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Albert Einstein: Nuclear Reaction?
Albert Einstein was once introduced to the eighteen-month-old son of a young fri...
Barry White: Take Two
Barry White once recorded a promo for Paul Quinn College ("an independent underg...
Best Side
One day on the set of Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), Mary Anderson, ...
Bette Davis: Post-ponement
Bette Davis was once informed by her attorney that rumors of her death were spre...
Beyond the Pale
Gordon Davies, a retiring chain-smoking professor of Modern History at Trinity C...
Blind Luck
One day during rush hour, George Shearing (who had been blind since birth) found...
Bonjour?
In 1974, Richard Nixon, not noted for his social graces, visited Paris to attend...
Book of Heroic Failures
In 1979, Stephen Pile, founder of the "Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain,"...
Born Every Minute?
Early in his career, P. T. Barnum created an exhibit, entitled "The Happy Family...
Brutus One
In 2003, Selmer Bringsjord (of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate N...
Bugged?
While visiting Moscow to play the Russians in the historic Summit Series (in 197...
Busy Body
Dorothy Parker was once interrupted on her honeymoon by Harold Ross (her indomit...
Carl Sagan: BHA
Software designers often bestow pet names upon their projects. When Apple progra...
Caroline Rhea: Daddy's Tail
"My god-daughter is two and a half years old," Caroline Rhea once reported. "She...
Cavalleria Rusticana
One day an organ-grinder, stationed outside Pietro Mascagni's apartment, began p...
Charitable Interpretation?
On a visit to New York, Harpo Marx was bombarded by requests from various charit...
Charles de Gaulle: Silent Moment
Shortly before Charles de Gaulle's retirement, his wife was asked (by Harold Mac...
Cheesy Stunt
Famed street magician David Blaine once spent 62 hours sealed in ice in Times Sq...
Chimney Sleep?
Mark Twain's cigar smoking was a constant source of irritation to his wife, Oliv...
Christian Herter: Church Barbecue
"When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard for a ...
Circus Baseball (long)
On August 18th, 1951, the St. Louis Browns (a dismal baseball team which later b...
City Balls
August Belmont came to New York in 1837 and acquired a fortune as an agent for t...
Clerical Error (long)
In 2002, Andrew Marshall interviewed a 40-year-old Muslim cleric named Jaffar Um...
Clinton Float
Europeans found more humor in Bill Clinton's sexual escapades than did many of h...
Clinton's Buddy
Like most dogs, Bill Clinton's canine buddy (aptly named Buddy) was intensely ...
Close Shave?
Humor ran like a rich vein through the Marx brothers' family. "Because we were a...
Comet Ferret
Charles Messier (whom Louis XV dubbed the "comet ferret") was once obliged to ab...
Conflicted Soul
CBS president Fred Silverman was once asked by a friend whether he planned to go...
Cool Advice?
Zsa Zsa Gabor once appeared on a television show in which guest celebrities were...
Coolidge Effect
President Calvin Coolidge and his wife visited a government farm one day and wer...
Curt Response
While filming an action-packed scene one day, famed director Michael Curtiz, a s...
Dan Quayle & the Potatoe Incident
Some time after Dan Quayle's embarrassing spelling bee incident (in which he inc...
Dana Snow: Budding Buddhist?
"I've been studying Zen Buddhism," Dana Snow once reported. "Zen teaches the val...
Dave Barry: Chomper
In January 2002, British psychologist Richard Wiseman, having launched an intern...
David Lee Roth: Bondage Club
One evening in the late 1970s, Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth accompanied a f...
David Schwimmer: The Grab
While preparing for their roles in the L.A. production of Turnaround in 2...
Deep Thought
"Scientists in Cambridge spent three years calculating one of the fundamental ke...
Desert Island Discs
Guests on the BBC program "Desert Island Discs" are asked which records they wou...
Dewey Morning
On election eve, 1948, Thomas Dewey (who, according to polls, was poised to defe...
Diary
Samuel Goldwyn arrived in his office one morning and found on his desk a copy of...
Dinner Party
While attending a private dinner party one evening, Alfred Hitchcock, whose famo...
Donald Trump: The Donald
Shortly after the construction of the twin-towered Time Warner Center in Manhatt...
Dorothy Parker: Lusty Lady
At one time Dorothy Parker's office was a tiny, drab and dingy cubbyhole in the ...
Dressed for Success?
On September 11, 1985, the Cincinnati Reds' Pete Rose broke baseball legend Ty C...
Duff McKagen: Forgotten Years
Former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagen was drunk through most of the 1990s. H...
Ellington Diet
"Duke Ellington, who is always worrying about keeping his weight down, may annou...
Eminem Lawsuit
"This week," Conan O'Brien announced in mid-August 2003, "a 70 year old grandmot...
Enterprising Chef
One day during the filming of Death Train in Zagreb, Croatia in 1992, Pat...
Eternal Flame
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was once invited to attend a solemn ceremony...
Ewan McGregor: McGregor & Son
Ewan McGregor's parents attended all of his films, often bringing a large group ...
Exceptional Soldiers?
William Pitt was once visited in London by several volunteers offering their ser...
Executive Frills?
Having checked into a Chicago hotel, Thomas Du Pont was amused to discover that ...
Farrelly Brothers: Honey Wagon
Although the Farrelly Brothers eventually became enviably successful Hollywood d...
Feeling Better
One day during his tenure as president of the Philippine Commission, William How...
Fighting Words!
During the Civil War, Henry Ward Beecher traveled to England in order to solicit...
Final Request
Shortly before his execution by firing squad, the notorious murderer James Rodge...
Fire in the Louvre!
Tristan Bernard once won a newspaper competition by providing the best answer to...
Foot Note (long)
A lifetime spent as a customs officer is arguably not the most salutary training...
For God's Sake?
One day producer Sam Zimbalist approached Graham Greene to ask for assistance wi...
French Government
Charles de Gaulle's long political career was marked by seemingly endless crises...
Friar Tuck?
Orson Welles, fleeing from contract obligations, was once chased across Europe b...
Friendly Promotion?
Soon after Fred Friendly became president of CBS News, one of his first decision...
Furred-Up
"At a lecture in New Jersey," Christopher Morley once recalled, "I tried out the...
G-Spot
One day Robert Schimmel's wife told him about a hot book about finding a woman's...
Galbraith vs Galbraith
Shortly after serving as US ambassador to India, the famous American economist J...
Garden Party?
One day while Groucho Marx was working in his garden (dressed in well-worn garde...
General Somervell: Key Insight
One day during his tenure as chief of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Pr...
Genuine Prokofiev
One of the Brussels Philharmonic's female subscribers made a habit of sketching ...
George Bush: Parachute Jumper
On June 12, 1999, George Herbert Walker Bush celebrated his seventy-fifth birthd...
George Carlin: Handicapped Stall
"Recently, in a public bathroom, I used the handicapped stall," George Carlin on...
George Jessel: Dog Day Afternoon (long)
George Jessel was a longtime member of the comedians' Round Table at the exclusi...
George Jones: Can-Do Jones
"George Jones has carried many a burden, but his two primary sufferings are 1) E...
Gift From Heaven
"When I was a struggling musical student," the famed heroic tenor Lauritz Melchi...
GIGO
Harold Alexander had a curious way of dealing with unfinished business: At the e...
Glass Menagerie?
In the mid-1950s, Bob Wolff became the voice of Madison Square Garden. "The reas...
Golden Boy
The Muslim governor of Saragossa was so delighted by the poet Avempace's verses ...
Good Gould
One day the rector of Jay Gould's church, planning to invest his life's savings ...
Grandfather Clock
One day Herbert Beerbohm Tree encountered a man in the street staggering under t...
Groucho Marx: Grouchy Logic
Groucho Marx once sent a telegram to the exclusive Friar's Club in Hollywood: "P...
Guncotton
Though strictly forbidden by his wife from conducting experiments in their home,...
Gus Grissom: Making History
Early space flights were so short (as little as 15 minutes) that astronauts coul...
Gynecology Final
During one of his final exams, Richard Gordon (famed for his series of "Doctor" ...
Hackman's Moustache
When Gene Hackman was cast to play Lex Luthor in Superman (in 1978), he a...
Half-Assed Prayer
St. Augustine once prayed for repentance for his sinful youth. "Give me chastity...
Hawks & Hepburn
Though director Howard Hawks got along well with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepbur...
Hearst Denied
James Bennett, no fan of rival publisher William Randolph Hearst, was one day ir...
Henry Ward Beecher: Fool's Gold
Arriving at Plymouth church one Sunday, Henry Ward Beecher found in his mail a c...
HMS Bum Looker
"There is a wonderful story of Queen Victoria at Windsor," Prince Michael of Ken...
HMS Foley?
"In order to hear how HMS Eurydice, a frigate sunk off Portsmouth, bad been salv...
Holy Irony
Seconds after the kickoff in a memorable soccer match between Corinthians and Ri...
Honor System
In a bid to promote Raoul Walsh's 1917 prison drama ...
Hooch Hotel
While serving as police commissioner of New York, Teddy Roosevelt attempted to p...
Howie Mandel: Amusement Park
The comedian Howie Mandel once worked as a ride operator at an amusement park. "...
Howie Mandel: New York Deli
"I was in New York," Howie Mandel once recalled, "and the owner of the deli walk...
Hugh Grant's Hemorrhoids
While traveling through France on a train one day, Hugh Grant began to suffer di...
Ignose
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi once submitted a paper describing his isolation of a new su...
J. Paul Getty: Getty & Son
When his twelve-year-old son, Timmy, died of a brain tumor, the billionaire oil ...
Jamie Oliver: What's Cooking?
On Valentine's Day 2004, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver cooked up a surprise for hi...
Jay Leno: Showbiz Entrance
Jay Leno: "One night in New Rochelle, my parents were having what I thought was ...
Jayne Mansfield: Got Milk?
The famously well-endowed Jayne Mansfield (whose studio chair on the set of ...
Jeremy Sumpter's Growth Spurt
When Jeremy Sumpter grew eight inches during the production of P. J. Hogan's ...
