September 2011
37 posts
Who Cleans Up After Seeing Eye Dogs?
Dog turds are stealth weapons. People with 20/20 vision often fail to notice them until they appear hours later, on the bottom of a shoe. How the heck is someone who can’t see supposed to track down and eliminate these sidewalk scourges, then?
Continue Reading: Who Cleans Up After Seeing Eye Dogs?
Book It!
Pizza for Reading: The History of (and Controversies Surrounding) Pizza Hut’s Book It! Program
Despite the Japanese name, Ginsu knives were...
Did Andy Rooney Really Say That?
Now that he’s stepping down from 60 Minutes, looks like this is our last chance to plug our old Andy Rooney quote quiz. Can you pick out the actual Rooneyisms?
Take the Quiz: Did Andy Rooney Really Say That?
Lancaster's Brief Stint as Our Nation's Capital
On this date in 1777—and only this date—Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the capital of the United States. Here’s the story.
Cell phone owners between the ages of 18 and 24...
[via Pew Research]
The Word TASER is an Acronym
It stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.”
In the White House, Benjamin Harrison had two...
His son had a pet goat named Old Whiskers.
Dr. Seuss Died 20 Years Ago Today
We lost Dr. Seuss on September 24, 1991. Stacy Conradt remembers the man and his work: 10 Stories Behind Dr. Seuss Stories.
Little. Golden. Different.
Over two billion Little Golden Books have been sold since 1942. Here’s how they earned a spot on every kid’s bookshelf.
[Continue Reading: A Brief History of Little Golden Books]
On The West Wing in 1999, Nick Offerman ("Ron...
Here’s the clip.
9 Presidential Candidates Who May Have Also...
Presidential hopeful Rick Perry’s Texas A&M transcript revealed he got a D in a class called “Meats.” But he’s far from the only candidate who didn’t set the academic world on fire.
Continue Reading: 9 Presidential Candidates Who Weren’t Great Students
TV painter Bob Ross on his Air Force career: “I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine … who screams at you for being late to work.”
Andy’s evil neighbor Sid from Toy Story returns briefly as the garbage man in Toy Story 3.
Barry Manilow's hit “I Write the Songs” was not...
Quiz: Obama Campaign Email Subject or Message From...
As someone who enjoys politics and the new email alert sound, I subscribe to many of the candidates’ newsletters. I’ve noticed something with the Obama campaign’s email subjects—they’re beginning to sound like something my aunt would write. Let’s see if you can tell the difference.
Take the Quiz: Obama Campaign Email Subject or Message From My Aunt?
In Germany, Rice Krispies' Snap! Crackle! and Pop!...
This is important.
Iceland!
27 Amazing Photos of Beautiful, Alien Iceland
Toy Story, Toy Story 2 or Toy Story 3?
Take the movie quote quiz, space ranger.
In a 2008 survey, 58% of British teens thought...
You’d need 500 million pounds of peanut butter to cover the floor of the Grand Canyon, which is also how much Americans consume each year.
Quiz: Rapper or McDonald's Menu Item?
An MC Quiz
On this date in 1543, Mary was crowned Queen of...
We Are All Americans: The World’s Response to 9/11
A decade ago this week, people all over the world stood shoulder-to-shoulder in mourning, solidarity, sympathy and friendship with the people of the United States. Here are a few of those international reactions, both organized and spontaneous, that occurred in the days following September 11, 2001.
You're a Good Man, Charles Schulz
We all know that Charlie Brown never receives Valentines even though he gives them out to everyone else, but he isn’t the only one that Cupid seemed to laugh at.
Charles Schulz was skipped ahead two grades as a child and was always shy and awkward around the other students in his classes. For his first grade Valentine’s Day, his mother helped him make up Valentines for everyone in class so...
How All 32 NFL Teams Got Their Nicknames
(And What They Were Almost Called)
Churchill's Rules for Naming Military Operations
1. Operations in which large numbers of men may lose their lives ought not to be described by code words which imply a boastful or overconfident sentiment… . They ought not to be names of a frivolous character… Names of living people–Ministers and Commanders–should be avoided… .
2. …the world is wide, and intelligent thought will readily supply an unlimited number of...
Beyond Schweddy Balls
Ben & Jerry’s has announced their newest flavor—the SNL-inspired Schweddy Balls (“Vanilla Ice Cream with a Hint of Rum and Loaded with Fudge Covered Rum and Malt Balls”). Here’s a list of flavors Schweddy Balls will one day join in the Flavor Graveyard:
Beyond Schweddy Balls: 10 Discontinued Ben & Jerry’s Flavors
The Iron Man edition of Mr. Potato Head is named...
In 1939, Hitler's nephew wrote an article called...
[More on him here.]
Ronald Reagan and Drew Barrymore Recruiting Future...
President Reagan with Drew Barrymore at a ceremony launching the Young Astronauts program on the South Lawn. (10/17/1984)
From Jack Anderson’s column the following week:
“Then Drew Barrymore, child star of the movie ET, came up to him, smiled sweetly and said, ‘Mr. President, meeting you has made my day.’ Reagan, smiling back, said that meeting the young actress had brightened his day....
From NASCAR Drivers to William Faulkner: A Brief...
Four out of twelve NASCAR drivers who were invited to meet President Obama at the White House this evening won’t be attending, citing scheduling conflicts.
William Faulkner once refused a dinner invitation from JFK’s White House. “Why that’s a hundred miles away,” he said. “That’s a long way to go just to eat.”
Read about more snubs here.
During the 2002 Iraqi election, Saddam Hussein's...
Balki's Cousin Was Originally Louie Anderson
From The Honeymooners to Perfect Strangers to 30 Rock, many shows would have been a lot different had the executives stuck with the actors from the pilot episode.
More: 18 Famous TV Roles Originally Played by Someone Else
[Image courtesy of PerfectStrangers.tv.]
The longest place name in the U.S. is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, located in Webster, MA.
When three-letter airport codes became standard, airports that had been using two letters simply added an X to their code, which explains LAX.
