Robert Wadlow Was Known For His Heart As Well As His Height (Cool Weird Awesome 955)

Today was the birthday in 1918 of Robert Pershing Wadlow. Fans of world records remember him as the tallest man who ever lived, but there was more to the Alton Giant than his height.

By |2023-02-22T08:45:33-05:00February 22, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Donald Gorske Has Eaten 30,000 Big Macs And He’s Still Going (Cool Weird Awesome 773)

50 years ago today, a man named Donald Gorske ate a McDonald’s Big Mac. It was the first of over 30,000, and yes, he holds the world record for most Big Macs eaten by a single person.

By |2022-05-17T08:43:00-04:00May 17, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Chester Greenwood Brought Earmuffs To Cold-Eared People All Over The World (Cool Weird Awesome 732)

Maine became a state today in 1820. One of its best-known inventors was Chester Greenwood, who came up with a way to keep his, and many other people's, ears warm. 

By |2022-03-15T09:21:35-04:00March 15, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The Time Paul Newman Really Didn’t Want People To See A Paul Newman Movie (Cool Weird Awesome 703)

Today was the birthday in 1925 of actor and entrepreneur Paul Newman, who made some very popular and very acclaimed movies. But there was one movie he made that he loathed so much, he actually took out ads to convince people not to watch it.

By |2022-01-26T06:26:05-05:00January 26, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

When A Saturday Night Live Fan Got To Host Saturday Night Live (Cool Weird Awesome 674)

Today in 1977, the Not Ready For Prime Time Players were joined by perhaps the most unusual guest host ever: Miskel Spillman, an 80 year old grandma from New Orleans and the winner of the "Anyone Can Host SNL Contest."

By |2021-12-17T07:42:47-05:00December 17, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

The First Skywriting Was, No Surprise, For Advertising (Cool Weird Awesome 668)

On or around this day in 1922, a pilot wrote the first skywriting message in the United States. It was a way to demonstrate an advertising technique that would be a big part of business for the next few decades.

By |2021-12-01T06:54:36-05:00December 1, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown Books Taught Young Readers To Solve Mysteries (Cool Weird Awesome 626)

Today's the birthday of a mystery author known to millions of kids, Donald J Sobol. He wrote the Encyclopedia Brown series, about a 10 year old detective who solved cases because he knew, as his nickname suggested, all sorts of unusual and obscure facts in the era way before the internet. Plus: it’s National Taco Day, and here's the story of one of the largest tacos ever made. 

By |2021-10-04T09:14:12-04:00October 4, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Two Families Escaped East Germany In A Homemade Hot Air Balloon (Cool Weird Awesome 614)

Today in 1979, a story that sounds like it came straight out of a movie: two families in Communist East Germany escaped to the West by making and flying a hot air balloon. Plus: Today in 2018, Denise Mueller-Korenek broke the world record for “fastest bicycle speed in slipstream": 183.9 mph. 

By |2021-09-16T07:05:56-04:00September 16, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Bioprinting Clothes (And More) Out Of Algae (Cool Weird Awesome 530)

A research team at the University of Rochester and the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has found a way to bioprint a strong, flexible and eco-friendly material that could one day serve as fabric for t-shirts, energy storage for space missions and much more. Plus: there's a world record for longest golf drive into a moving car... you knew that was a record, right?

By |2021-05-06T08:13:28-04:00May 6, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

Jessica Anderson, A Record-Setting Marathon-Running Nurse (Cool Weird Awesome 524)

Today in 2019 a runner in the London Marathon set a world record, though it wasn’t recognized as such right away. Here's the story of Jessica Anderson, who was looking to break the world record for fastest marathon run in a nurse’s uniform. Plus: NoseID lets people scan their dogs' one-of-a-kind nose prints into their system, and if the dogs get away, someone else can scan their noses to figure out who they are and reunite them with their people.

By |2021-04-28T08:39:23-04:00April 28, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |
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