The baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Giants on August 17, 1957, is one for the history books. What made the game so memorable wasn’t anything like a […]
The Foul Story of Baseball’s Unluckiest Fan
The Mistake that Made a Lake Vanish
Prior to 1980, there was little about Lake Peigneur of particular interest. The 1,300-acre freshwater lake near New Iberia, Louisiana was only 11 feet deep and attracted its share of fishing enthusiasts, […]
France Says Sacré Bleu! When it Orders the Wrong Size of Trains
If you accidentally purchase the wrong size of pants, it’s no big deal; as long as you have the receipt, you can exchange them for something that will fit. If only it […]
It Pays to Proofread
When it comes to proofreading, who’s whose responsibilty responsibility is it to check for mispellings misspellings? Whoever has that task at the Reserve Bank of Australia, it would probably be a good […]
The Unbelievable Marketing Campaign that Sank a Company
When it comes to brand identification, few companies have been more successful than The Hoover Company and its sales of vacuum cleaners. In the United Kingdom, Hoover so dominated the vacuum cleaner […]
The Most Expensive Hyphen In History
It has been called the most expensive hyphen in history. That is a bit of a misstatement. It was actually the most expensive overbar in history, but since most of us have […]
Berlin’s Modern Airport That Has Never Seen an Airplane
Airports are for airplanes. Airports are for aviation passengers. Airports are complex logistical partnerships of commerce, transportation, and technology that pump life into the economy. With its reputation for top-notch efficiency, Germany […]
Chairman Mao’s Disastrous War Against Sparrows
Mao Zedong (1893-1976) disliked pests. Rats, bed bugs, and flies (not to mention as many as 30 million people who got in his way) were, at various times, the focus of Chairman […]
Urian: the Greyhound Responsible for the English Reformation
History books tell us that England embraced the Protestant Reformation because its king wanted a divorce. What the books frequently fail to point out is that a dog — more precisely, a […]
Behold Tibbles the Cat — Destroyer of a Whole Species
Visit the peaceful locale of Stephen’s Island, located between the two main islands of New Zealand, and you will be impressed by the breathtaking beauty. Although only 1.5 km2 in area, it […]
Signals From Alien Civilizations or Signs of Starving Scientists?
When astronomers picked up the repeating signal, they scrambled into action. The signals, called perytons, started occurring on a regular basis, always around the same time of day. Could it be a […]
Rabbits: The Terror of Australia
Rabbits are so cute and cuddly that it is hard to imagine the word “terror” being associated with them. (NOTE: This would be news to Napoleon and Jimmy Carter, each of whom […]
Shakespeare’s Role in a Real-Life Birdemic
No one who has ever watched Birdemic: Shock and Terror would ever equate the name of William Shakespeare with the movie. The film, widely regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, […]
The Horribly-Bungled Coronation of Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria (1819-1901) reigned over Great Britain for 63 years. Her time on the throne was not only long but it was beset with a number of embarrassments for the monarch. Anyone […]
The Geographic Knowledge of Britney Spears
An earlier Commonplace post noted that the music of Britney Spears is one of the most effective deterrents to Somali pirates. Lest that be construed as some kind of derogatory judgment on […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 