The Flip Side of History

Amazing forgotten true stories from the creator of the Useless Information blog and podcast.

A prominent lawyer leaves his entire estate to a town for the establishment of a library that forbids women—setting off riots, arrests, and the near hanging of a judge.

The amazing story of the only person rescued from slavery by the Underground Railroad four times.

That time a man in the 1950s stole hundreds of women’s shoes in Coronado and San Diego, California. The shoes, most of them the left shoe, were found dispersed randomly all over town.

There are so many historical facts and stories that get left out of textbooks. Now the author of Einstein’s Refrigerator and host of the popular Useless Information podcast, Steve Silverman, presents a collection of fun facts and strange news—some that made headlines and others that have been lost to history—that highlight the quirks, complexities, and curiousness of humankind.