'They ripped the best paintings out of their frames': The wealthy English heiress who stole art for the IRA ^63.1%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 4/27/2026, 10:30 AM

Negativity Bias 24.4% - Biased Writer Voice 11.6% - Appeal to Authority 8.6%

'They ripped the best paintings out of their frames': The wealthy English heiress who stole art for the IRA A former debutante groomed for a life of country houses, Rose Dugdale rejected her privileged background and joined the IRA. In April 1974, reported the BBC, she took part in "one of the largest art heists in history". Born into... more

'A kind of dream world appeared': The 'bizarre' story of the world's first LSD trip ^12.6%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 4/13/2026, 9:56 AM

Negativity Bias 23.5% - Confirmation Bias 13.9% - Appeal to Authority 11.4%

Dr Albert Hoffman accidentally discovered the hallucinatory effects of LSD in April 1943. In 1986, he told the BBC about a "terrifying" bicycle ride home from the laboratory – and about how his "problem child" drug changed the world. "At the end of the synthesis, I got in a very strange psychic situation. A kind of dream world appeared,... more

'Blind alleys are always opportunities': The scientist who developed the polio vaccine ^63.6%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 4/6/2026, 11:00 AM

Anecdotal 14% - Negativity Bias 11.7% - Post Hoc (False Cause) 11.1%

On 12 April 1955, Dr Jonas Salk announced that his vaccine was safe and effective. It would go on to save countless lives – but he refused to profit from it. In 1982, Salk talked to the BBC about his breakthrough. "Humanity received some of the brightest news in all its history." That is how one US reporter described the announcement, in... more

'The Unabomber's ego may have led to his downfall': The serial killer unmasked by his own writing ^29.4%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 3/29/2026, 11:00 AM

Negativity Bias 13.4% - Appeal to Emotion 11.3% - Appeal to Authority 10.3%

The Unabomber's campaign of violence had baffled investigators for almost two decades. The BBC reported on his arrest 30 years ago when the "brilliant" mathematician "laid a trail to his own front door". On 3 April 1996, US federal agents surrounded a remote log cabin in the Montana woods and led out Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski, a... more

'The soldiers would follow him anywhere': The WW2 general who outwitted his arch-rival ^52.4%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 3/23/2026, 11:00 AM

Biased Writer Voice 17.8% - Negativity Bias 14.5% - Appeal to Authority 13.6%

Field Marshal Bernard "Monty" Montgomery died 50 years ago. In 1968, he told the BBC about the Battle of El Alamein, and his German counterpart Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox". "In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable." In one remark, Winston Churchill captured the infuriating brilliance of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, the... more

'They have lied and spied for the communists': The suburban spies who sold nuclear secrets to the USSR ^54.5%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 3/9/2026, 10:57 AM

The Portland spy ring trial began on 13 March 1961. The BBC reported on a Cold War tale of espionage, adultery, exorcism – and a deceptively ordinary-looking bungalow. The enduring image of a Cold War spy swap is of two freed captives walking slowly from opposite sides of a bleak checkpoint or bridge towards liberty. When Helen and Peter... more

'There is a feeling of the greatest outrage': The mystery of stolen champion racehorse Shergar ^79.5%

BBC - By Greg McKevitt - 2/16/2026, 11:00 AM

Shergar was the world's most famous and valuable stallion. When armed men seized him from an Irish stud farm on 8 February 1983, the BBC reported on a sensational true crime saga. It was on a cold winter's night in 1983 that a prize stallion named Shergar was stolen from a stud farm in Ireland. "The racing world is used to the occasional... more