Quirky beginnings of a new nation
White House pets and presidential antics
Bizarre inventions and industrial oddities
Pop culture fads and historical hysteria
Which actor and director narrated the 1938 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast that caused public panic?
What was the name of the 1920s fad where people sat on top of wooden poles for days at a time?
dave Trace each cultural phenomenon to figure out America's funniest fads and biggest hysterias.
In 1959, what dangerous stunt involved stuffing as many college students as possible into a small wooden structure?
Which Ivy League university kicked off the bizarre 1939 craze of swallowing live goldfish?
dave Pop Culture Fads
Everybody's spinning! A plastic ring, Then whoosh! It's gone, A fleeting thing.
Which plastic toy, introduced in 1958, sold over 100 million units in its first two years of production?
In 1970, what did the Oregon Highway Division use to clear a 45-foot dead whale from a beach, with disastrous results?
Oregon's exploding whale: In 1970, the state used a half-ton of dynamite to clear a dead whale, raining blubber that crushed a nearby car.
What desperate endurance contest became a massive spectator fad during the Great Depression of the 1930s?
Who became an overnight millionaire in 1975 by selling ordinary beach stones packaged in cardboard boxes?
An intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived. In 1975, Gary Dahl became a millionaire by marketing ordinary stones as Pet Rocks.