April 2011
18 posts
5 of History's Most Outrageously Lavish Weddings
There’s lots to consider when planning a wedding: dresses, cakes, bands, halls…all of which can add up to a hefty bill for the parents of the bride (or, in some cultures, the groom). But perhaps those bellyaching about the substantial hit their bank account is about to take should pause to consider some of history’s most outrageously lavish weddings. Suddenly dropping a few grand on a...
Behind the Lyrics: "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
In the late 1980s, Pennsylvania was embroiled in a bit of an accounting crisis. Employees of the Commonwealth had overpaid millions in FICA taxes and the state legislature began to search for an outside accounting agency to calculate the appropriate refunds. Harrisburg native John Torquato, Jr. eventually won the $4.6 million contract for his Californian-based firm, Computer Technology...
The (Suitable for Work) Story of Sex.com
Sex.com’s story is every bit as racy as one would expect. Judging by all the smut that’s floating around on the web, one would think that sex.com would be an incredibly lucrative domain name. So far, though, it’s mostly helped lawyers rack up big fees. Match.com founder Gary Kremen first registered the domain name way back in 1994, but before he could make any sort of site to go along...
The Q in Q-tips stands for quality. They were originally called Baby Gays.
According to a very important survey, 74% of American children think chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first.
You Won't Find a Better School Mascot
The Arkansas School for the Deaf Leopards!
Glenn Beck vs. Jon Stewart: The FCC Complaint Quiz
Every year, the Federal Communications Commission receives hundreds of thousands of complaints about alleged violations of their rules against “obscene, indecent, or profane programming.” Through the Freedom of Information Act, it’s possible to get copies of these complaints, with the names and address of the complainants redacted. We’ve put together a few complaints...
The nose print of a dog is like the fingerprint of a person—no two are alike.
News (From 1937): Listerine Cures Dandruff in...
Over the years, Listerine has been advertised as a cure for just about everything—including dandruff. But not just people-dandruff. In an ad that appeared in Life in 1937, the company made this bold claim:
“Rabbits with dandruff were cured of the disease only on the sides which were treated with Listerine.”
Go check out the ad for a helpful rabbit visual.
The Naked George Washington Statue That Shocked...
In 1832, Congress commissioned a giant sculpture of George Washington for the 100th anniversary of the President’s birth. They tapped artist Horatio Greenough for the job, and he seemed like a perfect fit. Not only did the Boston native come with a great reputation, but he’d also trained in Rome with the best European artists. Considering Greenough’s background, Congress assumed that his work...
How Lady Bird Johnson Made Billboards Hard to Read
Have you ever noticed that many billboards on American interstates seem to always be off in the distance, high atop a hill, instead of close to the road where you could actually read them? Thank Lady Bird Johnson for making you squint.
Like most First Ladies, Mrs. Johnson had taken on a personal project to support; she championed the beautification of the country. Flowers and trees were...
One Man's Treasure
In July 2009, Terry Herbert started wandering around his friend’s farm in England with a metal detector, hoping to come across an old coin or two. Instead, he beeped his way to the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure trove ever discovered. The Staffordshire Hoard —which includes more than 1,500 pieces of gold and silver from the 7th century CE—outnumbers all other findings from this period of British...
Now You Know
The “L.L.” in L.L. Bean stands for Leon Leonwood.
Who Was Chuck Taylor?
Nearly everyone’s walked around with his name on their feet at some point, but who the heck is Chuck Taylor?
Converse first introduced the All Star in 1917, but the company had a tough time moving many units of its fledgling basketball shoe against stiff competition from Spalding and several tire companies that were trying to horn in on the market for rubber-soled athletic kicks. Converse...
Jaleel White (“Steve Urkel”) was the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog in the video game character’s cartoon.
The Meaningless $30 Million Shot
As the clock dwindled on Duke and UConn’s 2004 Final Four matchup, Blue Devils fans had to hang their heads. Their underdog squad was going to lose 79-75, thereby ending their title hopes. Worse still, various betting lines on the game were giving the Devils between two and three points, so Duke fans who had bet on the game were going to endure a double punch to the stomach: their team...
During the 38-week stretch from June 9, 1990, to March 1, 1991, either M.C. Hammer or Vanilla Ice had Billboard’s #1 album every week but one.
The only album to sneak into the top spot during that period was Step by Step by New Kids on the Block.
Monowi, Nebraska: Population 1
Elsie Eiler may be in her seventies, but she can’t slow down. In addition to being Monowi’s sole resident, she’s also the Nebraska town’s mayor, bartender, and librarian.
As you enter Monowi, the sign tells you that the population is two, but that number was cut in half when Eiler’s husband, Rudy, died of cancer in 2004. Rudy had been a voracious reader in addition to working as a farmer...
