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Thanksgiving Football Games Trivia

Lions, and Cowboys, and Football, Oh My!

It’s as much of a Thanksgiving tradition as eating too much. Here’s a look at why Turkey Day ALWAYS includes an NFL game featuring the Detroit Lions…and another one featuring the Dallas Cowboys. This Thanksgiving, millions will gather around their TV screens to watch the Detroit Lions host the Minnesota Vikings. Then, the Dallas Cowboys will […]

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Rogue Balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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, […]

Happy World Toilet Day!

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 […]

Interesting Facts about Nuts

These Facts Are Nuts!

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 […]

Mickey Mouse Name Origins

Origins of Famous Characters

November 18, 1928, is the birth date of the most famous cartoon ever: Mickey Mouse. Read on for the story of how he got his name, as well as the surprising origins of other famous characters. This article was first published in Uncle John’s Great Big Bathroom Reader.  Mickey Mouse The most famous cartoon character […]

Why are pants plural?

Ask Uncle John Anything: Why Is “Pants” Plural?

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 […]

Winston Churchill Trivia

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Winston Churchill

Perhaps the breakout character on Netflix’s Queen Elizabeth II series The Crown is the one who isn’t a royal: Winston Churchill. His slow, post-World War II fade from prominence is depicted in the show by a heavily made-up John Lithgow (one of the few non-British actors in the cast). Here are a few things you may not have known about “The British Bulldog.”

History of Football

The President of Football

Teddy Roosevelt: President, soldier namesake of the Teddy bear…and architect of modern football. In 1905, football was even more rough and violent than it is today. Between 1900 and 1905, 45 people actually died from injuries sustained while being kicked, punched, or tackled while playing the sport—primarily internal injuries, broken necks, and severe concussions. (Football […]

Real or Fake Ben & Jerry's Flavors?

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 […]

Food Warning Labels

Warning Labels

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 […]

4 Quite Clever Cocktails

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 […]

How Movie Sounds are Made

Secrets of the Foley Artists: How Movie Sounds Are Made

After a movie is filmed, a Foley artist is tasked with making the sounds of the movie come across as realistically as possible. And they have a lot of weird and amazing tools at their disposal. Here are some real techniques used by real movie Foley artists. When somebody in a horror movie gets stabbed: […]

How to Surf

The Physics of Surfing

Here’s how surfers do it, dude. Catch a Wave When a surfer rides a wave toward shore, it may look as though the board and rider are being propelled by the rushing water. But they’re not. In fact, the act of surfing is more like riding a skateboard down a hill. The difference is that […]

Literary Conspiracies

The Weirdest Ever Literary Conspiracy Theories

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 […]

Map of United States

Official State Business

Every state has a motto, a nickname, and even a traditional dish. But many states also have a few more “official” items. The official neckware of Arizona is the bolo tie. The official possum of Georgia is Pogo, the possum from Walt Kelly’s long-running comic strip of the same name. The official state beverage of […]

Food Origins: Latte

Origins of Lattes, Kids’ Meals, and Shirley Temples

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 […]

State Capitals Trivia

State Capitals Trivia: Why is Lansing the Capital of Michigan?

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 […]

Helicopter Jail Escape

Kalashnikov Pat & The Helicopter Jailbreaks

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 […]

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