Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1909, the birthday of Dr. Virginia Apgar, who created the short but important test known as the Apgar Score to make sure a newborn baby is getting off to a good start. Plus: we're just days away from the National Asparagus Festival in Oceana County, Michigan. Virginia Apgar May Have Saved Your Life (Hackaday) National Asparagus Festival in Michigan Our Patreon backers keep this short...

Today in 1933, truly a moment for the record books: a pitcher in a minor league baseball game got injured after being bitten by his own false teeth. Plus: on this day in 1942, Adeline Gray became the first person to test a nylon parachute, since silk was in short supply because of World War II.  Clarence Blethen (Society for American Baseball Research) Meet the Daredevil Parachutist Who Tested the...

Today in 1962, Spider-Man first appeared in comic books. He's had a huge influence on comics, movies, cartoons and really entertainment as a whole, but did you also know a Spider-Man comic helped lead to the creation of the first ankle monitor? Plus: Manhattan's Grolier Club is hosting an exhibit of vintage restaurant menus from the 1840s to the 1940s. How Spider-Man Led to the Invention o...

Today is one of several days the US commemorates its First Ladies. Some are well known, some are obscure. Some loved the job, others didn't want it at all. But only one First Lady had her own color: Mamie Eisenhower, the namesake of "Mamie pink." Plus: this weekend in Lewes, Delaware, it’s the Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass and Coastal Arts Festival.  How Pink Became a Color for Girls (Racke...

Today in 1992, it's said the first picture book featuring a sock monkey was published. But where did the sock monkey itself show up? That was decades earlier, in the Illinois city of Rockford - or, as it's sometimes called, Sockford. Plus: today in 1929, the UK newspaper known as The Sphere published an eye-catching photo of storefront mannequins melting in the London heat. Monkey shines i...

Wellington R. Burt, known as "The Lone Pine of Michigan," was once among the wealthiest people in America - but when he died in 1919, he made sure most of that anyone who expected to inherit a big chunk of his enormous fortune would have to wait a long, long time. Plus: in Grand Rapids, Michigan, it’s the Grand Rapids Lantern Festival. Wellington's millions: 92 years after his death,...

Inventors put wheels on suitcases and made it so much easier for travelers to get their bags through airports and terminals and lobbies. So why was there so much resistance to rolling luggage when it first went up for sale? Plus: this weekend in Ruston, Louisiana, the Louisiana Peach Festival. Mystery of the wheelie suitcase: how gender stereotypes held back the history of invention (The Guardian)...

Many of our servicemembers are laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. For Memorial Day, we tell the story of a group who makes sure every servicemember buried there is properly remembered. Arlington Ladies make funerals a time of comfort, honor and remembrance (Military Families Magazine) Arlington National Cemetery: Where Every Day We Remember (Library of Congress)

Today in 1951, Sally Ride was born. She was a worldwide sensation in the 1980s as the first American woman in space, but before that, she was a talented youth tennis player who once caught the attention of the legendary Billie Jean King. Plus: today is National Road Trip Day. If you’re in or around Sonoita, Arizona, check out their series of specially painted propane tanks. 20 Things You Might Not...

Today in 1986, Hands Across America! People were supposed to build national unity and help those in need by linking hands in a chain that stretched from sea to shining sea. And at least some of them did. Plus: this week in 2016, a teen in the Bay Area pulled off a pretty good prank at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.   Us: What Was Hands Across America, the Creepy Event That Inspired Jordan...

Today in 1879, the birthday of S.S. Adams. If you don’t know the name, you know the products: joy buzzers, sneezing powder, the dribble glass and hundreds of other novelties known all over the world all started with the S.S. Adams Company. Plus: a new website takes maps of the Roman Empire's extensive system of ancient roads and turns them into an interactive route planner.  Remembering the S....

Sometime on this night in 1920 the president of France fell out of a moving train. And the story got weirder from there. Plus: today in 1993, the first movie ever played over the internet - though the streaming was definitely more lo-fi than what we watch today. The Unusual French President (Danny Dutch) Cult Film Is a First On Internet

Today in 1455, it's said that the Wars of the Roses began in England. The civil wars over who should be king led to mostly battles but also the legendary story of Blanche Heriot, who found a creative way to keep her love from being executed. Plus: in 2021, artists in the Czech Republic created a crop circle in the shape of Pac-Man as a protest. Women of Runnymede (Chertsey Museum) Huge Pac-Man...

