26 07, 2023

The First Road Trip Across The Continental US Won A Guy Fifty Bucks (Cool Weird Awesome 1056)

By |2023-07-26T09:49:29-04:00July 26, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Today in 1903 the conclusion of the first-ever car trip from one coast of the continental United States to the other. And this story starts, like so many other good stories have, with a bet.

8 03, 2023

For Safer Motorcycling, How About Pants With Airbags? (Cool Weird Awesome 965)

By |2023-06-20T15:46:01-04:00March 8, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Motorcycles just don’t have many of the same safety advantages as cars and trucks. So a company in Sweden is taking one of those safety features and adding it to a rider’s outfit: introducing airbag pants!

9 01, 2023

When Richard Nixon And Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev Went For A Drive (Cool Weird Awesome 923)

By |2023-01-09T09:23:22-05:00January 9, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Today in 1913, the birthday of Richard Nixon, 37th president of the United States, and the only one who ever went a wild ride with the head of the Soviet Union.

6 12, 2022

The First Cars Licensed As London Taxis Were Electric Vehicles (Cool Weird Awesome 898)

By |2022-12-06T07:57:29-05:00December 6, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

Today in 1897 is said to be the day that London first licensed motor vehicles as taxicabs. They were nicknamed "hummingbirds" and they were battery-powered.

20 10, 2022

Googly Eyes On Self-Driving Cars Could Help Keep Pedestrians Safe (Cool Weird Awesome 870)

By |2022-10-20T06:43:13-04:00October 20, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

If we’re ever going to get to a world of self-driving cars we’re going to need ways to make sure that world is safe - and one way to keep pedestrians safe near autonomous vehicles may be googly eyes. Seriously.

5 09, 2022

How Sunken Ships Wound Up In Farm Fields (Cool Weird Awesome 842)

By |2022-09-05T07:53:44-04:00September 5, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

Today in 1856, the steamboat Arabia sank in a river - and it wouldn't be seen again until 1988, when it showed up in a cornfield in Kansas. We'll explain how sometimes ships lost at sea are found somewhere else.

9 08, 2022

That Time Some Dude Drove A Van Dressed As A Car Seat (Cool Weird Awesome 823)

By |2022-08-09T08:52:31-04:00August 9, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

It was around this time in 2017 that people in Arlington, Virginia spotted what looked like a grey Ford passenger van with no driver. And then things got even weirder.

20 06, 2022

Instead Of West Virginia, The US Could Have Had The State Of Westsylvania (Cool Weird Awesome 792)

By |2022-06-20T09:03:38-04:00June 20, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

Today in 1863, West Virginia became a state - though back in the 18th Century, there were several efforts to meld this land with parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland and create an entirely different entity called Vandalia or Westsylvania.

6 06, 2022

Drive In Theaters Were Invented Partly So People Wouldn’t Have To Dress Up At The Movies (Cool Weird Awesome 787)

By |2022-06-06T07:44:41-04:00June 6, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , |

Today in 1933, Camden, New Jersey became the site of the very first drive-in movie theater. Here's the story of Richard Hollingshead, who brought movies outside so people could drive right up to the picture.

5 05, 2022

A Town In France Could Have Bioluminescent Street Lights (Cool Weird Awesome 765)

By |2022-05-05T09:02:45-04:00May 5, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

In Rambouillet, France, a startup is developing street lights that are bioluminescent - they’re powered by bacteria that glow. Plus: around this time in 1965, a woman sees a car selling for "1,395 bananas" and shows up at the dealership with actual fruit. 

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