Jimmy Carter: Grandson
"One year [at Christmas] we went out to Aspen," Jimmy Carter once recalled, "and...
Joan Melu Concert
"In August 1980, Joan Melu, a Rumanian folk singer, broke all existing records f...
Joanie Loves Chachi?
Former "Joanie Loves Chachi" star Scott Baio was once informed that the first ep...
John Paul II: Children's Choir
"A children's choir performed for the Pope [in Azerbaijan]," 'Tonight Show' host...
Johnny Carson: Very Gracious
"The first year that we were nominated for an Emmy [for Late Night with David Le...
Karl Rove: Young Republican
Karl Rove, George Bush's chief political strategist, once told an audience that,...
Keith Moon: Upshot
While performing with The Who on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" one night i...
Kissing Bandit: What a Boob!
The actress 'Morganna' - better known as "the Kissing Bandit" - was arrested at ...
Kool Reception?
In 1921, Chinese ambassador Wellington Koo visited America to represent China at...
Laborious Day
One night, when the director of Peter Pan dismissed the cast after a long...
Lapse of Memory
"In 1913, Raymond Gram Swing got himself appointed Berlin correspondent of the ...
Large Party
President William Howard Taft once found himself stranded at a small country rai...
Le Petomane
While swimming underwater near Marseilles one day at the age of twelve, Joseph P...
Legal Technicality
One day John Marshall and his fellow Supreme Court justices, having heard distur...
Letterman Bumped
David Letterman once revealed that he had "almost" made it onto the giant mural ...
Liberty Bell
In 1970, Procrastinators' Club of America founder Les Waas and his fellow member...
Likely Toast
"She's not so great," a fellow actress once proclaimed of the legendary Tallulah...
Lincoln's Lips
In 1972, a patriotic businessman (W. M. Riesk) from Salt Lake City commissioned ...
Little Difference?
In the German language version of Michael Curtiz's classic 1942 film ...
Logan Tom: Bodysurfing
As a child, Olympic volleyball player Logan Tom spent summers with her father in...
Long Story
During his gubernatorial campaign in southern Louisiana, Huey Long was advised t...
Lord Somebody
"As he was driving back to his mansion, Pickfair, Douglas Fairbanks saw an Engli...
M-C-R-C-N? (long)
In 1495, Dr Rodrigo Gonzalez de Puebla was sent to London by Ferdinand and Isabe...
Madonna: Spread-Eagled in Hungary
While filming Evita in Hungary, Madonna sat for an interview (using an in...
Majestic Success?
Louis XIV once solicited Nicolas Boileau's opinion of several poems which he had...
Make That a Double
One night after an extended drinking binge, the painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema sto...
Makeup Artist
"When I was twelve," Oscar-winning makeup artist John Caglione, Jr. once recalle...
Mandolin
"In Paris, James and Gloria Jones's friend Jean Cartel owned a popular bar and r...
Marbles
One day the poet Robert Lowell - due to present the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize b...
Mark of Distinction
Charles Steinmetz was once called out of retirement by General Electric to help ...
Marked Man?
Like Hemingway, Mark Twain loved to boast of his hunting and fishing exploits. R...
Martin Scorsese: Perfect
"I was doing a scene [on Gangs of New York] with Cameron Diaz and she rep...
Mary Lynn Rajskub: Lighter and Brighter
For a period in 2006, Mary Lynn Rajskub spent a lot of time at home alone, medit...
Meals to Die For
In 2004, Brian Price, a former inmate who once worked in a prison kitchen in Hun...
Members Only?
F. E. Smith annoyed many patrons of London's exclusive Athenaeum Club (of which ...
Memorable Obituary
"Hugh Massingberd, a former editor of the obituaries page of the ...
Meredith Vieira: Balderdash!
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" host Meredith Vieira once found herself playing ...
Moon Rocket
Robert Goddard's early musings about building a rocket large enough to reach the...
Mrs. H?
Senator George Hoar was once enthusiastically greeted by a man whose face he bar...
Murphy's Law
"Captain Edward A. Murphy, Jr was an engineer with the US Air Force in 1949 when...
Neil Armstrong: Overboard Dump
According to Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: "Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldri...
Nell Gwyn: Lamentable Pickle
"Nell Gwin [once the favorite mistress of King Charles II] having Notice that Mi...
Niels Bohr: Horse Sense?
One day a visitor to Niels Bohr's country cottage noticed a horseshoe hanging on...
Nightmare Scenario
General J. E. B. Stuart arrived at Stonewall Jackson's camp late one night and, ...
No Butts?
On November 21, 2002, the Houston Rockets faced the undefeated Dallas Mavericks ...
Non-Slander
George A. Smathers, running against the incumbent Florida senator Claude Pepper ...
Obstruction of Justice
After hosting a supper for several distinguished guests one evening, Sophie Arno...
Oliver Herford: Comic Ambition
One day Oliver Herford was solemnly asked by a serious young woman whether he re...
One-Way Trichet?
Making his way toward Paris one day, the impecunious Rabelais found himself stra...
Opportunity Knocks
Despite their position in Boston society, the Cabots were not held in high estee...
Ottomaton?
One day, an English ambassador with whom Otto von Bismarck had been conversing f...
Out of Order
One day at the height of the Vietnam War, Lord Mountbatten agreed to appear on "...
Pancho Villa, Inc.
"In 1914, a Hollywood motion picture company signed a contract with Mexican revo...
Par For the Course
A young actress was once invited by Ethel Barrymore to dinner - and not only fai...
Parthenon 1, Shaq 0?
Following a trip to Greece, Shaquille O'Neal was asked whether he had visited th...
Party to the Affair?
In the last years of the nineteenth century, Fanny Ronalds, then the talk of the...
Passing Advice
While serving as the BBC's adviser on Roman Catholic affairs, Father Andrew Agne...
Paul McCartney: Vegetables
One morning in Los Angeles, "Beatles Breakfast Show" DJ Chris Carter asked liste...
Pauli Effect
It was a standing joke among Wolfgang Pauli's colleagues that the famed theoreti...
Pet Peeve?
Andre Previn and his wife, having applied to adopt a Vietnamese orphan, were vis...
Peter Falk: Third Eye Blind
At the tender age of three, Peter Falk had his right eye surgically removed (and...
Phyllis Diller: Body Cast
Phyllis Diller was once injured and had to wear an upper-body cast for an openin...
Picabia
In his chateau, Francis Picabia designed each room in a different theme. The chi...
Piece of Luck
In April 2003, in a bid to bring happiness and good luck to his country in a tim...
Pierce Brosnan: Handshake
Shortly after the release of Die Another Day, Bond star Pierce Brosnan vi...
Pink Floyd: Spinal Tap Moment
One day in 1977, Pink Floyd (a band with more than its share of Spinal Tap momen...
Playing with Food
In 2002, Jorg Piringer's new Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, comprising between 10 a...
Poetic Justice
In December 2002, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Eakin delivered a c...
Poetic Justice
"At the end of the sixteenth century regular processions were organized around H...
Point-Blank Delivery?
A man who had often spoken with Bernard Baruch about hunting was once invited to...
Political Stew?
In January 1950, Victor Biaka-Boda, a former witch doctor representing the Ivory...
Polly Want a Hooker?
The White House has seen its share of memorable pets. Nixon's dog inspired his f...
Pooper Blooper
"Aviva Layton has told of accompanying her future husband [the Canadian poet Irv...
Pronunciation Unit
"There was a special pronunciation unit at the BBC," Gerald Priestland once reca...
Publisher's Toast
One evening during the Napoleonic wars, the English poet Thomas Campbell caused ...
Punchier Paragraphs
One day Milt Sosin's editor at The News ordered the staff to write shorte...
Punctuated Equilibrium?
In 1802, Timothy Dexter published a twenty-four page pamphlet (entitled "A Pickl...
Punctured Ego?
While cruising in his brand new $200,000 Mercedes-Benz armoured car in August 20...
Q & A
William Phelps, marking exam papers shortly before Christmas one year, came acro...
Quick Tillis
"James (Quick) Tillis, the young heavyweight [the first man to last ten rounds w...
Ranching on the Beltway
Herbert Hoover once complained to former president Calvin Coolidge that his atte...
Real McCoy
While watching Kid McCoy training at a gym in White Plains, New York, one day, P...
Red Handed?
When Congressman Gary Condit's intern Chandra Levy disappeared in 2001, many sus...
Reds
One day during the production of Reds, the story of Marxist journalist Jo...
Revolutionary Concept
At the height of the Industrial Revolution (in the nineteenth-century), child la...
Richard Whiteley: Mystic Moment
"Years ago, as a young TV reporter, I was interviewing a farmer on the wilder up...
Ride Denied
After a party one evening, Charles de Gaulle's notoroiously promiscuous chief of...
Riot Act
Such was his ineptitude as a public speaker that David Hartley (a member of Parl...
Robbie Williams: Mesmerized
"I was at this party and completely and totally off my face," Robbie Williams on...
Robert Reed: Strawberry Heaven
Robert Reed, a Shakespearean actor who loved the theater, hated his role (as Mik...
Rocket Guy
One day in 2003, a team from the Discovery Channel's "Daily Planet" visited the ...
Roddy Doyle Ha Ha Ha?
In July 2000, The London Observer printed the following notice: ...
Romanov's Wedding
"Like all proud fathers, Grigory Romanov, the mayor of Leningrad, wanted the ver...
Ronald Reagan: Hollywood President
Secretary of State James Baker once gave Ronald Reagan a briefing book to study ...
Ronald Reagan: Uncommon Cents
In Ronald Reagan's first televised budget speech as president, he used a handful...
Russell Crowe: Joe Job
At the age of 22, Russell Crowe moved from his native New Zealand to Sydney, Aus...
S.S. Halliburton
When famed American adventurer Richard Halliburton announced his plan to swim th...
Sabrina Matthews: Lesbian Quip
"I was performing at a comedy club," Sabrina Matthews once recalled, "and when I...
Saint Beuna?
When a chapel in which Saint Beuno's bones were thought to be buried was renovat...
