Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1959, Marine Corps pilot William Rankin passed through the middle of a thundercloud after having to eject from his plane. And despite the storm’s best efforts, he made it through in one piece. Plus: starting today in Tenino, Washington, it’s Oregon Trail Days. Meet the Marine who ‘rode the thunder’ and lived to tell the tale (Air Force Times) Oregon Trail Days   Help this show take to the...

Summer travel comes and goes for most of us, but Tom Stuker, the "world's most frequent flyer," bought a lifetime plane ticket in 1990 and has been up in the air a lot since then. Plus: Monday in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, it’s the Rain Day Festival.  New Jersey man dubbed ‘most traveled air passenger’ with nearly 24 million miles in the air (News12.com) He has flown 23 million miles....

Today in 1978, the American release date of what looked like a blockbuster movie musical: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," starring some of the biggest music and movie stars of the era. Yeah, it didn't go so well. Plus: the Apollo 11 astronauts had to fill out customs declarations when they came back from the moon!?! Beatles-Based Movie Is A Box Office Bomb (Songfacts) Ba...

Today was the day in 1904 that a guy at the St. Louis World’s Fair took a pastry cone, put two scoops of ice cream inside, and changed the dessert world forever. Except that there are a bunch of ice cream cone origin stories from that World's Fair, and also, ice cream cones were around for more than a century before that. Plus: The US Postal Service is remembering game show legend Alex Trebek...

It’s a busy time of year for transportation workers, especially here in the Midwest. Michigan's official state vehicle fleet includes a vintage Ford Model T, and not just as a nod to the state's long history with automaking. Plus: starting today in Ohio, it’s the Dayton Air Show. Michigan DOT Still Has a Century-Old Ford Model T in Service (The Drive) Dayton Air Show Drive on over to our P...

Today's believed to be the day in 1799 when French troops in northern Egypt found the Rosetta Stone, which unlocked a huge amount of knowledge about the ancient world. Or at least it would after scholars spent like two decades figuring out what it said. Plus: Atchison, Kansas is in the middle of its annual Amelia Earhart Festival, celebrating the community's most famous resident.  Rosetta...

For National Ice Cream Day this Sunday, the story of how New York state once upcycled some ice cream trucks into artificial reefs around Long Island. Plus: this Saturday in Pennsylvania, it’s the Made In Bradford Celebration, in the hometown of the Zippo lighter. Sunken Ice Cream Trucks Were Used Create Artificial Reefs in NYC (Untapped New York) Made In Bradford Celebration   Our Patreon backers...

This day in 1982 was the date at the top of a movie treatment for “E.T. 2: Nocturnal Fears." And as the title suggests, the sequel would have been a lot creepier than the first movie. Plus: starting tomorrow in Minnesota, it’s the Cosmos Space Festival.  Why The ET Sequel Never Happened (ScreenRant) Cosmos Space Festival   Keep our show playing throughout the galaxy as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1988, the community of Embo, in the Scottish Highlands raised money for a community center by declaring independence from the rest of the UK… but just for one day. Plus: today in 2022, an odd moment in the world of real estate. And milk. Embo Community Centre Appeal (via Archive.org)  B.C. real estate agent fined $20K after chugging milk in fridge at showing (North Shore News)  You don’t...

Today in 1912, high honors for William Walker, who saved the UK’s famous Winchester Cathedral from partial collapse through five years of foundation work… all of which he did underwater. Plus: this week in Aroostook County, Maine, it’s the Maine Potato Blossom Festival.  Saving the Cathedral (BBC) Maine Potato Blossom Festival    You can help shore up the future of this podcast as a backer on Patr...

Today in 1895, the birthday of Buckminster Fuller, the “engineer, architect and futurist" who once proposed building a see-through dome over part of Manhattan to save energy and money. Plus: a community festival that’s actually in a bunch of communities. The 1960 Plan To Put A Dome Over Midtown Manhattan (Gothamist) This Was Buckminster Fuller’s Plan to Cover Manhattan With a Giant Dome (The...

Around this time in 2012, a teacher in Germany saved a young student's life, literally keeping the three year old's head above water after falling into an abandoned mine shaft. Plus: starting tomorrow in Oklahoma, it’s the McLoud Blackberry Festival.  Teacher jumps down mineshaft to save boy (The Local) The McLoud Blackberry Festival   Want more stories like this? Back our show on Patreon...

