No president had a greater battle with the press than Richard Nixon. He blamed the media for treating him unfairly throughout his political career and made no secret about it. He summed […]
The Presidency and Proctoscopes
What Could Go Wrong When Using Dynamite to Move a Whale?
November 12, 1970, was a whale of a day at Florence, Oregon. The sun was bright, and the skies were clear. Only the presence of a decomposing whale carcass marred the beautiful […]
Making Nuclear Reactors Safe From Butt-Pinching
Harnessing the power of the atom provides humanity with virtually unlimited power. It also poses devastating consequences if things go poorly. The nuclear disasters at Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island happened […]
How the Wizard of Oz Destroyed the Musical Career of a Famous Actor
It seemed that Christian Ludolf was destined for musical greatness. His father was a choreographer, and Christian was dancing as soon as he was able to walk. When he was ten years […]
Less Than Half of American Colonists Supported the Revolution
At the heart of American democracy is the concept of democracy. Every government and civics textbook declares the noble principle that self-governing people preserve the rights of the minority, but it is […]
Did Pepsi Promise to Raise the Dead or Did Coca-Cola Invite China to Bite the Wax Tadpole?
Weird things can happen when mistranslating words from one language to another. See these articles for some examples. The results can be hilarious, embarrassing, or disastrous. If you search for examples of […]
How a $40 Overdue Fine Created Netflix
Some people face hardships, concede that they are inevitable, and deal with them. Others can see the same difficulties and be pummeled into defeat or paralyzed into inaction. Then we have the […]
How Did a Guy Live in a Mall for Four Years?
“[It is a] room that a person can only enter when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is […]
How Do You Pronounce GIF?
There’s nothing we like better than to be able to write about a totally non-controversial subject. It is difficult to express our joy when the matter is so clear and accepted that […]
Eukonkanto — the Sport of Wife Carrying
Some say that behind every successful man, you will find a successful woman. Commonplace Fun Facts rejects this sexist notion. In the spirit of equality, we affirm that it is far more […]
The Horrifying Hanging of Mary, the Circus Elephant Who Was Executed for Murder
When the sentence of death is carried out, it is always noteworthy. Mary’s execution was no exception. This particular use of capital punishment attracted even more attention than usual. People gathered from […]
How a Stolen Election Propelled LBJ to the White House
A hotly-contested election. Polling data says the outcome is too close to predict. As the polls close, one of the candidates seems to have won. Shortly thereafter, votes are “discovered” for the […]
Andrew Carnegie and Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Effort to Simplify Spelling
Wy duz English hav such weerd spelling? Sum words uze silent letters. Others use dubel letters inconsistently for ekwal sounds, such as “blizzard” and “lizard.” Wat if we cud mak it eezy? […]
Can You Solve the Fork in the Road Brain Teaser?
Imagine you walking along a path. You reach a fork in the road. Each of the divergent paths is blocked by a guard. A sign tells you that one path leads to […]
God in the Quad — Do Trees Disappear When You Stop Looking?
Anglican bishop and philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753) was famous for his theory of immaterialism. He linked existence to perception. He suggested that material things do not exist in and of themselves but […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 