Hobbits might be small, but The Hobbit is not. The widely read children’s fantasy book about a hobbit Bilbo Baggins on his journey to help dwarves reclaim their homeland was J.R.R. Tolkien’s first deep dive into Middle Earth. It was first published 80 years this week. The Book that Started it All The Hobbit is […]
Or rather the words breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast That’s easy—it’s an English word that developed to connote the first bit of food taken after a person wakes up. They’ve been sleeping, and so not eating, which means any food is “breaking the fast” they’ve been engaged in. Dinner As late as the mid-20th century, […]
Before Hollywood makes a movie, they’ve got to line up just the right actors for all the roles. Sometimes they think they’ve found somebody…but then change their minds. Here are some stars who landed a big gig, but then lost it for very odd reasons. Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks has starred in a few major […]
Everyone loves bleepers…er, bloppers…er, we mean bloopers. Here are a few great ones from the silver screen.
Because sometimes you have to go to extremes…to dig up the truth. Jesse James The crime spree of notorious Wild West criminal Jesse James was put to an end in 1882, when he was shot in the head by cohort Robert Ford, reportedly to collect the substantial bounty that was out on him. The shocking […]
The Oscars of TV are coming soon. Take our quiz on notable moments from past Emmys ceremonies.
Love it or leave it, the most famous canned meat in the world turns 80 years old this year. Here are some facts about Spam:, that pink loaf of salty, porky goodness. The Beginning While Spam has routinely and endlessly joked about as a mystery meat, it’s really just pork and ham. In the ‘20s, […]
Toilets: Is there anything they can’t do? New York Harbor doesn’t exactly have the reputation of being the cleanest body of water in the world. It borders the overpopulated, smoggy, Big Apple, and for decades has been besieged by pollutants and poor sewage management. You wouldn’t find much fish in there today, but even if […]
The holiday honoring your parents’ parents falls on September 10. Here’s a look at some older folks who’ve made the news in some very quirky ways. Model Grandpa The fashion designer known professionally as Ms. Lv is a top up-and-comer in Chinese haute couture. But sales and attention really started growing after Ms. Lv’s fashion […]
College: home of higher education, world-class research…and fraternities
The new fall TV season is about to start, and while there will probably be some big hits in the bunch, there will also be some duds that will be quickly canceled. But will they be as swiftly canceled as these shows were? Do No Harm In 2013, NBC heavily promoted this modern retelling of […]
…and other myths, legends, and rumors you probably believe about video games. Mario from Super Mario Bros. is a plumber. Mario is probably the most famous video game character of all time. Even the casual video game fan—or non-gamer—could identify what Mario does for a living when he isn’t saving the princess or racing go-karts. […]
Steely Dan is one of the most innovative bands of all time, combining jazz themes with rock n’ roll and some of the darkest, funniest, and most literature lyrics ever attempted. Band member Donald Fagan credits that unique wordplay to bandmate Walter Becker, who died earlier this month at age 67. Here are some other […]
After Labor Day but before Columbus Day come all of these minor, made-up holidays and celebrations. Sept. 3: Skyscraper Day American architect Louis Sullivan led a revolution in construction: He was among the first to design skyscrapers. The development of cheap, readily available steel in the late 19th century allowed architects like Sullivan to create […]
The U.K.’s Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris 20 years ago this week at age 36. Here are some things you may not have known about “the People’s Princess.” Marrying a Commoner Royals don’t traditionally marry commoners, and Charles and Diana are no exception. When she was 14, her father inherited the […]
As summer winds down, here’s a look at the subtleties that separate two favorite treats of the season. Pretty much everywhere you go in the United States in the summer, it’s going to be hot. Fortunately, there are some coping mechanisms. Some are more appetizing than others: such as the wide variety of cold, sugary […]
The “song of the summer”—the one that’s dominated radio and the pop charts—is “Despacito” by singer Luis Fonsi. More than a simple catchy song, it’s making history. Here’s a look at the song all the kids these days are into. “Despacito” is the first song in the musical genre called reggaeton to hit #1 in the […]
Hollywood frequently looks to the bookshelf to find the next big blockbuster, and it often works out—classics like Gone With the Wind, The Godfather, and Doctor Zhivago all began life as books. And sometimes, something gets lost in the translation to the screen. The Scarlet Letter In case you don’t remember the plot from eleventh […]