Sammy Davis Handicap
One day in the 1950s, Sammy Davis, Jr lost his left eye in a car crash (on his w...
Sarcoma?
Evelyn Waugh was no fan of Winston Churchill's obnoxious journalist son, Randolp...
Schumann-Oink!
The famed contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink was noted for her love of food. Her...
Shane MacGowan: Checking In
Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan was so rarely sober that the band's tour manager,...
Shopping Spree
"I was walking down Madison Avenue," Tony Randall once recalled, "and I saw a ve...
Silent Cal
One evening Calvin Coolidge was sitting at dinner when a fellow guest - well awa...
Singed Photo
While appearing on "The Goon Show," Peter Sellers received a curious letter from...
Sir Realist?
As a young woman, American Olympic snowboarder Trisha Byrnes began carrying arou...
Sissano
Aristotle Onassis lived on a 325-foot yacht (the Christina O) aboard whic...
Sitting Pretty
Oliver Herford was traveling on a crowded streetcar one day with his young nephe...
Slinky Dress
One evening late in his life, the charming former senator Chauncey Depew found h...
Slippery Actor (long)
Late one night on the set of Francis Martin's Tillie and Gus, W. C. Field...
Slit Trench
General George S. Patton never allowed himself to flinch under fire and strongly...
Smash Hit
A notoriously vain actor named Dustin Farnum once boasted to Oliver Herford that...
Sober Questions?
Junius Booth was noted for his eccentric nature and penchant for heroin. The age...
Solid Design?
As part of his program to fortify the German navy, Kaiser William himself once d...
Sophie's Choice
One day during the production of Sophie's Choice, Meryl Streep was requir...
Sorry Kipling
In 1889, the editor of the San Francisco Examiner, having published one a...
Sounds of Silence (long)
On the Planets' debut album, Classical Graffiti, producer Mike Batt intro...
Spartan Reply
Having subdued (or formed alliances with) all of the other major Greek city-stat...
Special Delivery
"I was nearly mobbed by autograph hunters and other fans at Charing Cross statio...
Spectacular Goldwyn
Before his incarnation as a successful screenwriter, Edmund North worked as a pr...
Speed Writer
One day while Georges Simenon (a writer famed for his incredible efficiency) was...
Speedy Mr. Trundle (long)
In 1937, King Edward famously abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wa...
Spellbound
In 1960, Bette Davis and her husband Gary Merrill toured America doing readings ...
Spleen
Joseph Hyrtl once examined a particularly nervous candidate for a medical degree...
Srinivasa Ramanujan: 1729
Srinivasa Ramanujan was a mathematical prodigy. "I remember once going to see hi...
Standing O
"Bear Bryant, the winningest coach of his era, had a squad meeting one time and ...
Stop and Go
The pianist Oscar Levant was playing one evening when a woman arrived late and p...
Stork Outwitted
One day, George Jessel arrived at the exclusive Stork Club with the very beautif...
Stoudamire Foiled
In July 2003, Portland Trail Blazers star Damon "Mighty Mouse" Stoudamire was ar...
Sylvester Stallone: Italian Stallion
A friend of the editor of this site once shared a shocking (and, sadly, unverifi...
Talk Show
Eddie Fisher once appeared on a television program during which entertainers sou...
Talking to Morons
One day at the turn of the millennium, "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" cohost Rick Me...
Tallulah Bankhead: Current Crisis?
"Miss [Tallulah] Bankhead, in a booth in a ladies' room could not find any toile...
Tempo
Gabriel Faure was once asked what the ideal tempo for a song should be. "If the ...
The Skinny on Acting?
Ethel Barrymore once dispensed some actorly advice to a group of her colleagues:...
Tickled Pinkerton
Dashiell Hammett's eight years working as a Pinkerton detective (between 1915 an...
Truman Capote: Autograph Signing
"The late, much-lamented Truman Capote was in a New York restaurant on one of th...
Turkey Shoot?
Helen Hayes was not noted for her culinary talents. One day, in an experimental ...
Turnaround Reply
Many novelists, seduced by the lure of Hollywood, have come to regret the decisi...
Two-Stroke Penalty
During a memorable LPGA game in 1995, Elaine Johnson was astonished to have one ...
Understated Englishman
"While Basil Boothroyd was writing his biography of Prince Philip, he was given ...
Unknown Soldier
"Joyce had no patience with monuments. Valery Larbaud said to him as they drove ...
Vergil's Housefly
"Publius Vergilius Maro or Vergil, the Roman poet known for The Aeneid, o...
Vincent van Gogh: Artist's Beef
In 1935 the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) sponsored America's first exhibition of ...
VIP
When a fire erupted in the hotel at which Vice President Teddy Roosevelt was sta...
W. C. Fields: Balcony Blooper
"W. C. Fields halted the production of one of his movies and took an unscheduled...
Walking Mushroom?
Like many of its readers, J. G. Ballard was greatly amused by the contents of Br...
Wayward Butler
One Sunday evening in 1921, Austen Chamberlain (the future foreign secretary) an...
WC
One day during World War II, Winston Churchill visited a naval base to observe t...
Wha!?
For the Millennium issue of Rolling Stone, the magazine's editors asked J...
Whewell
Such was William Whewell's remarkable breadth of knowledge that he was able to d...
Whonh! Whonh! Whonh!
Larry Hagman once purchased a Malibu home next to that of Burgess Meredith (whom...
William Brodie: The Drop
William Brodie, a respected figure in Edinburgh, lived a double life as a highly...
Win Tony Curtis For A Weekend
Tony Curtis once volunteered to participate in a Win Tony Curtis For A Weekend c...
Wink
After her separation (within five years of marriage), Princess Mathilde embarked...
Winning Argument?
One day in 1917, the noted playwright Ben Hecht faced off against Maxwell Bodenh...
Wise-Muller
In 1959, while Fidel Castro's communist rebels were fighting Fulgencio Batista's...
Withnailed?
With filming completed, Bruce Robinson's Withnail And I was shown to a sm...
Wood Worms
With his brother Wilson, Addison Mizner once ran an "antiquing" factory which tr...
World Gone Crazy
"You know the world is going crazy," Chris Rock declared in 2003, "when the best...
WorldCon
Many venture capitalists firmly believe that informal measures often give a bett...
World's Worst General
No numerical or tactical advantage was so great that "Burn" (as General Burnside...
Yappers
While attending the symphony one evening, Henry Parker was dismayed to find that...
Yoshida
One day in the late 1930s, the Japanese ambassador to England (and future prime ...
Young Mischa Elman
One day when he was seven years old, the prodigious Mischa Elman was asked to gi...
Zach Braff: Three's Company
Zach Braff, famed for his role as Dr. John 'J.D.' Dorian on "Scrubs," was a huge...
"Baby Doc" Hypocrisy
Like many tyrants, Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier insisted tha...
"Mr. Personality"
In 1998, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky was 'debriefed' by agents wor...
"Mrs. Personality"
One day in April 2003, Jay Leno watched Monica Lewinsky hosting a reality TV dat...
1-2-3 Snake
While shooting a film in a jungle in the Philippines, Michael Caine was warned a...
1000 Words
William Randolph Hearst, always in search of sensational stories, once sent a te...
12:05
Chico Marx once wrote the writer Heywood Broun a check for gambling debts, warni...
20th Century-Fox?
Despite his pioneering role as founder of Twentieth Century-Fox, Darryl F. Zanuc...
3/4-Length Robe
"While I was in America, in 1946," Joyce Grenfell once recalled, "a cable reache...
42
As the first black player in major league baseball, Jackie Robinson withstood co...
50-50 Proposition
While lecturing on probability at Warwick University one day in October 1972, Je...
80-20
One his eightieth birthday, Sophie Tucker's ex-husband Ernie informed her of a n...
8:00, Bernhardt Time
So lionized was Sarah Bernhardt by her colleagues in the Paris theater that the ...
92
While attending a cocktail party in Egypt one evening, T. E. Lawrence spotted a ...
99.998% Perspiration
Someone once remarked upon the huge number of failures which Thomas Edison had r...
Abraham Lincoln:
"I was sitting in my study," Eleanor Roosevelt once recalled, "when one of the m...
Abraham Lincoln: Catafalque
Late one night in 1865, Abraham Lincoln had a discomfitting dream. Walking throu...
Absent-minded Professor
While attending a dinner party with professor Irwin Edman one evening, the publi...
Abuse of Pewter?
President Warren Harding often invited his cronies to visit the White House for ...
AC/DC
Thomas Edison not only invented the light bulb and the phonograph; he also gave ...
Action Figure
"A toy company just came out with a doll modeled on our own bandleader," 'Tonigh...
Adam Brody: First Apartment
Adam Brody first decided to embark on an acting career while working at Blockbus...
Adam Sandler Autograph
"When my father was alive," Adam Sandler once recalled, "he'd always call me up ...
Advanced Intellect
One day late in life Sir Malcolm Sargent was asked: "To what do you attribute yo...
Air Guitar Champion
In August 2003, David "C-Diddy" Jung, having won the first annual U.S. Air Guita...
AK-47?
Early in his career, mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner earned a living churnin...
Al Gore: Weekends Free
In December 2002, Al Gore gave a much-lauded performance as the host of "Saturda...
Al-Gur
Following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001...
Alan Hinkes: Chapati Blooper
"After great expense and preparation, British climber Alan Hinkes attempted to s...
Alan Shepard: Moon Shot (long)
"When Apollo 14 went to the moon, in 1971, it carried a rock-and-soil sampling t...
Alan Zweibel: Adverb Form
"Gilda [Radner] was doing Emily Litella [on 'Saturday Night Live'], who... was h...
Alan Zweibel: Lorne Michaels Interview
Alan Zweibel started his career as a standup comedian. It did not go well. "One ...
Alex Nussbaum & Hugo Boss
"Hugo Boss manufactured the first Nazi uniforms," Jewish comedian Alex Nussbaum ...
Alexander McQueen: Custom Job
"Alexander McQueen grew up in East London, the son of a cabbie and the youngest ...
