When Japanese prime minister Keizō Obuchi was a young man and short on money, he travelled to thirty-eight countries, completely circumnavigating the globe and taking odd jobs as he went. These included being a dishwasher, an assistant aikido instructor and a TV camera crew assistant in Berlin.
In Texas, the law states two individuals…
In Texas, the law states two individuals who feel the need to fight can agree to mutual combat through verbal or implied communication and have at it. As long as no “serious” injury occurs and both participants know what degree of risk they are hazarding, it’s allowed.
Most of the popular Christmas songs…
Most of the popular Christmas songs, including “White Christmas”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, and “Let it Snow” were all written by Jews.
Jolabokaflod is a Christmas Eve…
Jolabokaflod is a Christmas Eve tradition in Iceland where friends and family get together to exchange books and then they all read them together while eating chocolate and drinking cocoa.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was…
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first published as a giveaway for the department store Montgomery Ward in 1939. The story was initially rejected because, in 1930s pop culture, a bright red nose was closely associated with chronic alcoholism and drunkards.
Somebody is serving 30 years…
Somebody is serving 30 years in the Supermax Prison for “plotting to build an industrial X-ray machine that would spew lethal doses of radiation powerful enough to kill people from a distance”.
FDR asked singer Eddie Cantor…
FDR asked singer Eddie Cantor if he could get a million people to send in a dollar to support polio research. He replied that it would be easier to ask for dimes. By the end of the month, the White House had received 2.68 million dimes ($268k) and the March of Dimes began.
After graduating with a bachelor…
After graduating with a bachelor of fine arts in film in 1967, George Lucas tried joining the United States Air Force as an officer, but was immediately turned down because of his numerous speeding tickets.
The cover of Captain America’s first…
The cover of Captain America’s first issue showed Cap punching Hitler. Some readers took objection, and the publishers received threats and hate mail. The threats proved so serious that police protection was posted with Mayor La Guardia personally contacting Simon and Kirby to give his support.
Is Santa Claus a psychedelic mushroom?
One fantastic and wonderful origin theory of Santa Claus involves psychedelic mushrooms and shamanic rituals of the indigenous Sámi people who live in northern Finland. Paul Devereux wrote about this incredible hidden history in his fascinating 2008 book The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia. Then, Brooklyn filmmaker Matthew Salton blew mainstream minds with this […]