Episodios

  • Olympians Week: “Eric The Eel” Won An Olympic Heat With The Slowest Time In The Field
    Jul 30 2024

    We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the Games and those who have competed in them. In this episode from August 2021, swimmer Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea makes a splash at the 2000 Summer Games despite finishing well behind the rest of the competitors in his event. Plus: Canadian high jumper Derek Drouin won a gold medal in 2016 when his doctors might have preferred that he rest at home!

    African novice makes big splash (BBC)

    Olympic high jump champion Derek Drouin competed in Rio with a double stress fracture in his back (National Post)

    Our backers on Patreon make every episode of our show a winner

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • Olympians Week: The 1904 Men’s Marathon Was The Weirdest Olympic Race Ever
    Jul 29 2024

    We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the Games and those who have competed in them. In this episode from July 2021, a look at the men's marathon from the 1904 Games. You couldn't write a weirder race than this one.

    Running a marathon was never crazier or harder than during the 1904 St Louis Olympics (ABC Australia)

    8 Unusual Facts About the 1904 St. Louis Olympics (History.com)

    Supporting our show isn’t a marathon process, just back us on Patreon!

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • William Rankin Fell Through A Thundercloud And Lived
    Jul 26 2024

    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 skies as a backer on Patreon

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    4 m
  • Tom Stuker Used His Lifetime Airline Ticket To Travel More Than 24 Million Miles
    Jul 25 2024

    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. Here are his travel secrets. (Washington Post)

    Rain Day Festival 2024

    Fly with us! Back our show on Patreon for just $1 a month

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • The Bee Gees And Peter Frampton Starred In A Sgt. Pepper Movie That Was A Glorious 70s Trainwreck
    Jul 24 2024

    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)

    Back from the Moon, Apollo Astronauts Had to Go Through Customs (Space.com)

    I don’t really want to stop the show, but I thought you might like to know, you can back our show on Patreon for just $1 a month

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • The Ice Cream Cone Got The Spotlight At The 1904 World’s Fair, But That Isn’t When It Was Invented
    Jul 23 2024

    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 this year with a stamp that includes a Jeopardy-style clue.

    Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla : a history of American ice cream by Anne Cooper Funderburg

    The Murky History of the Ice Cream Cone (TIME)

    The USPS Commemorates Alex Trebek With a Forever Stamp in the Form of a ‘Jeopardy’ Question (Laughing Squid)

    Back our show on Patreon, it costs less than an ice cream cone

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • Michigan’s Official State Vehicle Fleet Includes A Vintage Model T
    Jul 22 2024

    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 Patreon page and you can help make this show happen


    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    3 m
  • It Took Researchers Twenty Years To Figure Out The Rosetta Stone
    Jul 19 2024

    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 Stone found (History.com)

    Amelia Earhart Festival

    Back our show on Patreon in any language you like

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support
    Más Menos
    4 m