An antique key casting the unexpected shadow of a hand holding strings.

The House by Any Name

A tenant. A house. And a question about who really holds the keys.

AND THEN THERE’S THIS...

1877

Edison supposedly finishes the phonograph. Except the diary says December.

1960

NASA launches a 100-foot balloon so radio signals can bounce off it.

1981

IBM releases a computer others can copy. They do.

1990

Sue the T. rex is found. Then the argument becomes who owns her.

 

Records. Signals. Copies. Ownership. Probably nothing.

OPEN AUGUST →

An empty wooden chair pulled away from a table as fragments of an unfinished story gather around it.

Public Decisions

A disappearance, a family, and a public story that changed depending on who was speaking.
A simple question. Two spouses. Two answers. On television, the mismatch was entertainment. Somewhere else, the same mismatch

DID YOU KNOW?

The tiny pocket on jeans was originally made for a pocket watch.

Pocket watches became especially important to railroad workers, who needed reliable timekeeping.

Railroads helped push North America toward standardized time zones.

Computers still have to wrestle with local time versus standardized time.

On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced the PC that helped establish a personal-computer standard.

Arts & Letters

The IT File featured image for "The Wounds That Glowed," depicting a sepia battlefield with glowing craters and a lone medic in the aftermath of battle.

The Wounds That Glowed

The war ended. The evidence kept appearing.

Industry & Science

WANTED

ONE MISSING FOOTNOTE
The IT File
Last seen near the final paragraph.

The Face Provided

Face value varies.
The IT File
The IT File
The IT File
The IT File
The IT File

Humming Wires

The IT File
Signals arrive before explanations.

Live Telegrams

14:02 GMT

PORT CLOSED AFTER UNEXPLAINED OUTAGE. OFFICIAL CAUSE PENDING. STOP.

15:15 GMT

HEATWAVE BREAKS RECORDS ACROSS EUROPE. RAIL LINES BUCKLING. STOP.

16:45 GMT

SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW NEW ACTIVITY NEAR DISPUTED ATOLL. DETAILS LIMITED. STOP

Curiosities & Scientific Anomalies

A simple question. Two spouses. Two answers. On television, the mismatch was entertainment. Somewhere else, the same mismatch

BEFORE WE CALL IT PARANORMAL

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
Spiritualism Debunked:   Medium exposed using hidden phonographs during séance.
Phrenology Discredited:   Leading medical journal dismisses skull bumps as indicator of character.
Perpetual Motion:   Another machine seizes on gears; inventor flees city.