1

Area 51

Image: Michael Herren

Location: Nevada

Shrouded in secrecy, this military base has become synonymous with UFOs and government cover-ups. Its official purpose was testing aircraft like the U-2 spy plane and Stealth Bomber, but its classified nature fueled decades of wild speculation, ranging from secret weapons to actual aliens working for the government.

2

Coral Castle

Image: Audric Wonkam

Location: Florida

This massive stone structure was built by a single man, Edward Leedskalnin, using enormous limestone blocks—some weighing 30 tons. According to him, no heavy machinery was ever used during the construction, and he even claimed to know the secrets of the pyramids . To this day, engineers and historians debate how he moved and placed those stones with such precision.

3

Skinwalker Ranch

Image: Jacob Padilla

Location: Utah

This 512-acre property has long been at the center of UFO sightings, cattle mutilations , and alleged portals to other dimensions. The stories were so compelling that, in the ’90s, a private research organization purchased the ranch to try and make some scientific sense of the claims, conducting extensive field studies. However, after nearly a decade of research, they found no conclusive evidence.

4

Mammoth Cave

Image: Ksenia Kudelkina

Location: Kentucky

The world’s longest known cave system has its fair share of unexplored tunnels, ghost stories, and strange air currents. More than 400 miles have been mapped , yet many passages remain uncharted. Researchers have yet to fully understand the cave’s underground ecosystem, and new chambers are still being discovered today.

5

The Marfa Lights

Image: Alexandra Vo

Location: Texas

Reported since at least the late 19th century, floating orbs of light have been seen near this small town with no consistent explanation. Night watchers continue to gather at designated viewing areas along Highway 90, hoping for a glimpse. While scientific studies suggest that distorted car headlights are the most likely cause, many remain convinced otherwise.

6

The Devil’s Kettle

Image: Andrew Ling

Location: Minnesota

This unusual waterfall splits in two—one half flows normally, while the other vanishes into a deep pothole with no known exit. Scientists poured dye, ping-pong balls, and even GPS trackers into the mysterious hole, all to see where the water ends up. While researchers eventually confirmed it rejoins the river underground, exactly how and where remained elusive for decades.

7

Cahokia Mounds

Image: pcrm Dorego

Location: Illinois

Built centuries before Columbus arrived in the Americas, the ancient city of Cahokia featured massive earthen mounds, wooden palisades, and likely formed part of complex trade networks across the continent. Despite having a population rivaling London in the 1200s, according to archaeologists, the city was mysteriously abandoned in the span of a few years. No written records explain its decline, though environmental stress, resource shortages, and internal social factors are often cited as possible causes.

8

Blythe Intaglios

Image: Alexander Schimmeck

Location: California

Similar to Peru’s Nazca Lines, these giant geoglyphs are etched into the desert floor, seemingly visible only from the sky. Created by scraping away dark rocks to reveal lighter earth beneath, the figures are believed to be between 450 and 2,000 years old, depending on the specific design. While their exact purpose remains a mystery, they are believed to have had a ceremonial function.

9

The Spooklight

Image: Ben Griffiths

Location: Missouri-Oklahoma Border

Also known as the Hornet Spooklight, this floating orb has been seen since at least the late 19th century. It appears along a rural stretch of road near the small community of Hornet, Missouri, and Quapaw, Oklahoma. While some theorize it could be caused by car lights from miles away, some sightings predate automobiles.

10

Roanoke Island

Image: Stephen Crane

Location: North Carolina

In the 1580s, an entire colony vanished overnight, leaving behind only the word "Croatoan" carved into a tree. No graves, no remains—just an eerie disappearance that sparked centuries of theories, from disease and starvation to assimilation with local tribes. Modern archaeology uncovered European artifacts at sites associated with Native groups miles away, but no definitive evidence has ever solved the mystery.

1

Teddy bear

Image: Oxana Lyashenko

We’ll start with the surprising origins of a global icon. While there is some debate as to the country of origin of the teddy bear, there’s absolutely no doubt as to where the furry companions of our childhood got their names. And, considering that the source of the teddy bear’s name comes from the highest office in the United States government , we think we can safely state that this toy is truly an American icon.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt was invited on a hunting trip to Mississippi, on which his group cornered and tied a black bear to a tree for the president to shoot. Displeased by what he thought was unsportsmanlike behavior, the President refused and the bear was freed. This story was published in many national newspapers, and it quickly became extremely popular. So much so, that a Brooklyn businessman designed a small, cuddly bear and advertised it on his shop as "Teddy’s bear" . And just with that, our 26th President unwillingly named this quintessential toy.

