Kathy Benjamin

Kathy Benjamin

@KathyBenjamin

Kathy is a freelance writer whose work has appeared on various sites including Uproxx and Playboy’s The Smoking Jacket. She is also a regular contributor to Cracked (cracked.com/members/auroratudor). After pit stops in New Jersey, California, and the UK, Kathy now resides in Austin, Texas with her husband and evil bunny rabbit. Befriend her on Facebook (facebook.com/kab18), follow her on twitter (@KathyBenjamin), or read her daily musings about sobriety on tumblr (kathyissober.tumblr.com).

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Why Can’t You Wear White After Labor Day?

Wearing white in the summer makes sense. Desert peoples have known for thousands of years that white clothing seems to keep you a little bit cooler than other colors. But wearing white only during the summer? While no one is completely sure exactly when or why this fashion rule came into effect, our best guess is that it had to do with snobbery in the late... READ ON

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7 Superpowers Available to Scientologists

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard identified 57 areas that people who reached the higher levels of Scientology would be able to control. Here are some of the things he and the current organization’s leadership claim will make you unlike any people ever to come before. 1. Immunity from Physical... READ ON

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4 Royal Scandals Juicier Than Prince Harry's Strip Billiards

A few days ago, photos of Prince Harry cavorting naked with a blonde hit the web. While the prince has had his share of controversy in the past, including attending a party in a Nazi uniform and getting caught smoking weed, he has a long way to go to catch up to some of his scandalous relatives. 1. George... READ ON

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4 Ridiculous Space Accidents (Where Everyone Survived)

From wolves to lightning strikes, even the most well-planned space flights are often plagued by ridiculous accidents. Sometimes lots of them all in a row. And even more unbelievably, sometimes everyone involved lives. 1. Voskhod... READ ON

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5 Great Things With Unexpected Downsides

Every cloud has a silver lining. We hate to rain on your parade, but it seems the opposite is true, too. Here are five allegedly good things that aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. 1. Being... READ ON

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11 Wars That Lasted Way Longer Than They Should Have

Thanks to lost paperwork, diplomatic technicalities, or just plain forgetting they had declared war in the first place, many countries remained in a state of war long after the actual fighting had stopped. 1. Roman Republic vs. Carthaginian Republic – 2,134... READ ON

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The Scandalous History of Arlington National Cemetery

UPI/Kevin Dietsch /LANDOV Arlington is some of the most hallowed ground in the United States. More than 400,000 fallen servicemen and women are buried there and are honored with a service every Memorial Day. But despite its great importance, the cemetery has had more than its share of scandals over the last 148 years. Illegal Beginnings Arlington isn’t actually located in Washington, DC, but just outside it, in Virginia. That’s because the land was seized from Robert E. Lee’s plantation in... READ ON

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What Made People Think Dewey Defeated Truman?

Truman isn’t just gleeful in that famous photo because he won the election, but because it was egg on the face of a paper he hated, the Chicago Tribune. The paper had a conservative bent, disapproved of most of his policies, and had once even called him a “nincompoop” in an editorial.The Tribune was suffering under the weight of a strike, which meant its morning edition needed to go to press much earlier than in other election years - even before the polls... READ ON

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How Did King Edward VIII Meet Wallis Simpson?

© Bettmann/CORBISIn the 1930s, how would a middle-class Baltimore divorcee become romantically involved with the man who would be King of England? It always comes down to who you know. And Wallis Simpson knew how to climb the social ladder very effectively. She started at a young age. While at school, she befriended a member of the Du Pont family. Her stepfather was the son of a prominent Democratic party boss. And during her first marriage to Earl Winfield Spencer, Jr., an alcoholic Navy pilot of... READ ON

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11 Eponymous Brands and the People Behind Them

Vidal Sassoon passed away this week at the age of 84. He was an artist who revolutionized the way women dealt with their hair, created the “bob,” and believed that women should be able to just wash their hair and still end up with a great style, rather than needing to go to a salon constantly. Starting in the 1950s, Sassoon opened a chain of salons and sold his hair products worldwide. In honor of him, here is a look at 11 other men whose famous brands they named after themselves. 1. Adolph... READ ON

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