DUDE, Your Pants are Falling Down
As a fad, baggy hip-hop jeans have lasted longer than bell-bottoms and parachute pants…combined
Daily Dispatch
TV Shows Without a Proper Finale
The final episodes of long-running TV shows can be major cultural events—the country just about shut down for the final chapters of Seinfeld, Cheers, and M*A*S*H, for example. But life isn’t fair, and neither is TV, when it comes to these iconic TV shows that didn’t get a proper sendoff. Law & Order For 20 […]
Superman Needs a Dummy
Everybody knows Superman can fly faster than a speeding bullet, and that Spider-Man can fling webs and crawl on them. But there are a lot of superheroes in the worlds of comic books and movies—and they can do a lot more than fly and crawl fast. SUPERMAN THE VENTRILOQUIST This particular Man of Steel power […]
Impact of Colors
Colors have a lot more impact on our daily lives than you might think. Here are some things researchers have found out about people and their perceptions and responses to colors.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Justin Woodpond!
It’s long been a custom for celebrities staying at hotels, hospitals, and other places to do so under a fake name. It allows them to maintain a little bit of privacy. The next time you’re at a hotel, see if you spot any of these names on the register. Beyoncé When she recently checked into […]
The Most Dubious Records in Sports
Most points scored? More rebounds than anybody? That’s fine, but who got hit by a pitch the most? Brett Favre Brett Favre is a Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, and he’s second on the all-time list in touchdown passes. But perhaps because he played a relatively long time—19 seasons in all—Favre also was intercepted […]
It All Began With a Bank Commercial
The unlikely, common origin stories of two very different icons of American pop culture. “We’ve Only Just Begun” In 1970, California-based Crocker National Bank enlisted the help of San Francisco ad agency Hal Riney & Partners to increase the bank’s awareness with young adult customers. The agency hired the songwriting team of Roger Nichols and […]
Why We Say “Bless You!” When Someone Sneezes
As with many common phrases that have been around for seemingly forever, there are a lot of possible stories about its origin. The Plague of Justinian The Plague of Justinian was a particularly nasty plague that hit Europe hard during the late 6th century. Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church at the time, […]
Muppet Origins
It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights…and check out these stories about how a bunch of those beloved Muppets were created. Cookie Monster In 1966, Muppets creator Jim Henson designed three monster puppets for use in a commercial for a snack product called Wheels, Crowns, and Flutes. Each puppet corresponded […]
Science of Processed Foods
The science of how processed foods and consumer products are made is absolutely fascinating…and a little stomach-turning, too. Raisin the Steaks A number of tangy, Worcestershire sauce-like steak sauces, such as A1, contain raisin paste. That’s just dried grapes—raisins—mushed into a paste and mixed up with the other herbs, spices, and flavorings. It’s traditionally been […]
Halloween, Columbus Day, and National Dental Hygiene Month
October is a month full of celebrations worth celebrating, both well-known and not so-well known. American Cheese Month October has been set aside by the American dairy industry to recognize, well, the American dairy industry. The U.S. has as strong and rich of a history of fromage as France or Italy. Celebrate with some locally-made […]
What a Heartbreaker
A few stories about the late, legendary Tom Petty. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ breakthrough hit was the classic “American Girl.” While mixing the final cut in a studio late one night in 1976, Petty thought it was missing something and asked guitarist Dwight Twilley what he thought. Twilley said the song was good, but […]
R.I.P. Hugh Hefner
The man who founded Playboy in 1953 has passed away at age 91. Even aside from creating a media empire, Hef lived a pretty interesting life. He Was Fascinated With Marilyn Monroe Part of the reason why Playboy the magazine took off right away is because of its marketing hook: issue no. 1 featured racy […]
They Found Paul Revere’s Outhouse!
“Now here’s a little story we’ve got to tell, about a famous person you know so well. It started way back in history — someone just uncovered Paul Revere’s privy.” The Paul Revere House has stood in the North End neighborhood of Boston since 1711. Many people have lived there, but most famously Paul Revere. […]
Origins of Cappuchinos, Corn Dogs, and More
When Uncle John was a kid, the basic food groups were meat, bread, vegetables, and dairy products. Uncle John always wondered why they left out the other basic food groups: coffee, candy, cold soup, fish sticks, corn dogs, and salad dressing.
It’s National Chocolate Milk Day
Myth: It doesn’t come from chocolate milk-giving cows. Truth: Everything else in this article. Columbus brought cocoa back to Europe from the Americas in the early 1500s, but it didn’t catch on. After Spanish explorer Cortez overran the Aztecs a few decades later, he brought cocoa to Europe again, although he added sugar and cinnamon […]
Music Quiz: One Hit Wonders
They came, they saw…they only had one big hit. Here’s a quiz about the musicians who got one shot and made it count.
When Sinatra Says to Change the Lyrics, You Change the Lyrics
Frank Sinatra was a great singer of course, but he’s also been called a great “interpreter” of famous songs. So much so that when he covered well known songs, he often made or demanded some notable changes to the lyrics. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” The holiday standard debuted in the 1944 movie musical […]
