Weird, Wonderful World
What, like there aren’t enough holidays in December already? December 1: Eat a Red Apple Day This holiday was likely a marketing invention of some fruit packing company specializing in red apples. It’s the day to keep the doctor away by grabbing a crunchy—and red—apple like a Fuji or Red Delicious. Probably the worst thing […]
You probably remember the Cabbage Patch Kids frenzy of ’83, or the Tickle Me Elmo craze of ’96. But do you recall these other hot toys of yesteryear? 1934 A doll made in the likeness of extremely popular child star Shirley Temple was one of the first designed in the image of a celebrity, and […]
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and if he doesn’t, he heads his massive research library, or puts one of his many associates on the case. So go ahead: In the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!) How is coffee decaffeinated? And is […]
With the often brutal winter winds and giant things filled with helium, it’s a wonder there aren’t more balloon mishaps at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here are a few notable fiascos from parades past. When the parade began in the 1920s, the used-up balloons were released into the sky, where they would eventually pop, […]
It’s the holiday with the silly name…and an extremely serious message. There are a lot of silly holidays out there—Plush Animal Lovers Day or International Bacon Day, for example. They mainly exist as fun, viral marketing. That’s not the case with World Toilet Day. November 19th was officially established as the day of action in […]
Warning: This article full of nut trivia may contain nuts. Until the mid-20th century, hazelnuts were called filberts. That name is likely a corruption of the name of St. Philibert, whose feast day of August 20 coincides with the day filberts (okay, hazelnuts) start to ripen in western Europe. Five states have an official […]
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and if he doesn’t, he heads his massive research library, or puts one of his many associates on the case. So go ahead: In the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!) Pants are a singular object. Then […]
Not every B&J release can be a Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey. The company’s website maintains a Flavor Graveyard, where it lists all the flavors that flopped. But which of the following are real ice creams that melted…and which did we make up? Wavy Gravy In addition to the success of the Jerry Garcia-inspired Cherry […]
Some things in life go without saying…but there’s always the occasional genius who has to be told not to hold the moving end of a chain saw. On Cadbury Whole Nut Milk Chocolate bar: “Contains nuts, milk.” On a massager: “Do not use while unconscious.” On shin guards: “Cannot protect any part of the body […]
With the holidays comes cocktail party season, and with cocktail parties come these drinks with pretty clever names. Jon Daly The recently deceased golfer Arnold Palmer also lent his name to a drink he reportedly invented: the alcohol-free country club staple of half lemonade/half iced tea. But if you saddle up to the bar and […]
Conspiracy theories question everything: Did Lee Harvey Oswald really assassinate JFK? Did man really land on the moon? Did the guy who wrote Alice in Wonderland secretly murder a bunch of people? J.K. Rowling didn’t write Harry Potter Having never published a novel before, British author J.K. Rowling emerged in the late ’90s as the […]
History that’s good enough to eat (or drink). Latte If you ordered a caffe latte in Italy, you’d get a cup of coffee with some milk in it. (In Italian, it literally means “coffee with milk.”) You wouldn’t get espresso combined with steamed milk. That’s an American latte, a variation on cappuccino that was created […]
Lots of states have placed their capital city in their largest metropolitan area (Denver, Colorado) or in a place of strategic importance (Juneau, Alaska, is closest to the U.S. mainland). Others are a little more mystifying. Here’s why a lot of the less logically-placed state capitals are where they are. Sacramento Sacramento is one of […]
Since 1986 there have been 11 helicopter-assisted jailbreaks from French prisons. Three of them involved the same man. Background Pascal Payet, a.k.a. “Kalashnikov Pat,” is one of France’s most notorious criminals. In 1997 he was arrested for armed robbery and murder after an attack on an armored truck, during which he shot a guard 14 […]
It’s arguably the world’s top prize for writers. But for every Nobel Prize for Literature that understandably went to a luminary like Toni Morrison or Samuel Beckett, the award has a few head-scratchers in its history. The 2016 recipient, iconic folk-rocker Bob Dylan came as a surprise to many—in part because he’s the first musician […]
Language changes over time, as old words morph into new ones. But where do they all come from? Here are some more interesting origins. Leprechaun Meaning: A small, mischievous sprite who can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch him Origin: “The leprechauns are a race of Irish elves, usually portrayed as cobblers. One theory […]
And here’s one more: Those four presidential heads carved into a mountain in South Dakota are not naturally occurring. It could have been carved into a different formation It was the idea of South Dakota state historian Doane Robinson to carve faces of iconic historical figures into the side of a mountain in the Black […]
Why did a major city change its name? Because the government said so. Why did it change it back? Because the city asked nicely. For 20 years. See if you can figure out this riddle: The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball, joining the National League in 1887. The […]
