Buzz
Human history is marked by long stretches of darkness, sorrow, and hardship. These periods should be approached with deep respect and reverence. Yet, many of them are often viewed with an ironic sense of humor.
Numerous historical and cultural milestones came into being because a joke spiraled out of control. The lives of millions were altered just because one individual decided to take a comedic risk. That, perhaps, is the most amusing part of it all.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Was Originally Conceived as a One-Time Parody
Back in the early 1980s, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird found themselves stuck in a creative rut. After meeting a year earlier with hopes of becoming comic book artists, nothing was coming together. One day, while Laird was watching TV, Eastman absentmindedly sketched a goofy drawing of a turtle holding nunchucks and wearing a mask. The image was so absurd that Eastman had to show it to Laird.
Laird found the sketch so amusing that he decided to try his hand at creating one of his own. The pair went back and forth, each trying to outdo the other, until they had four unique turtle vigilantes. When they completed the first sketches, Laird said, 'This is the dumbest thing ever.' It may have been true, but the duo was determined to turn their ridiculous idea of sword-wielding reptiles into something real.
The debut issue of the Ninja Turtles comic needed a storyline as outlandish as the characters themselves. They landed on a parody of other popular comics from the early 1980s, opting for the simplest, most laid-back parody they could imagine.
Each of the adjectives in the title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, paid homage to iconic features of other superheroes. 'Teenage' was a nod to Jack Kirby’s works, while 'mutant' referenced the X-Men franchise.
The term 'Ninja' was borrowed from Frank Miller’s samurai comic series, Ronin. However, that wasn't the only Miller creation Eastman and Laird drew inspiration from. In a twist, the same toxic spill that gave Daredevil his abilities also created the Turtles. And since Daredevil’s primary antagonist was 'The Hand,' it made perfect sense for the Turtles to face off against 'The Foot' clan.
Eastman used $1,000 from his uncle’s savings to self-publish their creation. What started as a fun night of messing around soon turned into a 42-page comic. This humble beginning gave birth to the TMNT franchise, which grew into a massive cultural phenomenon spanning TV shows, video games, movies, and toys.
9. The Duck That Laid the Golden Egg
By 1983, George Lucas was riding high after one of the most impressive runs in film history. He had just created American Graffiti, the Star Wars saga, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. It seemed like there was no project he could touch that wouldn’t turn to gold.
But anyone who's been around for the past thirty years can attest to how wrong he can be. Given full creative freedom, Lucas aimed to bring one of his favorite comic book characters to life in a live-action film. For the first time in his career, Lucas stumbled — and it was a colossal misstep. The resulting film, Howard the Duck, is now regarded as one of the worst comedies ever made.
As the first-ever feature film adaptation of a Marvel comic, Lucas was confident that the movie would be a massive success. To bring his vision to life, he enlisted Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, the screenwriting duo he had worked with on his breakout project, American Graffiti.
With such talent and an established intellectual property, everything seemed set for success. But it wasn’t. Infamous scenes of interspecies romance, an endless barrage of duck-related puns, and glaring sexism led to a commercial and critical disaster. In the US, Howard the Duck only recouped $16 million of its $37 million budget.
Lucas had hoped that the box office returns would bail him out of his financial troubles. With the film's lackluster performance, he had no choice but to start selling off his assets. One of the things he sold was the computer animation division of his production company.
His friend Steve Jobs purchased the division. Jobs transformed the investment into Pixar Studios. With iconic films like Toy Story, Up, and Finding Nemo, Pixar has gone on to produce movies far more successful than Howard the Duck ever was.
8. ‘The Ostrich’ Took Its Head Underground
Lou Reed embodied the very essence of cool, draped in leather and oozing New York swagger. For a whole generation, he was the epitome of rebellious spirit. Reed carved his name with provocative albums tackling taboo subjects like heroin addiction, sadomasochism, and transsexuality. While his most famous song encouraged listeners to take a 'walk on the wild side,' his beginnings were far more conventional. The man who became rock's icon of defiance started out as a corporate sellout.
In the mid-‘60s, Reed worked as the in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records, a tiny and largely unnoticed label. Struggling to make an impact, Pickwick resorted to deceptive tactics to boost sales.
Reed’s role was to churn out cheap, imitation singles that capitalized on the fads of the time. When hot rod songs were trending, he poured his energy into creating a track called 'Hot Rod Song.' Similarly, 'Johnny Can’t Surf No More' was a blatant attempt to cash in on the surfing craze.
Reed’s knack for imitation eventually evolved into absurd, gimmick-driven experiments. 'I’ve Got a Tiger in My Tank' parodied car-themed songs by overlaying massive cat roars. His attempt to create a dance craze resulted in the equally absurd 'The Ostrich.'