Alfred Hitchcock: Bumpy Trip?
Alfred Hitchcock was once detained at a French airport by a customs official who...
Alfred Hitchcock: Mischief
Alfred Hitchcock was a mischievous child. One day when Alfred was "no more than ...
Alfred Packer Memorial
In 1977, Agriculture Secretary Robert Bergland unveiled the Alfred Packer Memori...
Ali Larter: Meeting Benicio Del Toro
"I shouldn't tell you this," Ali Larter once confessed, "but a few years ago I w...
All For Nought
A man of Douglas Jerrold's acquaintance who was notorious for borrowing funds fr...
All in the Family
Shortly after Angelo Roncalli (papal nuncio to France and future pope) became a ...
All in the Family
Jerry Springer, the king of daytime talk show sleaze, once hosted an episode ent...
American Humane: Animal Actors
"According to the American Humane guidelines, no animal actor should have to wor...
Amy C
"Amy Carter brought an assignment home one Friday night while her father [Jimmy ...
An Alan Smithee Film
Until the ruse became on open secret, the Director's Guild of America (DGA) ofte...
Anag-Rammed?
Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten was once invited by Britain's <...
André the Giant
"André the Giant [who claimed to be 7'5" and 550 pounds] was very strong," Willi...
Andromeda Nebula
"The Andromeda Nebula is a beautiful pinwheel of stars and luminous clouds of ga...
Animal Crackers
Though George Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind had written "Animal Crackers" with the ...
Apple Crumble?
While attending a fashion show called 'Viva Italia' in Toronto one evening (at w...
Appointment for Therapy
After a traumatic love affair, the atheist Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek be...
Arabic Blooper
"Arabic is one of the most difficult languages for an Englishman to learn," Sina...
Arabs and Jews
One day in 1948, Warren Austin, America's Ambassador to the United Nations, urge...
Ariana Huffington: Holy Hypocri$y
While campaigning in the 2003 California gubernatorial election race one August ...
Arnold Bennett: Proof
In 1931, the English writer and theater critic Arnold Bennett died in Paris. The...
Arnold Palmer: Putter Blooper
A golf commentator made a curious observation about Arnold Palmer during a tourn...
Arnold Palmer: Tee Shot
During a PGA golf tournament one day a television commentator offered a curious ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Bodybuilding Peaks?
Arnold Schwarzenegger biographer George Butler once recalled a conversation he h...
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Man of the People
In October 2002, Arnold Schwarzenegger returned the Ferrari Spider which he had ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Oral Argument
A woman was visiting the set of Eraser one day when a friend in the crew was...
Art Louver?
Upon his return home after a visit to Paris one year, Humphrey Davy was asked wh...
Artful Consideration
In 1863, Artemus Ward spent Christmas Eve with Mark Twain and some other friends...
Arthur Griffiths: Born Sentimentalist
"Arthur Griffiths, Manchester newspaperman and born sentimentalist, with several...
Ash and Burn?
Among Bob Wolff's duties as the voice of Madison Square Garden was ad-libbing li...
Ask Not
Shortly after JFK's inaugural address, his Republican opponent Richard Nixon gen...
Assinine Comment?
One day Clare Boothe Luce, a Republican, was asked by a journalist for her comme...
Astor Overboard?
In 1929, Lady Astor won election to the British House of Commons (the first woma...
Autographic Design?
Picasso once visited a local cabinet-maker to commission a mahogany wardrobe for...
Avian Irony
David Frost's most difficult interview? "Perhaps it was the time I interviewed w...
Babe Ruth: Oink
When his train briefly stopped on its way to New York during pre-season training...
Baby Steps?
"Former Pittsburgh Pirates' slugger Ralph Kiner was telling his broadcasting bud...
Bad Company?
One day a biographer submitted his manuscript to Cordell Hull for approval. Some...
Baignieres's Mutiny
The Parisian saloniere Euphrasie Aubernon was famed for her autocratic nature. S...
Bait And Switch?
One day Alexandre Dumas and a few of his friends found themselves discussing the...
Balanced Mind?
Jack Lemmon once found Rita Hayworth working her way through a large pile of let...
Baldwin's History?
Winston Churchill once pilloried one of prime minister Stanley Baldwin's policie...
Ball Room?
Early in his career Oliver Herford was perpetually short of money. Accordingly, ...
Bananas
While working on a screenplay one day shortly after his arrival in Hollywood, th...
Bandage Man
The famed publisher Richard Simon (the Simon in "Simon and Schuster") once decid...
Banker's Banker
One day the legendary banker Amadeo Peter Giannini (whose Bank of America Nation...
Baptism
During the baptism of King Aengus (in the middle of the fifth century), St. Patr...
Barbara Bush Dubious Compliment
Barbara Bush (who had schools, hospitals, and streets named in her honor) once r...
Barbarians
"I once talked to an old cannibal," the famed anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowsk...
Bare Churchill
In 1946, Winston Churchill traveled to Fulton, Missouri, to deliver a speech and...
Bare Necessity?
Many visitors to Picasso's home in the south of France were astonished to find t...
Barry Gibb: Engagement Ruse
"Bee Gees frontman Barry Gibb got into girls. His standard pick-up line was that...
Baseball Organist
During a minor league baseball game at Jack Russell Stadium in 1985, the organis...
Basic Logic
Abraham Lincoln was once called in to settle a dispute by two men who had been a...
Basket Case
Mark Twain once attended a meeting at which one of the speakers was raising mone...
Bastardization?
George Kaufman once peeked into the theater where the actor William Gaxton was s...
Bed Man Walking
Sean Penn's bad boy image stemmed in part from his romantic involvement with a s...
Bell & Watson
On the 10th of March, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first complete sente...
Ben Stiller: Bike Trip (long)
Ben Stiller was once persuaded to join some friends on an extreme adventure. "I ...
Benchley Love?
Robert Benchley once visited a women's nudist camp in California with the actor ...
Benjamin Bratt: Karl Malden Encounter
Growing up, Benjamin Bratt was a great fan of "The Streets of San Francisco," st...
Benjamin Franklin: Saving Grace
As a youngster, Benjamin Franklin found the long graces which his father uttered...
Bennett's Box
At a low point in Constance Bennett's career, her Hollywood agent (Sue Mengers) ...
Benny Pincher?
One day Jack Benny, famed for his role as a violin-playing miser, used a pay toi...
Benny Roast
Jack Benny once attended a surprise roast in his honor. Dozens of friends and co...
Bent on Traveling (long)
In August 1975, Michael Murphy left his home in Stevenage bent on traveling arou...
Bernhardt's Leg
In 1915, during an unfortunate performance in the title role of Victorien Sardou...
Bette Midler: Bette's Breasts
"Got myself a little mail scale, the kind they weigh postage and cocaine on," Be...
Big Blooper
While passing the enormous nude statue of Achilles at Hyde Park Corner in London...
Bill Gates: Bundle of Crap
At the turn of the Millennium, Bill Gates went head to head with the United Stat...
Bill Maher: Diamonds are Forever
"Women think about diamonds the way men think about sex, the way leeches think a...
Bill Peterson: Rain Delay?
One day before an important game, famed Florida State University Seminoles (foot...
Billion Dollar Question
In order to circumvent laws barring businesses from owning property out of state...
Bitter Harvest
Barbara Bush once accompanied her husband, President George Bush, on a state vis...
Blind Justice
One day Moshe Dayan, who lost an eye while fighting in the British army during W...
Blood and Dust
Robert Fitzgerald, who often worried that his translations of such ancient class...
Bloody Relatives...
LBJ's daughter was once asked by a journalist to describe her relationship with ...
Bob Hope: Rats
During a show one evening Bob Hope, to the great amusement of his audience, rela...
Bobby Leech: Daredevil
Despite breaking "nearly every bone" in his body, in 1911 Bobby Leech survived a...
Bondage Room (very long)
While interviewing business owners for a story on the revitalization of Tampa's ...
Bone Head?
In the run-up to the Gulf War in March 2003, the Pentagon announced that it woul...
Book Clubs?
One day Ezra Pound, offended by a remark which Lascelles Abercrombie, a fellow p...
Book Value
One day in 2001, Roman Polanski called Robert Evans complaining that he had been...
Boor
One day Alexandre Dumas overheard a woman at a Paris salon describe him as a "bo...
Brad Pitt & George Clooney: Ocean's Revenge
During the production of Ocean's Twelve, Brad Pitt played a practical jok...
Brad Pitt: Malibu Canyon
According to "Inside Edition" (and an L.A. County sheriff's report), while filmi...
Brad Pitt: Miss 503
To avoid embarrassment at home, Brad Pitt, like countless other stars, did littl...
Brass Balls (long)
In 2000, Ewen Bremner and his Pearl Harbor co-stars spent a week in a U.S...
Breach Loader
Alexandre Dumas was once involved in a duel with a young politician. As both wer...
Bread Winner?
Feodor Chaliapin once spent the night with a young woman from a town through whi...
Brian McFadden: Rock 'n' Roll Rebel
Former Westlife singer Brian McFadden once recalled his first attempt to be a ro...
Bridge Burner?
While planning a campaign one day, one of Richelieu's officers, poring over a ma...
Bridge To Paradise?
In 2002, Ian Brown attended a fashion show called 'Viva Italia' in Toronto. "Sop...
Brief Reminder
While reading the newspaper one day, Rudyard Kipling came across a curious annou...
British Brain Power
In November 2003, British Sea Power (BSP) reluctantly cancelled a much-anticipat...
British Marine
While serving in the British merchant marine during World War I, Herbert Marshal...
British Rail
In July 1978, Sir Peter Parker set off for a meeting with Cumbria County Council...
Brother Love Bone?
Upon first seeing a certain singer (with whom they would later form a band calle...
Brush with Danger
At a conference in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2001, former "James Bond" star Roger Mo...
Bubbleman
Garry "Bubbleman" Golightly built an entire "bubbleosophy" out of bubbles, worki...
Buncha Punks
Early in their careers, Joey Ramone and his bandmates played so fast that they o...
