Cool Weird Awesome carves out a few minutes each day for the great stuff. The stuff we all need so we don't think the world has gone completely crazy.
A brand new year can be confusing for lots of reasons, but for Romans, the year 46 BC was when they tried to fix all the issues with their calendar and it made time literally drag on. Plus: a new wooden compass could help people with dementia find their way through the world. Why Julius Caesar's Year of Confusion was the longest year in history (BBC)wooden compass with single red arrow leads people with dementia to their homes (designboom)Our Patreon backers are also getting an exclusive bonus episode today - join them now!
New Year's Eve is full of traditions, including several in different parts of the world where people wear red underwear for luck as one year ends and the next begins. Plus: in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the New Year's disco ball drop comes with a Pennsylvania Dutch twist. Grab Your Red Underwear and Get Ready for New Year's Eve (Ripley's) PEEPS, PICKLES, AND PUCKS: Unique New Year's celebrations planned across Pennsylvania (ABC 27)Thanks to our Patreon backers for supporting our show all year long! Why not join them in 2026?
ToFuel is a research project in Europe that aims to collect the stems, leaves and other uneaten tomato bits into an alternative and more eco-friendly fuel for jets. Plus: today in 1941, a photograph for the ages, thanks to a photographer with some gumption. Scientists turn tomato waste into climate-friendly jet fuel to cut aviation emissions (Interesting Engineering)The Taming of Winston Churchill (On This Day)Fuel our podcast every day as a backer on Patreon
Today in 1962, the US designated Hawaii's Fort Elizabeth as a National Historic Landmark. The fort was the idea of Georg Schäffer, who thought it might be step one in making Hawaii a colony of Russia. Plus: a scientist in Hungary has been teaching rats how to play the 90s video game Doom II. Russian Fort/ Fort Elizabeth (National Park Service)Rats Successfully Trained to Shoot Demons in “Doom” (Futurism)Help build up our show as a backer on Patreon
If you're in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria or several other countries in southeastern Europe today, be careful and keep your wits about you. This is when Christmas goblins are on the loose again. Plus: if you've ever just wanted to sit for a bit with a nice hot cup of coffee, we have a moment in patent history for you. Kallikantzaroi: Tree-Chopping Christmas Goblins (The Atlas of Christmas by Alex Palmer, via Google Books) James H. Mason (Franklin Historical Museum)Legend has it that one way to stop the Christmas goblins is to back a really good podcast on Patreon
Merry Christmas! If you lived in Boston in the 1920s, you might have come across a hot dog vendor who decided to give hungry kids a special treat on December 25. He became known as the city's "Hot Dog Santa." Plus: one family Christmas tradition involves cataloguing everybody's weirdest mistakes and then giving out the family "Goober award." Hot Dog Santa Brings Christmas Cheer to Children (Newspapers.com) 30 People Are Sharing Weird And Wholesome Traditions That Make Their Christmas Special (Bored Panda)Thanks so much to our Patreon backers for all the gifts and support this year!
It's said that today in 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote the verses to what is now the most famous Christmas poem of all time. But the eminent professor wasn't always thrilled that this poem was his most famous written work. Plus: Did you know that there was once a tourist town in Arizona called Santa Claus? Time for a Visit from St. Nicholas (Library of Congress)Santa Claus, Arizona (Atlas Obscura)We're directing Santa toward our Patreon backers, since they've been so good this year
According to Seinfeld, December 23 is Festivus. It's a made-up TV holiday that has roots in a real family's tradition, though it may be even more inexplicable than the famous version. Plus: December 23 in Oaxaca, Mexico is known as “Night of the Radishes.”What is Festivus? The 'Seinfeld' holiday has real 'sinister' origins (Cincinnati Enquirer) Mexico's Night of the Radishes, a Quirky Christmas Tradition (How Stuff Works)Back our show on Patreon, or at least make a donation in our name to the Human Fund
Today in 1882, a big moment in holiday decorations: thanks to inventor Edward H. Johnson, for the first time, a Christmas tree festooned with colorful electric lights. Plus: Iceland has a fascinating Christmas tradition: the Yule Cat. Who invented electric Christmas lights? (Library of Congress)A festive feline: Iceland's terrifying Christmas Yule Cat (History.co.uk)Light up our podcast as a backer on Patreon
Today in 1892, the birthday of Fred Thomas, who had the unusual distinction of being an active duty member of the military while playing in baseball's World Series. And his two jobs helped lead to a pretty big custom in modern American sports. Plus: this Sunday in Anchorage, Alaska, it's the Winter Solstice Festival. Fred Thomas (Society for American Baseball Research)Winter Solstice Festival We have a job for you: back this show on Patreon
Today in 1620, people aboard the English ship Mayflower dropped anchor supposedly at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. Only the story of the rock came much later, and then people had a hard time keeping the rock in one piece. Plus: some online reviewers have not exactly been rocked by visiting Plymouth Rock. Thomas Faunce: The Man Who Saved Plymouth Rock (New England Historical Society)The Funniest Reviews of Plymouth Rock Left by Disappointed Tourists (Thrillist)Nobody rocks as much as our Patreon backers rock
Happy Hanukkah! In this episode from December 2022, we visit Hanukkah House in Houston. When most people mark Hanukkah with lights, they mean candles on a menorah. But Philip Grosman brings all the lights for the festival.Houston's famous Hanukkah house shines bright for the holidays (KHOU)This show is powered by our backers on Patreon!
