“[T]he idea occurs to me that it is no wonder we are called ‘Tar Heels.’” — Lt. William B.A. Lowrance, 4th regiment of the North Carolina Troops, 6 February 1863 Would that Lt. Lowrance come back and explain it to the rest of us. Although the origin of “Tar Heel” has long been guessed at […]| So They Say
We’ve heard it before, that the origin of “Black Friday,” that crazy shopping day following Thanksgiving, lies in an old accounting practice. It’s said that retailers, operating at a loss in the build-up to the Christmas shopping season, suddenly experience a remarkable influx of cash on the day after Thanksgiving; the transactions in their ledger […]| So They Say
What do we know about the existence of contemporaneous firsthand or the reliability of secondhand accounts of Japanese soldiers storming or generally taunting U.S. troops in several Pacific island battles during WWII with the yell, “To hell with Babe Ruth!” (or “To hell with Roosevelt!” or even less sanitized versions such as “Fuck Babe Ruth!”)? […]| So They Say
For more than 60 years, American political folklore has featured the sly candidate who resorts to using complex words he believes his listeners unfamiliar with in order to create doubts about his o…| So They Say
What had been intended as a German bath toy soon became known in America as a “Frozen Charlotte.” The dolls cost a penny and were insanely popular—some being sold with their very own coffin …| So They Say
