Offbeat News

In April an interesting commentary will be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.  Researchers at the University College of London found that those in the study who claimed to be chronically bored were two and a half times more likely to die of a heart attack than those who didn’t report being particularly bored.  

Read more: You Really Can Be Bored To Death

Oxmoor House, a well known book publishing company in Birmingham, Alabama, is taking preemptive action to recall several books whose errors could put people in serious danger.  Although no incidents have been reported, the company is taking no chances.

Read more: Recall of Home Improvement Books

That little plastic instrument that we all had as kids is the American adaptation of several African wind instruments, called mirlitons. Mirlitons use a thin vibrating membrane to change the sound of a voice. In Africa it was used in religious ceremonies or to imitate animal sounds for hunting. Mirliton flutes were used in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe as well.

In it’s modern form, however, it is a uniquely American instrument, hence National Kazoo Day, January 28th. This year marks the illustrious kazoo’s 160th birthday. It was modified into it’s current form by a former slave, Alabama Vest of Macon, GA. Clockmaker Thaddeus von Clegg , a German immigrant, manufactured the device, and it was introduced two years later at the 1852 Georgia State Fair.

Read more: The Kazoo Turns 160