He’s the most popular and well known character in video game history. Mario has appeared in more than 50 games since the early ’80s…but not all of them have been winners. Mario’s Bombs Away In this game from 1983 (which played on a handheld device), Mario is no longer a plumber—he’s a solider. The player […]
Uncle John sure looked rad as he drove his DeLorean to the Wham! concert, wearing his single white glove and brand new Members Only jacket with the collar turned up. SWATCH WATCHES In 1983 Switzerland’s two biggest watchmakers were on the verge of bankruptcy because of competition from cheap Japanese watches. The companies decided to […]
Game of Thrones is a pop cultural phenomenon. People are so excited about the HBO series based on a series of books by author George R.R. Martin that its influence has crossed over into the real world. 1) In 2015, a warthog at the Detroit Zoo named Lilith gave birth to five piglets. Officials from […]
Muhammad Ali was a towering presence in sports and society. As a boxer he was “The Greatest,” and was equally well known as a social crusader and activist. The world loved Ali, and he crossed over into pop culture a number of times. The Greatest More than two decades before Will Smith was nominated for […]
Before the days of instant interaction via the Internet and social media, the way to tell a celebrity you liked their work was to write them a fan letter. In return, you might get a signed headshot and a form letter. Here are some celebrities, from then and now, with creative responses to fans. Steve […]
Today most video games are played in the home, but in the 1970s and 1980s, if you wanted to play the newest, hottest games, you went to an arcade. Here are the stories of a few of the classics we played back in the golden age of arcade games. SPACE INVADERS (Taito, 1978) Object: Using […]
Lots of celebrities have endorsed products. Sometimes it helps sales. The George Foreman Grill, for example, has sold millions. Sometimes, on the other hand, it’s just a weird idea. (1) Wrestler Hulk Hogan lent his image to a line of cameras for kids. His face was painted on the lens, inserting Hulk into the corner […]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has hit home video after a box office run of $934.89 million, making it the highest grossing movie of all time. Here’s just how much money that is. If The Force Awakens were a country, it would have the 174th largest GDP on Earth, just behind Guinea-Bissau and ahead of […]
From the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad, Apple has had a lot of successes in recent years. It wasn’t always like that. Macintosh Portable A portable computer was positively revolutionary in 1989. Apple’s entry had a black-and-white LCD screen, which folded down over the keyboard to make the whole thing easy to cart […]
We’ve written about the bold leaps taken by Archie and the Riverdale gang before, but there are just so times this comic book about a bunch of high school kids got really strange. Faculty Funnies In 1989, Archie publishers apparently thought that what their legions of kid and preteen readers really wanted was a comic […]
Celebrities, politicians, and captains of industry had to start somewhere. Turns out they pretty much started out with the same lame jobs as the rest of us. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, was a summer intern at Hewlett-Packard. J. K. Rowling worked for Amnesty International. Chris Rock was a busboy at a Red Lobster. […]
We’ve all checked into hotel rooms that left us cold: bad room service, grungy sinks, bedspreads that haven’t been washed—since the ’80s. But at least we made it out alive. These famous folks didn’t. Celebrity: Irish writer and poet Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Where he died: Room 16, Hôtel d’Alsace, Paris Story: At the height of […]
Despite what you may have heard, Uncle John was not the original Ty-D-Bowl Man. (How do these rumors get started, anyway?) Was 1970s shock-rocker Alice Cooper actually Ken Osmond, the teen actor who had played Eddie Haskell on wholesome 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver? No. Alice Cooper’s real name is Vincent Furnier. The rumor spread […]
Doctor Who has on Oscar. Playwright George Bernard Shaw got one well after he died. Here are a few more unlikely Oscar recipients. Kira Roessler In the 1980s, Kira Roessler played bass in the influential punk rock band Black Flag, best known for the song “TV Party” as well as its lead singer, actor Henry […]
At the top of the superhero list, you’ve got your Superman, your Batman…and then way, way down the list, you’ve got these. Shamrock In 1982 artists at Marvel Comics—tasked with creating an Irish superhero—came up the most stereotypically Irish lass possible. Shamrock (Molly Fitzgerald) is the daughter of a militant IRA member and has long […]
A few more violent, racist, and otherwise inappropriate items with one strange thing in common: Kids are supposed to play with them. Black Bandit The LEGO company has distanced itself from what Muslim groups have dubbed the “terrorist LEGO.” Sold by an unlicensed LEGO enthusiast from Seattle named Will Chapman, Black Bandit is a head-scarf-wearing, […]
Over a 30-year music career, Prince has has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He’s sold 100 million albums, starred in three movies, and written dozens of songs for other artists. But he’s also known for his eccentricity. For example…
At the last Fashion Week in Paris, in addition to the clothes and models, the talk of the town was, as always, Chanel art director and fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.
