Mark Twain proclaimed himself to be politically neutral. Using the terminology of the day, he was a “Mugwump.” This allowed him a convenient excuse when people asked him to use his celebrity […]
When it comes to dams, there are plenty to consider. There is China’s Three Gorges Dam that is so big that it slows the earth’s rotation. There is another Chinese dam whose […]
Franklin D. Roosevelt went to great lengths to hide the fact that he had been paralyzed by polio. Disguising his disability became even more complicated after his election to the presidency. Everywhere […]
Those who lived long ago, in a difficult-to-fathom age known by paleontologists as “the 20th century,” liked to imagine what life would be like in our era. They would likely be disappointed […]
Frances and Stephen were unlikely friends. For one thing, she was seventeen years his senior. Beyond the obvious difference in their ages, the two could not have been more different.
In the movie Patton, we see General George S. Patton visiting a battlefield from the Third Punic War. He describes the battle that was fought there 2,000 years earlier and proclaims, “I […]
Ignacio was faced with a dilemma. Like all other chefs, he was always looking for novel dishes that would draw new customers. Rarely did he have to come up with something new […]
“Come up here right away!” The White House staff is accustomed to responding immediately to any request from the First Lady. This command caused more than the usual flurry of activity, however. […]
“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua….” No, this isn’t the beginning of some weird, cultish chant. The Lorem ipsum […]
“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 […]
Many monuments have been inspired by the horrors of war. None is more significant than the graves of soldiers who were killed in combat. Battlefield burial sites stand as sober reminders of […]
“Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
“It isn’t brain surgery.” We use the phrase to describe simple tasks that anyone should be able to do. The unstated assumption behind this is that brain surgery is far from simple […]
As much as we enjoy the comforts provided by the 21st century, our biggest disappointment is the lack of flying cars. Every traffic jam brings daydreams of being able to push the […]
Herman Melville’s novel about an obsessive hunt for an elusive whale is Moby Dick. Or is it Moby-Dick? The answer to that question drives obsessive scholars of literature and seems to be […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 