The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader The Society of Saint Tammany, founded in 1789 in New York City, is named for Tamanend, a chief of the Delaware tribe. It started out as a patriotic and charitable organization, created by tradesmen who weren’t allowed to join the more exclusive clubs that the wealthy belonged to. As wave […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader You’ve heard that clothes make the man? Meet the suit that made the woman. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was born in Samur, France, in 1883. Her life got off to a rocky start. Her mother died shortly after Gabrielle’s birth, and her father took off, abandoning the five Chanel children. Gabrielle […]

From September of 1941 through May of 1945, Norwegian Resistance pioneer Lauritz Sand was alternately beaten and broken, then treated, then beaten again by Nazi interrogators. And despite enduring four years of the hardest torture they could dole out, all while in his 60s, he steadfastly refused to tell them anything. In response to the horrors of WWI, Norway’s leaders […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Sim Jae-duck is probably the only person in history who was born in a toilet, lived in a toilet, and died in one, too. Here’s his fascinating story. HELLO, WORLD In 1996, FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, awarded the 2002 World Cup to co-hosts South Korea and Japan. It had […]

Other than the fact that he killed at least 24 people, drained them of blood, pickled them in alcohol-filled metal drums and was never caught, there isn’t a lot to say about Bela Kiss- the Vampire of Cinkota… Kiss’ story begins in the town of Cinkota, Hungary (at the time about 7 miles or 11 kilometers outside of Budapest) in […]

The British Special Air Service, better known simply as the SAS has one of the toughest and most unforgiving selection processes of any military unit on Earth. With a washout rate of around 95%, depending on which source you consult, there are only a handful of individuals who can claim to have completed this fiendishly difficult course, and only one […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Behold the odd tale of horror writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft, whose ghastly creations have terrorized readers for a century—and are now popping up in Facebook feeds. Who was he? Read on…if you dare. IT’S A FAD! Nearly 80 years after his death, H. P. Lovecraft is considered one of the […]

Michael C. asks: Was there ever a real Little Debbie or is she a fake mascot like so many other brand people? Who is Little Debbie? The simple answer is that she’s the straw-hat-wearing, blue-eyed little girl on the front of the box of delicious confectioneries like Oatmeal Creme Pies, Honey Buns and whatever Star Crunches are. However, that’s not […]

As well-known for leading a flamboyant, playboy lifestyle as being the mastermind responsible for funneling $5 billion dollars (about $12 billion today) to Afghan rebels (when they were on our side) in their fight against the Soviet Union, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson was a larger than life character who serves as a stark reminder of how different the political landscape […]

On the morning of July 7, 1944, Captain Ben L. Salomon of the U.S. Army’s 105th Infantry, commissioned as a dentist, single-handedly held off a fierce attack of an overwhelming force of Japanese soldiers in order to allow sufficient time for approximately 30 of his comrades to safely retreat. After 15 hours of terrible fighting, when relief finally arrived, Salomon […]

On Christmas Day 1904, Carl Emil Pettersson stood at a crossroads – either he was going to be eaten by hungry cannibals or become a member of the Tabar people. Happily, the latter occurred, after which he led a rather remarkable life. Born in October 1875 in Sweden, at around the age of 17 Pettersson went to sea. Working his […]

The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader He wasn’t Elvis, but he wanted to be…and a lot of people even thought he might be. Here is the bizarre story of Jimmy Ellis, or, as he was also known, Orion. HEARTBREAK HOTEL By the time he was a teenager, it was clear that Jimmy Ellis had two talents: […]

Nestled safely in the bosom of the Bear Lodge Mountains of Wyoming is a large rock formation known simply as  Devils Tower. A popular landmark and the first recognised United States National Monument (declared such by President Theodore Roosevelt on September 24, 1906), the imposing rocky butte was at the forefront of a bizarre media frenzy in 1941 when a […]