Burt Bacharach: Perfectionist Streaker
Burt Bacharach's famed perfectionist streak was not always appreciated by his co...
Burton Gerber: Picture This
"Burton Gerber, a 39-year veteran of the CIA, was running spy operations in Berl...
Busy
One day several years after the battle of Waterloo, Wellington was interrupted i...
Buttonholed
"Brimful of some new idea, and in spite of my assuring him that time was preciou...
By George!
Among George Antheil's early avant-garde pieces, none caused a greater sensation...
Bye Bye Birdie
Shortly after Charles Nelson Reilly struck it rich with his role in ...
Cafe Central
Ferenc Molnar's affinity for the Cafe Central in Budapest was akin to Sartre's l...
Calixtus III: Papal Bull
"On June 29, 1456, a date when Halley's comet could be seen in the night sky and...
Camille
"Somewhere in the world," Clara Morris once remarked, "there is an actor - and a...
Can Fish Catch Colds?
"While almost everyone agrees that teaching young children about science is impo...
Cannonball Crawl?
Despite having entered his seventh decade, Burt Reynolds was determined to do hi...
Capitol Insult
While serving as chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Edward Hale was once asked, "Dr. H...
Carolyn Kepcher: The Apprentice
Though her role on Donald Trump's reality TV series "The Apprentice" made her a ...
Carpetbagger
When John McCain first ran for election in Arizona (after living in the state fo...
Casablanca Lawsuit (long)
When they learned that a new Marx Brothers film was to be entitled "A Night in C...
Catherine Zeta-Jones: Thanks a Million?
Shortly after her marriage to Michael Douglas (in November 2000), Catherine Zeta...
Caught Peering
At a party one evening, Tallulah Bankhead caught a peer of the realm blankly sta...
Cellist
During a rehearsal one day, Sir Thomas Beecham grew impatient with a female cell...
Chair Fair
"An esteemed panel gathered in February 1987 to judge 387 entries in the New Yor...
Chamberpot?
Winston Churchill vehemently opposed prime minister Neville Chamberlain's policy...
Chaplin & Fairbanks
While passing a cinema in Hollywood one day, Charlie Chaplin stopped to examine ...
Charitable Donation?
In 1999, one of Marilyn Monroe's dresses was auctioned for charity. "Clinton dro...
Charles Barkley & Oliver Miller: Special Sauce
Charles Barkley, the shortest player ever to lead the NBA in rebounding (14.6 pe...
Charles M. Schulz: Good Grief!
"Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz's comic vision was inspired by a childhood p...
Charlie Chaplin Look-Alike Contest
Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin Look-Alike Contest in Monte Carlo...
Charlie Ravioli
Adam Gopnik once called his sister, a developmental psychologist, to express his...
Cheap Shot
During his wild youth, Joe E. Lewis stayed for a time at a boardinghouse whose p...
Cheney Duped? (long)
Following the war in Iraq in 2003, the Senate Intelligence Committee began inves...
Chidchob on Drugs
During a meeting in August 2002, a veteran member of the Thai government's budge...
Childish Question?
George Bernard Shaw was once asked by a manufacturer of electric razors to endor...
Chocolate Thunder
During a memorable NBA game in 1979, Philadelphia 76ers forward Darryl "Chocolat...
Chris Farley: Dropin' a Deuce
During a memorable "Tonight Show" appearance, Jay Mohr revealed that he had once...
Chris Martin: The Nappies
"Coldplay have made a glam rock/rap video to celebrate the birth of Chris Martin...
Chris Rock: Watching C-Span
"I was watching C-Span, and this guy comes on speaking," Chris Rock once recalle...
Christina Aguilera & the Horny Geek
In May 2003, Christina Aguilera visited a computer exhibition in Las Vegas. Whil...
Christopher Meloni: Freakshow
In 2004, Christopher Meloni was cast to play Freakshow in Danny Leiner's "Fast F...
Chubby Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton's corpulence naturally furnished many humorous stories. "I want...
Chubby McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan, discussing her favorite films, once professed a curious admirat...
Chuck Barris: Popsicle Twins
"The limits [imposed by censors on 'The Gong Show'] were ridiculous," Chuck Barr...
City Of Fear
In Januray 2002, Jacques van Gompel, the mayor of Charleoi, Belgium, hosted a de...
Civilized
Lytton Strachey, like the other philosophers, writers, and artists in the Blooms...
Clap of Thunder
"During a rehearsal for Macbeth at Her Majesty's, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tr...
Clark Gable: King of Hollywood?
Clark Gable's wife Carole Lombard once gave him a hand-knitted penis warmer as a...
Classic Curtiz
When Warner Brothers filmed Dive Bomber in June 1941, the U.S. Navy wasn'...
Classic Goldwyn
The director William Wyler - after trying in vain to explain a certain scene to ...
Classic Goldwyn
Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour opened to raves on Broadway an...
Classic Groucho
The day after his retirement, Groucho Marx, having long planned a trip to Paris,...
Classic Hilbert
While walking along the street one day, the notoriously absent-minded mathematic...
Classic Shaw
While he was directing Caesar and Cleopatra on Broadway, Sir Cedric Hardw...
Classic Tartakover
The famous chess grandmaster Savielly Tartakower was once asked to explain his a...
Clinton's Dictation
One day in November 1999, Bill Clinton sat for his first online chat with the na...
Club Sandwich?
After a game one day, George Tebbetts and his team stopped at a roadside restaur...
Coffee Means Sex?
Maxfield Parrish, who specialized in painting nudes, was naturally accustomed to...
Cold Comfort?
While working on the Stephen Frears film Dangerous Liaisons (1988), John ...
Colin F?
Colin Farrell, famed for his breathtaking profanity, was once named the world's ...
Collision Course
"Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers ...
Color Test
Calvin Trillin once heard about a "color test" conducted by the world-renowned D...
Colt Murder
In 1841, Samuel Colt - the inventor of the six-shooter and founder of the firear...
Commonwealth Sentinel
Lionel Burleigh's Commonwealth Sentinel, advertised on billboards as "Bri...
Conan O'Brien: Poor Kid
Conan O'Brien: "I remember very clearly when Mike Myers showed up [at 'Saturday ...
Conjunction
"Eddie Cantor and Georgie Jessel were on the same bill on a vaudeville unit," Jo...
Conrad Hilton: Great Gravity
While appearing as a guest on "The Tonight Show" one evening, famed hotelier Con...
Cool Customer
One day long before his incarnation as a railway mogul, James Cooley worked as a...
Coral Browne: Golden Phallus
While visiting backstage at the National Theatre one day, Coral Browne was asked...
Cousins
The financier Otto Kahn, famed for his patronage of the Metropolitan Opera House...
Coxey's Army
In 1893, Jacob Sechler Coxey, mayor of Massillon, Ohio, and some 20,000 men and ...
Crafty Reply?
In the course of snooping through their hostess's bathroom one evening, Dorothy ...
Crappy Job
Early in his career, in a bid to gain industry contacts, Quentin Tarantino posed...
Crappy Speech?
Following his conviction (on ten felony counts of bribery, tax evasion, and rack...
Crazy Idea
Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Nathan Myhrvold once sent Bill Gates a memo o...
Crick & Churchill
When his Cambridge college began the construction of a chapel in 1961, the biolo...
Cricket Blooper
In 1976, British television viewers joined an England-West Indies cricket match ...
Crime Ring
Comedian Gene Baylos once took a memorable trip to crime-infested Atlantic City:...
Cristie Kerr
Golfer Cristie Kerr was delighted to win the LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge at Calif...
Critical Observation
The famed Finnish composer Jean Sibelius once consoled a young musician after a ...
Cruel Intentions?
Among Reese Witherspoon's most challenging performances was the pivotal breakup ...
Crumby Astronaut
After returning from the first-ever multi-manned space flight (with fellow astro...
Cub Reporter
An editor once admonished his cub reporter, Mark Twain, never to state as fact a...
Cut Sub?
In 1999, Matt Stone and Trey Parker released a feature film based on their hit c...
Cyberonic?
"Cyberspace addiction theorist" Kimberly Young - whose typology of cyber addicti...
Dan Whitney: Sex with a Clown
"I once made love to a female clown," Dan Whitney once recalled. "It was weird b...
Danni Leigh: Lonely Country
Among Danni Leigh's earliest musical efforts was a tortured composition entitled...
Darren Drozdov: Mother's Pride
Early in his wrestling career, Darren Drozdov had an interview with WWF chief Vi...
David Bolt: Authors' Handbook
"The literary agent David Bolt was interviewed on radio about his just-published...
David Duchovny: Teacup
During a photo shoot one day, David Duchovny posed for a series of remarkable ...
David Lloyd George: Tip of the Iceberg
Little love was lost between British prime minister David Lloyd George and Herbe...
David Spade: Calling the Union
"I was pretty young," David Spade once recalled of his most embarrassing date. "...
Day of Judgement? (long)
Farrar, Strauss & Co's stable of authors often acted as readers for the firm. Ar...
DD-ID
The famed XXX star Sharon Mitchell arrived at a New York bank one day and realiz...
De T'ing
As a law enforcement agent, author John Miller had considerable experience monit...
Dead Pope?
"When Pope Benedict XV was dangerously ill a premature report of his death was f...
Debasing Comment
In his late twenties, John Maynard Keynes traveled to Africa with a friend from ...
Decolletage
John Doherty once attended a ball at Dublin Castle - and was shocked by the deco...
Deductive Reasoning?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, ofte...
Deep Thought
In a meeting during World War I, Germany's Wilhelm II and the Netherlands' Queen...
Definitely Maybe?
Dorothy Parker and a friend once found themselves gossiping about a mutual acqua...
Delano
American observers in World War II monitoring Benito Mussolini's radio addresses...
Desert Island Broadcast
One day in the early 1970s, Roy Plomley was delighted to learn that, despite Ali...
Destalinization
In the course of denouncing Joseph Stalin at a public meeting one day, Nikita Kh...
Details Downtracked
While covering the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, Evelyn Waugh received a...
Determined Thief?
