Category Archives: Misc.

The Origin of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance

The U.S. Pledge of Allegiance was written by a socialist Baptist minister named Francis Bellamy in 1892. It was published in a popular children’s magazine of the time called The Youth’s Companion as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of Christopher Columbus arriving in the New World. The celebration itself was the brainchild of James B. Upham, a marketer for the […]

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How the Dalai Lama is Chosen

Byron H. asks: How is the Dalai Lama chosen? Actually, the Dalai Lama is not technically chosen; rather, he is found. But to understand how it works, you first have to learn the basics of Tibetan Buddhism and its belief in reincarnation. Tibetan Buddhism A unique variant of Buddhism, the Tibetan form draws on ancient Tibetan Bon and the Mahayana […]

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The Morton’s Salt Girl

Most people are familiar with the “Morton”s Salt girl“. With her bright yellow dress, oversized umbrella, and leaking container of table salt, she’s an iconic figure in American grocery stores. But who is the Morton’s girl, and where did she come from? The Morton’s story begins in the 1880s, when a man named Joy Morton invested in a Chicago-based salt […]

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The Song “Silver Bells” was Originally Called “Tinkle Bell”

Today I found out the Christmas song Silver Bells was originally called Tinkle Bells. To make matters slightly more humorous, Silver Bells originally appeared in the The Lemon Drop Kid, a 1951 film starring Bob Hope.  Needless to say, these two things would have surely resulted in the song getting a few chuckles, had composer Jay Livingston’s wife, Lynne Gordon, […]

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On Average, People Who Earn Less Than $13,000 a Year in the U.S. Spend 5% of Their Gross Earnings on Lottery Tickets

It’s been called a voluntary tax on the poor and under educated, with people spending a whopping $60 billion a year in the United States alone on lottery tickets, most of which are purchased by low income individuals. (All total, about 20% of Americans play the lotto). Despite the high number of lotto tickets purchased annually, when playing the lottery […]

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10 Strange Major League Baseball Feats That Have Only Been Accomplished Once

One of the great things about baseball is that it’s amazing with how many games there are per season, even lifelong fans frequently see things during games that they’ve never seen happen before. With that in mind, here are a few of the stranger feats in Major League Baseball history that have only happened once to date: Pitching a no-hitter […]

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The Man Responsible for the Modern Frisbee Design and the “Father of Disc Golf” was Cremated and Had His Ashes Molded Into Frisbees

Today I found out the man responsible for the modern Frisbee design and the “Father of Disc Golf” was cremated and had his ashes molded into Frisbees to give to friends and family. While man has been throwing Frisbee-like objects around for many thousands of years, the Frisbee itself is something of a modern “invention”.  The tale of the Frisbee […]

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Most Thermostat Controls in Large Office Buildings Don’t Do Anything

Today I found out thermostat controls in large buildings, such as many office buildings, don’t usually do anything. These placebo controls for large HVAC systems do nothing but make you think you are adjusting the temperature.  In some cases, the system even includes white noise generators to make you think that the temperature controls are working, when in fact the […]

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