King Cakes: Two Holidays, Three Colors, Lots Of Little Plastic Babies
In New Orleans, king cake is a Mardi Gras tradition, though it's one that started with an earlier holiday.
Margaret Horton Hung Onto The Tail Of A British Warplane As It Took Off And Flew
This week in 1945, a fascinating fact for anyone who didn’t have to live it firsthand: wartime airplane mechanic Margaret Horton accidentally ended up airborne on the tail of a plane.
A Churchgoer In Spain Did “The Worst Art Restoration Project Of All Time”
Thanks to an amateur artist, a fresco of Jesus in a church in northeastern Spain ended up looking quite different. But there was more to the story.
Did A Finnish Skier Actually Spit Out His Dentures On His Way To A Gold Medal?
Kalle Jalkanen's Finnish ski team won a big come from behind victory in the 1936 Winter Games, but what legend says happened along the way is an even more unusual part of the story.
When News Companies Tried To Deliver Newspapers Through Radio Transmissions
Today in 1939, the opening of the World's Fair in New York. One of the inventions featured there was a way that newspapers could broadcast newspapers over the radio and have special receivers print out a copy of the paper for customers.
Taco Bell Once Sold A Burger Called The “Bell Beefer”
It's our show's fifth birthday! It's also the birthday in 1962 of the first Taco Bell restaurant, which had a "chili burger" on its original menu.
Sometimes Coffee Isn’t A Beverage, It’s Coffee Jelly
It's National Coffee Day, and while most coffee fans prefer to brew and drink the stuff, there are other options. For example, have you ever tried coffee jelly?
Two Young Brothers Rode Across The Country On Horseback To Hang Out With Teddy Roosevelt
Today in 1909, the brothers Abernathy, ages five and eight, started a 1,300 mile trip - on horseback, unsupervised - from Oklahoma to New Mexico and back. The next year they got back on their horses to ride to New York to see their dad's pal, Teddy Roosevelt.
The “Wicked Bible” Suggested People Break Some Of The Ten Commandments
What do you have when you have a book that tells people "thou SHALT commit adultery"? You have what's known as the Wicked Bible or the Sinners' Bible, though who was encouraging all that sinning is something of a mystery.
Medieval Monks Were Volcano Trackers Without Even Knowing It
In the 12th and 13th Centuries, monks were tracking the looks of the moon, including lunar eclipses. Modern-day researchers took another look to see if some of those eclipses were actually volcanic eruptions.