Say you’re a musician and you work and toil for years and finally score a big hit song…but then you can’t ever manage another one. How to pay the bills? Write musical scores for film and television. Jay Ferguson Jay Ferguson is a double one-hit wonder. In 1968, his rock band spirit scored its only […]
We are celebrating poetry with these fascinating and interesting stories about some poetic titans of the English language. Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer only published one work in his life, and he didn’t even finish it before he died, but fortunately that one work was The Canterbury Tales, the first work of narrative poetry in the […]
How did you sleep last night? Let’s take a moment to reflect on the importance of sleep, the science of sleep…and all of the many ways that sleep doesn’t come so easily for a lot of people. Exploding Head Syndrome This hyperbolically named condition affects sleepers right as they’re falling asleep or who have just […]
How can you be a rock superstar and a one-hit-wonder at the same time? When you leave your successful group for a solo career…and it doesn’t work out. Nick Lachey There was a slew of “boy bands” in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The one teeny bopper from the era who is still a […]
Here is a celebration of one of the world’s most adorable, fascinating, and endangered creatures. Size In pictures and in videos—spending an afternoon in a panda wormhole on YouTube is a fine way to waste a few hours—pandas look like they’re about the size of a stuffed teddy bear, or a dog. They’re actually much […]
This doesn’t take away from their talent or cast doubt on if they deserve fame, but it’s certainly interesting that some celebrities got off to a good start early on—they were already wealthy before they became famous. Taylor Swift Taylor Swift is the most successful pop star on the planet right now—to the tune of […]
As the world prepares to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day—and all things Irish—here’s a look at some of the things that can only be found on the Emerald Isle. Halloween as a National Holiday? Think Halloween is a big deal in the U.S.? It’s bigger in Ireland. It’s the only place in the world where Halloween […]
Sad news: Stephen Hawking, quite possibly the greatest scientist of our time and the smartest person on Earth has passed away at age 76. He’s been a public figure and popularizer of science for decades, but there’s still a lot about him that most people didn’t know. Field of Study Hawking was a “scientist” to […]
Today is March 14, or “3/14,” which are the first three digits of that almost-magical ratio called pi. Sure, we could talk about math and circles…but looking up “pi” just made everyone here at Portable Press hungry for “pie” (and pie facts). Origins of the Word What’s the origin of the word pie, to describe […]
Is your schedule still reeling from last weekend’s big Daylight Saving Time switchover? DST has a long history of throwing the entire country out of whack. A 2010 poll found that almost a third of all Americans say they’ve been late—or early—because they were confused what time it was because of a Daylight Saving Time […]
Twenty-five years ago this week, one of the most remarkable works of art in the Western canon emerged, shedding light on the big questions of life, and the very nature of existence itself. We’re talking, of course, about Beavis and Butt-head, which aired its first episode on MTV on March 8, 1993. Huh-huh, huh-huh. Based […]
Today is National Barbie Day. Why? It was on this day in 1959 that the doll was unveiled to the public for the first time, at the American International Toy Fair in New York. TV-based Marketing Strategy Barbie was the first toy to have a TV-based marketing strategy. That was revolutionary—lots of kids were watching […]
On this International Women’s Day, here’s a look at some of history’s greatest (but overlooked) trailblazers. Anne Bradstreet The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America is a volume of poetry published in 1650, one of the first notable works about life in the American colonies by a resident of the American colonies. It was […]
Harrison usually ranks at the bottom of historians’ rankings of U.S. presidents. He died a month into his term…but he still ranks above other presidents, like James Buchanan, whose mishandling of public affairs led to the Civil War. So what did Harrison actually accomplish in his short time in office to save himself from being the […]
On March 6, 1912, the National Biscuit Company—later shortened to Nabisco—filed for a trademark on its chocolate cookie developed at a factory in New York City. That cookie: the iconic Oreo. Here are some facts about the cookie jar staple. Good for Vegans! People who try to follow a natural and organic diet eschew Oreos […]
You’re a true TV buff if you can remember these short-lived offshoots of popular TV shows. The humorous X-Files spinoff Amidst the spooky aliens and supernatural investigations, three characters (ironically) called “the Lone Gunmen” provided comic relief throughout the run of The X-Files. They appeared from time to time to point out to agents Mulder […]
Ever wanted to be “privy” to what goes on behind closed doors at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute? Well, here’s a story about how we printed one of our biggest ever goofs. It wasn’t an error when it started. When we make a Bathroom Reader, we research our work very carefully to ensure that it’s true. If, […]
Historical records date the first ancient Olympic games to 776 BCE. The games were originally held every four years in Olympia, in southwestern Greece, with competitors traveling from across the region’s various states. The very first Olympics lasted just one day and had a single event—a sprint race. (This article was first published in Who […]
