It shouldn’t be so pleasurable but it is: That bizarre taste sensation of super-sour and super-sweet that comes with sour candy. Here’s the science behind how candy makes can make things taste so sour. The main supplier of sour kick: citric acid. It’s found in, well, citrus fruits: lemons, grapefruits, limes, and oranges, for example. […]
How do you do? It’s so nice to see you! Now, won’t you sit down and read these origin stories about common American English greeting words? Hello Going back as far as at least the 1400s, words like “hollo” and “holla” were used in England. A speaker shouted them out when they needed to get […]
Queen Elizabeth II is the longest serving monarch in the history of the U.K. She’s in her 90s now, and she’ll die one day, of course. Recently, some British media organizations unveiled part of the intricate and elaborate plan that’s been set into place (and extensively rehearsed) when that day arrives. If she falls ill, […]
The NHL playoffs are about to get underway. And to celebrate the excitement, here are some of the weirdest things that ever went down on the ice during the post-season quest for the Stanley Cup. 2010: Game 6 In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since 1961…but not too many people realized […]
For nearly 40 years, Sesame Street has helped kids learn about the world around them, and themselves. To that end, the series has routinely introduced Muppet characters that reflected the big, diverse world out there. Aristotle Sporadically throughout the 1980s, Sesame Street’s resident worrywart Telly hung out with a friend named Aristotle. He was blind, […]
Today is a painful day—the day when federal income taxes are due in the U.S. If you’re feeling that sting especially hard, be glad you don’t live in one of these countries. Aruba The tropical island nation of Aruba is a very nice place to live: white sandy beaches, clear ocean water, and the highest […]
Concerned about the government’s priorities? Now you can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing your tax dollars are being well spent on things like… Dough Dope The National Institutes of Drug Abuse spent $780,000 (and five years) studying whether pizza was as addictive as drugs. Findings: 100 college students surveyed said they felt pizza was […]
We hope you have an all-time best Easter. To get you started, here are some people who celebrated Easter in very big, very egg-cellent ways. Largest Easter egg, chocolate Made by Italian chocolate maker Tosca in 2011, it was unveiled at a shopping center in Cortenuova, Italy, during the Easter season. It weighed more than […]
Sports teams: They’re institutions for major cities for decades, as loyal fans wear team colors and team logos with pride. And then the team goes and changes their name. (Usually for a good reason.) (1) Since its inception in 1965, the Major League Baseball team in Houston has endured a number of major changes short […]
It’s time for the NHL postseason, and the lead up to the Stanley Cup finals. And there’s a good chance that whichever team you’re rooting for might have entered into the league with a completely different name. Phoenix Scorpions The Winnipeg Jets left its long-time home in the Canadian province of Manitoba for Phoenix in […]
Pittsburgh used to be Pittsburg and New York used to be New Amsterdam. And then there are these American towns that got a lot of publicity when they came up with new names for themselves. Hot Springs, New Mexico “Truth or Consequences” is a very mysterious name for a town, particularly a sparsely populated one […]
The NBA Playoffs are about to start. And while most experts and hardcore fans expect the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors to face off in the NBA Finals for the third year in a row, history indicates that anything can happen. Going into the 2016 NBA Playoffs, the Golden State Warriors were heavily favored […]
Except for Kanye West and Will Smith, most rappers don’t perform under their real names. They use nicknames or handles instead, which reflect their personalities. Here are how some of the biggest MCs of all time came up their stage names. Waka Flocka Flame. As a kid, he used to watch the cartoon Muppet Babies […]
It’s supposed to be easy: You get up on that stage, sing some songs, and soak up the adulation. But out of the thousands of rock concerts ever staged, a few have taken a turn for the worst. Patti Smith Patti Smith and her band were serving as the opening act for Bob Seger on […]
Hollywood is so closely identified with the “decadent” film industry, that it’s hard to imagine that it started out as a prim Victorian town…but it did. History In 1886, Kansas prohibitionists Harvey and Daeida Wilcox “bought a 120-acre citrus farm in sleepy Cahuenga Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles, for $150/acre.” They built an elaborate […]
Name some musicians, and you immediately think “one-hit wonder,” like Dexy’s Midnight Runners or Toni Basil. Some other artists are downright household names, but the stats don’t lie: Despite being enormously successful, they only ever had one hit single. Don Ho One of the most famous musicians to ever come out of Hawaii (if not […]
Not just anybody can play the Man of Steel. In fact, only a handful of actors have done it. But lots more came close, like these folks. Bruce Jenner The biggest new star of 1976 wasn’t an actor, but an athlete. Before identifying as Caitlyn Jenner, Bruce Jenner won the decathlon at the 1976 Summer […]
We found these stories right under our noses. Why the Long Face? In 2003 Bhupati Das, from the Indian state of West Bengal, announced his plan to break the world record in “mustache weightlifting.” The 48-year-old said he’d been inspired to try it six years earlier when he read about a man who had lifted […]
