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

1. Tipping Culture If you’ve ever traveled outside the U.S., you probably noticed something pretty quickly: tipping isn’t nearly as intense elsewhere. In America, leaving 15-20% at restaurants is not just expected—it’s practically mandatory. But in many other countries, servers

1. Liver It might not be the most glamorous dish, but liver was once a dinnertime staple for your great-grandparents—and nutritionists are starting to understand why. Packed with iron, vitamin A, and B12, liver is considered one of the most

1. Canning Their Own Fruits and Vegetables Your grandparents probably didn’t call it “preserving the harvest”—they just called it Tuesday. From peaches to pickles, jars lined the pantry shelves not because it was trendy, but because it was practical. They