Weird, Wonderful World
On this day in 1899, a guy named Alfred Mosher Butts was born. What did he do? He invented Scrabble, the word-forming crossword-like board game that’s been extremely popular for more than 50 years. The Great Depression Butts came up with the basic idea for Scrabble—a board game where players took turns drawing letter tiles […]
Here’s a look into the history and origins of the lauded Mexican fast food item. A burrito is a Mexican or Mexican-inspired food, and since Spanish is the main language in that country, burrito is a Spanish word. It translates to English literally as “little donkey”—burro means donkey and the ito makes it diminutive. What’s […]
March 14 was “International Ask a Question Day,” and over on our Facebook page, we invited our readers to, well, ask a question and be entered in a giveaway. The response was overwhelming—hundreds of you BRI stalwarts posed a trivia conundrum. Unfortunately, we can’t answer all of them and not everyone can be a winner, but […]
As the world prepares to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day—and all things Irish—here’s a look at some of the things that can only be found on the Emerald Isle. Halloween as a National Holiday? Think Halloween is a big deal in the U.S.? It’s bigger in Ireland. It’s the only place in the world where Halloween […]
Today is March 14, or “3/14,” which are the first three digits of that almost-magical ratio called pi. Sure, we could talk about math and circles…but looking up “pi” just made everyone here at Portable Press hungry for “pie” (and pie facts). Origins of the Word What’s the origin of the word pie, to describe […]
Is your schedule still reeling from last weekend’s big Daylight Saving Time switchover? DST has a long history of throwing the entire country out of whack. A 2010 poll found that almost a third of all Americans say they’ve been late—or early—because they were confused what time it was because of a Daylight Saving Time […]
On this International Women’s Day, here’s a look at some of history’s greatest (but overlooked) trailblazers. Anne Bradstreet The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America is a volume of poetry published in 1650, one of the first notable works about life in the American colonies by a resident of the American colonies. It was […]
On March 6, 1912, the National Biscuit Company—later shortened to Nabisco—filed for a trademark on its chocolate cookie developed at a factory in New York City. That cookie: the iconic Oreo. Here are some facts about the cookie jar staple. Good for Vegans! People who try to follow a natural and organic diet eschew Oreos […]
Here in the U.S., we celebrate Valentine’s Day by exchanging heart-shaped pieces of paper, giving roses and chocolate, and professing our love. In other counties, they do it a little bit differently. South Korea In the place where the Olympics are being held right now, women romance their special someone by giving them candy and […]
If you’re looking for a job…you might want to avoid these fields. They pretty much don’t exist anymore. Milkman Why did the milkman go away? Because of more affordable, and subsequently commonplace, refrigeration. Now that most homes have a fridge, they can buy a gallon or two of milk and keep it fresh or a […]
Where are books loved more than anywhere else on Earth? It just might be the tiny Scandinavian nation of Iceland. In the U.S., the biggest gifts tend to change each Christmas. There’s often a “hot ticket” item that adults want, or a fad toy that every kid asks for; for example, this year millions of […]
It’s that time of year again—when the Girl Scouts show up at your front door determined to ruin your New Year’s Resolution to eat less sweets. Here’s a little about the wonderful world of Girl Scout Cookies. The Beginning: 1922 Girl Scout Cookies began in earnest in 1922. The director of the Girl Scouts of […]
Dogs’ noses are wondrous things. Their acute sense of smell enables them to be trained to detect bombs and drugs, and find earthquake survivors. But it also makes them fine-tuned to human emotions, strengthening the bond between dog and owner and helping them serve as therapeutic companions to those in distress. (This article was first […]
In 2016, a vacation rental company transformed a first-floor conference room in the Eiffel Tower into a luxury two-bedroom apartment, and four lucky contest winners got to call the tower home for a night. But there once was a man who could live there as he pleased. (This article was first published in Who Knew?) […]
For better or for worse, money is an important part of life. Everybody talks about it a lot, which means there are a lot of slang terms for it. Here’s where some of them come from. Bucks The $100 bill is sometimes called a “C-note,” because C is the Roman numeral for 100. Roman numerals […]
The beloved actress turns 96 today. Here are some things you might not have known about everybody’s favorite Golden Girl. “Betty” was a very popular name for girls and women in the mid-20th century, and it’s usually a nickname for “Elizabeth.” Not in the case of Betty White. Her real name is Betty White—her parents […]
Do you like extremely innovative beers? Do you consider yourself environmentally conscious? Well…urine luck! (And if you’re not a big fan of beer, well, then this probably isn’t going to be the beer that grabs you.) Roskilde Music Festival In 2015, more than 100,000 music fans traveled to Denmark for the Roskilde Music Festival. The […]
We can’t look into the future…but these people with psychic abilities say that they can. Here are some major events we can all apparently look forward to this year. Aliens = Humans Sylvia Browne was talk show fixture in the ‘90s and 2000s (back when there were a lot more cheesy talk shows on daytime […]
