Mark Juddery

Mark Juddery

@markjuddery
Mark Juddery is a Australian writer and journalist who, having worked for some prestigious journals in the past, has been allowed to add "historian" to his job title (which sounds pretty important). He's also written prize-winning screenplays, comedy sketches, and numerous articles for magazines like mental_floss. His latest book, Overrated: The 50 Most Overhyped Things in History, is published by Penguin Books. He is currently working on a book about the last days of silent cinema. You can follow his blog at markjuddery.com or tweet him @markjuddery.

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6 Unlucky Australians Who Couldn't Catch a Break

Last month, I wrote an article about fortunate Australians, which suggested that the nation deserves to be called "The Lucky Country." Today's follow-up will bring us back down to Earth. Aussies, like everyone else, have the occasional spell of bad luck. Witness the following not-so-lucky examples. 1. James Lister and the Tom... READ ON

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5 Memorable Moments in Comic Book Censorship

Here's what happens when comic book characters run afoul of the comic book code (or anger a hostile government). 1. The Comics Code and the... READ ON

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5 Memorable Moments in Cross-Dressing History

Over the centuries, people have had some very good reasons to dress up like a member of the opposite sex. And I'm not talking about people who live this way out of personal preference, or those who dress up for theater and entertainment. Here are just five examples. 1. Cross-Dressing to Join the... READ ON

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Aussie Good Luck: 6 Australians who caught lucky breaks

Australia is known as the "lucky country." And while statistically Australians aren't any luckier than anyone else, why split hairs? Here are a 6 examples of the Luck of the Aussies. 1. Bernhardt Otto Holtermann: Mining by... READ ON

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7 Comic Book Superpowers the World Can Do Without

From "rainbow breath" to incredible weight gain via donuts, here are 7 superhero powers the world doesn't need. 1. The Power to Eat... READ ON

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10 Candidates for the World's First Pop Song

Pop songs. They're the fast food of the music world. But if you think pop is a relatively recent invention, then you've got it wrong. The first pop song? Well"¦ that's not so easy. Here are ten candidates. 1. "Summer is Icumen In" (c.1239) Why it might be the one: It didn't tell a story, or sing praise to God. Like most pop songs, it was about"¦ nothing, really. Welcome to the Seinfeld of mediaeval music. In medieval times, courts employed minstrels (or "jongleurs") to... READ ON

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7 Inventions You Didn't Know Were Australian

When asked to name an Australian invention, most people might not be able to come up with anything more recent than the boomerang. But Aussies are a surprisingly inventive bunch. Here are some common items most of us don't realize were invented (or partly invented) in Australia. 1. Wheat stripper Since ancient times, farmers had relied on the slow process of using sickles and other tools to harvest wheat—so it's perhaps surprising that the first successful harvesting machine... READ ON

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6 Sci-Fi TV Shows You Probably Didn't See

As any self-respecting geek would know, there have been some pretty wild ideas for science fiction TV shows. It must have taken a certain warped genius to come up with Doctor Who, Quantum Leap, Lost or The 4400. Of course, those were hits. But some weird ideas didn't catch on so well. Take K-9000 (1990), about a cop who is telepathically linked to a talking, bionic police dog. Or L.A.X. 2194 (1994), a sitcom starring the not-yet-famous Matthew Perry and Ryan Stiles as baggage handlers at Los Angeles... READ ON

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10 TV Shows That Changed the Course of History

Have you ever been watching television and thought, "Wow, this soap opera is so good it could cause the downfall of a corrupt communist regime," or even, "I bet one day this show is going to send the first woman into space"? Well, maybe you're not giving the boob tube enough credit. While others are busy blaming television for all of society's downfalls, we think it's time someone stood up for ye olde idiot box. After all, these 10 television shows didn't... READ ON

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