One day Zeno caught his slave stealing. Threatened with a good thrashing, he beg...
Devil May Care
"Georges Cuvier's outstanding achievement resulted from his ability to reconstru...
Devilish Duveen
One day a rival art dealer sent an Old Master painting on a religious theme to o...
Devil’s Brew?
"Fuller Warren, Florida's governor in the '50s, was running for office in a year...
Diana Dors: Oh, Fluck
"Diana Dors once asked and readily agreed to open a fete in her home town of Swi...
Diane Farr: Engagement Cards
"I got engaged about a year and a half ago," Diane Farr recalled in 2004, "and I...
Diane Sawyer: One-Woman Film Crew
"Learning on the job [at WLKY-TV in Louisville], Diane Sawyer did everything fro...
Dietrich Close Up
One day Marlene Dietrich railed at her photographer for producing a series of un...
Dinner Party
Thomas Edison was a workaholic who regarded formal dinners as a waste of time. A...
Dinomania (long)
"Dinomania's great awakening came at the end of the 19th century, and it ultimat...
Dionne Warwick: Psychic Friend
Over the course of her long career, Dionne Warwick pursued a number of business ...
Distinguished British Journalist
One day in May 1986, the distinguished British journalist Henry Porter revealed ...
Diva's Playground
In a bid to improve her image as a self-centered diva one year, Diana Ross held ...
Divine Assumption
After fracturing both of his knees in a nasty fall, Richard Trench (the archbish...
Divine Wit
One day Bill Moyers, LBJ's press secretary, was called upon to say grace at lunc...
Don Shula: Maine Hero
While vacationing in a small town in Maine one year, legendary Miami Dolphins co...
Doodoo Defense (long)
In June 1990, a conservative group led by Florida lawyer Jim Thompson persuaded ...
Dorothy Parker: Leaden Excuse
The New Yorker was launched (in 1925) by Harold Ross on a shoestring budg...
Dorothy Parker: Shedules
"Dorothy Parker was at a party in New York where an American actor who had appea...
Douglas Gordon: Empire Hotel
As part of a municipal visual arts project, a neon 'Empire' sign containing a fa...
Douglas Jerrold: What's Going On?
One day, Douglas Jerrold was accosted in the street by a talkative bore. "What's...
Dr. Bowie
While visiting Boston's Berklee College of Music to receive an honorary degree o...
Dramatic Reading
At a dinner party one evening the great Polish actress Helena Modjeska, famed fo...
Dreadful Performance
Tallulah Bankhead was rather unimpressed by the screen adaptation of Tennessee W...
Drew Carey: Hats Off to Ryan Stiles
One day on the set of "Who's Line is it Anyway," Drew Carey knocked Ryan Stiles'...
Dueling Dogs?
Otto von Bismarck, enraged by Rudolf Virchow's constant criticism, one day order...
Dumb Luck
"Two gangsters, James Gallo and Joe Conigliaro, set out to murder a stool pigeon...
Dumb Luck
Jean Cocteau was once asked whether he believed in luck. "Of course," he replied...
Dustin Diamond & Matthew Perry
Dustin Diamond (famed for his role as "Screech" on "Saved by the Bell") once spo...
Dylan Moran: Cheese Fantasy
"I used to live with two other guys," Dylan Moran once recalled. "We used to coo...
Dylan Thomas: Llareggub
Dylan Thomas was once asked what "Llareggub" (the name of the Welsh fishing vill...
Eat me, Zappa!
During a concert one evening, Frank Zappa was dismayed to hear someone in the au...
Eddie Murphy: Career Trajectory
In the 1990s, Eddie Murphy went through a dark period during which his films (mo...
Edmund Wilson Regrets...
Edmund Wilson, like every successful writer, was swamped with requests for vario...
Edolphus Towns: Gun Report
In November 2003, a discussion of New York State Representative Edolphus Towns's...
Eiffel Tower
During William Morris's last visit to Paris, he spent a great deal of time eatin...
Elaine Stritch & Noel Coward: Tower of Babel
During a rehearsal one day, Elaine Stritch began to sing, "When the tower of Bab...
Eleonora Ruse
Eleonora Duse once enlisted Sam Davis (the editor of the Carson Appeal an...
Elvis Presley & Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash's first single, "Cry, Cry, Cry"/"Hey Porter" (with guitarist Luther ...
Emily Procter: Confidence Booster
After buying a beautiful dress one day, "West Wing" star Emily Procter pranced a...
Emperor Menelik: Electric Moron
As part of a vigorous campaign to modernize Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1890, Empero...
English as She is Spoke (long)
Undeterred by his limited grasp of the English language, Pedro Carolino once wro...
Entropy
While musing upon the subject of thermodynamics one day, Lord Kelvin suddenly re...
Ernest Hemingway: Boum!
While courting his fourth wife, Mary, in Paris in 1944, Ernest Hemingway, accord...
Ernest Hemingway: Just 'Cause?
In 1926, Ernest Hemingway left his first wife (Hadley Richardson) and their smal...
Errol Flynn: Come-on!
In November 1942, Australian actor Errol Flynn was arrested and tried for statut...
Escargots
Having waited an absurdly long time for a waiter to take his order in a French r...
Eugene Mirman: Friend in the Bathroom
After a show one night comedian Eugene Mirman was tying his shoe in a public bat...
Exit Sandman
In May 2003, US interrogators in Baghdad revealed that they were using heavy met...
Explorers in London
Three legendary explorers were once invited to dine at the Geographical Club in ...
Eye For an Eye
King Saud was petitioned one day by a woman seeking a death sentence for the man...
Fab Three?
In 1989, George Harrison rejected Paul McCartney's latest proposal for a Beatles...
Fabio Goosed
In March 1999, famed male fuckingmodel Fabio was among the first to ride the new...
Facing the Music
Leonard Bernstein's father was once criticized for having failed to provide his ...
Faith Hope & Charity
Fulton Sheen once spoke at an inter-faith rally in Baltimore. Having been welcom...
Famous Last Words
Toward the end of his life, Voltaire was advised to foreswear Satan. He declined...
FAMOUSCIENTIST?
Given Humphry Davy's accomplishments (he discovered potassium and several other ...
Fast Learner
The legendary conductor, composer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein was once asked ...
Fat Ass Johnson
"We had a colonel named Fat Ass Johnson," Buddy Hackett once recalled. "That was...
Fat Chance
While performing with the Invincible Eagles circus (without a safety net) in Nov...
Fat Man
In 1975, George Plimpton, a longtime pyrotechnics enthusiast, unveiled a 720 pou...
Favorite Course
Shortly after Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen's son went off to university on...
Fend for Yourselves!
In 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio reproduction of H. G. Wells's ...
Ferenc Molnar: Family Portrait
While Ferenc Molnar was living in a Viennese hotel in the 1920s, a large group o...
Fermat's Last Theorem
One day when commercial air travel was still in its infancy, the great mathemati...
Fiddler
When 92-year-old fiddle player Roma McMillan was inducted into the Fiddle Hall o...
Figurative Threats
One of Thomas Hart Benton's political rivals, Mississippi Senator Henry S. Foote...
Film Critic
In February, 2000, famed film critic Rex Reed was arrested for shoplifting three...
Film Skool?
In the early 1970's, Tom Schulman, then an aspiring screenwriter, enrolled in fi...
Fine Art of Negotiation
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona served as lead military translator during Ameri...
Fine Art of Seduction
"The only time I ever saw people gasp in Elaine's [restaurant]," Harper's...
Finger Wag?
While visiting the Black Sea one day at the height of the Cold War, Stewart Udal...
Finite Jest?
In his later years, Daniel Auber was one day compelled to attend a funeral servi...
Firm Apologies?
George C. Scott was once required to shoot a love scene with a certain voluptuou...
First Impressions
One day in the early 1960s, John Lennon walked into London's Indica art gallery ...
Fisher's Hat
"When I was climbing the Blue Mountain peak in Jamaica," Sir Frederic Fisher onc...
Fishy Forecast
During a weather forecast in October 1987, British meteorologist Michael Fish to...
Fitting Reply
Noel Coward once spent a very uncomfortable night at a bug-infested hotel in the...
Flashy Racer
The Italian Tazio Nuvolari, widely considered the greatest Grand Prix driver of ...
Flattergasted?
President Herbert Hoover was flattered one day to receive a request from an auto...
Flushed with Pride
Why did water usage in New York City rise by an unprecedented 300 million gallon...
Fonthill Abbey (long)
William Beckford spent much of his immense fortune on a James Wyatt-designed Got...
Foot-Shootin' Moron
"Back when me and my brother, Duane, were starting to get serious about music," ...
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Robert Benchley once attended the Broadway premiere of an unfortunate play. At o...
Ford's Mulligan
While playing golf with President Gerald Ford one day, hockey legend Gordie Howe...
Fox News Crawl
In October 2003, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening was threatened with a defamati...
Franck Admission
Physicist James Franck was among the professors who examined the twenty-three-ye...
Franco Corelli & Birgit Nilsson
"During a performance of Turandot [in 1961], the tenor Franco Corelli, af...
Francois
One day while he was practicing, a woman called Arthur Rubinstein's home and ask...
Frank Lloyd Wrong
In 1937, Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned by an industrialist named Hibbard J...
Franz Ferdinand: Contraband
In August, 2004, Alex Kapranos and his Franz Ferdinand bandmates were stopped on...
Free Willy?
In 1998, a curator at Madame Tussaud's (London's famous wax museum) announced th...
French Academy
Francois Coppee was once asked by the wife of an aspiring writer to support her ...
Freudian Quip
In his capacity as a comedian on "You Bet Your Life" Groucho Marx interviewed ma...
Freudian Quip?
One night on the road, Babe Ruth smuggled a woman into his room. His teammate Er...
Friendly Shor?
One day while visiting one of his restaurants, Toots Shor found himself in conve...
Frightening Sight
While driving through a Swiss village one day, Alfred Hitchcock suddenly pointed...
Frosty Reply?
While attending a dinner party one evening, Poet Laureate Robert Frost and his f...
Fundamentalist Films
Irked that Muslims were being blamed for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Cana...