A little over a century ago, a group of women, fed up with the overly commercial side of Christmas, formed the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving, or SPUG. And they made a pretty big splash along the way. Plus: today in 1773, the Boston Tea Party, though it was known by a slightly wordier name in its time. Only You Can Prevent Useless Gifts (JSTOR)The Destruction of the Tea (Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum) You don't have to turn in your Spug button to back our show on Patreon, because it's very practical
Happy Bill of Rights Day! One of the original amendments Congress sent to the states for ratification made it into our governing document two centuries later. It's literally a long story. Plus: students at Osaka Public University in Japan just built a bicycle that flies. 27th Amendment or Bust (The American Prospect)Japanese Students Successfully Build a Flying Bike That Gets off the Ground by Pedaling (My Modern Met)Don't wait a couple centuries to back our show on Patreon, join us today
It was this month in 1906 that radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden says he put a Christmas Eve transmission out on wireless that included a rendition of "O Holy Night," which would make it the first Christmas song ever played on the radio. Plus: if you're into big holiday light displays, they don't get much bigger or brighter than the ones in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn. Reginald Fessenden (National Park Service) Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Back our show on Patreon and we'll keep sending sound out into the world too
Today in 1979, Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag, welcomed a new member, one Jakob Mierscheid. The catch? Jakob Mierscheid is a fictional character, he's completely imaginary. Plus: the last circulating US pennies are being auctioned off starting today. A dubious existence (Süddeutsche Zeitung via Archive.org) Last circulating cents to be sold in Dec. 11 auction (Coin World)Our Patreon backers make a real difference for our show, join them today
Today in 1962, NBC broadcast a documentary showing a daring and dramatic effort to rescue people from Communist East Berlin. What was unusual was that NBC had essentially funded that rescue project. Plus: a raccoon breaks into a store in Virginia, gets drunk, passes out and gets in trouble with the law. Escape From East Berlin (New York Times)Drunk raccoon found passed out in Virginia store bathroom after ransacking it: officials (WJLA)Join our Patreon backers and keep building this show
Today in 1970, the release of the Donny Hathaway song "This Christmas." It's become a holiday classic, even if it took a couple decades to get there. Plus: in the Czech Republic you can get an Advent calendar that's made of salami. Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" (Chicago Sun-Times via Archive.org) Salami Advent Calendar, Czech Republic (Present & Correct via Bluesky) Get to know our show better as a backer on Patreon
This year brought us some pretty awful wildfires. A project in Portugal called Trovador asks if robots could take on some of the post-wildfire work for us. Plus: a farm in Shelby, Ohio is offering yoga classes with its otters. tree-planting robot saves burned land from deforestation by putting seedlings in the ground (designboom)An 'otterly' good time: Ohio farm offers ‘world's only' yoga class where otters set the vibe (10TVOur show is 100 percent human-powered, thanks to our backers on Patreon
This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from April 2023, we visit two centuries-old libraries in Portugal where bat colonies actually offer some pretty useful service in protecting their extremely rare old volumes. Plus: there's a library in Washington state that collects unpublished manuscripts. These Portuguese Libraries Are Infested With Bats — and They Like It That Way (Travel + Leisure via Yahoo!)The Brautigan Library (Futility Closet)Help us build our library of new episodes as a backer on Patreon
This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from April 2022, research from Ohio State University finds bats can become close when they're made to live together. Plus: in 1930, a BBC announcer came on the air to say “there is no news.” Like college roommates, vampire bats bond when randomly paired (Ohio State University)#OnThisDay 1930: the BBC's news announcer said, “there is no news” (BBCArchive on Twitter)Our Patreon backers keep this show flying and making friends!
