March 2011
24 posts
The Map With Only 38 States
[click map to enlarge]
If George Etzel Pearcy had his way, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s famous song would have been called “Sweet Home Talladego.” In 1973, the California State University geography professor suggested that the U.S. should redraw its antiquated state boundaries and narrow the overall number of states to a mere thirty-eight. Pearcy’s proposed state lines were drawn in less-populated...
February 2011
15 posts
Where 10 Oscar Winners Kept Their Statues
Did you ever wonder what you would do with an Oscar if you won it? Here’s where 10 Academy Award winners keep their little golden statues.
1. In the fridge. This one is my favorite. Timothy Hutton won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Ordinary People in 1981. He recently said he and his sister were having a party at his house a few years ago when she decided to stick his Oscar in the...
Cure Your Hangovers—with Bacon!
Ah, bacon. For years, we’ve devoured it in all its crispy glory without worrying about the side effects. But now, scientists at Newcastle University’s Centre for Life have given us a new reason to gorge on the stuff. They say that when it comes to hangovers, bacon is a miracle drug. In fact, the study found that bacon is most effective when united with bread in sandwich form. The protein in...
8 Fairy Tales and Their Not-So-Happy Endings
Those Disney endings where the prince and the princess end up blissfully married don’t always happen in the original stories. To make sure kids go home happy, not horrified, Disney usually has to alter the stories. Read on for the original endings to a couple of Disney classics (and some more obscure tales).
Cinderella
Don’t break out your violins for this gal just yet. All that cruelty poor...
The Forgotten History of American History X
Before director Tony Kaye embarked on his first feature film, 1997’s American History X, he’d already been declared a genius of the advertising world. Kaye was famous for taking months to craft the perfect 30-second commercial, and his meticulousness only bolstered his reputation. Top brands including Guinness and Volvo sought out his services, because he was just that good. But Kaye was...
A White House Christmas (With Mr. T)
In December of 1983, Mr. T went to Washington to help the First Lady unveil the White House Christmas decorations. The A-Team had premiered earlier that year, but why did Mrs. Reagan choose B.A. Baracus for this assignment?
“Nancy Reagan was campaigning to get kids to say no to drugs,” Mr. T told The Independent in 2008. “They heard about me going round schools telling kids to stay away from...
FDR's Hot Dog Party With King George VI
Left to Right: Mrs Franklin D. Roosevelt; King George VI of England; Mrs. Sarah Roosevelt; Queen Elizabeth (the “Queen Mother”); and President Roosevelt.
In June of 1939, King George VI became the first reigning British monarch to visit the United States. The trip featured all the staples of a royal visit: a sight-seeing tour of Washington, a formal State Dinner, and a big bash at the...
The Legend of Undercover Elvis
The Photo: While you probably recognize the iconic photo of Elvis meeting Nixon in 1970, you might not know the exact reason for the visit. Elvis desperately wanted to become an undercover agent. Concerned about increased drug use in America, he petitioned Nixon in a handwritten letter proposing he be named a “Federal Agent at Large.” Elvis wrote, “I have done an in-depth study of drug...
Shel Silverstein’s Unlikely Rise to Kid Lit...
This article originally appeared in mental_floss magazine.
by Mark Peters Shel Silverstein—the late cartoonist, singer, songwriter, playwright, and mega-selling author of such classics as The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends—didn’t like children’s literature. Spoon-feeding kids sugar-sweet stories just wasn’t his style. Fortunately for generations of young readers, someone convinced...
Mayor McCheese v. H.R. Pufnstuf
Fans of Sid and Marty Krofft’s show H.R. Pufnstuf probably noticed that McDonald’s old McDonaldland ad campaign was, ahem, fairly similar in feel to the show. As it turns out, McDonald’s ad agency, Needham Harper & Steers, had originally approached the Kroffts in 1970 about designing a Pufnstuf-type campaign for the restaurant. According to Hal Erickson’s book Sid and Marty Krofft,...
Rutherford B. Hayes: National Hero of ......
In Rutherford B. Hayes’ hometown of Delaware, Ohio, there’s a memorial to the late U.S. president; it’s a plaque that marks his birthplace, which is now a gas station. In Paraguay, people might find this fact horribly offensive. Perhaps that’s because the country is littered with Hayes memorials—from statues to schools to streets named in his honor. There’s even a city in Paraguay called...
How Romantic!
Today is the 20th anniversary of Silence of the Lambs, which came out on Valentine’s Day in 1991.
John Tyler's Grandkids Are Still Alive!
Tyler was born during George Washington’s presidency, and his own stay in the White House ended in 1845. Yet somehow he still has two living grandsons. How does that work?
First, Tyler was, ahem, prolific. He fathered 15 kids, the most of any president. He didn’t slow down in his golden years, either; his last child didn’t turn up until Tyler was 70 years old. His son Lyon Gardiner...
A Quick History of Mattel Football
Released in June 1977, Mattel Football had a simple concept: get the bright dash—the ball carrier—past the five slightly dimmer dashes that represented the defense. Believe it or not, but this was a revolution in video gaming. Not bad for a hacked pocket calculator. Because it was a based on a calculator, those dashes were really the top, middle, and bottom segments of a digital number...
Lifetime Achievement Award: Neptune, the Most...
The following is an excerpt from our latest issue, “The 2011 Golden Lobe Awards.”
Congratulations, Neptune! Astronomers first spotted the outermost planet in 1846, and since then, they’ve been waiting patiently for Neptune to complete its first recorded orbit around the Sun. According to NASA, on July 12, 2011, that wait will be over. After nearly 165 years of plugging along, the...
