Weird Universe Archive

December 2024

December 26, 2024

The Children who turned blue without cabbage

In 1951, The Lancet reported the odd case of siblings who would turn blue unless they regularly ate cabbage. It turned out that the kids suffered from a genetically caused deficiency of ascorbic acid. Knowing this freed them from a lifetime of having to eat cabbage. Though they had to take ascorbic acid supplements instead.

I'm pretty sure that the relevant Lancet article is "Familial Idiopathic Methæmoglobinæmia" (Apr 28, 1951), although I haven't been able to find a non-paywalled copy of it to confirm this.

Santa Ana Register - Aug 26, 1951

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 26, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: Vegetables, 1950s, Disease

December 25, 2024

Christmas as a symbolic re-enactment of giving birth

In his 1944 article "On Christmas" (Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Vol. XIII), Richard Sterba noted the similarities between the celebration of Christmas and the act of giving birth to a baby:


Merry Christmas!

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 25, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Christmas, Pregnancy

Merry Xmas 2024!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 25, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Holidays, Love & Romance

December 24, 2024

Nyquil Chicken

In Sep 2022, The FDA published a statement warning people that they shouldn't cook chicken in Nyquil:

A recent social media video challenge encourages people to cook chicken in NyQuil (acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, and doxylamine) or another similar OTC cough and cold medication, presumably to eat.

The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is. But it could also be very unsafe. Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways. Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body. It could also hurt your lungs. Put simply: Someone could take a dangerously high amount of the cough and cold medicine without even realizing it.

Social media searches for 'Nyquil Chicken' subsequently skyrocketed.

I believe the idea of Nyquil Chicken predates social media. David Letterman made a joke about it on his show back in Feb 1997. In response to viewer mail asking what to do to get rid of a cold, Dave pulled out a bucket of what he claimed was KFC's new "Nyquil-roasted chicken."

Unfortunately I can't find an embeddable clip of this segment. But if you subscribe to Plex's streaming service (which I don't), you can watch it.

Detroit Free Press - Oct 1, 2022



Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 24, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Cures for the common cold

Santa Done Got Hip

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 24, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Music, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers

December 23, 2024

Corporate Conformity, 1960

Mar 1960: Executives at Hiram Walker Inc. all wore masks of the company's president to honor his 25 years at the firm.

(click to enlarge)
image source: Life - Mar 7, 1960

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 23, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, 1960s

Xmas Done Got Funky

Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 23, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Funk, Holidays, Music, 1970s

December 22, 2024

Wearable Swiss Army Knife

Designed by Lulu Yang of University of the Arts London.

Image source: Instagram

Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 22, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Fashion

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 22, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Death, Eighteenth Century, Love & Romance

Page 2 of 7 pages  < 1 2 3 4 >  Last ›




Get WU Posts by Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


weird universe thumbnail
Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction books such as Elephants on Acid.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

Chuck Shepherd
Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre.

Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott.

Contact Us
Monthly Archives
January 2025

December 2024 •  November 2024 •  October 2024 •  September 2024 •  August 2024 •  July 2024 •  June 2024 •  May 2024 •  April 2024 •  March 2024 •  February 2024 •  January 2024

December 2023 •  November 2023 •  October 2023 •  September 2023 •  August 2023 •  July 2023 •  June 2023 •  May 2023 •  April 2023 •  March 2023 •  February 2023 •  January 2023

December 2022 •  November 2022 •  October 2022 •  September 2022 •  August 2022 •  July 2022 •  June 2022 •  May 2022 •  April 2022 •  March 2022 •  February 2022 •  January 2022

December 2021 •  November 2021 •  October 2021 •  September 2021 •  August 2021 •  July 2021 •  June 2021 •  May 2021 •  April 2021 •  March 2021 •  February 2021 •  January 2021

December 2020 •  November 2020 •  October 2020 •  September 2020 •  August 2020 •  July 2020 •  June 2020 •  May 2020 •  April 2020 •  March 2020 •  February 2020 •  January 2020

December 2019 •  November 2019 •  October 2019 •  September 2019 •  August 2019 •  July 2019 •  June 2019 •  May 2019 •  April 2019 •  March 2019 •  February 2019 •  January 2019

December 2018 •  November 2018 •  October 2018 •  September 2018 •  August 2018 •  July 2018 •  June 2018 •  May 2018 •  April 2018 •  March 2018 •  February 2018 •  January 2018

December 2017 •  November 2017 •  October 2017 •  September 2017 •  August 2017 •  July 2017 •  June 2017 •  May 2017 •  April 2017 •  March 2017 •  February 2017 •  January 2017

December 2016 •  November 2016 •  October 2016 •  September 2016 •  August 2016 •  July 2016 •  June 2016 •  May 2016 •  April 2016 •  March 2016 •  February 2016 •  January 2016

December 2015 •  November 2015 •  October 2015 •  September 2015 •  August 2015 •  July 2015 •  June 2015 •  May 2015 •  April 2015 •  March 2015 •  February 2015 •  January 2015

December 2014 •  November 2014 •  October 2014 •  September 2014 •  August 2014 •  July 2014 •  June 2014 •  May 2014 •  April 2014 •  March 2014 •  February 2014 •  January 2014

December 2013 •  November 2013 •  October 2013 •  September 2013 •  August 2013 •  July 2013 •  June 2013 •  May 2013 •  April 2013 •  March 2013 •  February 2013 •  January 2013

December 2012 •  November 2012 •  October 2012 •  September 2012 •  August 2012 •  July 2012 •  June 2012 •  May 2012 •  April 2012 •  March 2012 •  February 2012 •  January 2012

December 2011 •  November 2011 •  October 2011 •  September 2011 •  August 2011 •  July 2011 •  June 2011 •  May 2011 •  April 2011 •  March 2011 •  February 2011 •  January 2011

December 2010 •  November 2010 •  October 2010 •  September 2010 •  August 2010 •  July 2010 •  June 2010 •  May 2010 •  April 2010 •  March 2010 •  February 2010 •  January 2010

December 2009 •  November 2009 •  October 2009 •  September 2009 •  August 2009 •  July 2009 •  June 2009 •  May 2009 •  April 2009 •  March 2009 •  February 2009 •  January 2009

December 2008 •  November 2008 •  October 2008 •  September 2008 •  August 2008 •  July 2008 •