1. You Need to Drink Eight Glasses of Water a Day We’ve all heard it—eight glasses of water a day or else! But the truth is, that number isn’t some magical health formula. It came from a general recommendation back […]

1. TV Dinners in the Aluminum Tray There was something magical about peeling back that foil cover and digging into a compartmentalized meal while watching The Brady Bunch. TV dinners in the ’70s weren’t gourmet, but they felt fancy in

1. Knocking on Wood (Western Cultures) You’ve probably found yourself saying something hopeful and then quickly rapping your knuckles on the nearest wooden surface. That small tap is meant to keep bad luck at bay, a habit that’s rooted in

1. Mercury It’s hard to imagine anyone willingly swallowing mercury, but back in the day, it was believed to cure everything from syphilis to constipation. Physicians in the 17th and 18th centuries prescribed it in pills, ointments, and even vapor

1. TV Antennas There was a time when a pair of rabbit ears perched on top of the television was as essential as the TV itself. You’d carefully twist and bend the antennas like a mad scientist just to get

1. Butter Churns It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the early 1900s, Sears offered actual butter churns you could order right from the catalog. Housewives would crank the handle by hand for what probably felt like forever just

1. Mary Anderson Ever curse at your windshield wipers when they don’t work fast enough? You can thank Mary Anderson for inventing them in the first place. Back in 1903, she noticed streetcar drivers had to open their windows to