Funky Tunes?
In 2003, Aaron Funk, who normally recorded under the name Venetian Snares, relea...
Future Champion?
When black fighters first began to dominate the heavyweight boxing circuit, many...
Gallup Poll
As an editor of the student paper at the University of Iowa in the early 1920s, ...
Gamut
Katharine Hepburn's early performance in "The Lake" was not universally well-rec...
Gandhi's Shoe
While boarding a moving train one day, one of Mohandas Gandhi's shoes slipped of...
Gary Miller: It's Miller Time!
In October 1997, ESPN's Sport Center host Gary Miller, who reportedly ent...
Gasbag
One evening, the rival lawyers Joseph Choate and Chauncey M. Depew found themsel...
General Patton: Celebration
Following the Normandy landings, General George Patton led the Allied sweep acro...
Generosity
Robert F. Kennedy "had the arrogance of people born rich and brought up spoiled....
Genital Humor
Shortly after the launch of Viagra, Robin Williams, famed for his ad-libbing gen...
Gentleman
"Noel Coward and I were in Paris," Beatrice Lillie once recalled. "Adjoining roo...
George Bernard Shaw: Fingerprints
On his ninetieth birthday, George Bernard Shaw was visited by Scotland Yard's ce...
George Brown: State Gala
"One of George Brown's drunker moments as Foreign Secretary found him staggering...
George Burned
Gracie Allen, offered $750 a week to appear in one of Florenz Ziegfeld's famous ...
George Burns: Burned Up?
George Burns, famed for his love of fine cigars, was a longtime member of L.A.'s...
George Bush: Man's Best Friend
"It has been said by some cynic [Harry Truman]," President George Bush (Sr.) onc...
George Clooney: Constant Sorrow
Having won the role of an addled but articulate escaped convict in the Coen brot...
George Hamilton: Lady's Man
George Hamilton, a legendary ladies' man, employed a variety of ruses to meet be...
George Hamilton: Rolling On
In 1957, George Hamilton arrived in Hollywood with about $90 in his pocket. In o...
George Harrison: Ukulele Lover
While playing his ukulele at a party one evening, George Harrison was approached...
George W. Bush: Bush Quiz!
How did Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien respond when his spokeswoman calle...
George W. Bush: Bush Quiz!
How did Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien respond when his spokeswoman calle...
George W. Bush: Canadian Hospitality
In November 2004, President George W. Bush traveled to Ottawa to meet with Canad...
George W. Bush: Mission Accomplished
In April 2003, as the war in Iraq approached its inevitable conclusion, presiden...
George W. Bush: President of Darkness?
In July 2002, Ozzy Osbourne attended a White House Correspondents' Association d...
Geraldo in Iraq
In March 2003, shortly after the beginning of the war in Iraq, Geraldo Rivera wa...
Ghostwriters?
Fred Allen once had one of his radio show scripts returned with extensive editor...
Giuseppe Verdi: Aida
Giuseppe Verdi once received a letter from a fan who complained that his opera ...
Giving Thanks
At the height of his success, a newspaper calculated that Rudyard Kipling was ea...
God Exists!
The famed encylopedist Denis Diderot was once invited to visit the Russian Court...
Godfather of Bellies
So much did Marlon Brando's weight balloon during the production of ...
Godfather of Bellies
Such was Marlon Brando's love of food that he rightly came to be known as the "G...
Golf of Misunderstanding
Pop doyenne Christina Aguilera was once introduced to famed golfer Tiger Woods. ...
Golfing for Cats
Famed British humorist Alan Coren was once advised that anyone seeking to draw t...
Good Question?
While visiting a greenhouse in Dresden one day, Arthur Schopenhauer was approach...
Gordon Gano: NHS Induction Ceremony
Violent Femmes frontman Gordon Gano was an excellent, if idiosyncratic, student....
Got with the Program?
Following a performance of Peter Pan one evening, a small boy who had bee...
Goussein Khamdoulaev: EU Tightrope
While performing in Folkestone, England in 2004, Moscow State Circus star Gousse...
Grace Under Pressure
In 1969, Jefferson Airplane joined the Rolling Stones and several other bands fo...
Grade Two Pilot?
Many passengers aboard a flight from New York to London one day were surprised t...
Grand Eunuch
Among Richard Rodgers' many celebrated words was his score for "Chee-Chee," a mu...
Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck's first wife (Carol) found the title for his most famous book in ...
Grassy Knoll?
In the 1990s, scandals involving allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal dr...
Great Feeling
At the 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2002, Kiefer Sutherland was named best...
Great Turnip?
Winston Churchill and fellow British prime minister Stanley Baldwin cultivated a...
Greene with Envy?
An English magazine once ran a competition offering a prize for the best parody ...
Greenwood's Pencil
"In one of the great stage performances of our time Mr Paul Greenwood breathed n...
Groucho Martian
While interviewing an unusual woman one day, Groucho Marx was surprised to hear ...
Groucho Marx: Chastity
Groucho Marx was descending in the elevator at the Hotel Danieli in Venice one d...
Guest Spot
As New York socialite Cornelia Guest left the Palladium nightclub one evening, s...
GUT Reaction
Like many of his colleagues (among them Albert Einstein) Werner Heisenberg spent...
H2Woe?
Charles Spurgeon was frequently embroiled in religious controversies. "I hear yo...
Ha@@y Birthday!
One evening Drew Barrymore appeared as a guest on "The Late Show with David Lett...
Hairy Explanation
In December 1999, The Guardian announced its winner for "Greatest PR Disa...
Hairy Moment
According to Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, her fellow Paramout studio star, freque...
Hairy Situation
Groucho Marx was once stopped by the maitre d' as he entered the dining room of ...
Half-Wits
As a former law enforcement officer, John Miller (author of The Cell) had...
Hancock & Barnard
"It is 1958. It is also Soho, and the area's resident wit and prime soak Mr Jeff...
Handy Books?
G. K. Chesterton was once asked what books he would most like to have with him i...
Handy Tip?
The legendary comic Milton Berle, who reportedly possessed the largest penis in ...
Hanoi Jane Fonda
When Jane Fonda was nominated for a best actress Oscar (for her portrayal of a c...
Hans van Meegeren: Meeger Explanation?
The art dealer Hans van Meegeren once sold a painting by Dutch master Johannes V...
Hard Disk
One day in May 1999 Ronald Thiemann, the dean of Harvard's Divinity School, call...
Hard Lines
Oscar Wilde's legal battle with the Marquis of Queensberry (his lover's father) ...
Hard Work
Clarence Darrow was once interviewed for a magazine article on prominent men and...
Hardcore Beckhams
In 2002, it was reported that David Beckham's haircuts were being copied by grow...
Harmon Leon's "Little Sister" (long)
Stuff contributor Harmon Leon once visited a Hollywood studio and, posing...
Harold Urey
While out walking one day, Harold Urey, a Nobel prize-winning chemist famed for ...
Harrison Ford: Aisle of Despond?
Harrison Ford was not entirely thrilled with the prospect of turning 60 in 2002....
Harrison Ford: Harrison's Scar
The famous scar on Harrison Ford's chin was the product of a car accident. It ha...
Hart of Stone?
Despite his critically acclaimed poetry, Hart Crane suffered from severe depress...
Hasselblad I?
In July 1966, Michael Collins was selected to pilot NASA's three-day Gemini 10 m...
Hearty Celebration!
After they won the 1969 World Series, several members of the New York Mets "mira...
Heckler
While delivering a campaign speech one day Theodore Roosevelt was interrupted by...
Heheh Hmhm Heh Heheh
Patrick Stewart "got into trouble" one day while walking through New York's Cent...
hehehehe
Paul Taylor once contributed an unusual solo performance to a modern-dance progr...
Hélas Pour Godard?
Despite a career spanning four decades in which he made more than 100 films and ...
Heth's Gap
One day in 1864 Robert E. Lee visited General Henry Heth at Petersburg to inspec...
Hexcellent...
While she was working at the London institute of Archaeology, Margaret Murray on...
High Roller?
Gerard Roy was a colorful character. Known locally as The Man from Mars, he was ...
Highway to Hell!
During the American invasion of Panama in 1989, troops blasted AC/DC's "Highway ...
Hitchhiker
Abraham Lincoln was walking into Springfield one day when he was overtaken by a ...
Hite Report
Famed sexual researcher Shere Hite was once asked how most men had had sex with ...
Hog Tied?
While serving as England's Lord Chancellor, Francis Bacon once presided over a c...
Hollywood Ending
When the 1957 funeral of the little-loved Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer attract...
Hollywood Ending? (long)
On Friday the 13th of May, 1983, a showbiz entrepreneur named Roy Radin disappea...
Hollywood Head Hunter
Hollywood fucking-agent Sue Mengers was famed for her ability to steal clients f...
Hollywood Mighty
"Carl Reiner took us to the Bistro restaurant which had originally been Mike Rom...
Hook, Line & Sinker
George Bernard Shaw once found himself at a dinner party, seated beside an attra...
Horace Livewrong?
Sherwood Anderson once ran into the publisher Horace Liveright, a well-known wom...
Horse and Cart?
In 1976, Staffordshire city council began to receive complaints that the buses o...
Horticulture
During a conversation about usage one day, Dorothy Parker was asked to compose a...
Hot Advice
Virgin Records founder Richard Branson, famed for his love of adventure, once of...
Howe Unfortunate
After trouncing George Washington's depleted forces at White
Plains, Fort Washi...
Howie Mandel: Physical Exam
One day in 2006, Howie Mandel visited his doctor's office for a physical exam. B...
Hugh Hefner: Blondes Have More Fun?
Hugh Hefner was once asked whether blondes really have more fun. His reply? ...
Hugh Troy: Rhinoceros Lake
"Hugh Troy, an artist, was a smart aleck who spent most of his life perpetrating...
Huhgel?
Even on his deathbed Hegel remained abstractly philosophical. "Only one man ever...
Hundley & Baylor
Los Angeles Lakers guard Rod Hundley once roomed with Elgin Baylor, one of the g...
