo in true stories: the musicians, clubs, styles and records that shaped it, with a few legends labeled as legends.
In research
- Rock and Roll
- Golden Age of Hollywood
- Classic Television
- Broadway Musicals
- Great Paintings
- Greek Mythology
- Country Music
- Hip-Hop
- Architecture
- Norse Mythology
- Shakespeare
- Classic Literature
- Fairy Tales and Folklore
- Comic Books
- Animation
- Magic and Illusion
- Circus and Carnival
- Photography
World and Places
U.S. National Parks
True stories from America's national parks: cavalry on skis in Yellowstone, a floating log tracked since 1896, and a fox saved from golden eagles.
Wonders of the World
True stories of the world's wonders: a pyramid builder's logbook, a Colossus that never straddled a harbor, and a volcano born in a cornfield.
In research
- Castles and Palaces
- Holidays Around the World
- Word Origins
- Mountains and Mountaineering
- Great Rivers
- Islands
- The Fifty States
- World Capitals
- Flags of the World
Everyday Life
Board and Card Games
Escape maps hidden in Monopoly sets, a Babylonian rulebook on clay, and a king of hearts who only looks like he is stabbing himself.
Toys
A felt elephant pincushion, a wallpaper cleaner that became Play-Doh, and the Furby banned as a spy: true stories from the toy box.
In research
- Video Games
- Fashion History
- Money and Coins
- Clocks and Timekeeping
- Theme Parks and Roller Coasters
- Golden Age of Radio
- Mail and Postage
- Telegraph and Telephone
- Brand Origins
Stories you find are saved for each subject, and the history page keeps count. Playing a subject again deals the stories you have not seen first.