2

Super Soaker

Image: Steward Masweneng

If you were a kid during the 80s or 90s, you probably played with the extremely refreshing Super Soaker on a hot summer day. This reimagined water gun featured an innovative design that added pressurized air for longer and stronger water bursts. Showcasing a futuristic design, the Super Soaker felt like shooting a sci-fi laser gun, which seems only reasonable considering it was created by a former NASA engineer.

In 1982, engineer Lonnie Johnson, who specialized in aerospace design, came across the idea of the Super Soaker while conducting an experiment in his house. Johnson’s prototype combined household items like a PVC pipe and a two-liter soda bottle. While rudimentary, this first design successfully shot powerful streams of water. The rest is history: Johnson was able to mass-produce his design, and the Super Soaker became the summer toy for millions of American children.

3

Slinky

Image: Adam Valstar

Just like with the Super Soaker, the man behind this iconic toy was a successful American engineer. In 1943, while investigating a way to suspend sensitive equipment aboard ships, naval engineer Richard T. James accidentally dropped a torsion spring he was working with. James noticed the curious way in which the spring kept on moving after hitting the ground, and with that, the idea of one of the most beloved toys of the 20th century was born.

Richard and his wife Betty initially made 400 "Slinkys", which were first carried by a department store in Philadelphia for Christmas 1945. This first production was sold in less than 90 minutes , and the Slinky quickly proved to be an instant success. To this day, approximately 300 million Slinkies have been sold all over the world.

4

Rubik’s cube

Image: Olav Ahrens Røtne

Let’s deal with the elephant in the room first: No, the Rubik’s Cube is not an American invention. However, just like the rest of the world, this tricky puzzle took the United States by storm during the 70s and 80s, so it seemed only fair to add this beloved toy to this list. In the 1970s, Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik designed the first prototype of the Rubik’s cube, as a way to create a system with parts that could move independently. However, he realized he had built a rather entertaining puzzle when he tried to restore the sides of his cube. Rubik applied for a patent in Hungary and started selling his "Magic Cube" by 1975.

By the 1980s, the Rubik’s Cube became a global sensation. It is reported that over 200 million cubes were sold between 1980 and 1983. In America, this puzzle immediately gained status as a cultural icon: In 1981, the Museum of Modern Art in New York exhibited a Rubik’s cube, while the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee featured a six-foot version of the toy.

5

G.I. Joe

Image: Justin Wilkens

In 1963, Manhattan inventor and licensing agent Stanley Weston came up with the idea of a military action figure . Perhaps unbeknownst to him, Weston’s prototypes would soon inspire G.I. Joe, the first toy to teach American children about how every U.S. soldier can be a superhero to treasure and admire.

Produced by Hasbro, the G.I. Joe series encompasses countless action figures throughout their almost 60 years of history. Most of the toys feature the titular "G.I. Joe Team", a league of military heroes that defends the world from the evil deeds conducted by the "Cobra" organization.

6

Frisbee

Image: Patrick Reynolds

If any kid playing around with a cool stick they found lying can teach you anything, it doesn’t take much to make a fun toy that children will enjoy. Case in point: In 1937, Walter Frederick Morrison and his future wife Lucille realized how fun it was to toss a popcorn can lid back and forth. After WW2, Morrison worked on several designs until, in 1955, he designed "the Pluto Platter" , the very first version of what we now know as the Frisbee.

The story behind the name of this iconic toy is rather interesting. Wham-O, the company behind the commercialization of the Pluto Platter, realized that Yale University students were calling their product by another name. Since the plastic discs resembled empty pie tins , they called them "Frisbies" after the Frisbie Pie Company, a pie supplier for the university.

7

Barbie

Image: Elena Mishlanova

Barbie truly needs no introduction : She’s definitely the world's most famous doll, selling over six billion units in its 60-year history. She has been featured in a myriad of TV shows and movies, including an Academy Award-winning live-action film in 2023. With such a prolific and wondrous career, it’s easy to forget how Barbie's story started: With an innovator watching her daughter play.

