At the request of many readers, the following represents an index to
this website.
Stories are broken down by category.
Descriptions are identical to those on the site's main pages.
Do you remember when your high
school science teacher told you never to fudge your data? Never,
ever. Apparently, Paul Kammerer wasn't listening. He was once the
most famous biologist in the world. Now he is the textbook example
of scientific fraud and is virtually unknown. Find out how one single
toad lead to his untimely death.
You may never have heard of Joseph Priestley, but he
is considered by many to be one of the greatest scientists of all time.
What did he know that the leading scientists of the 1700's did not?
Certainly not science. He never took a single science course during
his entire lifetime. That was to Priestley's advantage. Check
out this story to learn about his long list of important scientific contributions.
Also, discover Priestley's role in the future of soft drinks and rubber.
What do you do with your matchsticks
after you burn them? Do you toss them away? What a complete
waste of a natural resource. Could the landfills be filling up with these
things? For an answer to this pressing problem, we need only to turn
to a man named Jack Hall. He found the perfect solution to the used
matchstick dilemma. He used the matches to build... Well, check
out this incredible story to see what he used the matchsticks for.
When people think about school violence, the tragic story
of the Columbine shootings is the first thing that comes to mind.
Few people, however, have any knowledge the most deadly act of school violence
in American history. Even more surprising is that this was not a
recent event , but actually occurred during the Roaring 20's.
P. T. Barnum is best known for the circus that he founded.
Exploitation should have been his middle name. If you were too short, tall,
fat, skinny, hairy (you get the idea), you could get a job working for
him. Surprisingly, he had an even greater effect on our culture - he changed
the English language forever.
Yes, it appears that scientists
may have finally found what appears to be Earth's southernmost red-light
district. Your first impression may be that this sounds like a story
about lonely scientists living at the South Pole, but it is not.
Instead, this is a story about penguins and what they do in their spare
time. This time, however, it is the betrayed husband who is left
home crying.
I can hear you screaming already - your English teacher
told you that the plural of fish is still fish. Supposedly, there is no
such word called fishes. Well, your English teacher was wrong.
Count Victor Lustig could sell
you just about anything. Rich or poor, if he decided to make you
his next victim, he would certainly take you for all that you had.
He never did sell the Brooklyn Bridge, but he did manage to sell the Eiffel
Tower. And, he sold the tower not once, but twice.
Without a doubt, this is the most controversial Useless
Information story found on these web pages. While not written with the
intention of challenging religious belief, many have misinterpreted the
story this way. What it is intended to be is an interesting mathematical
analysis of how many animals the ark could actually hold. One thing that
we can be sure of - it was certainly not a cruise ship.
David Phillips is the type of guy
that just loves pudding. Now, it just can't be any type of pudding.
It must be Healthy Choice brand in those individual serving type containers.
Phillips ended up buying 12,150 containers of this yummy stuff for his
family. Why would anyone want so much pudding? Why did it have
to be Healthy Choice brand? And what could any typical family do
with all of this pudding. Check out this great story to find out...
These two words are rarely ever
used in the same sentence. Therefore, you are probably wondering
what these two items actually have in common. In regards to your
life, the answer is almost certainly nothing. If you are talking
about the author's life, then there is one unusual similarity. Here's
a hint: Some items just seem to be cursed.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!
Did you ever wonder how Santa delivers all those gifts to the kids every
year for Christmas? Let's just say that it's not an easy task and
that this overweight fellow seems to defy the laws of physics. For
the fifth year, we are proud to present this hilarious story. This is the
only non-original article on the site, and, to make matters even worse,
the story is totally fictitious. But, we had to keep our annual
tradition of posting this it. Enjoy!
World War II ended way back in
1945. Someone forgot to tell Hiroo Onoda and his men, however.
They kept fighting and fighting and fighting. And when that wasn't
enough, they kept on fighting some more. Thirty years later, their
war was still going on. It obviously ended, or you wouldn't be able
to read this great story of survival.
The inventor of this modern miracle drug saw no use for
it. Luckily, aspirin's formula was rediscovered nearly fifty years later
and the rest is history. But, did you know that aspirin was included as
part of the Treaty of Versailles?