This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from November 2020, researchers at Johns Hopkins University say bats can essentially “hear” into the future to find food. Plus: when The MTV European Music Awards let fans vote on the internet for Best Act Ever, the internet Rickrolled music history. Hearing the Future (Johns Hopkins University)MTV EMAs name Rick Astley ‘Best Act Ever' (NME)Cool Weird Awesome will never give its Patreon backers up, will never let them down…
This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from September 2021, research finds if you spend time with baby bats, you might hear them doing essentially the same babbling sounds that baby humans make. Plus: the YouTube channel Steadycraftin turns those orange into 3D printed robot figures. Baby Bats Babble Just Like Human Infants (Treehugger)Turning Plastic Pill Bottles Into Orange Robot Figurines (Laughing Squid)We hang on our Patreon backers' every word
This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from June 2022, a study from Ohio State University finds bats can remember a ringtone for years if they associate the sound with food. Plus: a French company uses old face masks to make rulers and protractors for geometry class. A rare discovery of long-term memory in wild frog-eating bats (Ohio State University)Plaxtil Recycles Used Face Masks Into School Supplies (Cool Hunting)Our Patreon backers always remember how to make this show possible – thanks for your support!
A lot of people are out shopping today, so we'll look at the history of the unsung hero of all that fast and furious commerce, the bar code. Plus: If you're in the community of Ariel, Washington, you might be marking DB Cooper Day. Scan here: Endowed professor delves into the history of the barcode (Clemson)A hijacker holiday in Washington (BBC)Scan yourself into our Patreon site as one of this show's backers
Cranberry sauce is one of the most traditional Thanksgiving side dishes, but not in 1959. That was the year of what History.com has called the Great Cranberry Scare. Plus: years ago, the balloon wranglers at the big parade in New York used to just let them float free at the end of the event! How the Great Cranberry Scare of 1959 Set Off a Thanksgiving Panic (History.com)FREE-FLOATING NYC THANKSGIVING PARADE BALLOONS CAUSED MAYHEM (Untapped New York)We're thankful every day for our Patreon backers, please join them in supporting our podcast
Today in 2021, the BBC reported on a winter storm that essentially trapped dozens of guests and an Oasis cover band for days at a Yorkshire inn… and they kind of loved it. Plus: a guy in France starts digging in his backyard and strikes gold. Actual gold. Storm Arwen: Customers set to spend third night at Britain's highest pub (BBC) A Man Was Digging in His Backyard—and Found a Hidden Treasure Worth $800K (Popular Mechanics)We wouldn't mind hanging out for a long weekend with our Patreon backers
Today in 1992, the fast food chain Rax filed for bankruptcy, a few months after launching an ad campaign featuring the fast food world's first smart-alecky, ironic and probably very depressed mascot. Plus: a contestant in the Miss Mundo Chile pageant performed an original death metal song, complete with roaring throat singing. The Short, Sad, Strange Life of Mr. Delicious (NathanRabin.com)Miss Chile Contestant Stuns Audience With Original Death Metal Performance (My Modern Met)Back our podcast on Patreon so we don't have to hire a cranky, overly chatty mascot to drum up business for us
Today in 1914, the birthday of Bessie Blount Griffin, physical therapist, inventor, forensic expert, writer, speaker.... the list goes on and on. Plus: a museum in Paris is auctioning off dozens of vehicles from popular movies and TV shows. BESSIE BLOUNT GRIFFIN (1914-2009) (Blackpast)Movie Car Museum Liquidating 50 Famous Vehicles at No Reserve (The Drive)Help move our show forward as a backer on Patreon
For years, we've been able to type on our devices just about anywhere we go. Now there's a project that can let us type on just about any surface, not just on our phones or computers. Plus: tomorrow in Selma, North Carolina, it's Santa's Groovy Disco Party. New AR system turns common surfaces into high-precision keyboards for faster input (Interesting Engineering)Santa's Groovy Disco Party (Johnston County NC)With just a little bit of typing and a dollar a month, you could fund this podcast on Patreon
Today in 1866, the first US patent for the yo-yo. It's a device that's been around in some forms since ancient times, and there have even been a few occasions when it's gone into space. Plus: starting tomorrow in Claremore, Oklahoma, it's Dickens on the Boulevard. Toys in space (UPI)Dickens on the Boulevard (TravelOK)Don't let this show spin in place! Back us on Patreon today
Today in 1959, the premiere of the show we know today as Rocky and Bullwinkle. It was an extremely irreverent show, especially for its time… and that's why one of its jokes ended up getting the producers in trouble. Plus: Chicago is celebrating 50 years of its famous film reviewing duo, Siskel and Ebert. Watch the Banned Bullwinkle Bumper That Had Kids Ripping Off TV Knobs & Parents Furious (Movieweb)Siskel & Ebert at 50 (Choose Chicago)Hey kids, go tell your grownups to donate to this show's Patreon page or you'll pull all the wires out of the TV!
