Today in 2012, football fans got to see one of the most spectacularly wrong plays in NFL history, one known today simply as “the butt fumble.” Plus: today in 2017, a report on what could have been the greatest crossover event in movie history, with an icon of slasher movies facing off against two icons of stoner movies.

A Decade of Butt Jokes and Misery, It’s the Butt Fumble’s Birthday (The Ringer)

‘Friday the 13th’ Series Director Once Pitched ‘Cheech and Chong Meets Jason’ (The Wrap)

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Today in 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the US Constitution. In the central part of the state there's an unincorporated community that locals named Whynot for a pretty unusual reason. Plus: starting Saturday in Milwaukee, it’s Trainfest, which bills itself as the largest operating model railroad show in the US.

Whynot, North Carolina Was Named Out of Sheer Boredom (Conde Nast Traveler)

Trainfest 2024

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Today in 1969, at a session for soul and funk icon James Brown, drummer Clyde Stubblefield laid down what's probably the most sampled beat of all time. Plus: today in 2021, the premiere of "Sooyii," the first movie filmed entirely in the Blackfoot language.

Funky Drummer — pop history was made when James Brown hollered ‘Hit it!’ (Financial Times)

Film shot entirely in Blackfoot language, on tribal land to premiere (The Missoulian)

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For World Toilet Day, we turn our attention to a bathroom at California Polytechnic State University that's unusual even for that campus. Plus: it's National Play Monopoly Day. Do you know the full names of the game's mustachioed mascot and the police officer who sends people to Jail without passing Go?

Cal Poly’s unconventional bathroom: A campus mystery revealed (KCPR)

Real names of 23 fictional characters (CNN via Archive.org)
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Today in 1963, AT&T launched the first commercial telephone service where customers could use touch-tone devices instead of rotary dial. It started with just two communities in western Pennsylvania, but of course it spread, way way beyond that. Plus: a couple in southern Australia comes home to find a koala sitting on their floor.

50 years ago, touch-tone phones began a communication revolution (TribLive)

‘Only in Australia’: Couple comes home to find koala in bed (CNN)

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Today in 1920, the Royal Australian Navy added a woman to its ranks for the very first time. Her name was Nancy Bentley, she was six years old, and the Navy “enlisted” her in an effort to save her life. Plus: starting tomorrow in New Orleans, it’s Beignet Fest.

Before her time – the tale of Navy’s first female sailor (NavyHistory.au)

BEIGNET FEST

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Today in 1919 (or, by some accounts, 1922), the birthday of Veronica Lake, a movie star whose iconic hairstyle won over millions of fans, even when she gave up that trademark look to help the US win World War II. Plus: a design studio in Barcelona, Bel & Bel, is giving new life to the front panels of old Vespa scooters by turning them into stylish office chairs.

The Peek-A-Boo Girl Gets Cut: In 1943 Veronica Lake Saved America And A Million Women’s Hair (Flashbak)

Vespa Scooters Given New Life as Innovative Office Chairs (My Modern Met)

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Today in 1965, a landmark moment in the history of televised profanity: an f-bomb live on the BBC! We'll look back at some choice moments where people used choice words on the air. Plus: today in 1957, an article in the Guardian newspaper where a guy suggests bringing the world back toward faith by sending a bishop into space.

Bleep This: A Brief History of Profanity on Television (Mental Floss)

Bishop in Space (Weird Universe)

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