I'm stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me.
Millions of these little adhesive strip have been sold over the years.
Yet, their existence may never have been if it weren't for Listerine.
Mary Phelps Jacob is widely credited with inventing this
article of clothing way back in 1913. Did she really invent this garment?
Better yet, did you know that it could possibly kill you? Check out the
real answers.
Many men hate wearing these things, but one cannot deny
that they are an effective form of contraception. Find out where this latex
rubber device came from and what it has in common with America's favorite
soft drink, Coca-Cola.
The man that invented the Eveready battery gave away
the company so that he could play with his model trains. As foolish as
this may sound, it was the best decision that he ever made.
Who invented these illuminating devices? If you said
Thomas Edison, you would be wrong. Find out who really invented the lightbulb
and what it means to be Westinghoused.
Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match... It just wasn't
that simple. Making a device to turn friction into flame turned out to
be much more difficult and dangerous than you could ever imagine.
A melted candy bar and some egg on someone's face are
responsible for the invention of the first microwave. Check out the interesting
history of this product's development. Also, is there any truth to the
rumor that people have cooked their babies alive in these cooking machines?
Brush-it-on. Roll-it-on. Or, just plain slop-it-on. Would
you believe that when ready mixed paint was invented, many people had great
doubts that anyone would ever buy it? It seems that consumers preferred
to mix their own paint.
It's hard to believe, but those old flip-top head dispensers
could be worth big $$$. Would you believe that those little candies were
available in Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Licorice, and Chlorophyll flavors?
Find out what other flavors were once marketed and the answer to the most
obvious question - Why are they called PEZ?
Love them or hate them, they are
just hard to ignore. The plastic pink flamingo has become a part
of the American landscape and has had more staying power than just about
any celebrity. The subject of many jokes, this truly American object
was actually designed by a real artist as a serious piece of art.
Follow the path of the pink flamingo from its birth through to its gain
of legendary status.
One would think that inventions do not come any simpler
than this. Put a little cotton on a stick and you're in business. Unfortunately,
it was not that easy. And what is with the strange name?
These little soapy pads were originally designed as a
giveaway to help sell aluminum pots and pans to housewives. The cookware
didn't sell, but the pads were an instant success. By the way, the pads
are not named after the famous distress signal.
Hey! Your fly is open! (made you look...) Trying to get
people to use the zipper many years ago was virtually impossible - this
contraption constantly rusted closed or failed miserably. Of course, we
now have that modern invention known as Velcro® to solve these problems.
What would you do if you could be President of the United
States for one day? Would you start a war? Pardon all the criminals?
It just so happens that David Rice Atchison is the only man in history
to have had this honor. Find out what Atchison did during his 24 hours
in power.
James Garfield will never be one of the best remembered
Presidents of the United States. You probably didn't even know that he
was assassinated. His assassin shot him twice, but probably did not kill
him. Find out who the real murderers are and how Alexander Graham Bell
helped speed up his death.
This great legend in history had
an accidental death. His funeral was the real highlight (if you can call
it that), however. His corpse sent the worshippers running out of the church.
You should be glad that you did not have to attend.
You are probably thinking about
the endless stories of Dr. Richard Kimble and his escape from justice.
This is actually the story of another fugitive named Robert Burns whose
run from justice inspired two Hollywood movies, books, and a change in
the Georgia penal system. He had one fascinating journey!
You've probably heard that old expression about running
around like a chicken with its head cut off. Well, Headless Mike
gives new meaning to this expression. Check out this article for
one of the oddest stories that you may have read in a while. Warning:
it's not pretty, but you'll probably remember it for the rest of your life.
What would you do if you heard
that the island of Manhattan was sinking into the Hudson Bay due to the
added weight of its buildings? Such a problem faced the people of
this great city. It took the ingenuity of one man to find a
solution. The plan was to saw off the end of the island and spin
it around. Impossible, you say? Check out this wild story to
see what really happened.
