Sunday, August 30, 2026 — National Toasted Marshmallow Day

Sometimes the strangest phrases, inventions, and cities begin far more literally than we remember.

Today we explore the deadly prison aboard HMS Pandora, the famous Washington–Moscow hotline that was neither red nor a telephone, and the newspaper advertisement that started selling Houston before the city really existed.

Along the way, we uncover how a teenage Mary Shelley turned one terrifying vision into Frankenstein—and helped create science fiction.

An idea may begin in someone’s imagination, but once it enters the world, there’s no telling how far it will travel.