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 […]
Operation Christmas Drop
Every Christmas, the US Air Force performs Operation Christmas Drop – airdropping toys and other presents to children who live on remote Pacific islands.
The Irish parliament recently spent…
The Irish parliament recently spent €808,000 on a new printer, and when they discovered it didn’t fit they spent another €236,000 moving walls and reinforcing the building. It remains unused as staff refuse to operate it without a pay rise.
The Irish parliament recently spent…
The Irish parliament recently spent €808,000 on a new printer, and when they discovered it didn’t fit they spent another €236,000 moving walls and reinforcing the building. It remains unused as staff refuse to operate it without a pay rise.
Aluminum Christmas trees were…
Aluminum Christmas trees were a real fad from the late 1950s to the early 1960s until ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ killed the fad by portraying the trees negatively.
During the beginning of invention…
During the beginning of invention of electric appliances, they experimented with electric tablecloths. You could basically plug in an outlet anywhere on the table and the lightbulb would light up. Only downside was that you couldn’t spill any liquids on it.