In June 2020 — 100 years ago —women won the right to vote in all elections in the United States. It took an exceedingly long time, with a lot of progress made over more than 15 decades. 1646: Only property owners at the time could vote, and lawyer Margaret Brent attempts to cast a vote […]
Here’s a look at some of the women who broke the glass ceiling in American politics and became the first females to hold important offices. First elected female mayor In 1887, women in Kansas attained the right to vote and run for office. That year, the town of Argonia held its elections; mayor was on […]
Everybody wants to be the best, but you know what’s more interesting? The worst. Here are some of the most spectacular flops to ever come along and utterly fail in their attempts to entertain. Worst Movie of All Time? After seeing a double-feature of musical duds Can’t Stop the Music (starring the Village People) and […]
Here are some edibles you may not have heard of…and may not want to go anywhere near. Durian Native to parts of Asia, the durian is so rank that passengers aren’t allowed to bring them onto the Singapore Mass Transit. With a spiky skin and a taste that’s been likened to fruit-flavored ice cream, the […]
With millions of us cooped up at home right now due to shelter-in-place orders, it’s pretty ironic that up until a few months ago, one of the most popular entertainments in America over the last few years was the “escape room.” The true experts on escapes: People who somehow broke out of an impenetrable prison […]
You know, you think you know somebody—like famous movie stars, musicians, politicians, and historical figures—and then you come to find out that they all worked as spies for the government. (They must have been pretty good spies then!)
Chances are, old age or a chronic condition is what will get you, so don’t worry so much about these unlikely, but potential, killers lurking all around. Icicles Ever hear that old riddle about how the “perfect” murder weapon is an icicle because it melts, thus destroying all evidence of its existence? Those sharp shards […]
Here’s the little-known—and very harrowing—tale of a real Titanic survivor Violet Jessop.
Is the government lying to us about UFOs? Was the moon landing staged? These alleged conspiracies pale in comparison to what could be happening in your bathroom right this very minute.
Never threaten a mother bear’s cubs, regardless of the animal.
We recently told you about some of the world’s scariest bars. While those may remind you of the dead, these dearly departed watering holes around the world are, sadly, truly and completely dead.
We’ve got a brand new book out: Uncle John’s Germophobia. It’s all about hospital horrors, bad doctors, botched surgeries, nightmare nurses, weird diseases, and all the things that can and will go wrong when it comes to your health. Here’s a taste of the kind of thing you’ll find inside.
Musicians often write songs about other musicians—the Commodores’ “Night Shift” is about Jackie Wilson, for example. And sometimes, the musicians who had songs written about them cover those very songs.
• The Barenaked Ladies’ hit “Brian Wilson” isn’t the most respectful song about the songwriter and major creative force behind the Beach Boys. The song references Wilson’s period in the ‘70s when agoraphobia, drug addiction, and obesity kept him housebound. The chorus of “Brian Wilson” is: “lying in bed / just like Brian Wilson did.” Still, Wilson thought “Brian Wilson” was a pretty good song. When he began recording music and touring again in the 1990s, he made the song part of his set list. A version appears on his 2000 live album Live at the Roxy Theatre.
Movies cost a lot of money—
it’s expensive to build sets, pay actors, and occasionally, a single prop.
The purse
The films of Woody Allen earn critical acclaim, but they are usually modest commercial hits, with subsequently small production budgets. Allen’s latest, Blue Jasmine, is about a wealthy woman forced to live modestly after her husband is imprisoned for financial crimes. The one vestige of Jasmine’s (Cate Blanchett) formerly glamorous life is a tan purse.
As Dungeon & Dragons turns 40 years old, here is a look back at
the history of how this game came to be.
ROLLING THE DICE
Gary Gygax (pronounced GHEE-Gax) was an insurance underwriter living in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in the late 1960s. He made his living calculating the probabilities that an individual seeking to buy insurance would become sick or disabled or die, and he used these estimates to set the premiums and payouts on the policies he reviewed. Every policy was like a roll of the dice: If Gygax calculated correctly, the individual received sufficient coverage at a fair price, and the insurance company had a good shot at earning a fair profit. If he was incorrect, either the individual or the insurance company would lose.
It’s a harder question than it sounds. Does the present refer to right this second?
Today? This year? The past few years? Fortunately, science has the answer.
Different scientific disciplines, cultures, and religions base their calendars on different “zero” moments. In geology, as well as other scientific disciplines, the epoch of time referred to as “the present” began on January 1, 1950. It’s a somewhat arbitrary, compromise of a date, but a fixed moment in the study of things that takes a really, really long time to change or move.
If you’re new around here, here’s the deal: Below are three weird news items from the past few weeks. Two of them are true, and one of them…we made up. Take a guess, and check the answers to see if you’re right.
Got your answers ready? Let’s see how you did.
What do “Golden Age of Television” series The Arthur Murray Party, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Pantomime Quiz, Space Cadet, and Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour have in common?
They’re all TV classics, but the weird distinction these five series share is that each were broadcast, at one time or another, on all four major TV networks of the era: ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont. The Arthur Murray Party had a run on each of the four networks twice.
