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.
Daily Dispatch
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.
Sam Simon’s Final Push
How a TV producer dying of cancer is using his wealth to leave the world in a better place than he found it. Best known for helping to bring The Simpsons to the world, Sam Simon is now spending his final days giving away his fortune.
Of Human Bindage
“The Harvard Library has books bound in human skin” is one of those well-known fun facts that pop up a lot of place…including Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. But we’re the trivia hounds who dig deeper. We wanted to know: what are those books?
3 Present-Day European Secession Drives
We recently brought you the stories of plans to split California into two (or even more) separate states. But secession isn’t just an American-made solution to internal cultural, political, or economic differences. Three different European regions are looking into splitting from their countries.
And Now For Something Completely Official
From a TV show to movies to a Broadway musical to this summer’s Monty Python reunion shows, the cultural influence of the British comedy troupe is immense. Here are just a few of the many tributes to the group from those who should probably know better.
