Weird, Wonderful World
Here’s to the pioneers behind some of the biggest innovations in American history: the people who made fast food what it is. First fast food restaurant The first to offer quick food on the go: A&W. Beginning in 1919 they served their draft root beer at a walk-up stand in Sacramento, California, and soon began […]
We’ve all had those moments—when something completely unexpected scares the c**p out of us. It gives us something to laugh about…later.
Wine is usually just some fermented grape juice, but it could be just about anything. Wines are made out of sunflowers, strawberries…and this stuff, too, if you’re feeling adventurous. Asparagus Wine Oceana County, Michigan, is the “Asparagus Capital of the World.” That means they’ve got a lot of the stalky green vegetable that makes urine […]
As a fad, baggy hip-hop jeans have lasted longer than bell-bottoms and parachute pants…combined
Colors have a lot more impact on our daily lives than you might think. Here are some things researchers have found out about people and their perceptions and responses to colors.
As with many common phrases that have been around for seemingly forever, there are a lot of possible stories about its origin. The Plague of Justinian The Plague of Justinian was a particularly nasty plague that hit Europe hard during the late 6th century. Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church at the time, […]
The science of how processed foods and consumer products are made is absolutely fascinating…and a little stomach-turning, too. Raisin the Steaks A number of tangy, Worcestershire sauce-like steak sauces, such as A1, contain raisin paste. That’s just dried grapes—raisins—mushed into a paste and mixed up with the other herbs, spices, and flavorings. It’s traditionally been […]
The man who founded Playboy in 1953 has passed away at age 91. Even aside from creating a media empire, Hef lived a pretty interesting life. He Was Fascinated With Marilyn Monroe Part of the reason why Playboy the magazine took off right away is because of its marketing hook: issue no. 1 featured racy […]
When Uncle John was a kid, the basic food groups were meat, bread, vegetables, and dairy products. Uncle John always wondered why they left out the other basic food groups: coffee, candy, cold soup, fish sticks, corn dogs, and salad dressing.
Myth: It doesn’t come from chocolate milk-giving cows. Truth: Everything else in this article. Columbus brought cocoa back to Europe from the Americas in the early 1500s, but it didn’t catch on. After Spanish explorer Cortez overran the Aztecs a few decades later, he brought cocoa to Europe again, although he added sugar and cinnamon […]
Or rather the words breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast That’s easy—it’s an English word that developed to connote the first bit of food taken after a person wakes up. They’ve been sleeping, and so not eating, which means any food is “breaking the fast” they’ve been engaged in. Dinner As late as the mid-20th century, […]
Everyone loves bleepers…er, bloppers…er, we mean bloopers. Here are a few great ones from the silver screen.
Love it or leave it, the most famous canned meat in the world turns 80 years old this year. Here are some facts about Spam:, that pink loaf of salty, porky goodness. The Beginning While Spam has routinely and endlessly joked about as a mystery meat, it’s really just pork and ham. In the ‘20s, […]
The holiday honoring your parents’ parents falls on September 10. Here’s a look at some older folks who’ve made the news in some very quirky ways. Model Grandpa The fashion designer known professionally as Ms. Lv is a top up-and-comer in Chinese haute couture. But sales and attention really started growing after Ms. Lv’s fashion […]
College: home of higher education, world-class research…and fraternities
As summer winds down, here’s a look at the subtleties that separate two favorite treats of the season. Pretty much everywhere you go in the United States in the summer, it’s going to be hot. Fortunately, there are some coping mechanisms. Some are more appetizing than others: such as the wide variety of cold, sugary […]
These products were once household names, until they slowly faded from public consciousness…except that they still exist. Encyclopedias For a kid writing a school report, their research options were limited: encyclopedias were the best bet. These attractively bound, multiple-volume sets of world knowledge were a fixture of libraries, schools, and the homes of families who […]
Tired of baseball, basketball, and football? Your worries are over—we’ve found some unusual alternatives for you.
