Gingerbread Men: The Surprising History of a Holiday Classic

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  580 words  |  Martina Birk

Ever wonder why “gingerbread men” are shaped like men in the first place? The answer can be traced back hundreds of years at least. According to Carole Levin, director of the medieval studies program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and author of The Reign of Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I’s 16th-century reign was known for elaborate royal dinners that included marzipan shaped like fruit, castles and birds. But the Queen’s retinue also included a royal gingerbread maker. [Read More]

Harry Potter's Tom Felton Sorted Into Gryffindor by J.K. Rowling Site

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  170 words  |  Patria Henriques

January 21, 2015 12:30 PM EST Maybe Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy can be friends after all. Tom Felton, the actor who played Harry’s rival Draco in the Harry Potter films and embodied all that was evil about Slytherin, finally joined J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore website Wednesday. The site sorts users into one of the four Hogwarts houses, and Felton was disappointed by his results. Today was the day. I finally did it. [Read More]

Heineken Ad: 'Worlds Apart' Pairs Up Strangers

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  225 words  |  Patria Henriques

April 27, 2017 1:05 PM EDT After a string of controversy resulted from recent ads released by Pepsi and SheaMoisture, a new commercial by Heineken seems to have hit the right note among consumers. Titled “Worlds Apart: An Experiment,” the two-minute-long commercial shows six strangers paired up, unaware that their partners hold opposing views to their own. After the pairs follow instructions to build a bar together, a video plays of each person voicing their opinions on hot-button issues like transgender rights, climate change and feminism. [Read More]

Here Are Times When Expert Say It Might Be Better to Lie

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  877 words  |  Patria Henriques

You were probably taught to never lie: Your parents likely preached the power of the truth. Your partner told you honesty matters most. But researchers say there is a lot we get wrong about deception, truth-telling and trust—and that, if mastered, lying the right way can actually help build connections, trust and businesses. “I believe that we should be teaching our kids, students and employees when and how to lie,” says Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, who studies deception and trust. [Read More]

Issakaba and jungle justice, My Nollywood Nostalgia

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  837 words  |  Billy Koelling

Ugonna Obuzor, Lloyd Toku, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekena Elkanah had paid a late-night visit to Aluu community to recover a debt, but the debtor raised an alarm to accuse them of theft. Without proper investigation, the community and its vigilantes chased down and caught the students, savagely brutalised them, and burnt them to death. I was a university student at the time of the Aluu 4 incident, and I found it impossible to watch any of the video clips for more than five seconds. [Read More]

It was not an April Fool's joke - Ali Baba dedicates new triplets in church

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  49 words  |  Tandra Barner

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Juan Sebastin Elcano (Explorer and Navigator)

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  255 words  |  Tandra Barner

Profession: Explorer and Navigator Biography: Juan Sebastián Elcano was a Spanish explorer who completed the first known successful circumnavigation of the Earth after taking over Ferdinand Magellan's expedition. Originally serving as a ship's master on the Magellan expedition, he assumed command after Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. Against considerable odds, including scurvy, starvation, and threats from local chieftains, Elcano successfully led the remaining crew back to Spain aboard the Victoria, one of the original five ships. [Read More]

Ladies! Things you shouldn't say to your man during sex

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  406 words  |  Patria Henriques

And the things guys want to hear during sex range from pleasurable moans, how well they are doing and dirty talk (for those that find such things sexy.) The list actually stretches further but this article aims to focus on something else – what are the things women should not say during sex? We list the things women should avoid saying during sex because they could ruin the moment. [Read More]

Lionel Barrymore as Henry F. Potter - Top 25 Greatest Villains

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  133 words  |  Billy Koelling

On the radio each December he read A Christmas Carol to the kiddies. But at Yuletide 1946, in Frank Capra's upending of the Dickens story — where a good man (Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey) is visited by the ghosts of those lives that would have been poorer if he had not existed — Barrymore played Scrooge, the Grinch and Simon Legree in one craggy, crabby package. Potter calls George " [Read More]

Macklemore Apologizes for 'Anti-Semitic' Costume

 Posted on August 18, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  310 words  |  Kelle Repass

May 20, 2014 7:35 AM EDT Not long after Macklemore donned a costume consisting of a dark wig, fake beard and a large prosthetic nose for a secret performance in Seattle on Friday, critics began accusing the rapper of anti-semitism. The “Thrift Shop” rapper was a surprise guest at an exhibit opening at the Experience Music Project museum in his hometown, where guests had been invited to “dress as your favorite music icon or video character. [Read More]