The Guffaw, I, want to break from writing bad jokes about history to write bad jokes about having cancer. Before I started this endeavor I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2009. I was lucky I ...
History does not have to be all dusty books and facts. Since it is almost summer, we here in the Executive Offices of History Guffaw (this place is better than Hogwarts, an automatic latte machine, f...
On May 22, 1570, the first Atlas was published. Flemish pals, Belgians before Belgium existed, Gerardus Mercator and Abraham Ortelius put the whole shebang together. Nerds! (reader question: Dude, do...
On this day in 1904, perhaps the most powerful and likely corrupt global organization in the world was founded. The United Nations you ask? No, the Guffaw said powerful (boom, roasted U.N.). The Worl...
On May 17, 1620, the first merry-go-round,ever, was made accessible to the public in Philippapolis in the Ottoman Empire (now Bulgaria). It was spotted by an English traveler, sweet lord in heaven th...
On this day in 1930, two engineers got together and said let’s form a company. The company? Geophysical Service Inc. The name does not mean anything to you? It didn’t mean much to other p...
The Dutch seem like a nice group of people. They enjoy a good pancake and Heineken, while an average beer at best, makes fun commercials. The Dutch are nice enough to wear wooden shoes with nary a co...
On this day in 1874, no one got there money’s worth. Admission was charged for the first time to watch a college football game as Harvard beat McGill (of Montreal, Canada) 3-0. That is what the...
On May 11, 1858, Minnesota joined the United States, please insert your own joke here. No seriously, insert your own joke because the Guffaw is not sure he has many for the land of 10,000 lakes. Some...
On this day in 1898, the first vending machine law was enacted in Omaha, Nebraska. The permit for one was $5,000. A lot of money to dispense bubble gum and figurines. It must have worked as soon the ...
On May 9, 1914, the federal government of the United States said is was alright to thank your mother, buy her a scented candle, perhaps some discount chocolates from the closest convenience store, an...
And I’m back! Sorry for the hiatus. History is not going anywhere and neither is the Guffaw. Let the silly observations start anew! On this day in 1947, the National Broadcast Corporation, NBC ...
On March 7, 1973, the country formally known as “East Pakistan” had its first democratic elections. Hooray for voting! Hooray for Sheikh Mujib Rahman (the WordPress spellcheck just had a ...
Ha, ha Soviet Space Program how hard is it to miss a freaking planet? True, planets are large but they are surrounded by something called space which may or may not be infinite. Anyway, on this day m...
First, happy Leap Day to y’all! The Guffaw hopes Leap Day William was nothing but kind in granting all of your wishes (a reference to one of the best 30 Rock episodes in a while). So what went...
On February 28, 1854, the Republican Party on what was probably a nippy winter day in Ripon, Wisconsin came into being. No taxes for everyone. All illegal immigrants, in this case the Irish, back on ...
On February 27, 1827, depending on one’s sense of fun, the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for New Orleans occurred. The first celebration of Mardi or Fat Tuesday, took place w...
Sorry for the non-posting this week. President’s Day is a huge deal at History Guffaw. The entire staff goes to the dentist to have our teeth replaced by wooden dentures and “Hoe Cakes...
There is a reason the Terminator movies are works of fiction and not documentaries. That reason, Gary “Computer Pimp-Slapping” Kasparov. The man who defeated the machine in chess. On this...
On this day the first ever bank check was written. Some swarthy Dutchman named Nicholas van Acker wrote a check for 400 pounds to some English dude with the last name Delboe. Did van Acker hope again...
On February 15, 399 B.C. Socrates ordered a hi-ball glass of hemlock (a poison) on the rocks, shaken not stirred, and laid down with these his last words “Soon I will rest, yes, forever sleep.&...
This is going to be short and to the point loyal readers. The little Guffaw as gone straight ninja about sleeping in a crib. He will not be contained. So many hours of sleep have been lost trying to ...
On this day in 1960, the French, 18 years after getting blitzkrieged in War World II, developed a deterrent to stop Germany from invading them for a third time in the 20th Century. Good job France! S...
On February 10, 1861, Jefferson Davis reluctantly accepted the Presidency of the Confederate States of America. Davis a former U.S. Secretary of War and Senator from Mississippi and you know what, wh...
On this day the college sports got its whipping boy.* On what the Guffaw imagines was a cold day in 1896, some Midwestern Universities got together, a number north of nine and south of 11, and formed...
Is this really how the one-percent live in this country? Do they really just go around buying up property where ever a magical thimble takes them? Getting out of jail by merely showing a card? When i...
Finally, the Guffaw’s Political Science degree will be worth a Buffalo Nickel. Time to explain some policy and the historical implications. Life is so good, but not profitable, when in possessi...
On this day in 1892, the longest ever boxing match, with modern rules, took place. 77 rounds. That is a lot of rounds. In Mike Tyson’s Punch Out (greatest Nintendo game ever?), Little Joe only ...
There are certain times that history just says enough already and cuts a brother a break. In this case, an entire country. After being a historical ping-pong ball between the imperialistic intentions...
Ham did it! America did it! Hey China, how many apes have you sent it to outer space? None. Keep trying, sincerely, America. On this date in 1961, NASA and the United States sent the first chimp into...
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