From The Archive

Weird Moments in TV History: The Max Headroom Broadcast Signal Intrusion Incident

Not all pirates wear eye patches and talk funny. Some dress up as characters from TV shows, hijack broadcast signals and troll people who are just trying to watch the

How Do Pop-Up Turkey Timers Work?

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates that 250 million turkeys will be raised in the US in 2009. If recent trends continue, some 45 million turkeys will be eaten this Thanksgiving. Some of those birds will be outfitted with a wonderf

The Quick 10: 10 Unfamiliar Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

We’re all used to seeing Snoopy, Spongebob and Spiderman balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They’re the A-Listers of the parade; the ones everyone anxiously awaits. It hasn’t always been that way, though – before these illustrious inflatabl

The Quick 10: 10 Mascots That Don't Seem to Make Any Sense

I went to a university with a seemingly perplexing mascot. How do you get a small red bird from a large, destructive force of nature? It turns out there’s a perfectly good explanation – for Iowa State and for these nine other schools. 1. The College: I

10 Amazing Matchstick Sculptures

1. It took artist Patrick Acton nearly three years to create Minas Tirith. Most of his pieces are 1/65 scale. 2. Hogwarts is rather appropriate for this week! 602,000 matchsticks were used to create Harry Potter’s alma

A Short History of Long-Haired Music: Amadeus, Part 1

If you missed our previous installments, check out A Short History of Long-Haired Music

The Not-So-Ancient History of 10 Thanksgiving Dishes

On Thanksgiving, more than any other day of the year, Americans sit down and eat the same meal as their neighbors and countrymen. It's tradition, after all! But we know our history: most of the Thanksgiving dishes we enjoy today weren't at the original Pi

Will This Be on the (Drug) Test? On Poppy Seeds and False Positives

The other day, I caught a few minutes of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine Benes fails a drug test at work thanks to her fondness for the poppy seed muffins at Monk’s coffee shop. Can something as innocuous and innocent as a poppy seed pastry really make

The Quick 10: 10 Surprisingly Interesting Facts About your Computer Mouse

With the rate touch screen technology is advancing, it probably won’t be long before using a keyboard and mouse is the computer equivalent of keeping an 8-track player in your car. Since today is the anniversary of the day the mouse was invented, however

Dietribes: Ready to Chowder Down?

• According to the Oxford English Dictionary: Chowder comes from the French, chaudiere, meaning pot. "In the fishing villages of Brittany faire la chaudière means to supply a cauldron in which is cooked a mess of fish and biscuit with some savory condime

Anti-Suicide Speech from "Pump Up the Volume"

In recent months, we've been reminded of teen bullying and suicide as a rising problem in the U.S. For example, I posted a Late Movies installment about the It Gets Better project. But this obviously isn't a new problem. A friend recently sent me this

Can a Blood Test Diagnose Concussions?

Ann McKee at Boston University School of Medicine examines the donated brains of former professional athletes to understand how repeated head injuries affect the brain. Her findings about pro-athletes—like Tom McHale, who died at age 45 due to chronic tra

7 Seminal Robots

1. Maria -

The Quick 10: 10 Fictional People With Twitter Accounts

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that my name is MadameLeota. It comes from a somewhat unhealthy obsession with Disney's Haunted Mansion (Madame Leota is the medium whose head appears in the crystal ball). Because of this, I have stumbled a

Party Poopers: Presidents Who Faced Stiff Primary Challenges

After the Republican Party's strong showing in last week’s elections, pundits began speculating that some member of the Democratic Party might decide to challenge Barack Obama for the party’s presidential nomination in 2012. (Howard Dean has already dism

Not-So-Famous Firsts: Arlington National Cemetery

In honor of Veterans Day, here are some Not-So-Famous Firsts about Arlington National Cemetery. We salute all of you who answered when their country called, and encourage our civilian readers to take a moment to say “thanks” to the veterans they

The Quick 10: 10 More Celebrity Veterans

A couple of years ago on Veterans Day, we listed 10 celebrities who stopped what they were doing in the middle of a successful showbiz career to serve their country. We had a lot of mentions of other celebrities who also served before they were famous, a

The Quick 10: 10 Celebrities Who Own Wineries

Some celebrities have done quite well for themselves in the wine business – Francis Ford Coppola, for example, is as famous for his grapes in some circles as he is for his movies. But it would seem that every celebrity has a winery these days, even if th

The 20 Longest Pages on Wikipedia

Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, according to Wikipedia, #830 in the Line of succession to the British throne. Back in July, our own Will Treece pointed to the then-longest Wikipedia article: Licensed and localized editions of Monopoly. Ho

A Short History of Long-Haired Music: The Classical Era, part 3

If you missed our previous installments, check out A Short History of Long-Haired Music archives Some people refer to it as the “Viennese Style.” Others, the “Viennese Classical School.” Whatever you call it, by the late 1700s, the Austrian capital of V

The Quick 10: George George and 9 Other Reduplicated Names

When people with first name surnames (Aaron, Thomas, etc.) have a child and decide to basically name that child their surname for a first name as well, is it because they think it’s funny? Do they think it has a nice ring to it? Or are they just unimagin

5 Things You Didn't Know About Nolan Bushnell

His name may not ring any bells, but if you were born after 1970, chances are Nolan Bushnell had a hand in shaping your childhood. Let’s take a look at five things you might not know about this inventive

Digest This: 9 Celebrities Who've Written Cookbooks

You could turn to a celebrity chef if you need a solid recipe, but why ask an expert like Bobby Flay for advice when you can get a recipe from a celebrity who dabbles in the kitchen? Let’s take a look at a few examples from the hot “celebrities writing c

10 Dramatic Marriage Proposals

I saw a new online marriage proposal yesterday. While I waited to see what the potential bride's reaction was, I thought about how many imaginative proposals I've seen. Some are so very public and entertaining, yet personal at the same time because they a

PREV NEXT