Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things

Astonishing stories behind 500 everyday items, expressions, and customs—from Kleenex to steak sauce, Barbie Dolls to honeymoons.

For lovers of facts, students of popular culture, history buffs, and science enthusiasts, the foremost specialist on everything tells us how and why hundreds of the everyday items, expressions, and customs we take for granted came into existence. Learn the fascinating discovery stories behind over 500 phenomena, including:How chewing gum and Silly Putty began as substitutes for rubberHow the potato chip emerged from an act of pique on the part of a Native American named CrumWhy April Fool’s Day started out as New Year’s Eve, a joke in itselfHow the song “Happy Birthday to You” began as a kindergarten jingle titled “Good Morning to All”How the zipper was one man’s attempt to make obsolete not buttons . . . but shoelacesHow the newlywed husband came to the aid of his accident-prone bride with the invention of the Band-AidHow the hotdog began as an outlawed Roman sausage and received its name at a New York baseball gameHow Drs. Fallopius and Condom made strides in inventing and popularizing a male means of birth controlHow the original Goldilocks was a disgruntled, gray-haired crone, tortured by the three bearsHow Ketchup came from the Romans, Tabasco sauce from an exiled New Orleans banker, Mayonnaise from a French duke, and A.1. Steak Sauce from a royal chef named Brand

And many, many more in this carefully organized, delicious compendium of little-known facts—guaranteed to amaze, absorb, amuse, and delight.