Banning Sliced Bread Was Not The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread (Cool Weird Awesome 930)
Today in 1943, the US government tried to help the war effort in a way that did NOT go over well. They tried to halt the sales of sliced bread.
The American Warship That Accidentally Launched A Torpedo At FDR (Cool Weird Awesome 887)
Today in 1943, a US Navy ship almost caused a gigantic tragedy, by inadvertently launching a torpedo at the president of the United States. Plus: this month in 1932, the UK’s Home Office got a complaint about ancient drawing known as the Cerne Abbas Giant and his “impassioned obscenity.”
A Comanche Code Talker Sent The First Message From Utah Beach On D-Day (Cool Weird Awesome 886)
For Veterans Day, the story of the Comanche Code Talkers, 17 veterans of the second World War who created an unbroken code in their native language that saved lives and helped the US military effort.
There Was A Movement To Make Sicily Part Of The US (Cool Weird Awesome 824)
On this day in 1943, an interesting headline in the New York Times: “Sicily Vying With Hawaii To Become 49th U.S. State.” Of course, neither Sicily nor Hawaii became the 49th state; Alaska did. But there really was an effort to bring Sicily into the Union.
Gino Bartali Was A Champion And A Hero On A Bike (Cool Weird Awesome 812)
Today in 1914, the birthday of Gino Bartali. The Italian cycling star won the Tour de France in 1938, and won a second time a decade later. But what was even more impressive was what he did in between those two wins.
Every Year The Netherlands Sends Thousands Of Tulips To Canada (Cool Weird Awesome 771)
The Canadian Tulip Festival is getting underway in Ottawa. Here's the history of the annual event, which (pun intended) has its roots in the history of World War II.
A Liner Note Detective Wants The World To Know Something About The “London Calling” Cover Photo
The famous cover of The Clash's landmark album "London Calling" was taken on September 21, 1979, according to the liner notes. Except that Dave Marin, a concertgoer who was there when the photo was taken, has a concert stub that says September 20th. And he's spent decades trying to get the world to notice that the album credits are a day off. Plus: today in 1940, a bomb explodes in London, and the locals decide to turn the crater it left behind into something special.
Two Football Teams Merged And Became The “Steagles” (Cool Weird Awesome 394)
When World War II put many pro athletes into military service, pro sports leagues had to get creative. That's how on this day in 1943, two pro football teams that normally competed against each other joined forces. Plus: for World Smile Day, we check in on the story of the guy who first designed the smiley face.
Finish Your Backswing, Even if There Are Nazis
Forget the air campaign, it was golf handicaps that almost lost the war for the Allies.