Today in 1899, the signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, that established most of the border between Egypt and Sudan, but eventually led to a dispute over two stretches of land. Both countries want one stretch, and neither wants the other. Plus: this Friday in New Orleans, the running of the bulls! Well, sort of. This man is the latest in a series of travellers to declare ownership of a bizar...

On this National Fashion Day, we have a letter from 3,800 years ago that shows some things never change, like teenagers nagging their parents for a fancier set of clothes. Plus: an artist in Japan designs a pair of jeans that look like they're hanging out unzipped... because that's something someone needs, apparently? Reading Ancient Mail (JSTOR)  Jeans designed to look like your fly is do...

Today in 1776, it's said that the Liberty Bell rang out in Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. More than two centuries later, a fast food giant put out fake ads claiming that it had acquired the Liberty Bell to help pay off the national debt. Plus: today in 1978, Def Leppard played its first-ever concert, in Sheffield, England, though it didn’t exactly...

Today in 1994, the start of a very unusual road trip: Alvin Straight drove 240 miles by lawn mower. Plus: next week in Wausau, Wisconsin, it’s the Taste ‘N Glow Balloon Fest.  Brotherly Love Powers a Lawn Mower Trek (New York Times) Taste 'n Glow Balloon Fest Ride with us as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1827, the people of Boonsboro, Maryland marked Independence Day by trying to build a stone monument to George Washington in a single day. It was a Washington Monument way before the opening of the Washington Monument in DC. Plus: today in Michigan, it's the Berrien Springs Pickle Festival. The Little-Known Story of the First Washington Monument (Smithsonian) After A More Than 16-Year...

Today in 1958, the Washington Post reported on a way to transform a Ford station wagon into a full-service campsite with the push of a button. Plus: this weekend in Congham, Norfolk, England, the World Snail Racing Championships. The 1959 Ford Country Squire Camper, the Pushbutton Dream Camper That Never Was (Auto Evolution) SNAIL RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS   Click on this link and you can transfo...

Around this time of a year you may come to witness an eye-opening process in parts of Utah: it’s known as aerial fish stocking. Yes, they drop fish out of airplanes into bodies of water. Plus: in Traverse City, Michigan, there are still a few more days left of the National Cherry Festival. Utah is dropping thousands of fish from planes – again (CNN) National Cherry Festival We hope you’ll drop a f...

Longtime baseball fans know this is the day each year that former star Bobby Bonilla gets more than a million bucks from the New York Mets, as part of the strangest salary deal the sport's ever seen. Plus: today in 1997, Len Libby’s Chocolates in Maine unveiled an icon, Lenny the chocolate moose. What is Bobby Bonilla Day? Explaining why the former Met gets paid $1.19M every July 1 (ESPN) Lenn...

Today in 1919, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the massive conflict known today as World War I and set a lot of postwar international standards, including standard musical pitch. Plus: the Vent Haven Museum in Kentucky showcases the world of ventriloquism, and this weekend it's hosting a a fun run and walk as The Dummy Run 5K. High Pitch, Low Pitch and Modern Pitch (Robb S...

This month in 1908, Anne of Green Gables was published. L.M. Montgomery's books have a lot of fans in Japan, which is why a community in northern Japan built a park called Canadian World, complete with a recreation of Anne's hometown of Avonlea. Plus: starting this Saturday in Washington state, it’s the Buckley Log Show. Abandoned Avonlea: Anne theme park in Japan now like a ghost town (CB...

Yes, the coconut's tropical, and it didn't migrate, but a 2017 research paper found that “Medieval England was unexpectedly full of coconuts.” So King Arthur and his entourage really could've wandered around in search of the Grail banging coconuts together! Plus: starting this Friday in Oklahoma, it’s the Fort Gibson Sweet Corn Festival. Coconuts in Medieval England Weren’t as Rare as...

This month in 1878, a horse named Sallie Gardner ran past a series of cameras in Palo Alto, California. The series of photos those cameras took paved the way for motion pictures. Plus: starting tomorrow in Deridder, Louisiana, it’s the Beauregard Watermelon Festival. Eadweard Muybridge (International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum)  Beauregard Watermelon Festival    Back our show on Patreon a...

Today in 1982, British Airways Flight 009 made a successful landing in Jakarta, Indonesia, after ash from a nearby volcano had shut down all of the plane’s engines. Plus: today in 2022, six new high school graduates in Port Jefferson, New York had to quickly duck out of the commencement ceremonies to go fight a fire. When volcanic ash stopped a Jumbo at 37,000ft (BBC) These high school seniors rac...