Peelware is a company selling paper plates that can be reused more than a dozen times. When you're done using it, peel off the top layer and today in 2115, the release of the Robert Rodriguez movie 100 Years. peelable layers of paper plates break down without additional waste as single-use dishware (designboom)13 Completed Movies That Were Never Released (Screenrant)Our Patreon backers make every layer of our show possible, join them today
For National Take A Hike Day, we look back at a time in the 1800s when huge crowds bought tickets to see people walk around in loops for days at a time. Plus: for National Homemade Bread Day, the story of the bakery that made an eight-foot-long loaf for "I Love Lucy."The strange 19th-Century sport that was cooler than football (BBC) How Competitive Walking Captivated Georgian Britain (Atlas Obscura)I Love Lucy The Complete Picture History of the Most Popular TV Show Ever, Authorized by the Lucille Ball Estate by Michael McClay (via Google Books)Walk on over to our Patreon page and back this show
It's National Pickle Day! These briny cukes are versatile, and so is the word "pickle," even if some of the meanings of the word aren't very food related. Plus: there's a place in Utah that's famous for serving up pickle pie. Why Do We Say We're 'In a Pickle'? (HowStuffWorks)Utah Enjoys Its Pickles In A Sweet And Savory Slice Of Pie (Chowhound)It would be a really big dill if you backed our show on Patreon
Today in 1946, an airplane flying over Massachusetts gets snow to fall out of a cloud on demand. And that helped bring about the rise of artificial snow. Plus: today in 2023, Amber Harris of Tasmania has a very unusual reason for being late to work. Hacking The Weather To Make Man-Made Snow — In 1946 (GBH)The Olympics Have 100 Percent Fake Snow—Here's the Science of How It Gets Made (Scientific American) Tasmanian woman tells office she can't come in as 600kg 'Neil the seal' is blocking her car (ABC)Your support on Patreon will be the seeds that grow new episodes of our podcast
Spider webs are both works of art and extremely practical, and there's new research that finds they're even more practical than we've realized. Plus: in Tulsa, Oklahoma, there's a new art installation made from more than 45,000 guitar picks. Spiders weave secret alarm system through web zigzags for prey detection, study finds (Interesting Engineering)BOK reveals new art installation made with over 45,000 guitar picks (FOX 23)Help build this show on the world wide web as a backer on Patreon
On this Veterans Day, the story of a young machine gunner with the 101st Airborne. His wounded friend asked for a drink and boy did he ever find one. Auburn soldier's WWII experience became Bastogne legend (State Journal-Register)
This week in 1922, the birthday of Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote some of the most striking and acclaimed novels of the 20th Century, but before he became a literary giant, he tried his hand at something more small-scale: a board game. Plus: today in 2017, a fast food chain in Argentina decided to team up with its usual rival for a good cause. Kurt Vonnegut's Lost Board Game Is Finally for Sale (Open Culture)Burger King embraces McDonald's charity in 'Day Without Whopper' in Argentina (The Drum)Back our show today on Patreon so we don't have to try to invent board games to pay the bills
This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from January 2021, the first transcontinental conference call had a very special guest on the line. Plus: a restaurant in Montreal has a menu that weighs the pros and cons of each dish. This 1915 conference call made history (Computer World)Flashback 1914: Transcontinental Phone Line Finished (Sound & Vision)‘We are simply not the best,' Montreal restaurateur says of his very honest menu (As It Happens)Our Patreon backers really are the best
This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from July 2021, researchers found that for some Maasai herders in Tanzania, wrong number calls are an opportunity to get to know someone new. Plus: in 1294, a hermit monk chastised the cardinals of the Catholic Church for going years without choosing a new pope. So they promptly elected the monk. ‘Wrong number? Let's chat' Maasai herders in East Africa use misdials to make connections (The Conversation)A History of Papal Resignations (History.com)Saint Celestine V (Britannica)Answer the call of Cool Weird Awesome and back the show on Patreon!