One evening in the 1950s, businesswoman Ruth Handler noticed that, whenever her daughter played with paper dolls, she enjoyed pretending they were adults. At the time, most dolls depicted infants and babies, so Handler created the prototype of an adult-bodied doll, which she named "Barbie" after her daughter Barbara. On March 9, 1959 (a date which is now Barbie’s official birthday), the very first Barbie doll was presented at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

8

Hula hoop

Image: Patricia Prudente

The hula-hoop is definitively the oldest toy on this list: Archaeologists believe that children and adults played with hoops of some kind since at least 500 BC. However, in 1958, a plastic hoop launched by American toy company Wham-O became insanely popular, and with that, the hula-hoop mania was born.

Named after its resemblance to the hip movements of the traditional Hula dance, the hula-hoop is still a remarkably popular toy . Not only that, hooping is considered an excellent and fun exercise, promoted as an excellent way to improve cardiovascular health.

9

View-master

Image: Girl with red hat

Just like the Slinky, the View-Master wasn’t originally conceived as a kid’s toy. And, to be perfectly honest, at its core it is truly an entertainment experience for all ages: An innovative and fresh way of enjoying beautiful images and scenery. However, it wouldn’t be right not to include this wonderful device in this list, since it has touched the hearts of thousands of American children since 1939.

Created by pharmacist Edwin Mayer in Portland, Oregon, the View-Master was introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair. While its original intent was to provide an alternative to postcards, over time it included cartoons and short stories aimed at children. Famously, the View-Master’s most popular reels featured Disney and Hannah Barbera characters.

10

Legos

Image: Xavi Cabrera

We’ll end this list with an absolute classic . With over 75 years of history and no sign of slowing down, Legos have truly shaped the lives of millions of children around the world. The true beauty of these colorful bricks is that they are only limited by children’s imagination which, we are sure you’ll agree, is definitively limitless. In the right hand, a single plastic brick can be the start of a giant dinosaur, a spaceship, or a bell tower.

The humble beginnings of Lego come from the town of Billund, Denmark, where a carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen started making wooden toys in 1932. Christiansen named his company "Lego" after the Danish phrase leg godt , which translates to "play well". By the end of the 1940s, the company was already producing an early version of its iconic interlocking bricks, now considered a completely ubiquitous cultural icon.

1

"Buffalo Bill" Cody

Image: Illinois State University, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

If we had to name the most famous cowboy in history , Buffalo Bill Cody would probably be a top contender. Throughout his lifetime, Cody greatly contributed to shaping the image we have of the American West.

Born in Iowa in 1846, he earned his nickname while working for the Union Pacific Railway, where railroad workers were amazed by his hunting skills. But history had bigger plans in store for Cody, and he would soon become an actor , traveling throughout the eastern United States performing plays based on stories of the Wild West for more than 30 years.

Eventually, poor business management and a certain change in popular interests led Buffalo Bill to ruin and he retired from show business just two months before his death in 1917. He was, however, mourned by millions of people who considered him a hero.

2

John Henry "Doc" Holliday

Image: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz

John Henry "Doc" Holliday was born in 1851 in Griffin, Georgia, into a wealthy family. He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in Philadelphia but was shortly thereafter diagnosed with tuberculosis and advised to live in the drier, hotter climate of the West.

In Dallas, Texas, he pursued his trade as a dentist but also discovered saloons and whiskey. Soon, realizing that gambling could be much more lucrative than dentistry, he began his professional gambling career.

The rest of his life was spent among crooks, gunfights, and jailmates in New Mexico, Arizona, and California. At only 36 years old, his lungs could not keep up with his gunslinging way of life and he finally met his death in 1887 in a hotel bed in Colorado. It is said that his last words were, "This is funny."

3

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid

Image: yavuz pancareken

The lives of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid became legendary pretty quickly. As early as 1903, their exploits inspired the first modern film —Edwin S. Porter's _The Great Train Robbery_— and since then, their adventures have not ceased to be portrayed by popular culture. In a way, they symbolize the definitive end of the romanticized Western era at the hands of 20th-century industrialization and urbanization.

Both cowboys were members of a gang known as "The Wild Bunch," which earned them a reputation as bank and train robbers. According to lore, after several years of crime and run-ins with the law, the bandits managed to escape to Latin America. Eventually, they were caught and killed in Bolivia in 1908. The fact that their graves were never found helped fuel the myth that they had, in fact, returned to the United States and lived in anonymity for many more years.

