When you think about it, baseball is kind of an absurd game: hit a ball with a stick, and then run around a square as fast as you can. But that’s nothing compared to these real games and sports played around the world. Contest: The Tough Guy Played in: England How it’s played: This grueling […]
Most major rock guitarists have custom instruments built for them. Some are truly odd. Rick Nielsen’s Multi-Neck Guitars Cheap Trick is probably most memorable for two things: “I Want You to Want Me” and Rick Nielsen’s two-, three-, four-, and five-neck guitars. Up until about 1980, he’d line up as many as five different guitars […]
We hope these heifer-vescent cow facts really m-o-o-o-o-ve you. (1) The first American cows arrived with the British in 1611 at the Jamestown colony. (2) It takes about 350 “squirts” to make a gallon of milk. (3) How can you tell how old a cow is? Count the rings on her horns. (4) Cows were […]
More answers to the burning question, “Where does all this sports stuff come from?” THE FOOTBALL HUDDLE “In 1924 Herb McCracken, the coach of the Lafayette College football team, discovered that his hand signals [flashed to players during the game] had been scouted and decoded by Penn, his upcoming opponent. On game day, McCracken countered […]
History has a tendency to marginalize women inventors, but there have been many. Here are a few that may impress you. The Circular Saw INVENTOR: Tabitha Babbitt STORY: Babbitt got the inspiration for her invention in 1810, at the age of 26, while sitting at her spinning wheel. Watching a work crew saw wood with […]
A self-proclaimed time traveler is among the lesser-known names running for president. Does he win or lose? He probably already knows, but then if he knew he was going to lose, he wouldn’t be running. That means he’s going to win! Washington lawyer Andrew Basiago says he’s got the government experience that would qualify him […]
It’s very difficult to amend the U.S. Constitution. A potential amendment has to pass both houses of Congress with two-thirds approval, and then it has to be approved by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. Since 1787, only 27 amendments have been adopted. Numerous others have been proposed…and rejected. Here are some notable rejects. […]
Here are the origins of some common phrases. ON THE LAM Meaning: To be on the run, especially from the police Origin: “American slang since the latter part of the 19th century. The root of lam is the Old Norse word lamja, meaning to ‘make lame,’ and the original meaning, when it first appeared in […]
In the 1980s and ’90s, Prince introduced lots of young singers to the world, writing and producing songs for them. But how’d they do without Prince? Sheila E. She started drumming professionally as a teenager, and it helped that her father was iconic Latin jazz drummer Pete Escovedo. She was an accomplished session drummer by […]
You’ve bought them. You’ve played with them. You’ve wondered where they came from and who created them. Now the BRI offers these bits of useless information to satisfy your curiosity. BINGO In 1929 a tired, depressed toy salesman named Edwin Lowe set out on a nighttime drive from Atlanta, Georgia, to Jacksonville, Florida. On the […]
For decades, “chocolate diamonds” have been referred to in the mining industry as, simply enough, “brown diamonds.” Because they’re naturally brown and not clear and shimmery like the more palatable jewelry grade diamonds, they were used for industrial purposes (primarily in huge drill bits for ore mining operations).
Some interesting facts about America’s favorite pastime—lawn care. (And when you’re done with reading this, get out there and start mowing.) An average lawn has six grass plants per square inch. That’s 850 per square foot— which can contain as many as 3,000 individual blades of grass. There are 50 million lawn mowers in use […]
May day! May day! We’ve got lots of May days! May 4: National Candied Orange Peel Day There’s truly a “holiday” for everything if there’s a day recognizing candied orange peel. These boiled, sliced, and sugared bits of citrus are most commonly found in fruitcake and other winter desserts, so it’s a little perplexing why […]
For some reason, Great Britain has more than its share of mansions, estates, and old homes that are reported to be haunted. Leeds Castle… is said to be haunted by a dog. He pays no attention to the people who visit the castle, but he’s said to bring bad luck to anyone who spots him. […]
Until the day the robots rise up and take us over, stay alert by keeping aware of what they’re up to now. HER Hong Kong-based robotics designer Ricky Ma just unveiled his latest creation: Mark 1, a life-size, humanoid robot. Oh, and it looks exactly like actress Scarlett Johansson. It took Ma 18 months and […]
The 1986 Boston Red Sox were one out away from winning the World Series …until a ball rolled through first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs. The NY Mets won the game, forcing a decisive game 7, which they also won. Buckner became a sports pariah, but he’s not the only athlete ever to screw up. Nice […]
The answer: basic math. Since its introduction in 1972, McDonald’s Quarter Pounder sandwich had been one of its most popular menu items. The name comes from how the meat patty weighs a quarter of a pound (or four ounces) before cooking, much larger than the two-to-three ounce patty used on the chain’s regular hamburgers. In […]
On a trip to Ireland, Uncle John spent many an evening going from pub to pub collecting traditional toasts (and many a morning after, begging for aspirin). Here are some favorites. May you have food and clothing, a soft pillow for your head; May you be forty years in heaven, before the devil knows you’re […]