This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from November 2021, the first automatic dial network happened because of a business dispute between two undertakers. Plus: the story of John Baxter Taylor, Jr, the first Black American to win an Olympic gold medal. Almon B. Strowger: The undertaker who revolutionized telephone technology (Spark Museum of Electrical Invention)First African American Olympic gold medalist was a Penn grad (University of Pennsylvania)Help us invent hundreds more episodes of our show as a backer on Patreon
This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from October 2021, the story of how an Indianapolis utility physically moved its 11,000 ton, eight story central office to a different location, while people worked inside. Plus: the governor of Colorado announces (with tongue firmly in cheek) that his state is tied for the state with the fewest number of shark attacks. An Incredible Move: The Indiana Bell Telephone Building (Amusing Planet)Colorado tied for state with fewest shark attacks, Gov. Jared Polis boasts (Denver Post)Our Patreon backers are number one in all the good categories
This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from April 2022, the story of several communities in Indiana that started their own wired telephone service, and the wire they used was plain old fence wire. Plus: Kansas City celebrates Fountain Day. Barb-Wire telephone line (Insulators.info)Barbed Wire Telephone Lines Connected The Old Frontier (Successful Farming podcast)Everything You Need To Know About Fountains In Kansas City (VisitKC)Reach out and touch someone (figuratively speaking) as a backer on Patreon
Here in the US, we're getting ready for trick or treaters on this Halloween night. But in Scotland, kids go guising instead - because there, you can't go door to door for candy without giving a bit of a show. Plus: a visit to a very creepy medical museum in Lexington, Kentucky. Halloween in Scotland (Historic UK)The Creepiest Museum In The Country Can Be Found Right Here In Kentucky (Only In Your State)Give yourself a treat when you back this podcast on Patreon
A lot of us enjoy a good pretend-scare around this time of year. But around this time in 1986, a school in California offered up a Halloween hoax that was a little too on the nose for the student body. Plus: a public library in Massachusetts has a ghost hunting kit that patrons can check out and use. School Prank--Pupils Told That War Has Started (Los Angeles Times)Ghost Hunting Kit Available at the Public Library (Neatorama)It's no hoax to say that our Patreon backers make this show happen, join them today
For National Cat Day, we have the story of how one of the biggest museums in the world once had to deal with a large collection of feral cats. Though of course the museum wasn't the only workplace in the UK that had cats in important places. The British Museum podcast: The purrrplexing story of the British Museum cats (British Museum)Bureaucats: The felines with official positions (BBC)Help this show avoid cat-astrophe as a backer on Patreon
Today in 1978, the premiere of the TV movie “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park. It was meant to be a big moment for the band, but that's not quite how it worked out. Plus: today in 1933, a newsreel announced that to stop traffic jams in Bronxville, New York, police would enforce a three-second limit on kisses at the train station. KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park (BradyCarlson.com) Kiss Get Superpowers In A TV Movie (Songfacts)Commuters' Kisses Cut By Police To End Traffic Jam (Newsreels.net)Rock out with us as a backer on Patreon
New York City's subway system is, of course, mostly underground, but some of the equipment that isn't is hiding in plain sight. Like an equipment room that's disguised as a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Plus: Austria could someday have electric towers designed to look like some of its signature animals. A Fake Brownstone in Brooklyn Hides a Secret Subway Ventilator (Untapped New York) power lines shaped as animal sculptures supply electricity across austria (designboom)Keep our show moving along like a subway car as a backer on Patreon
In the Great Depression, people had to get creative to handle the many economic challenges that were coming their way. Like how Pismo Beach, California found a good stand-in for regular currency: clamshells. Plus: three black bears at a zoo in California get a visit from a wild black bear. Clamshell Currency (Hakai Magazine)When Seashells Were Money (Messy Nessy Chic) 'Polite Visitor:' Bear Sneaks Into NorCal Zoo To Visit Fellow Bears (Patch)Share a few clams a month on our Patreon page and keep this show growing
Ahead of National Hug a Sheep Day on Saturday, the story of a special treat that farmers in Wales used to make: Sheep-Shearing Cake. Plus: this Saturday in Claremore, Oklahoma, it's the Route 66 Pecan & Music Festival. Welsh Shearing Cake or Cacen Gneifo (Daffodil Kitchen)Route 66 Pecan & Music Festival It would be shear perfection (pun intended) if you backed our show today on Patreon
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