4

Jesse James

Image: Steve

Jesse James's life is one of the most emblematic of the Wild West. His criminal career began after his involvement with pro-Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. Along with the Younger brothers, he created a gang with which they robbed banks, trains, stagecoaches, and stores from Iowa to Texas and from Tennessee to California.

It is believed that throughout the years they netted more than a quarter of a million dollars. Despite the gory nature of their heists and murders, the gang often had public sympathy.

Jesse's death is as controversial as his life. At only 34 years old, he was shot in the back by one of his gang partners, who hoped to obtain a state reward in exchange for his betrayal. The public was not happy with the government conspiring to assassinate a citizen, no matter how criminal, and the matter became a scandal, resulting in Jesse James's rise to mythical status.

5

Annie Oakley

Image: International Film Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

From an early age, Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses, better known as Annie Oakley, took up hunting to help support her family. At the age of fifteen, she won a competition against the famous marksman Frank Butler, to whom she later married. Together, they appeared in several exhibitions across the country and, in 1885, joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

Annie was able to open the edge of a letter, shatter glass balls thrown in the air, and hit dimes held between her husband's fingers or apples placed in her poodle's mouth by shooting from 30 paces away. Her life was so rich and fascinating that she was the inspiration for several movies and plays.

6

Billy the Kid

Image: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

According to legend, Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, killed at least 21 people during his career as a notorious outlaw in New Mexico. However, he cemented his place in the pantheon of frontier legends not so much for his murders as for his personality and incredible marksmanship skills.

Born in the late 1850s in the Irish slums of New York City, McCarty had to reinvent himself as a gunslinger after the death of his mother when he was just a teenager. His life and the events surrounding his death at the hands of legendary lawman Pat Garrett were immortalized in numerous films, books, and songs. In fact, Billy the Kid holds the record as the most portrayed individual in cinematic history.

7

Lucille Mulhall

Image: Melissa Walsh

By 1900, split riding skirts allowed women to compete in rodeos without shocking Victorian-era audiences. But the truth is that women have been participating in exhibitions even in the early days of the Old West.

Lucille Mulhall is considered America's first legendary cowgirl. Born in 1885, Lucille grew up on her family's ranch in Oklahoma, where she acquired her incredible cattle-roping skills. She began performing in shows as a teenager and, throughout her career, competed in many rodeos, setting a few roping world records.

8

Belle Starr

Image: Pixabay

Perhaps the most famous female gunslinger in the history of the West was Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr, better known as Belle Starr. Born in Missouri in 1848, Belle had a fairly well-to-do childhood and was a bright student. However, when her family moved to Texas after the Civil War, the young girl stumbled upon the James-Younger gang. After falling in love with Cole Younger, she became a member of the gang.

That love affair didn't last long, but a few others followed, which led her to live outside the law for the rest of her life. Her alleged riding and gun skills increased her fame throughout the country, turning her into a legend.

9

Wyatt Earp

Image: National Archives at College Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wyatt Earp belonged to a large family whose members were famous for being gunfighters, gamblers, bison hunters, miners, and lawmen. While all were notorious Wild West characters, it was Wyatt's exploits that have gone down in history. His life is testimony to the ambiguity that prevailed at a time when there was no distinction between upholding the law and transgressing it.

After a long life traveling the American West as a deputy sheriff, bounty hunter, and saloon owner, in 1905 Wyatt settled permanently in Los Angeles, California. He became a film consultant in Hollywood, befriending producers, directors, and actors. It is even said that John Wayne took Earp’s stories as inspiration for some of the tough characters he portrayed on the big screen.

10

"Wild Bill" Hickok

Image: Turuncu Sakal

James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill," is a legendary folk hero thanks to the many stories that romanticized his life as a soldier, gunslinger, gambler, marshal, and actor. Over the years, his adventures have been retold numerous times in pop culture. The truth is that Hickok did more in his thirty-nine years of life than most who lived twice as long.

Since his birth in Illinois in 1837, he is said to have been involved in some of the most dramatic and, at the same time, most spectacular events in the history of the Wild West. His death, unsurprisingly, is also legendary. In 1876, while playing a game of poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, a man named Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head. The cards he was holding at the time —two pairs of Aces and black Eights— became the well-known "dead man's hand."