Le Change en Francaise
Some dramatic changes to the French language were announced in 1990 and they’re scheduled to take effect this fall. Not happy about it: a lot of people who speak French.
Daily Dispatch
The All-Time Most Scandalous and Famous Celebrity Rumors, Finally Debunked
Despite what you may have heard, Uncle John was not the original Ty-D-Bowl Man. (How do these rumors get started, anyway?) Was 1970s shock-rocker Alice Cooper actually Ken Osmond, the teen actor who had played Eddie Haskell on wholesome 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver? No. Alice Cooper’s real name is Vincent Furnier. The rumor spread […]
Happy Seuss Day!
In schools and libraries across the country, today is Read Across America Day, part of an effort to encourage kids to read. Why today? It’s the birthday of perhaps the greatest children’s book author of all time, Dr. Seuss. “Dr. Seuss” isn’t his real name, of course. The good doctor’s real name is Theodor Geisel—Seuss […]
First 20 Videos Played on MTV
35 years ago, MTV launched and played its very first video, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. Here is a list of the next 19 videos they played.
6 Weird Holidays in March
Just in case you don’t have enough fun on St. Patrick’s Day, there are these. March 1: National Pig Day Myth: Pigs are dirty animals. They roll around in the mud only to cool off, but they generally keep clean. Pigs only a few weeks old have already learned to go to the bathroom as […]
Fitness Fads
Every few years, a new exercise craze sweeps the country. Here’s how a few of them got up and moving. Jazzercise Jazz choreographer Judi Sheppard Missett came up with the dance-meets-aerobics fitness program—fun routines set to pop music—in 1969 and opened a studio in Los Angeles. By 1977 she no longer taught classes. Instead, she […]
6 Surprising Academy Award Winners
Doctor Who has on Oscar. Playwright George Bernard Shaw got one well after he died. Here are a few more unlikely Oscar recipients. Kira Roessler In the 1980s, Kira Roessler played bass in the influential punk rock band Black Flag, best known for the song “TV Party” as well as its lead singer, actor Henry […]
Really Silly Wrestling Characters
Professional wrestling is already pretty silly, but the “sport” outdid itself when it introduced these really silly wrestling characters. SERGEANT SLAUGHTER At the peak of the first Gulf War in 1991, the WWF brought in this villain, an Iraqi-flag-waving Saddam Hussein sympathizer. GIANT GONZALES A failed NBA basketball player, Gonzales was a lanky 7’7″ and […]
It’s a Bad Idea Charlie Brown!
Since the 1965 debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters have appeared in more than 40 animated specials. The classics leave us feeling warm and fuzzy; others leave us wondering, “What were you thinking, Charlie Brown?” Charlie Brown’s All Stars! (1966) Plot: A recurring storyline in the Peanuts comic strip is Charlie Brown’s […]
VCR Board Games
Some forgotten fads are forgotten for a reason. DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME? In the late 1980s and early ’90s, board game publishers feared that the popularity of video games spelled doom for their industry. Solution: VCR Board Games, which included a board game, and, to compete with electronic games, a videotape. The […]
Strange and Flavored Vodkas
Vodka is practically tasteless, which means that distilleries can add whatever bizarre flavors they want to it. For example… Grass Polish company Bak makes Bison Grass vodka. It’s not bison-flavored—it’s grass-flavored (and bison eat grass). The grass infusion leaves a small amount of coumarin, which is a main ingredient in rat poison and leads to […]
Recipes From Food Packages
You probably grew up eating some of these “classic” comfort food dishes, the recipes of which were printed on food packaging or promoted in magazine ads. If you’re like us, your feelings range from “Did we really eat like that?” to “I wish I had some right now!” VELVEETA QUESO DIP Ingredients: One 16-ounce package […]
The Talented Miss America
The Miss America Pageant added the talent portion to the contest in 1935. Most contestants sing or dance, but some display more unusual skills. 1957: Amanda Whitman (Miss Tennessee) did a gymnastic tumbling and trampoline routine to the theme from The Third Man. 1959: Elizabeth Holmes (Miss New York) did an impression of French singer […]
That Other Superhero
At the top of the superhero list, you’ve got your Superman, your Batman…and then way, way down the list, you’ve got these. Shamrock In 1982 artists at Marvel Comics—tasked with creating an Irish superhero—came up the most stereotypically Irish lass possible. Shamrock (Molly Fitzgerald) is the daughter of a militant IRA member and has long […]
Celebrity Sports: Battle of the Networks Stars
For this tale, we take you back to the 1970s—to a time when the TV landscape was much more sparse, and political correctness was more than a decade away. It was the inaugural Battle of the Network Stars, a celebrity sports event chock full of drama, scandal, triumph, cigarettes, and a few ethnic slurs. MALIBU, […]
Rock ’n’ Roll Diary
Gossip and trivia from pop music. RADIOHEAD Bucking the tradition of rock groups trashing hotel rooms, Radiohead actually does the opposite. Not only do they clean up their own rooms, but they once snuck back into a hotel after checking out to clean up a room that their opening band had trashed. THE WHITE STRIPES […]
Facts about To Kill a Mockingbird
In honor of Harper Lee, who passed away at the age of 89, we look in our vault for some interesting facts about her famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Dancing With (Out) the Stars
Celebrities who didn’t appear on Dancing with the Stars. Cindy McCain Shortly after John McCain lost the 2008 presidential election, DWTS producers signed up his wife, Cindy McCain. John nixed the idea. Vincent Pastore The Sopranos co-star Vincent Pastore, who once appeared on the weight-loss reality show Celebrity Fit Club, had to drop out during […]
