For Safer Motorcycling, How About Pants With Airbags?

Motorcycles just don’t have many of the same safety advantages as cars and trucks. So a company in Sweden is taking one of those safety features and adding it to a rider’s outfit: introducing airbag pants!

By |2024-12-06T06:35:43-05:00March 8, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

When Richard Nixon And Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev Went For A Drive

Today in 1913, the birthday of Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States, and the only one who ever went a wild ride with the head of the Soviet Union.

By |2024-12-02T10:34:49-05:00January 9, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

The First Cars Licensed As London Taxis Were Electric Vehicles

Today in 1897 is said to be the day that London first licensed motor vehicles as taxicabs. They were nicknamed "hummingbirds" and they were battery-powered.

By |2024-12-02T10:33:45-05:00December 6, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Googly Eyes On Self-Driving Cars Could Help Keep Pedestrians Safe

If we’re ever going to get to a world of self-driving cars we’re going to need ways to make sure that world is safe - and one way to keep pedestrians safe near autonomous vehicles may be googly eyes. Seriously.

By |2024-12-02T08:02:59-05:00October 20, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

How Sunken Ships Wound Up In Farm Fields

Today in 1856, the steamboat Arabia sank in a river - and it wouldn't be seen again until 1988, when it showed up in a cornfield in Kansas. We'll explain how sometimes ships lost at sea are found somewhere else.

By |2024-12-07T21:12:12-05:00September 5, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

That Time Some Dude Drove A Van Dressed As A Car Seat

It was around this time in 2017 that people in Arlington, Virginia spotted what looked like a grey Ford passenger van with no driver. And then things got even weirder.

By |2024-12-08T17:11:36-05:00August 9, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Instead Of West Virginia, The US Could Have Had The State Of Westsylvania

Today in 1863, West Virginia became a state - though back in the 18th Century, there were several efforts to meld this land with parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland and create an entirely different entity called Vandalia or Westsylvania.

Drive In Theaters Were Invented Partly So People Wouldn’t Have To Dress Up At The Movies

Today in 1933, Camden, New Jersey became the site of the very first drive-in movie theater. Here's the story of Richard Hollingshead, who brought movies outside so people could drive right up to the picture.

By |2024-12-13T07:28:22-05:00June 6, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

A Town In France Could Have Bioluminescent Street Lights

In Rambouillet, France, a startup is developing street lights that are bioluminescent - they’re powered by bacteria that glow.

By |2024-12-02T09:35:34-05:00May 5, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Chester Greenwood Brought Earmuffs To Cold-Eared People All Over The World

Maine became a state today in 1820. One of its best-known inventors was Chester Greenwood, who came up with a way to keep his, and many other people's, ears warm. 

By |2024-12-13T07:30:40-05:00March 15, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |
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