Virginia Apgar’s Score Has Helped Millions Of Babies Stay Healthy (Cool Weird Awesome 1021)

Today in 1909, the birthday of Dr. Virginia Apgar, who created the short but important test known as the Apgar Score to make sure a newborn baby is getting off to a good start.

By |2023-06-07T10:09:49-04:00June 7, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Clarence Blethen, The Pitcher Who Got Bit By His Own False Teeth (Cool Weird Awesome 1020)

Today in 1933, truly a moment for the record books: a pitcher in a minor league baseball game got injured after being bitten by his own false teeth. 

By |2023-06-06T11:23:16-04:00June 6, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The World Has Ankle Monitors Partly Because Of Spider-Man Comics (Cool Weird Awesome 1019)

Today in 1962, Spider-Man first appeared in comic books. He's had a huge influence on comics, movies, cartoons and really entertainment as a whole, but did you also know a Spider-Man comic helped lead to the creation of the first ankle monitor?

By |2023-06-05T06:48:44-04:00June 5, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

If You’re Going To Break Into Somebody’s House, Don’t Leave A Finger Behind (Cruel Weird Awful 1)

The world is sometimes a horrible place - and Cruel Weird Awful is here to guide you through the worst of it. Today, the story of a guy who got caught trying to break into somebody's house because the resident slammed the front door on the suspect's finger and when he fled, the finger stayed behind.

By |2023-06-03T13:02:11-04:00June 3, 2023|Categories: Cruel Weird Awful, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

First Lady Mamie Eisenhower Had Her Own Shade Of Pink (Cool Weird Awesome 1018)

Today is one of several days the US commemorates its First Ladies. Some are well known, some are obscure. Some loved the job, others didn't want it at all. But only one First Lady had her own color: Mamie Eisenhower, the namesake of "Mamie pink."

By |2023-06-02T09:16:11-04:00June 2, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Rockford, Illinois Is The Birthplace Of The Sock Monkey (Cool Weird Awesome 1017)

Today in 1992, it's said the first picture book featuring a sock monkey was published. But where did the sock monkey itself show up? That was decades earlier, in the Illinois city of Rockford - or, as it's sometimes called, Sockford.

By |2023-06-01T10:35:21-04:00June 1, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

The Michigan Tycoon Who Made His Descendants Wait 92 Years To Inherit His Fortune (Cool Weird Awesome 1016)

Wellington R. Burt, known as "The Lone Pine of Michigan," was once among the wealthiest people in America - but when he died in 1919, he made sure most of that anyone who expected to inherit a big chunk of his enormous fortune would have to wait a long, long time.

By |2023-05-31T08:44:18-04:00May 31, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

How Suitcases With Wheels Helped Travelers Get On A Roll (Cool Weird Awesome 1015)

Inventors put wheels on suitcases and made it so much easier for travelers to get their bags through airports and terminals and lobbies. So why was there so much resistance to rolling luggage when it first went up for sale?

By |2023-05-30T08:58:02-04:00May 30, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

The Arlington Ladies Remember Every Servicemember Buried At Arlington National Cemetery (Cool Weird Awesome 1014)

Many of our servicemembers are laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. For Memorial Day, we tell the story of a group who makes sure every servicemember buried there is properly remembered.

If It Had Been Up To Billie Jean King, Astronaut Sally Ride Might Have Been A Pro Tennis Player (Cool Weird Awesome 1013)

Today in 1951, Sally Ride was born. She was a worldwide sensation in the 1980s as the first American woman in space, but before that, she was a talented youth tennis player who once caught the attention of the legendary Billie Jean King.

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