Based on the author’s love of things weird, bizarre, and strange, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Greatest Know on Earth is an all-new collection of curiosities and oddities throughout the ages. A nonfiction book with dazzling facts, jaw-dropping blunders, and astounding lists of trivia, this impeccably-researched compendium includes a range of single-page articles to extended page-turners. Tune in […]
After a coronavirus-shortened, largely live spectator-free season in 2020, Major League Baseball is back in 2021, and so are the fans. And so is the ballpark food available in the concession stands at the big ballpark and stadiums. But it’s not exactly hot dogs and soda anymore. Lumberjack Slammie (Toronto) This baseball glove-size monster is […]
Today we’re going “indy” with these interesting facts about auto-racing’s annual Memorial Day weekend event, the Indianapolis 500. Perhaps the Indy 500 is so big because it’s contested in a place that is literally huge. You could fit the entirety of Vatican City inside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway… and Yankee Stadium… and the Rose […]
In the early 20th century, Helen Keller was one of the most famous people on the planet. She toured around the world, gave personal experiences, wrote books, and advocated for social change, all despite being without sight or the ability to hear. Here are some little-known facts about Keller. • Helen Keller was not born […]
A few Major League Baseball season is underway, and all the excitement of the national pastime has returned to stadiums around the country. Something that probably won’t happen between now and the World Series: these records getting broken. Most home runs by a pitcher Since baseball players are highly specialized these days, pitchers aren’t expected […]
One thing we all learned this past year of quarantine is that we need to laugh. A lot. Comedians Lisa Beth Johnson and Phoebe Bottoms are here to help with a collection of more than 300 snarky, sassy, and witty jokes for mom. A companion to the best-selling Dad Jokes, Mom Jokes is the best […]
George Washington looms so large over American history — he helped lead troops to victory in the Revolutionary War, served as the first president, and is regarded as “the father of our country” — that a lot of myths and legends sprung up about him, both in his life and after. Here’s the truth about […]
The NCAA basketball tournaments are all about the numbers — Sweet 16s, Elite 8s, Final Fours, “One Shining Moment” and more. Here are some facts and figures regarding March Madness, past and present. UNLIKELY FINAL FOUR TEAMS Lowest seed to make the women’s final four: 9-seeded Arkansas in 1998. Lowest seed to make the men’s […]
Each year, Uncle John and his team of devoted trivia hunters track down fascinating facts, little known stories, and forgotten pop culture to fill several hundred pages of reading material. Why? To compile the annual Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, of course. Here’s the exact type of thing you’ll find — and plenty of — in […]
Sure, Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders both played pro baseball and pro football, and simultaneously at that. But several other professional jocks who had what it took to make it one big league couldn’t quite cut it in another. Michael Jordan, baseball player In October 1993, shortly after winning his third straight NBA title with […]
Lesser-known Founding Father Alexander Hamilton finally got his shot at legendary status thanks to Hamilton, a hip-hop Broadway musical about his life and impact. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s project is a cultural phenomenon, and a movie adaptation has arrived. Hamilton is also the subject of one of our Show Me History! books. Here are some little-known facts […]
Video games burst onto the cultural scene in the 1970s, and what felt like a novelty or a toy fad only kept getting bigger and more sophisticated. Here are a few weird bits of trivia we picked up like they were coins or power pellets. The first appearance of Mario is in the game Donkey […]
As the NFL playoffs end and the Super Bowl is just around the corner, a few teams and players are bound to make sports history and achieve gridiron glory. That’s the opposite of what happened with these teams, who lost the magic at the worst possible time. Houston Oilers vs. Buffalo Bills, 1993 Playoffs There’s […]
This was a wild, harrowing, and unpredictable year… and one that self-proclaimed psychics somehow didn’t see coming. Here are some events that psychics claimed were supposed to happen in 2020. The world may have avoided a catastrophic attack by this man — psychic Sidney Friedman ominously predicted that “cookies” would “disappear.” Friedman also said that […]
Many northern states banned slavery by the mid-1800s, but the immensely ugly practice continued in the South, ended only after presidential action, a constitutional amendment, and a Civil War. Until that point, enslaved Americans fleeing the South did so with the assistance of the Underground Railroad, a secret network that got people safely into the […]
This year, we resolve to write more blog posts about New Year’s resolutions. And look at that, we did it! • Ancient Babylonians started the idea of New Year’s resolutions about 4,000 years ago, although the new year in that society started in the middle of March and lined up with crop-planting season. As part […]
You know him for his boxing prowess and remarkable way with words, but how much do you really know about Muhammad Ali? Read on to find out more about “The Greatest.” By age 18, Clay had won two Amateur Athletic Union national titles, two Golden Gloves national titles, and had amassed a record of 100 […]
Can’t get enough of those true crime podcasts? Then you’re going to love Portable Press’s Strange Crime. But until it arrives, delve into these stories about the most notorious, mysterious — and unsolved — criminal acts in American history.
