Willard Scott is known and loved by millions as the fun-loving weatherman of The Today Show from 1980 until his retirement in 2015. Before becoming known as America’s meteorologist, Scott was instrumental in […]
On March 31, 1981 Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr helped change the course of history as he acted to save President Ronald Reagan from an assassination attempt. In doing so, he proved […]
When Thomas Stoddard was hired by the Speakman Company, Calvin Coolidge was in his last year of office, and Model T’s filled the city streets. When he retired, George W. Bush was […]
Actor James Doohan (1920-2005) is mostly known for the 23rd century exploits of his character Montgomery “Scotty” Scott in Star Trek. Less widely known are his heroics in the 20th century — […]
I love reading about people’s lives before they became famous because it reminds me they used to be in the same boring boat as the rest of us. While the infographic is […]
The smiley face is so much a part of our culture that it seems as if it has been around forever. It hasn’t. It was created in 1963 and flowed from the […]
Ronald Reagan had been successful in motion pictures and television, but he still struggled with name recognition when he was campaigning for President in 1976. His campaign managers had him going door-to-door […]
If you are still trying to decide what you want to do when you grow up, and you don’t want to be a “Day Tripper” or a “Paperback Writer”, and if your […]
Neil Armstrong’s footprints narrowly avoided being rejected as an astronaut. His application to NASA was one week late. Fortunately, Armstrong’s friend, Dick Day, worked at NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center and happened to notice the […]
Success did not come easily for Harland Sanders. By the time he was ready for retirement, he tried his hand as an Army mule-tender, railroad worker (from which he got fired for […]
There are two ATMs in Antarctica. They are both located at McMurdo Station and are operated by Wells Fargo. The challenges of servicing the machines are significant. Anyone who is going to […]
In 1887 James Roosevelt was in Washington, DC and arranged to take his 5 year-old son, Franklin, to the White House to meet President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland must have been having a […]
Before becoming the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis held many jobs, including working in a chemistry lab, teaching, janitorial work, and others. Perhaps the most surprising job was serving […]
President Ronald Reagan was not someone who let a disappointment get in the way of greatness. The opening words to his presidential memoir: “If I’d gotten the job I wanted at Montgomery […]
The top treasury official for the United Kingdom, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1894), while Chancellor of the Exchequer, expressed his confusion about decimal points: “I could never figure out what those damned dots […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 