The U.S. Psychic Friends Program

The federal government dabbled in paranormal espionage for decades, using clairvoyants for everything from spotting enemy subs to “reading” documents on Nikita Khrushchev’s desk. And for fun, they bent spoons.

 

The 1967 Monkees-Jimi Hendrix Concert Tour

He was perhaps the greatest rock guitarist ever. But to the pre-pubescent fans of a fictional TV pop group, he was boh-ring!

 

                                                        The Cleveland Indians' Ten-Cent Beer Night 

Lagging attendance. Latent hostility. Limitless lager. Add them up, and you get the most ill-conceived sports promotion in American history ? and a pivot point in the new temperance movement.

 

The 60-Story John Hancock Guillotine

If you’re going to build a masterpiece of modern architecture, make sure the windows don’t fall out during windstorms.

 

Male Fashion’s Fabulous Faux Pas

The leisure suit is reviled as the ultimate icon of 1970s-era bad taste. But what was hyped as a harbinger of a male fashion revolution actually turned out to be just that, in a flammable, double-knit way.

 

                                                        The Abbreviated Reign of ‘Neon’ Leon Spinks

The tragicomic heavyweight boxing champ wasn't the first American hero to mismanage fame and fortune. But by rising higher and falling faster than most, he brought schadenfreude to the masses. 

“Clippy” ? Microsoft’s Relentless Software Irritant

The bizarre, bug-eyed anthropomorphic paperclip was supposed to make Microsoft software easier to use. Instead, Clippy became such an unpopular pest that even its creator ended up mocking it.

 

                                                                 The Y2K Scare

To nervous Americans on the eve of the 21^st century, a couple of missing digits in a computer program foretold a looming techno-apocalypse. So a few entrepreneurs did what they do best: turned fear into cash.

 

The XFL’s Quick Takedown

In a single season of televised T&A, backstage buffoonery, and second-rate football, the league launched by wrestling impresario Vince McMahon and NBC recorded the lowest prime-time ratings in network history.

 

The Quixotic Quest for the Flying Car

As they have for generations, aviation wonks and Popular Mechanics subscribers continue working toward the Holy Grail of private transportation: the flying car. Never mind that nobody needs one anymore.