Weird, Wonderful World
On behalf of dads and fathers everywhere—don’t get your pop another tie or some kind of golf-related item or barbecue accessory this Father’s Day. He hates wearing ties, and he has all the golf balls and novelty aprons he’s ever going to need. Let Uncle John help you pick out the perfect gift for Dad—a […]
Selling a lifestyle and a brand and customer loyalty…but it only seems to work with the beer itself. Budweiser Black Crown Tired and alarmed at how “microbrews” or “craft brews”—strongly flavored, potent, regionally-produced beers—were cutting into their sales, Budweiser introduced its own craft brew-like product in early 2013. Like those upstarts Budweiser Black Crown was […]
…and other big, brazen thefts of huge amounts of very specific foods. The Nutella heist Nutella—a mixture of ground hazelnuts, chocolate, and a lot of sugar—is peanut butter’s sassy European cousin. People on both sides of the Atlantic are wild about it, particularly in Western Europe, and they’ll apparently do anything to get more of […]
There’s never a dull moment when kids open up The Big Book of Funtivity. Loaded with all sorts of puzzles, brainteasers, jokes, weird facts, and more, this book will entertain and amuse kids for hours on end. Doodle and fill in the blanks of your own silly comic strips, perform cool science experiments with household objects, […]
Today is Eat What You Want Day…but your doctor would probably advise you to skip most of these fast-food gut-bombs anyway. Sweet bird There’s more than one way to bread and fry a chicken. You can dredge pieces in flour, or corn flakes, for example. Or, you could go to Popeye’s and have some sweet […]
True fame isn’t getting your name in lights or your handprints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—it’s having a drink named in your honor. Arnold Palmer Arnold Palmer has two legacies: The late golfer is one of the greatest to ever play the game, with a remarkable 95 professional tournament wins, including the Masters four […]
The 2018 baseball season has begun, which means it’s time for a roundup of the weirdest and most delicious sounding new concessions available at America’s major league stadiums. Spec-Tater SunTrust Park is where the Atlanta Braves play, and it’s also the only place where spectators can buy a Spec-Tater. It’s a big baked potato stabbed […]
Sure, it stings to write a big check to the IRS every April, but that money goes to pay for schools, roads, bridges…and this stuff, too. An exhaustive history of smoking in Russia In 2015, the U.S. National Institutes of Health paid more than $48,000 to an individual to research and write an exhaustive history […]
On this day in 1899, a guy named Alfred Mosher Butts was born. What did he do? He invented Scrabble, the word-forming crossword-like board game that’s been extremely popular for more than 50 years. The Great Depression Butts came up with the basic idea for Scrabble—a board game where players took turns drawing letter tiles […]
Here’s a look into the history and origins of the lauded Mexican fast food item. A burrito is a Mexican or Mexican-inspired food, and since Spanish is the main language in that country, burrito is a Spanish word. It translates to English literally as “little donkey”—burro means donkey and the ito makes it diminutive. What’s […]
March 14 was “International Ask a Question Day,” and over on our Facebook page, we invited our readers to, well, ask a question and be entered in a giveaway. The response was overwhelming—hundreds of you BRI stalwarts posed a trivia conundrum. Unfortunately, we can’t answer all of them and not everyone can be a winner, but […]
As the world prepares to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day—and all things Irish—here’s a look at some of the things that can only be found on the Emerald Isle. Halloween as a National Holiday? Think Halloween is a big deal in the U.S.? It’s bigger in Ireland. It’s the only place in the world where Halloween […]
Today is March 14, or “3/14,” which are the first three digits of that almost-magical ratio called pi. Sure, we could talk about math and circles…but looking up “pi” just made everyone here at Portable Press hungry for “pie” (and pie facts). Origins of the Word What’s the origin of the word pie, to describe […]
Is your schedule still reeling from last weekend’s big Daylight Saving Time switchover? DST has a long history of throwing the entire country out of whack. A 2010 poll found that almost a third of all Americans say they’ve been late—or early—because they were confused what time it was because of a Daylight Saving Time […]
On this International Women’s Day, here’s a look at some of history’s greatest (but overlooked) trailblazers. Anne Bradstreet The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America is a volume of poetry published in 1650, one of the first notable works about life in the American colonies by a resident of the American colonies. It was […]
On March 6, 1912, the National Biscuit Company—later shortened to Nabisco—filed for a trademark on its chocolate cookie developed at a factory in New York City. That cookie: the iconic Oreo. Here are some facts about the cookie jar staple. Good for Vegans! People who try to follow a natural and organic diet eschew Oreos […]
Here in the U.S., we celebrate Valentine’s Day by exchanging heart-shaped pieces of paper, giving roses and chocolate, and professing our love. In other counties, they do it a little bit differently. South Korea In the place where the Olympics are being held right now, women romance their special someone by giving them candy and […]
If you’re looking for a job…you might want to avoid these fields. They pretty much don’t exist anymore. Milkman Why did the milkman go away? Because of more affordable, and subsequently commonplace, refrigeration. Now that most homes have a fridge, they can buy a gallon or two of milk and keep it fresh or a […]