We tend to think of rocks as objects that remain in the
same place for long periods of time. Weathering, erosion, or even mankind
has been known to move them. Yet, there are rocks in Death Valley, California
that seem to mysteriously move hundreds of feet at a time. Do these rocks
have legs? Did the aliens from outer space move them? Or was it some other
supreme power? Why don't you take a look...
It’s hard to imagine the old west
without images of the classic cowboy riding his horse off into the sunset.
Yet, if things had gone differently, those old western movies would have
had John Wayne riding into town on his camel. When the Lone Ranger
was blurting out, “Hi yo Silver, away!” he would have been referring to
his two-humped friend. And Roy Rogers would have had a dromedary
named Trigger.
This simple little celebration is enough to bring learning
to a complete halt in one small upstate New York community. Just
where did the idea of planting trees come from? Why was the celebration
so important a century ago, yet largely forgotten by all today? Now
you can know...
Can you imagine having to compete with thousands of other
males to win the heart of the only mating female in the kingdom? Even worse,
once you do get her, your genitals end up exploding.
What's the deal with those old movies? They run
so fast. Antique cars zoom across the screen. People walk across the street
like their pants are on fire. It's seems like someone was able to put time
on fast forward.
You probably know that raisins are just plain old dried-up
grapes. Do you have any idea what the difference is between the Golden
and Sun-Dried varieties? Now you can know.
And since the manufacturers have obviously gotten it
to stick, is it true that the fumes produced by the Teflon are actually
toxic? Hint: your pet birds are in grave danger.
The breakfast cereal that provides you with 100% of the
recommended amount of iron. Do you know how they get the iron into the
cereal? You may not want to know.
Are you tired of those rock hard tomatoes that the local
supermarket sells? What ever happened to those juicy specimens that were
available years ago? Would you believe that the red tomato is really a
green tomato?
The Olympic Committee probably wants to forget
that these 1904 St. Louis games ever occurred. The whole affair ended up
being one big circus sideshow. How about a gold medal in mud throwing,
totem pole climbing, or spear throwing? Check out this story for a good
laugh.
Edison may have missed the boat
on this one. Why use the standard incandescent and fluorescent bulbs
that we are so familiar with when we could be lighting our homes with pickle
power? I am not kidding here... The guys at Digital Labs actually
did research on this. And, the pickles really do glow!
Many people never hesitate to scream "A FIGHT!" at the
first indication of a brawl. Yet, these words proved to be extremely deadly
at Birmingham's Shiloh Church in 1902. Surprisingly, no fight ever occurred
and no punch was ever thrown. Find out what really happened.
Did you ever wonder what homogenized actually means?
You probably drink it every single day, but the homogenization process
was a hard sell when it was first introduced to the marketplace. So tough
was it to move this new product that the salesmen had to resort to a unique
marketing gimmick - bottles of vomit.
Remember that Seinfeld episode in which Jerry was caught
picking his nose by his beautiful date? He kept screaming to her
that "It wasn't a pick", but she refused to listen and dumped him
immediately. Just how common is this disgusting habit? Check
out this story - you'll be amazed at what they are studying in our research
institutions these days.
M.I.T. students that paid admission
to a dance based on their girlfriend's weight. A guy that had more
than one hundred shoe tacks removed from his stomach. A kid that
collected some 334,000 dead flies in jars. Naturally cooked apple
pie. What it means to be "sucking brains". These are the oddball
stories that almost got away.
In the Walt Disney version of this story, Sleeping Beauty
is awakened by the handsome prince and they live happily ever after. The
original version did not quite read the same way. Instead, the fairy tale
is really a story of rape, illegitimate children, and cannibalism...
Billions of dollars are spent each year to help keep
our teeth cavity free and looking pearly white. We have toothpaste with
baking soda, peroxide, and whiteners in what seems to be every flavor and
color possible. Luckily, one flavor is no longer used - that of Portuguese
urine!
It's the stuff that we use on our salads all of the time.
But, this food product also doubles as the chemical acetic acid.
In this true-to-life story (meaning that it happened to the author), find
out what kind of protective gear you will need to eat that delicious salad.