Ice Breaker
While attending a fashionable but painfully boring party one evening, Ernest The...
Imaginary Lover
"Marie Lloyd, given her first and only job as principal girl at Drury Lane [Thea...
Immortal Reply
One evening while attending one of George Gershwin's famous parties, Groucho Mar...
Imperceptibly Ajar
"The door is imperceptibly ajar." Thus reads a stage direction in one of Samuel ...
Impromptu Jump
One day during the production of I Wanted Wings, Ray Milland went up with...
Inbred
In 1998, Louisiana State Representative Carl Gunter fought to squelch a proposed...
Ingrid Bergman: Bergman's Baby
Shortly after Ingrid Bergman's departure for Italy in 1949 (to make ...
Innuen-doh!
The British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and his spinster sister once visited...
Insomnia
One day while Ronald Knox was suffering from a serious bout of insomnia, he was ...
Irish Eyes (long)
For many years, fellow comedians George Burns and Harpo Marx played golf togethe...
Ironic?
"An old man turned ninety-eight, he won the lottery and died the next day. It's ...
Izzy Stradlin'
While flying one day in the band's early days, Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Izzy Str...
J. Paul Getty: Famously Frugal
The billionaire oil baron John Paul Getty was famously frugal. When his 16-year-...
J.Blo
One day in November 2002, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith launched into what shoul...
Jack Benny: Thirty-Niner
Well into his sunset years, Jack Benny often claimed to be thirty-nine years old...
Jack Nicholson: Lakers Fan
During the 1984 NBA playoffs between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celti...
Jack Nicholson: Spanking Jack
"He's into fun and games in bed, all the really horny things I get off on, like ...
James Caan: Sports Camp
James Caan always had some interesting friends. "He said we were gonna go and se...
James Hill
In his diary, Rene Gimpel, a French art dealer who helped many robber barons to ...
James Whistler & Norman Shaw
While leaving a friend's party one evening, James Whistler, having greatly over-...
Jan Masaryk: Mixer
While serving as Czech ambassador to the United States early in his career, Jan ...
Je t'embarrasse?
Jacques Thibaud once camouflaged an amorous escapade with a host of telegrams to...
Jed Babbin & the Wimpy French
In the run-up to the war in Iraq in May 2003, President George W. Bush was disma...
Jedi Knickers
Ewan McGregor once played an Iggy Pop-style star (from the '70s glitter-rock sce...
Jennifer Lopez: Gold Digger?
One day in 2003, Jennifer Lopez was spotted by paparazzi indulging in a curious ...
Jennifer Love Hewitt: Future Star
One day when she was just four years old, Jennifer Love Hewitt disappeared while...
Jessica Simpson: O, M, F, G!
Even in the highly competitive world of bubble-headed pop stars, Jessica Simpson...
Jet Magazine
On November 1st, 1951, Jet magazine was founded by John H. Johnson to cel...
Jewel Fans
Jewel was all too familiar with the drawbacks of fame. On one occasion, she was ...
Joe Job?
At the age of fourteen, Al Pacino saw his first professional theater production ...
Joe, Jr?
Shortly after the appearance of her Book of the Penis, Maggie Paley was a...
John Ashcroft & Hillary Clinton
Shortly after Missouri's own John Ashcroft was named United States Attorney Gene...
John Ashcroft: Wonder-Working Power
During a Justice Department meeting one day, Attorney General John Ashcroft clai...
John Edward: Bogus Psychic
"Crossing Over" host John Edward was often accused of employing ruses to create ...
John Edwards: Power Hungry?
Though touted as a candidate for his party's nomination in the 2004 presidential...
John Holmes: Warm Feet
z (brother of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.) fell into a coma and lay motionless fo...
John Mayer: Learning Japanese
John Mayer met his first real girlfriend in high school. Shortly thereafter, he ...
John McCain: Bushwhacked (long)
By all rights, Senator John McCain should have won the Republican presidential n...
John Wayne: Hasty Pudding
John Wayne was once given Harvard's Hasty Pudding Award. Instead of a limousine,...
John Wesley: Lively Sermon
While preaching a sermon one day, John Wesley was dismayed to find that several ...
Johnny Carson: The Clock
"I was on the show ['The Tonight Show'] in New York," Bob Newhart once recalled,...
Johnny Depp: Animal Lover
During the course of a flight one day, Johnny Depp suddenly freaked out and scre...
Jon Stewart: K Word
"Alka Seltzer is funny. You say 'Alka Seltzer' and you get a laugh... Words with...
Journalistic Peril
In recognition of his dedication to the Journal, William Randolph Hearst ...
Joyce Hopkirk: Piss-Up
"Joyce Hopkirk's career as woman's editor of the Daily Mirror is fondly r...
Jude Law: Cool with Nudity?
"I have no problem with nudity," Jude Law once remarked. "My friend Ewan and I a...
Judy Garland: Randy Munchkins
"The little people who played Muchkins in The Wizard of Oz were tough, wo...
Julian Calendar?
Although Julia had three sons and two daughters by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (her...
Julie Bowen: Pooper Blooper
One night Julie Bowen visited a restaurant with the producer of "Ed" and some ot...
Junior Endowment?
"In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to...
Kanguru?
"In 1770, Captain Cook's ship Endeavour ran aground on the coast of Queensland, ...
Kate Beckinsale: Best Served Cold?
Kate Beckinsale was once ordered by a director to strip off her clothes and shoo...
Keeping Coolidge
At breakfast one morning, a guest at the White House watched with astonishment a...
Keith Richards: German Tour
During a concert one evening, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards slipped on...
Kevin Costner: Full Frontal
Incredibly, Kevin Costner's full frontal nude scene was cut from the film ...
Kiefer Sutherland: Good Samaritan
One day in October 2002, Kiefer Sutherland stopped his car at the side of the st...
Killer Joke?
Libby Gelman-Waxner was awed by the behavior of Anthony Hopkin's character (Hann...
King of Kings
During the production of King of Kings, director Cecil B. De Mille was di...
Knoblock
"Do you see that man just coming in?" John Gielgud asked his dinner companion in...
Konrad Lorenz: Food-Offering
Desmond Morris: "One of the most fascinating men I ever knew was the Austrian na...
La Scala
While serving as general manager of New York's Metropolitan Opera, Gatti-Casazza...
Labouchere
One day during his tenure as a British attache in St. Petersburg, Henry Labouche...
Lackey Guess?
Despite the charlatanism inherent in his writings, John Taylor cultivated a rema...
Lady Pianist
One night after a rehearsal with the London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn ret...
Lakey Lane
William Plomer, visiting Birmingham for the first time, was intrigued by the des...
Last Judgment
While painting his famous "Last Judgment" fresco in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel...
Last Supper?
Wilson Mizner was once married to Myra Moore Yerkes, an enormously wealthy woman...
Lawford & Son
One day in the 1960s, the NYPD received a call that Peter Lawford's son was stan...
Lawrence Wright: Saudi, Mon
In 2004, Lawrence Wright visited Saudi Arabia to help Okaz, the kingdom's...
Lewinsky Website
"Monica Lewinsky has a website now," Jay Leno reported one day in February 2000....
Lieberman-Cheney Debate
After his stint as George Bush's Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney entered the b...
Lightning Strike
"In June 1989, 38-year-old storm chaser [Steve Melvin] from Madison, Ohio, got b...
Lights Out?
In 2001, Martin Creed was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize (for excellence i...
Lightweight?
Famed heavyweight boxer John Sullivan was once challenged to a fight by a scrawn...
Little Buddha?
In 2001, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura had occasion to meet with the D...
Little Flower
"One bitter cold day at the police court they brought a trembling old man before...
Little Lamb?
One day when Charles Lamb was little more than a toddler, his sister Mary took h...
Live From Baghdad
In March 2003, Phesheya Dube, Swaziland state radio's "man in Baghdad" gave seve...
Liz Fuller: Auction World
One day in June 2004, ex-model Liz Fuller sent her boyfriend, hypnotist Paul McK...
Lizz Winstead: Catholic Mother
"I'm Catholic, and my mother and I were unpacking and she found my diaphragm," L...
London Bridge
One day in April 1968, Robert McCollough learned that London Bridge was slated f...
Long-Winded
On June 12, 1935, Senator Huey Long began what would become his longest and most...
Lonsdale
"The only deadly sin in the eyes of the membership of the Garrick Club was to be...
Loopy?
A lifelong agnostic, W. C. Fields was not entirely unconcerned about the possibi...
Lost Reverend
One day early in his career, Billy Graham arrived in a small town to preach a se...
Louis Untermeyer: Speaker's Fee
Louis Untermeyer once returned his speaker's fee to a small group in obvious nee...
Love me Tender?
While widely admired for his business acumen, Frank Perdue (founder of Perdue Fa...
Luciano Pavarotti: Kiss of God
Luciano Pavarotti, famed for his flirtatiousness, was once interviewed on televi...
Ludacris!
In 2002, foul-mouthed rapper Ludacris was peeved to learn that conservative pund...
Lunar Landing
In July 1969, several the political luminaries and other celebrities offered sug...
Lunatic
After the great German naturalist and explorer Friedrich Humboldt expressed his ...
Lusty Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger once readily acknowledged the pleasure he took in flirtati...
Mad Cow
One day at the turn of the millennium, Oprah Winfrey entered a courthouse in Ama...
Mad Ladie
Because her prophecies were deemed a danger during the troubled religious climat...
Mad Laughter
"The only disadvantage I laboured under at St Paul's School," Eric Newby once re...
Maiman's Laser
The famed physicist Theodore Maiman once recalled the New York press conference ...
Mainly on Grass?
Charlie Sheen once produced a collection of poetry (entitled ...
Major Problem
One day while campaigning against Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential...
Malcolm Muggeridge: Loopy Reasoning
Malcolm Muggeridge once told former "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar that he had vo...
Malkovigilante
John Malkovich, befitting his image as a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Casan...
Mama Cass: Heaven-Sent
When Ellen Naomi Cohen (aka Mama Cass) first tried to join John Phillips's band,...
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