“I’m strong to the finish ‘cuz I eat my spinach.” With those words, Popeye the Sailor inspired generations of kids to suppress their gag reflex and eat all the spinach on their […]
Popeye Got His Super Strength from Spinach Because of a Math Error
What Were These Headline Writers Thinking?
A headline is designed to capture the reader’s attention and draw him or her into the story. Sometimes that happens in entirely unexpected ways. Take a look at some of the most […]
Have You Ever Felt a Tartle?
Have you ever started to introduce someone, only to have a moment of panic as your brain freezes and you can’t remember that person’s name? Thanks to the people of Scotland, you […]
The Strange Story of the Town that Keeps Switching Between Two Countries
National boundaries are nice, clean methods of distinguishing who owns what. If something is on one side of the border, it belongs to one country; if it is on the other side, […]
Sir Nevill Mott: The Absent-Minded Nobel Laureate
Sir Nevill Francis Mott (1905-1996) won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977. He was a professor at the University of Manchester, Cambridge, and the University of Bristol. His students remember him […]
A Diplomatic Solution So Complex That No One Remembers the Solution
If you ever find yourself at a loss to understand the intricacies of international relations, don’t despair. Even professional diplomats can find themselves lost as they navigate the ship of state through […]
Thinking About the Hereafter
“I spend a lot of time thinking of the Hereafter. Each time I enter a room I wonder what I’m here after.” — Tim Conway Read some funny stories about absentminded people. […]
You Had One Job: Lock Constantinople’s Gate
Constantinople was one of the most heavily fortified cities in the world. When it was attacked on April 6, 1453, 10,000 men easily held off Sultan Mehmed II’s 100,000-150,000 attackers for fifty […]
One Line of Computer Code Nearly Killed Toy Story 2
Fans of the Toy Story movies know that Woody and Buzz Lightyear have overcome many obstacles in their adventures. What is not as well known is that one little line of computer […]
The Day Carter Cleaned Up the Launch Codes
If the President of the United States ever needs to do the unthinkable and order the use of nuclear weapons, he cannot rely on name recognition alone. The process for launch authorization […]
What Do You Do When You Accidentally Build a Fort In the Wrong Country?
Fresh from its victory against the British in the War of 1812, the United States was eager to secure its northern border. Lake Champlain had been the entry point for several British […]
How Bad Scheduling and a Misguided Con Scheme Changed the World
Johannes Gutenberg (circa 1400 – February 3, 1468) was responsible for one of the pivotal inventions in all of history: the moveable-type printing press. That invention, more than any other, allowed mankind […]
Judge Rules on Lawsuit 26 Years Late, After Finding File in His Attic
As far as landmark judicial decisions go, the mineral rights case of Ayers v Rubow is hardly a candidate to change the face of established jurisprudence. When Toole County, Montana Judge Ronald McPhillips […]
20 Years of Parking Forgetfulness
Who hasn’t gotten sidetracked while shopping and forgot exactly where the car was parked? Some of us try to avoid that problem by parking in the same place each time. Others use […]
Asleep at the Senate
On February 7, 2017, Vice President Mike Pence became the first Vice President to cast the tie-breaking vote in the US Senate for the confirmation of a cabinet member. Under the terms […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 