Some of your favorite NBA teams almost ended up with these names. Orlando Juice Orlando, Florida, scored an NBA expansion team in 1987. Naming it was put to a vote in the Orlando Sentinel. Of the 4,300 entries, four finalists were selected by the team’s owners: Heat, Tropics, Juice, and Magic. They decided on Juice, […]
Did John D. Rockefeller ever eat oysters Rockefeller? Here’s how some tasty foods got their names. Bananas Foster Richard Foster was the chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission in the early 1950s and a friend of restaurateur Owen Brennan, who also served on the commission. Foster must have loved bananas, because in 1951 Brennan […]
Here are some pint-sized facts about the world’s most famous pint-sized sex therapist. Karola Ruth Siegel (Westheimer is her married name) was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Germany in 1928. At age 12, Ruth was sent to safety at an orphanage in Switzerland. She never saw her family again; her parents are believed to […]
Stuff you didn’t know about the stuff on your TiVo. The Office In 2009 producers planned to spin off Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) to his own show. Following the same “mockumentary” format, the show was set to be about Bernard’s home life with his wife. Why didn’t it happen? Because Modern Family happened, and it […]
Lots of acts go solo, but for every George Michael (of Wham!) success, there’s an Andrew Ridgeley (of Wham!) flop. But here are some singers who did so well that they left their formerly well-known bands in the dustbin of history.
Mapmakers pioneered the idea of “copyright traps”—inserting fake cities or landmarks and then seeing if they show up in rivals’ work to see if they’ve been ripped off. The idea exists throughout the world of “intellectual property,” even music. Joel Whitburn is the music world’s top chart historian. Using the charts published by Billboard Magazine, […]
Better living through toilet technology. The Nano Membrane Toilet More than two billion people live without access to safe and clean water. This could help with that. The Nano Membrane Toilet, created by a team at Cranfield University in the U.K., doesn’t require water. The toilet’s “nanotech membrane” can suck water out of waste and […]
Los Angeles will soon have one (or potentially two) NFL teams. It will be a prime location for hosting Super Bowls. In 2013 a newspaper reporter uncovered the NFL’s “Host City Specifications and Requirements,” a confidential 153-page list of the league’s demands for any city bidding to host the Super Bowl. Here are a few items on the list.
We recently told you about some arguably inappropriate cartoon remakes of R-rated movies, but here are some that make a little more sense: Saturday morning version of kid-friendly sitcoms. Gilligan’s Planet (1982-83) Gilligan’s Island was not a big hit when it originally aired from 1964-1967, but became a smash when it was endlessly repeated in […]
One way to inject new life into the Bard’s timeless plays: put some big stars in them!
In the winter of 2011, a remote Russian town was besieged by a pack of more than 400 wolves.
In the 1993 action movie, Demolition Man, Sylvester Stallone plays John Spartan, a grizzled cop living in a nightmarish Los Angeles plagued by gang violence. Spartan gets frustrated with bizarre, futuristic technology, even in a precinct bathroom. Instead of toilet paper, the bathroom has a shelf with three seashells. He has no idea how they work, and the other officers just laugh at him.
Food carts are a great place for a good (and fairly cheap) meal. But they’re not all sandwiches and rice bowls.
Some TV shows are so synonymous with their hosts that when those hosts leave, the show doesn’t last much longer. In the 1980s, two versions of Wheel of Fortune ran simultaneously on American TV. One is the still-running syndicated nighttime version, and the other was a part of NBC’s daytime schedule. Pat Sajak hosted the […]
Who wouldn’t want to be part of the sea of more than 60 faces on the cover of one of the most iconic albums ever made, and by the biggest band in history?
Friends had Joey. Happy Days had Laverne and Shirley. Every majorly successful sitcom, for better or for worse, produces at least one spinoff. Some never even make it to the air. Karen When Will and Grace went into its final season in 2005-06, plans were underway for the show to continue on with a spinoff […]
Many fictional characters have genders that aren’t as straightforward as you might have thought.
When the frontman leaves for a solo career, what’s a band to do? Form a new band. Talk Show Stone Temple Pilots were one of the most successful rock bands of the ‘90s, racking up hits like “Plush,” “Big Empty,” and “Interstate Love Song.” Along the way, lead singer Scott Weiland struggled with a heroin […]
