The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader During the U.S. Civil War, New York printer $am Upham crippled the Confederacy’s economy and hindered its ability to fight the war. Yet he was never officially honored, and is all but forgotten now. LIKE PRINTING MONEY Samuel C. Upham never intended to be the most prolific counterfeiter in modern […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader It may sound gross, but it’s real and it’s considered a national “treasure.” And although we might wish we did, we didn’t make up the name—that’s really what it’s called. Get ready to learn about bathroom archaeology. BEAUTY, SKIN DEEP If you’ve ever been to the English city of York, […]
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Meaning literally, “right traffic day,” Dagen Högertrafik, or “Dagen H” (H day), was the day in 1967 that the country of Sweden managed to successfully switch from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right. Not a spur of the moment decision, the Högertrafikomläggningen (“The right hand traffic diversion”) had been planned for years prior to implementation, […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader You probably know that the “D.C.” in Washington, D.C., stands for “District of Columbia” and that the district is not part of any state. But do you know why America’s Founding Fathers placed such importance on creating a capital outside of any state? We owe it all to piles of […]
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By the time Rainey Bethea was executed on August 14, 1936, most of the United States had ceased executing people publicly. This was in large part because of the natural ghoulishness of the event, combined with the propensity for mistakes that make the whole thing even more disturbing to watch. (This is still a major problem today with approximately 7% […]
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If you take a peek at a list of pilots who were considered flying aces during WW2, you’ll notice that the top of the list is dominated by Luftwaffe pilots, some of whom scored hundreds of aerial victories during the war. While their skill and prowess in the air is undeniable, it’s arguable that the finest display in aerial combat […]
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In the latter half of the 19th century, more than six million small windmills had been installed in the United States, primarily for the purpose of pumping water for both personal and farming use. In addition, larger windmills were also a common sight in rural America, as these were used to provide water for steam-powered trains where sufficient surface water […]
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From Boston’s earliest days, Christmas was not celebrated. Holiday goodies like pudding and mince pies were banned- December 25th was a mandatory work day, and town criers walked through the streets reminding the populace: “No Christmas! No Christmas! No Christmas!” In fact, in 1620, the Puritans spent their first Christmas in the New World building their first structures. The next […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader To some people, the word “corporation” has negative connotations, and not without reason—names like Enron and Lehman Brothers come to mind. But it’s also one of the greatest tools for economic growth ever invented. Here’s a brief, fascinating history of the corporation. BACKGROUND Most of us have a simple understanding […]
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From the beginning, heavy drinking was fairly commonplace among the cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point (founded in 1802). In an attempt to stem this in 1826, the academy’s strict superintendent and the “Father of West Point,” General Sylvanus Thayer, began a crackdown by prohibiting alcohol on campus. As Christmas approached and the cadets realized that […]
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The commonly held notion that WW1 was started out of outrage over the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie at the hands of the Serbian nationalist secret society known as the “Black Hand” isn’t entirely correct. In fact, the Emperor Franz Josef himself expressed relief over the assassination because it rid him of an heir […]
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The immutable ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, pi, is, and always has been, 3.1415926 . . . ad infinitum. However, in the winter of 1897, the Indiana State legislature nearly changed this mathematical constant with a civil law. The ridiculous story starts with amateur mathematician Edward Goodwin who, in 1894, believed he had finally solved […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, remains one of the most infamous events in U.S. history. Yet the spy who played a key role in the sneak attack is a forgotten man, unknown even to many World War II buffs. UNDER COVER On March 27, 1941, […]
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In the midst of the Cold War, it can be easy to think the United States and the Soviet Union would be unable to come to an agreement on anything. Yet they, and ten other countries gathered in Washington, D. C. in 1959 to successfully negotiate the Antarctic Treaty, which not only encouraged international cooperation with the goal of scientific […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader The beeeep! beeeep! of someone’s pager going off used to be everywhere… but when was the last time you heard one? Let’s take one last look before they’re gone forever. THE DOCTOR IS OUT In 1924, a New York City businessman named Sherman Amsden started a company called the Doctors’ […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Here’s a story that not many of us learned in school, not even those of us who grew up in Texas: the attempt to create a second Germany in the Republic of Texas. HOI POLLOI In April 1842, a group of German princes and noblemen met in the town of […]
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The humble pineapple is most often seen today either sitting proudly in the centre of an uncomfortably well stocked fruit bowl or being used as the home of a lovable talking sponge. However, between the 16th and 18th centuries, pineapples were so expensive and rare that they were often displayed like fine works of art. Converting exactly how much a […]
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M. Kirkpatrick asks: Why did men used to stick one of their hands in their jackets in old photographs? Conveying calm assurance, the practice of placing one hand inside of a top garment is ancient, dating back to before people even wore jackets, at least as we think of them. In the 6th century B.C., it was considered rude in […]
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