Dirty Pasta
Careful what kind of pasta you order, because you might just be inadvertently saying something dirty.
Daily Dispatch
Impossible Questions: Presidential Honors Edition
Think you know what bizarre achievement links these presidents? Come back tomorrow to see if you’re right.
5 Classic Movie Songs That Should Have Won Oscars
Some of the most beloved and popular songs were written for and first appeared in movies, even if the movie itself has been completely forgotten (e.g. you probably know “Lullaby of Broadway,” but probably don’t remember Gold Diggers of 1935). The Academy Awards recognizes movie music with the Best Song prize. In retrospect, sometimes the right song wasn’t always given the Oscar. Here are some songs that should have won Oscars.
Amazing LEGO Facts and Trivia
You’ve seen The LEGO Movie—Now Enjoy These Amazing LEGO Facts.“Everything is awesome” about this article.
- Be correct: LEGO is properly written in all caps. And the plural form of LEGO? It’s also LEGO.
- No real LEGO were used in the computer-animated The LEGO Movie. To render The LEGO Movie’s world of LEGO, the film’s production designer Grant Freckleton and his crew used free software, LEGO Digital Designer to create all the bricks they’d need. In all, 3,863,484 individual LEGO bricks are used in The LEGO Movie. Many were reused to create the film’s different scenes, so the total number of actual LEGO used: 15,080,330.
AUJA: Why is “Fido” a generic name for dogs?
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and for what he doesn’t know, he has a massive research library. So go ahead: in the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!)
Why is “Fido” a generic name for dogs?
Discontinued Oscar Categories
The list of individual awards handed out at the Academy Awards can change. Here are several categories at the Oscars that no longer exist.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Hall of Facts
Trivia about the hall of fame of pop and rock, ahead of the induction ceremony in a few weeks.
- Atlantic Records chairman and founder Ahmet Ertegun established the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in 1983 (along with Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner), to open a museum to showcase the best acts in pop and rock music history.
Once Again, It’s Fact-or-Fake Friday
Three news items. Two are weird, and also true. One is weird…and not true at all. Can you spot the fake? Check your answer at the end.
‘The Tonight Show’ Starring…Not a Movie Star
Besides hosting The Tonight Show, what do Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon have in common? A failed movie career.
Jay Leno
Leno was one of the most popular stand-up comedians in America in the 1970s and ’80s, eventually earning a spot as one of Johnny Carson’s permanent substitutes for when the longtime Tonight Show host took one of his many vacations or contractually obligated days off. Leno took over The Tonight Show for good when Carson retired in 1992. That was a lucky break for Leno—outside of The Tonight Show and standup, his side career as a film actor was dead in the water.
Impossible Questions: Sports Similarities Edition (Answers)
Have you got the answer “pinned down”? Read on.
What odd distinction is shared by baseball players Pete Rose and Bob Uecker, and football great William “The Refrigerator” Perry?
All three guys are very famous professional athletes, and all are enshrined in a hall of fame…just not in the one for the sport that they played professionally for years.
Games Europeans Play
Europe’s attention is currently focused on snowboarding, figure skating, and other Olympic events. Typically the continent’s sports fervor, and airwaves, are devoted to some much goofier competitions.
Impossible Questions: Sports Similarities Edition
Think you know what bizarre achievement links these three famous athletes? Come back tomorrow to see if you’re right.
What odd distinction is shared by baseball players Pete Rose and Bob Uecker, and football great William “The Refrigerator” Perry?
The Memory Eraser
Got some bad memories you’d rather not remember? Very soon, you might be able to get rid of them.
We’ve all got memories that we’d love to wipe away—a soured romance, an embarrassing presentation, or, if you’re the city of Denver, Super Bowl XLVIII. If only there was a pill that could erase bad memories of those events.
RIP Shirley Temple Black
Shirley Temple Black, passed away last night. She was an uplifting light during difficult years in US history. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said during the depression that “as long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.” In her memory, we look back at some facts about her life.
The World’s Dirtiest Man
And you thought your college roommate was bad.
Amou Haji is eighty years old. He lives in Iran. And he hasn’t bathed since the Eisenhower administration. After experiencing a series of devastating setbacks as a young man several decades ago, Amou Haji decided to become a hermit. He currently resides outside of Dejgah, a rural village in southern Iran. Why isn’t he eager to practice basic hygiene? It’s because Haji believes that cleanliness causes people to get sick.
Ask Uncle John Anything
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and for what he doesn’t know, he has a massive research library. So go ahead: in the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!)
The Only Beatle To…
Fifty years ago, The Beatles landed in the United States and their fame has never left. The Beatles were the first, the best, or the most at a lot of things, but even within the band, there were singular achievements.
It’s Fact-or-Fake Friday, Everybody!
Three news items. Two are weird, and also true. One is weird…and not true at all. Can you spot the fake? Check your answers below.
