This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from March 2020, we marked the birthday of Jerrie Cobb, who could have been the first woman in space but ended up flying to great heights nonetheless. Plus: it was on this day in 2011 that a museum in the Netherlands first put on exhibit a work called “Peanut Butter Floor," which was exactly what it sounds  like.

Jerrie Cobb, America's first female astronaut candidate, dies at 88 (NBC News)

Cobb, Geraldyn “Jerrie” M., Aviation Pioneer (National Aviation Hall of Fame)

Peanut Butter Floor (Bookofjoe)

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This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from July 2019, Patrouille Swiss, the official aerial acrobatics team for Switzerland, flew over the community of Langenbruck for a festival honoring a local aviation hero... or tried to. They weren’t actually over Langenbruck. Plus: New York City  is now home to Poster House, the first American museum that’s fully  about posters and their history.

Swiss aerial display team flies over yodeling festival by mistake (Deutsche Welle)

WoodyFest in Okemah, OK

Poster House Is the First Museum in the United States Dedicated Exclusively to Posters

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This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from June 2020, we mark the anniversary of a pretty unusual moment in the history of human flight: the time an airplane flew over the English Channel that was entirely powered by its pilot. Plus: watching the heaviest airplane ever built take off is a sight to see.

Pedal-Driven Plane Flies Channel (Washington Post)

Gossamer Albatross' famed flight 33 years ago today (Hartford Courant)

Good Lord: Watching The World's Heaviest Aircraft Take Off (Geekologie)

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Happy Hanukkah! For this holiday we're replaying a show from 2019 about a growing sport in New York City. Major League Dreidel takes the Hanukkah favorite and turns the intensity way, way up. Plus: an agency in Nova Scotia decided people needed a break from ads during the holidays, and released some ad-free ads.

Competitive Dreidel-Spinning Is a Thing. Here's How Major League Dreidel Got Started. (Civilized)

Creative agency buys $10k of blank ad space to give everyone a break from ads (It's Nice That)

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Today in 1952, PEZ received a US patent for its famous dispensers, which, like the candies they contain, were first intended to help people quit smoking. Plus: researchers in Germany can now make eco-friendly, cost-effective insulation out of popcorn. 

The History of PEZ (PEZ.com)

Researchers Make Insulation Board Out of Popcorn (Treehugger)

Our Patreon backers are so, so sweet 

On or around this day in 1922, a pilot wrote the first skywriting message in the United States. It was a way to demonstrate an advertising technique that would be a big part of business for the next few decades. Plus: today in 2019, fans at a Hershey Bears’ hockey game set a record for most stuffed animals tossed onto the ice.

How Skywriting Works (How Stuff Works)

Watch: Hershey Bears’ teddy bear toss shatters world record as 45,650 stuffed animals hit the ice for charity (The Patriot-News) 

Our Patreon backers set a record for coolest people ever

Today in 1954, a woman in Alabama, Elizabeth Hodges, became the first person in modern history to be hit by a meteorite. Here's some of her story. Plus: for Mark Twain's birthday, the time he answered a very long question in a print column with just three words. 

In 1954, an Extraterrestrial Bruiser Shocked This Alabama Woman (Smithsonian)

Asked and Answered (Futility Closet)

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Today in 1915, the birthday of an inventor who would change our viewing habits for the better: Eugene Polley, who created the first wireless remote control system for TVs. Plus: today in 2000, CNN reported on a hairstylist in Colombia who claimed he'd cured baldness by having cows lick his bald customers.

Zenith Flash-Matic, the First Wireless TV Remote (Vintage Everyday)

Eugene Polley, Conjuror of a Device That Changed TV Habits, Dies at 96 (New York Times)

Colombian hairdresser says he can lick baldness (CNN)

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Today in 1942 the landmark movie "Casablanca" was released. And once it became an unexpected hit, Hollywood tried a couple times to make a sequel. Plus: in the great city of Buffalo, New York, the Saturday after Thanksgiving is home to a one of a kind event called the World’s Largest Disco.

Every Unmade Casablanca Sequel & Remake: Why They Didn't Happen (ScreenRant)

World's Largest Disco 

Our Patreon backers are outta sight

For some people it can be hard to think of anything to be thankful for in this screwy year. But maybe this can help: the story of Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton, who accidentally ended up together on Thanksgiving and became good friends. Plus: a rainy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade leads to a very weird situation for one of the iconic giant balloons. 

Young man who was accidentally invited to 'grandma's' Thanksgiving as a teen keeps tradition going (CNN)

Pair that went viral for Thanksgiving dinner reuniting for sixth celebration (WWL)

Most infamous balloon accidents from Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (KOAM)

We are very thankful for our Patreon backers today and every day!