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Weird Tony Awards Trivia

Strange facts about the “Academy Awards” of Broadway, which just announced its 2014 nominees.

Today, the Tony Awards resemble other entertainment industry awards: host, stage, “the nominees are…,” trophy presentation, etc. In the first two years the Tonys were presented in 1947 and 1948, the ceremony began with a 9 p.m. dinner at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel, followed by dancing. Anyone could attend (it cost $7 for a ticket), and the winners were simply announced at midnight.

Ask Uncle John Anything – A “Cerealized” Feature

Why is cereal eaten with milk, and not some other liquid? The cereals made their way to the general public by the turn of the century, and so did the idea of eating them with milk. In fact, early advertisements for these new-fangled foods depict cereal next to milk, gently suggesting how it was to be eaten to those unfamiliar with breakfast cereal.

Board Game Hacks

Playing board games is a great way to kill a rainy afternoon, but Monopoly can get pretty boring after a few hours. The solution: board game hacks.

It Came From ‘Germophobia’: The Lengths We’ll Go

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.

Fake-or-Fact Friday: Easter Roundup Eggs-Travaganza Edition

So two of these bizarre news stories really happened…and one didn’t happen at all on account of we made it up. The truth is revealed at the end of the post.

Not So “Happy” In Brazil

How some social crusaders used Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” to satirize life in the South American country. In order to draw attention to the urban decay and not-quite-lackluster living conditions in Brazil, host of this summer’s World Cup, activists Leticia Bastos and Amanda Abreu recruited students from Pontifica Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul for a pitch-perfect parody of “Happy” called “Porto (Unhappy).”

Impossible Questions: Sweet Science Edition – The Answer

Think you’ve got a legitimate answer to this crazy question? Keep reading to see if you nailed it.

How can common table sugar be turned into a billion dollars?

Impossible Questions: Sweet Science Edition

Think you know the answer to this question? Think you can get it? Good luck…and come back tomorrow to see if you’re right.

How can common table sugar be turned into a billion dollars?

Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare

The Bathroom Readers’ Institute is located across town from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, probably the best Bard-based theater outside of England, so it always feels like Shakespeare’s birthday around these parts. Here are some facts about ol’ Bill on his 450th birthday.

Cancer Zappers!

Good news: You no longer have to choose between spending all your time playing video games and trying to cure cancer.

It’s Earth Day! Don’t Trash This Page!

We probably should’ve just recycled an article from one of our books…but we didn’t. Here are some fascinating facts and statistics on recycling (and trash).

Curbside recycling programs started becoming widely adopted in the U.S. in the early 1990s. Today, about 87 percent of the country has regular access to recycling programs. It’s been effective, too—recycling of paper and paper products has increased by a whopping 90 percent in the last 20 years.

The Secret History of KFC

Beginning with its first location in an old gas station in 1930, Kentucky Fried Chicken how boasts 18,000 locations worldwide. But KFC’s history includes a few odd footnotes. And here they are.

Ask Uncle John Anything – From Down in the Trenches

When you see a trench coat, you probably don’t think of World War I, the war known for its bloody, muddy “trench warfare.” But long before Humphrey Bogart and other classic movie stars made them the unofficial clothing of detectives and mystery men, the trench coat really did originate during World War I.

The Great Atari Desert Excavation of ‘14

If you’ve always wanted to go to the deserts of New Mexico and dig up unsold, unwanted, unloved E.T. video game cartridges…now’s your chance to join the great Atari excavation.

It’s Fake-or-Fact Friday!

Two of these news items really happened…and one of them didn’t happen at all. We made it up! The answer is at the end of the post.

A Few Strange Easter Traditions

Not everyone celebrates with chocolate bunnies and hiding eggs. Here are a few Easter traditions from around the world.

5 Silly ‘Game of Thrones’ Tie-Ins

“A Lannister always pays his debts,” even if he spends all of his money on silly Game of Thrones stuff. And, don’t forget that we recently wrote about the newest (not so silly) Game of Thrones beer to hit the market.

It Came From ‘Germophobia’: Not Quite Dead Yet

The threat of someone very ill being mistaken for dead and then buried was a major problem up until the late 19th century—dozens of inventions were even concocted to allow the mistakenly dead to let those on the surface know that they had buried prematurely, particularly graveside bells attached to an in-coffin string.

How can common table sugar be turned into a billion dollars?

How can common table sugar be turned into a billion dollars?

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