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 […]
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These products were once household names, until they slowly faded from public consciousness…except that they still exist. Encyclopedias For a kid writing a school report, their research options were limited: encyclopedias were the best bet. These attractively bound, multiple-volume sets of world knowledge were a fixture of libraries, schools, and the homes of families who […]
Tired of baseball, basketball, and football? Your worries are over—we’ve found some unusual alternatives for you.
We hope you have the time of your life reading these facts about Dirty Dancing, one of the biggest movie hits of 1987. The movie was filmed in the fall, but it takes place in the summer. The leaves had started to change color, so the crew had to spray paint trees and leaves green. […]
Lots of movies have inspired their own fan conventions. Let’s see, there’s Star Trek and Star Wars and…The Big Lebowski?
You have to be a little good to even make it into the major leagues. But once you’re there…all bets are off. Marv Throneberry The 1969 World Series champion New York Mets were nicknamed the “Miracle Mets” because they’d had one terrible season after another up to that point. The franchise’s first year in existence, […]
Think you’ve ever had a bad hair day? Just be glad you never had one like these folks.
It’s hard to enjoy the finer things in life when the finer things are so expensive. We’ll skip the caviar and stick to our good ol’ beef jerky. Wait, that’s expensive, too?! What’s going on here?
A total solar eclipse, already titled the Great American Eclipse, will be visible in the sky on August 21, 2017. Or rather, nothing else will be visible because it’s going to block out the sun. There are actually different categories of solar eclipses. For example, a partial solar eclipse happens when a portion of the […]
Real questions asked by people on vacation.
Beauty is in the eye of the person with the weirdest beauty treatment.
August 16 marks the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n’ Roll. He’s one of the most famous and written about people of all time, so we hope you didn’t already know these facts about him. (And for reading it…thank ya very much.) Black Velvet Elvis was naturally blond, and used a […]
