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Buffalo wings are one of those foods that are pretty much universally adored. People might vary on their heat preferences, and there is surely a debate to be had on whether they should be served with ranch or bleu cheese for dipping, but if you order a dozen wings, there is almost always going to be a few sticks of celery on your plate, too. Why, though? It definitely can’t be because people want to balance they’re sticky, saucy, sugary wings and ranch dressing with some veggies. Image Credit: iStock Keep reading, because we think we’ve found the answer – and it takes us back to the snack’s roots. Buffalo wings were invented in 1964 in – of course – Buffalo, NY. Frank and Teressa Bellissimo owned a neighborhood Italian restaurant that only served chicken in spaghetti sauce until inspiratio...

Classic Christmassy fare offers reason-for-the-season themes amid standard secular offerings. It’s that time of year again. The Rankin/Bass lineup of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman, just to name a few, remain, all these decades later, staples of Christmastime television. Most of their catalog represents the pacification of Christmas into a mash-up of vague bromides of happiness and joy, without ever scratching the surface as to why this season, as opposed to all others, is so joyful and happy. The other element all of these Christmas specials relied on: heavy doses of fantasy. It is not that Rankin/Bass Christmas specials spearheaded the diminution of Christmas as a high holy day, but they certainly joined along in an organized march t...

Imagine that, this Christmas, instead of sparkling lights, gifts, and your favorite food you get locked in a cellar. What should you do? Rejoice! And patiently wait for something better. That’s what the readings say this Third Sunday of Advent, Year A, Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. Last week we heard John the Baptist confidently predicting the Messiah’s victory, coming soon. This week he has never been more defeated. Sunday’s Gospel begins: “When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” It’s important to realize what it means to be in prison in the ancient world. John wasn’t in an airy jail cell with a cot. He was most likely in something like a dungeon, sleeping...

You might have heard of this story in the past- A 45 foot, 8 ton whale washed up on the beach of Florence, Oregon in 1970, and officials weren’t sure what to do about it. According to the legendary news clip (which is embedded below), nobody wanted to cut up the whale, and officials deemed that burying it would just lead to the carcass eventually becoming uncovered. So, what did they do? They loaded a half ton of dynamite under the carcass with the intention that the explosion would disintegrate it. I won’t spoil what happens for those of you that haven’t seen the clip before. Just trust me when I say that you’re going to want to watch what happens: You can skip ahead to the 1:55 mark if you just want to see the explosion and aftermath. The officials from the Oregon Department of Tran...

When Alex Fitzpatrick decided to pursue a career in archaeology, her friends from school asked her, not entirely jokingly, “Oh, like the Ancient Aliens people?” referring to the popular A&E Networks show based on the pseudoscientific premise that extraterrestrials visited Earth thousands of years ago. “No, I’m going to be a real archaeologist,” she recalled responding. Now a researcher and science communicator with a doctorate in archaeology, Fitzpatrick told The Daily Beast that her field has long attracted intrigue from fringe thinkers. “Historically, archaeology has been weaponized for loads of different things, whether it’s eugenics, race science, or nationalistic propaganda, so archaeology is very ripe for this kind of conspiracy thinking,” she said. That’s why Fitzpatrick wasn’t ...

In some places, the demand for debaptisms has been going up, which could be rather surprising. “What’s a debaptism?” you might ask. “Is that even a thing? How can you un-pour water on someone?” The short answer is that No, debaptism isn’t a thing, but that hasn’t stopped people from asking for it. And yes, “debaptism” is the language they use. The Pillar explains: The Catholic Church in Belgium reported on Wednesday a sharp rise in the number of people asking for their names to be removed from baptismal registers. The Church’s latest annual report, published on Nov. 30, said there were 5,237 such requests in 2021, compared to 1,261 in 2020 and 1,800 in 2019. … Nevertheless, a rising movement in Europe promoting ‘debaptism’ has encouraged Catholics to write to Church authorities asking to b...