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, […]

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 […]

Have you ever wanted to go on a treasure hunt? Does trying to reach a random location sound like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon? Then you may want to try geocaching . The concept is simple. After jotting down coordinates via a website or logging onto an app with their smartphones, geocachers […]

What does one do with an old public bathroom when it’s no longer needed (or collapses during a hurricane)? Turn it into something else, of course! The Attendant (London) This underground, Victorian-era bathroom is located in London’s trendy Soho district. Originally constructed around 1890, it was abandoned in the 1960s before being converted into a […]

It’s like The Longest Yard in real life: professionals pitted against prisoners. The Sing Sing Black Sheep New York state’s Sing Sing is one of the most notoriously tough prisons in America. In 1931, Lewis E. Lawes was running Sing Sing and the decision was made to start a prison football team as a form […]

Stuck in an afternoon slump and you can’t go get a cup of coffee, and the boss has asked you to stop taking naps at your desk? Here are some alternatives. There’s a yoga pose/stretching technique called the “fish pose” that adherents say stimulates the body. Lie flat, on our back, and hold your hands […]

Here are some awful avians and foul fowl that have made headlines recently. Cunning Cassowaries The cassowary is widely considered the most dangerous bird on the planet. Native to New Guinea and Australia, cassowaries have super sharp claws and powerful legs. They can run at speeds of up to 31 mph and can jump nearly […]

When economists want to get a sense of how the economy is doing, they look at things like the prime lending rate, the unemployment rate, and the Dow Jones Average. It turns out that’s not all they look at. (This article was originally published in Uncle John’s Weird Weird World EPIC.) Down Under Alan Greenspan was […]

It would seem that the nation has a major problem with bathroom banshees. Akai-Kami-Aoi-Kami According to modern Japanese folklore, Akai-Kami-Aoi-Kami likes to pop up in stalls to ask his female victims (he only pops up in women’s restrooms) a seemingly simple question: “Do you want red paper or blue paper?” Those who answer “red” are […]

On November 23, 1936, the late great Life magazine published its first issue. Here are some facts about the magazine.

These people made it into the Guinness World Records and probably wish they hadn’t.

…not really a word at all. Each year, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, the long-standing if self-appointed guardians of the English language and official record keeper of new words, names a word, phrase, or slang term its “Word of the Year,” reflecting a major impact on society, the news, or communications. Past Words […]

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about snot, boogers, phlegm, mucus…

When Uncle John learned that it was possible to do this, his first thought was, “Why would anyone want to hypnotize a chicken?” Good question. As Sir Edmund Hillary would say, “because it’s there.” (And it’s a lot easier than climbing Mt. Everest.)