The 27th amendment was ratified largely because a college student got a C on a term paper

For a government class in 1982, college sophomore Gregory Watson argued that a long-forgotten constitutional amendment could still be ratified. His instructor found this implausible and gave him a C on the assignment. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Watson's 10-year mission to prove his professor wrong -- and ultimately get the amendment added to the Constitution.

We'll also learn an underhanded way to win a poetry contest and puzzle over how someone can murder a corpse.

Show notes

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