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By David A. Norris

Philately: it’s the end-all, be-all of popular hobbies curiously pursued by nobody you know. And while we knew absolutely nothing about stamps when we started this article, we’re great at digging up the juiciest dirt on any subject under the sun. Here are 11 great stamp stories guaranteed to have you glued to your seats.

1. The Stamp That Started It All

It’s the world’s first postage stamp. Issued on May 1, 1840, in Great Britain (but not valid for use until five days later), the “Penny Black” stamp helped England dig itself out of the costly and convoluted mess that was paid postage. Before the Penny Black, the price of mailing a letter varied depending on distance and the number of sheets in the envelope. And rates weren’t cheap, either. Postage could cost as much as a shilling—a day’s wages for many workers. But here’s the kicker: All mail was sent collect, meaning addressees often turned away the mailman because they couldn’t cough up enough dough. (more…)

by Graeme Wood

Forget Apple and Pilot Inspektor. If you really want to give your kid a hard time growing up, just pick from the following list.

1. BATMAN

Venezuelans are among the world’s most creative namers. In fact, according to their own government, they’re too creative. In September 2007, after hearing about babies named Superman and Batman, state authorities urged parents to pick their names from an approved list of 100 common Spanish monikers. Those conventional names (such as Juanita and Miguel) quickly acquired a patrician ring, ironically giving rise to more novel names, like Hochiminh (after the Vietnamese guerilla) and Eisenhower (after the president). There are also at least 60 Venezuelans with the first name Hitler.

2. ECLIPSE GLASSES

In June 2001, a total solar eclipse was about to cross southern Africa. To prepare, the Zimbabwean and Zambian media began a massive astronomy education campaign focused on warning people not to stare at the Sun. Apparently, the campaign worked. The locals took a real liking to the vocabulary, and today, the birth registries are filled with names like Eclipse Glasses Banda, Totality Zhou, and Annular Mchombo.

3. NAAKTGEBOREN

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My wife recently found a VHS tape filled with holiday specials, all recorded during the 1987 and 1988 Christmas seasons. For her, the unequivocal highlight was A Muppet Family Christmas. And I’ll admit, the uber-ensemble cast of Muppets, Sesame Street residents and inhabitants of Fraggle Rock was fantastic. But for me, even this historic Jim Henson masterpiece was eclipsed by all the terrific commercials laser targeted at my eight-year-old self. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys Lego ads, Mr. Belvedere promos and a toned-down Dick Vitale, read on.

1. Panasonic VCRs

The self-important tagline “just slightly ahead of our time” is even funnier when the product being advertised is a VCR you can program via pay phone.

2.TV 101 on CBS

This show only lasted 13 episodes and was not on my third-grade radar. But look closely and you’ll notice a young Matt LeBlanc (00:03) and Teri Polo (00:06).

3. Cröonchy Stars

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This will be an abbreviated version of the ‘Happy Hour,’ since we are heading to Thanksgiving II: The English Family shortly. But before I leave, let me throw out a few topics for discussion.

1. My wife and I are just entering the initial stages of starting to think about considering a move. This stage is a rollercoaster ride—first we see a listing for a great house, then spend hours trying to figure out the secret flaw that makes it affordable. One of my favorite parts of the research is the ‘Notable Residents’ section of each town’s Wikipedia page. It’s good to know that I could share a zip code with the guy who played Larry Dallas on Three’s Company, the parents of the General Manager of the Colorado Rockies, or the host of Cash Cab. What notable residents (and former residents) live in your town?

2. What’s the longest line you’ve ever waited in?

3. Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

By Mark Peters

While the meanings of monikers such as Ethiopian, Hobokenite, and Earthling aren’t hard to suss out, it’s a little tougher to guess where to find a Moonraker or a Zonie. And why the heck are Oklahomans called “Sooners,” anyway? Here are the stories behind the nicknames.

1. Moonraker

So, how’d the residents of Wiltshire, England, end up with this fancy nickname? Legend has it that around 1787, some brandy smugglers were on the run from the Five-0, so they dumped their booze in a pond. They narrowly escaped, but were later caught fishing for their brandy. When the cops asked them what they were doing, the creative bootleggers played dumb—pointing to the moon’s reflection and claiming (in all seriousness) they were fishing for cheese. Apparently, the police bought it, and the name “Moonraker” stuck.

