Marco Polo

In 1698, a 6’8” Russian giant went on a bender through an English gentleman’s estate. He trashed portraits, burned furniture and drunkenly rammed wheelbarrows through a prize-winning holly hedge. The giant in question was Peter the Great, and this wasn’t just a royal lads' holida ...  Show more

Ghost stories have haunted conversations since ancient times, from the Mesopotamians to the Romans to the Vikings. The medieval period was particularly awash with ghost stories - after all, it was an era of great plague, piety and corporal punishment. Ghost stories served as usef ...  Show more

One of history’s great adventurers, Marco Polo’s accounts of his travels - dictated while in prison - were exceptionally widely read, introducing Europeans to the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the M ...

In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo spent decades travelling the world. His adventures took him from his home in Venice as far east as the Yellow Sea, where he was a valued courtier of the legendary Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Later, in prison, he wrote the world’s first travel ...  Show more

As one of history's most well-known globetrotters, Marco Polo is credited with many important contributions to Western civilization. Many believe pasta is one of these contributions -- but is it a myth? Learn more in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.