Uncle John can barely fathom the agony doing all the work to make a book, get it out to thousands of bookstores…and then having to gather them all back up again. It occasionally happens to publishers, however—forced to recall a book because of a really bad mistake that nobody noticed. Kindle’s 1984 and Animal Farm In […]
When the microwave was first released in the late ‘70s, people thought that was a silly kitchen gadget, so who knows? Maybe over time people will swear by these things, too. Bear Paws Meat Shredder Claws You could shred meat or make a pork roast into pulled pork with the gentle use of a fork […]
Apples, oranges, melons, and berries—they’re sweet, delicious, nutritious…and extremely dangerous, apparently. Here are some weird news stories about people who sustained some nasty injuries courtesy of nature’s candy. Bad Breadfruit In December 2017, a Salt Lake City woman named Valerie Zaugg took a vacation to Hawaii, home to an exotic piece of produce called the […]
Here are some shows that ran for many years and became part of TV history. And to think, they were almost canceled right away. Cheers It frequently makes lists of the best TV shows of all time, it won the Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series four times, and it made stars out of Ted […]
For fun facts and interesting stories, just dial 1-800-UNCLE-JOHN. Actually, don’t, because that’s not a functional number, and everybody does everything over the internet these days instead of the phone. For example, here’s a toll-free look at the history of 1-800 numbers. Automated collect calling Back in 1967, American telephone companies introduced a new system […]
Since 1982, book folk (libraries, publishers, readers) have celebrated “Banned Books Week,” setting aside the last week of September to examine literature that’s been “challenged” or banned” around the country. Here are some books removed from shelves…for some very odd reasons. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret The Judy Blume novel about a girl’s […]
For every PlayStation or Nintendo Wii that sells in the tens of millions and generates billions of dollars, plenty of other video game systems enter the market…and then it’s game over. OUYA The OUYA system got to market outside of the system—the creators raised $8.5 million in development cash via crowdfunding website Kickstarter. Units were […]
Those TV shows we love, the ones with beloved and familiar characters we welcome into our homes week after week? They could have been a lot different, had creators gone with their original ideas and instincts. Frasier Fraiser was a smash hit for NBC, running from 1993 to 2004 and winning the Emmy for Best […]
“Rideshare” services like Uber and Lyft have only been around for a few years, but they’ve already become a big part of American culture. Basically privatizing the taxicab industry, individuals sign up to be paid drivers, and people pay a reasonable fee for a ride by using a smartphone app. They also leave stuff behind […]
While it takes its name from a German city, there are few foods more quintessentially American than the hamburger. But from sea to shining sea, there are tons of variations on the old meat patty between two buns. After all, America is a big country, and the land of ingenuity. Smash Burger While the rest […]
Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Or, should you know of those scourges of the sea by a different name, International Talk Like a Buccaneer Day. There have been lots of different words throughout history synonymous with pirates, and here’s a little bit about their origins. Or rather, arrrrrr-igins. Buccaneer Pirates, as the […]
A lot of cheeses are named after their points of origin—Cheddar, Roquefort, and Colby are named after places in England, France, and Wisconsin, respectively. Other cheese names are a bit more complicated. Cottage Cheese It’s the most familiar and commonly consumed form of cheese curds (at least in the United States). What are curds? Coagulated […]
Not every video game can thrill gamers and sell millions. Here are some titles that hit the “Game Over” screen entirely too quickly. Pac-Man How can the most famous and popular video games of all time land on a list of flops? Because of the limitations of technology in 1982. In the very early 1980s, […]
Here’s the tale of how humans came to eat bears—tiny, adorable, rainbow-colored Gummy Bears, that is. Origin story Not too long after the end of World War I in the early 1920s, a 27-year-old candy factory worker from Bonn, Germany, named Hans Riegel decided to quit his job and go into business for himself. He […]
Last week, Hollywood news outlets reported that Henry Cavill might be done playing Superman on the big screen, as he’s been doing since 2013 in films like Man of Steel, Justice League, and Batman vs. Superman. It remains to be seen who will next wear the cape…and who will have almost become the Man of […]
Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon lost her bid to become the next governor of New York, losing in a primary to incumbent Andrew Cuomo. She’s certainly not the first well-known actor to ever run for office. Shirley Temple Her heyday was the 1930s, but Shirley Temple arguably remains the most famous (and beloved) […]
September 15 was Batman Day, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the more bizarre and head-shaking moments in the long comic and cinematic history of The Caped Crusader, a.k.a. The Dark Knight, a.k.a. The World’s Greatest Detective, a.k.a. (spoiler alert) Bruce Wayne. What a bear! In a 1977 Batman comic book, […]
What do you do with all your empty toilet paper rolls? Instead of putting them into the recycling bin, turn them into fun craft creations with The Toilet Roll Activity Book. With step-by-step instructions and full-color illustrations for more than two dozen projects suitable for all ages, this book will help you turn those plain cardboard […]