2. Zonie

Zonie is a derogatory term for the crowds of Arizonans who descend upon San Diego each summer, presumably to escape the ungodly heat in their Zonie homeland. San Diego newspapers feature plenty of references to the “Zonie Factor,” and many residents long for a “Zonie-free” environment. Regularly used in that area, it’s a good term to know. Just don’t get it confused with a Zonian, one who lives in the Panama Canal Zone, or a Bizonian—someone who lived in the post-WWII British/American zone in Germany.

3. Sooner

Most people know this term refers to an Oklahoma resident, because of the state’s successful football team. But on the field, actual Sooner-type behavior would result in a false-start penalty. Fact is, a Sooner is a too-early bird. It seems that many settlers entered Oklahoma before the legal time for settlement in April 1889, thereby beating out any law-abiding suckers who followed the rules and moved in on time. Soon after, “Sooner” came to mean both an Oklahoman and anyone who jumps the gun.

4. Hoosier

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Ask anyone what Iceland is known for and they’re likely to rattle off things like the sagas, Steinn Steinarr, whale hunts, geothermal power, black pudding, and, of course, Björk. But toward the end of the 18th century, Iceland was known for something terrible, something that changed temperatures around the world, something called Laki.

Laki is a volcano that erupted in a big way during the summer of 1783, spewing out 3.4 cubic miles of killer basalt lava, throwing it more than 4,500 feet in the air (by comparison, Mount St. Helens, released 0.3 cubic miles worth). The effects of the poisonous fluorine/sulfur-dioxide compounds were felt the globe over, creating a serious change in temperature that led to famine, death, and destruction far off the shores of the little island.

Here are 6 documented instances, though certainly there were many more:

1. Fifty percent of Iceland’s livestock population (including 75% of the sheep) was wiped out by the eruption itself, or the poisonous cloud lingering in the atmosphere. A Lutheran priest named Jon Steingrimsson living at the time in southern Iceland wrote, “The horses lost all their flesh…the skin began to rot off along the spines. The sheep were affected even more wretchedly. There was hardly a part on them free of swellings, especially their jaws, so large that they protruded through the skin…Both bones and gristle were as soft as if they had been chewed.”

2. No livestock meant no food. One quarter of Iceland’s population was lost due to starvation.

3. The dark cloud moved into Europe as the summer wore on, killing thousands. Some estimate that about 23,000 Brits died from the sulfur dioxide during August and September alone. After an abnormally warm summer (the hottest on record until 1995) temperatures began to plummet the following winter. As the cloud dissipated, gasses trapped high in the atmosphere reflected the sun back out into space. Europe was, on average, 2ºC cooler that winter. Back in Iceland, it was about 5ºC cooler.

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Cleveland’s NBC affiliate, WKYC, just ran a nice segment on mental_floss and our $50,000 Tuition Giveaway. To meet the staff of the Chagrin Falls office and see where all those t-shirts are stored, take a look:

Here are a few places where you can get your meal for free – if you’re up to the challenge of wolfing down ten percent of your body weight in one sitting.

1. The Beer Barrel Belly Buster

Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub (Clearfield, Pennsylvania)

If you scoff at the idea of a quarter pounder, maybe Denny’s 15-pounder will wipe the smile off of your face. The 20-inch patty comes on a 17-inch bun and includes two onions, a whole head of lettuce, 25 slices of cheese, three tomatoes and lots of mayo, mustard, relish and ketchup. If you and a friend can get the whole thing down in three hours or less, you’ll get the $30 burger for free.

Apparently that wasn’t enough for Denny, though. Just last year, he introduced the 123-pound burger. That’s not a typo. One hundred and twenty-three pounds. It’ll set you back $379, but you get 80 pounds of meat, a pound of lettuce, ketchup, relish, mustard and mayo, 160 slices of cheese, five onions, 12 tomatoes, two pounds of banana peppers, 33 pickles and, of course, a 30-pound bun. [Image courtesy of Offroaders.com.]

2. 12-Egg Omelets

Beth’s Café (Seattle, Washington)

Looking for a hearty breakfast (and skyrocketing cholesterol)? Look no further than Beth’s Café in Seattle. They serve omelets in two sizes there – six eggs for the light eater, 12 eggs for the truly hungry. The omelets come with all-you-can-eat hashbrowns, too. (Note: no prize at this place, just an impressive bullet point to add to your eating resume.)

[Photo courtesy of the Official Wedding Website of Jeff & Lisa.]
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