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about some of our favorite rock musicians. In this episode from April 2022, we look back at Aerosmith's landmark album “Toys In The Attic.” One of the biggest hits from that album got its name from an unusual source - the Mel Brooks movie "Young Frankenstein." Plus: New Mexico hosts the Las Cruces Space Festival.  How Aerosmith...

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about some of our favorite rock musicians. In this episode from January 2021, we remember the time in the 90s that Pat Boone - the pop and gospel singer - made a record where he sang Hendrix, AC/DC, Deep Purple and Metallica. How did he, of all people, end up "In A Metal Mood"? Plus: heavy metal is so popular in Finland that there&#...

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about some of our favorite rock musicians. In this episode from November 2020, we look back at the time the Who's drummer, Keith Moon, collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. Amazingly, the band chose a 19 year old from the crowd, Scot Halpin, to fill in for the rest of the show. Plus: the 2020 Pasadena Doo Dah Parade isn't jus...

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about some of our favorite rock musicians. In this episode from August 2019, the story of Dee Gallant. When a cougar started walking toward her on a logging trail in British Columbia, she used the power of rock to protect herself. Plus: in a move that might make heavy metal even heavier, guitarist Takamizawa Toshihiko designs a guitar shaped...

This week We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about some of our favorite rock musicians. In this episode from October 2020, we remember guitar great Eddie Van Halen. His band won millions of fans on record and offstage, and won a reputation for offstage excess. But one of their most infamous stories - that they banned brown M&Ms from backstage - wasn't quite what it seemed. Plus:...

This is one of the great technological and social breakthroughs of our time: scientists have figured out how parrots can do video calls with each other, and they love it! Plus: today in West Frankfort, Illinois, it’s day two of the Old King Coal Festival.   Parrots Taught to Video Call Each Other Show Increased Happiness According to New Study (My Modern Met)   2023 Old King Coal Festival (Enjoy I...

Today in 1858 Minnesota became the 32nd state in the Union. There's a part of the state that's on the other side of a lake from the rest, which means anyone who wants to drive from the Northwest Angle to the rest of Minnesota has to drive through Canada. Plus: there's a Minnesota-shaped forest on the other side of that same lake. Minnesota's Northwest Angle, an American geographic...

National Train Day is coming up this weekend, so we'll take a look at a railroad that doesn't get a lot of attention, the one NASA has used to move parts and supplies to and from Kennedy Space Center. Plus: today in 1806, the birthday of James Shields, the only person who's served as US Senator from three different states. Critical to the Countdown: The NASA Railroad (Southeastern Rail...

We’ve talked a lot on the show about the many different skills robots are learning. Now we can tell you about Experimental Sport Tennis Wheelchair Robot, which is learning to play tennis. Plus: the startup GaeaStar is 3D printing disposable coffee cups made of clay. When you're finished, you can just toss it on the ground and it'll turn back into dirt. Tennis Robot Could Pave Way for Advan...

Today in 2006, IT job candidate Guy Goma rose to the occasion when a BBC TV producer mistakenly brought him onto a live show to talk about the internet, even though they were actually supposed to interview a different Guy on the air. Plus: the website Brilliant Maps used AI to make 19 world maps as if they’d been drawn by famous artists.  It's Been 10 Years Since the Wrong Guy Analyzed the Int...

Today in 1965 the launch of what is the oldest functioning object in Earth orbit, Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1. To say it's "functioning" might be overstating things, since all it does it sit up there, but it's still had a big impact on science. Plus: tomorrow in Burlington, North Carolina, the start of the annual Carousel Festival. The Oldest Functioning Satellite  (Amusing Plan...

Today in 2021, the BBC reported on a very unusual happening: a farmer in Belgium accidentally redrew the country’s border with France. Plus: it’s National Orange Juice Day, and fans may head to Houston, Texas to hang out at the folk art space known as The Orange Show. Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border (BBC) The Orange Show is a folk art installation dedicated to a beloved citrus frui...