The Energy Drinks explosion of the 2000’s

And as their name implies, “energy drinks” promise to give you an extra dose of energy. With no regulatory control, their popularity exploded in the early 2000’s and were especially trendy with minors and young adults.

streaker at the SCG during the first final between India and Australia March 2, 2008

Who was the first streaker? On July 5, 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o’clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House in London. He was promptly arrested and upon questioning, admitted to the authorities that he had accepted a wager of 10 guineas to run naked from Cornhill to Cheapside. The challenge…

Known as a Vod-Bomb, Birch, or a ‘DVR’ (double vodka red bull), the newest drinking trend amongst the college and high school aged crowd is a cocktail made by mixing vodka and a highly caffeinated energy drink, typically Red Bull.

Official Napster client running on a iBook 2001

With the movement of popular entertainment mediums to electronic formats, file sharing became quite common and widespread. Popular with teens, file sharing often involves copyrighted properties such as music or movie MP3 files and hence, is typically considered illegal.

Rarely has a toy reemerged over and over again as a hit “new toy” like the Lemon Twist (or Jingle Jump, Footsie, Skip-A-Roo, or Skip It). First introduced in the late 1960’s as the Footsie toy, it became immensely popular for several few years before gradually fading away into obscurity. Then in the mid-1970’s the…

Girls throwing a Frisbee disc - Wham-O commercial frame

In the United States, two simultaneous “inventions” of the flying disc occurred on opposite ends of the country while a major tweaking of the disc design and a hearty dose of marketing set off the 1970’s Frisbee craze that lasted for nearly two decades.

From 1890 to 1900 was the greatest era in the history of chewing gum in the United States. The press, the pulpit, and the medical profession were largely occupied in denouncing the “vulgar” habit as detrimental to mankind.

Twenty-two students cramming into telephone booth at St. Mary’s College, Moraga, California

In early 1959, twenty five students attempted something nobody had ever tried before. The South African students of Durban tried to see if all twenty five people could fit into a phone booth.

University of Missouri School of Journalism student Marie Hensen became the first woman to swallow goldfish April 1939

Introduction It began in the 1930’s, a fad so bizarre; some mistakenly believe it to be an urban legend. Goldfish swallowing, where a live goldfish is swallowed, started in mid 1939 and sizzled out a few months later. Despite its short life, the fad secured a firm spot in American’s history of bizarre fads. Lothrop…

Various types of swing dances, including the Lindy Hop, Jive, the Big Apple, West Coast Swing, the Whip, the Push, and the East Coast Swing, were referred to as the “jitterbug” dance.