Weird, Wonderful World
Did John D. Rockefeller ever eat oysters Rockefeller? Here’s how some tasty foods got their names. Bananas Foster Richard Foster was the chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission in the early 1950s and a friend of restaurateur Owen Brennan, who also served on the commission. Foster must have loved bananas, because in 1951 Brennan […]
Here are some pint-sized facts about the world’s most famous pint-sized sex therapist. Karola Ruth Siegel (Westheimer is her married name) was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Germany in 1928. At age 12, Ruth was sent to safety at an orphanage in Switzerland. She never saw her family again; her parents are believed to […]
Food carts are a great place for a good (and fairly cheap) meal. But they’re not all sandwiches and rice bowls.
Strapping on a pair of ice skates typically involves a trip to an indoor rink or a frozen lake. Here are a few notable exceptions.
When rock bands and singers perform, promoters must fulfill a “rider,” or a list of backstage needs and wants. Politicians making appearances or campaign stops have them, too. Between his 2004 presidential bid and 2012 appointment to Secretary of State, John Kerry toured the lecture circuit. Promoters were given a length list of meal preferences […]
Denby Dale is a village in England that makes a big deal out of pies. Or rather a big deal out of big pies. Pies the size of tables…and bigger. 1788. The village decided to celebrate King George III’s official recovery from his many mental health problems. (Or his officially announced recovery—an episode lasting several […]
Why head to Times Square when you could attend one of these more unique gatherings instead?
Everything you never needed to know about the most natural of natural gases. Are you above average? Because the average person farts about 14 times a day. And that’s a healthy amount. That adds up to a total of half a liter of gas expelled every day. If the average person parts 14 times a […]
If the tiny seats, delays and bad food weren’t bad enough, there’s a chance that you might encounter someone like these guys the next time you set foot on an airplane. Gray Area During a KLM flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam last September, a Scottish man named James Gray attempted to open one of plane’s […]
Unlike Santa Claus, who (legend has it) lives at the North Pole, works alongside reindeer and elves and tends to be pretty jolly, the Saint Nicholas who delivers gifts to Austria and a few other European countries employs a much nastier seasonal helper.
The two Santas that deliver gifts to well behaved kids in France are pretty weird. One of them also has a very crazy sidekick.
Here’s a trio of recent Christmas stories that will help you get into the spirit of the season.
Back in the day, Time Life made a killing by shipping lightly educational book series to households all around the world. How many of these weird book collections do you remember? The Civil War Time Life launched their book division in the early ‘60s. The books were high quality, featured top notch photography and illustrations, […]
75 years ago today, F. Scott Fitzgerald died at age 44. Today he’s most famous for The Great Gatsby, a book not widely appreciated in his lifetime…which was difficult to say the least. Fitzgerald became an overnight sensation in 1920 with This Side of Paradise, a huge hit novel about post World War I youth […]
Much like customers at a fast food joint, these menu items came…and left. In September 2013, McDonald’s introduced Mighty Wings—breaded bone-in chicken wings. It seemed a natural fit for the fast food behemoth, but it ended up being one of the chain’s most costly mistakes. After purchasing 50 million pounds of chicken wings from poultry […]
Unfortunately, only Earth women compete in the Miss Universe pageant, which will take place on December 20. In 2002, billionaire Donald Trump bought 50 percent of the Miss Universe Organization, and co-owner NBC broadcast the annual event. (This TV partnership soon led to Trump’s NBC reality show The Apprentice.) After Trump made comments about […]
Bed and breakfast…or dead and breakfast? Omni Parker House (Boston) It was founded in 1855 by Harvey Parker, who still likes to check in on the guests and make sure that they’re enjoying themselves, even though he died in 1884. And the ghost that inhabits room 303 served as the inspiration for 1408, a Stephen […]
Polynesian-themed bars were once incredibly popular but they fell out of favor in the ‘80s. Now they’re in the middle of a revival. Trader Sam’s The Disney theme parks helped further bring Polynesian culture to America with the Enchanted Tiki Room, a long-running attraction that features animatronic idols and chattering robotic birds. Disneyland and Disney […]
