Traced It Back

Tech & Culture

One Man's Stomachache. A Billion-Dollar Industry. The Strange Birth of the American Antacid

The antacid market in the United States is worth billions of dollars and fills entire pharmacy aisles. But it all traces back to a candy salesman in 1928 who just couldn't shake his indigestion. The story of how that humble moment turned into one of America's most-purchased health products is weirder — and more human — than you'd expect.

Mar 13, 2026

Tech & Culture

The Moldy Petri Dish That Changed Medicine Forever

In 1928, Alexander Fleming almost tossed out a contaminated petri dish — a decision that, had he made it, might have set medicine back by decades. What he noticed instead became one of the most consequential accidents in human history. The antibiotic sitting in your medicine cabinet right now has a stranger origin story than most science textbooks let on.

Mar 13, 2026

Tech & Culture

From the Front Page of the Internet to Fighting for Survival: The Wild Rise and Fall of Digg

Before Reddit became the self-proclaimed front page of the internet, there was Digg — a scrappy, community-driven news aggregator that had Silicon Valley buzzing and mainstream media paying attention. This is the story of how Digg rose to the top, lost everything almost overnight, and kept trying to claw its way back.

Mar 12, 2026