While this may not be Lou Reed’s most iconic song, it certainly stands as one of his most significant. To bring it to life, Pickwick Records hired a young Welsh musician named John Cale. This marked the beginning of the partnership between Reed and Cale, a duo that would eventually blossom into The Velvet Underground, one of the most influential bands in music history.
7. The Novelty Record That Sparked Gangsta Rap
In the 1980s, the California Raisin Advisory Board launched a Claymation commercial for raisins, never imagining how massive its popularity would become. The commercial’s plot involved a man waking up to find a line of Claymation raisins dancing and singing to a parody of the Motown hit 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine.'
The joke, a simple one, was that raisins are made from grapes. Yet, despite its simplicity, the commercial became a cultural sensation. People couldn’t get enough of the bizarre concept of dried fruit singing Marvin Gaye songs. This led to the release of toys, a Saturday morning cartoon, video games, and, naturally, albums featuring the California Raisins.
This unexpected success was a boon for Priority Records, a small independent label in LA that hadn’t seen a hit in years. Suddenly, the label was raking in millions from this silly fad.
With the influx of new revenue, Priority Records was able to sign more compelling artists. The next act they brought on board was N.W.A., a stark contrast to the California Raisins in nearly every conceivable way.
Just weeks later, Priority became a dominant force in rap music, thanks to the massive success of Straight Outta Compton. The album, and the label, propelled gangsta rap into the mainstream, changing the music landscape forever.
6. Susanna Salter Won an Election as a Joke
Long before U.S. women won the right to vote nationally, Susanna Salter had already been elected to public office. In 1887, the small Quaker town of Argonia, Kansas, made her the first female mayor in U.S. history. Her election was a pivotal moment in the fight for women’s suffrage.
While Susanna Salter’s term as mayor was rather uneventful, her unexpected victory played a key role in the rise of other female mayors in the West after the Civil War. However, her election came about due to a prank that unexpectedly backfired.
Salter was a fitting candidate for mayor. Political involvement ran in her family: her father, Oliver Kinsey, had been Argonia’s first mayor, and her husband served as the city clerk.
With a legal background of her own, Salter had prepared a local attorney for the bar, wrote the town’s ordinances, and chaired the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) caucus, where she was instrumental in selecting qualified men for office.
A group of 20 men, disapproving of a woman holding such political influence, hatched a scheme to undermine her. They created a mock election ticket that mirrored the WCTU's candidates, with the only alteration being Salter’s name in the mayoral slot, assuming that no man would vote for a woman.
They expected that Salter would be humiliated by the low vote count and retreat from politics. However, when Salter went to cast her vote, she was shocked to see her name on the ballot. Even more astonishing was the discovery that she had earned a two-thirds majority of the vote.
5. A Sexist Remark Led to a Discovery of the Cosmos
Edward C. Pickering was reviewing the calculations from his team’s recent observations when he casually remarked that the computations were so simple, his 'Scotch maid could do better.'
While Pickering may not have intended it as a joke, it was taken that way. He was well aware that his maid, Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming, was an exceptional mathematical talent. However, none of his male colleagues believed this.
The researchers decided to test Pickering’s claim and called Fleming in. To their surprise, she quickly showed that her calculations were remarkably accurate. Impressed by her work, Pickering began hiring only female researchers, partly due to their proficiency and also to take advantage of lower wages.
Regardless of the initial intentions, that decision ultimately altered the course of the universe. These women, who were derisively called “Pickering’s Harem,” went on to make pioneering contributions to astronomy. Fleming eventually stepped out of Pickering’s shadow when she uncovered the Horsehead Nebula.
Among the notable women in this group was Annie Jump Cannon, whose star classification system is still in use today, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt, whose data provided Edwin Hubble with the crucial information he needed to measure the distances between galaxies.
4. Wristwatches Were Once Considered a ‘Silly Trend’
Today, businessmen and hip-hop artists alike love showing off their latest Rolex watches as symbols of wealth and sophistication. But to someone from the early 1900s, these luxury watches would seem absurd. It would be like boasting about a fancy fidget spinner. Initially, wristwatches were seen as trivial novelties rather than symbols of prestige.
Prior to the invention of wristwatches, men typically kept their timepieces in their pockets. Wearing a watch on the wrist was considered a feminine practice. When European men started adopting this trend, The New York Times labeled it a “silly-ass fad” back in 1916.
Wristwatches began to gain traction among vaudeville performers, who wore them as a kind of humorous accessory, or “funmaker.” As far as jokes go, watching a clock's dial move is fairly mild. The real turning point for wristwatches in the US, however, came not from humor, but from the tragic events of World War I.
World War I marked the first major conflict with advanced aerial combat. Soldiers on the ground needed precise synchronization to move in unison. Timing became critical. In the heat of battle, the time lost when pulling a pocket watch from one’s coat could be the difference between life and death. To save those precious seconds, soldiers strapped their pocket watches to their wrists.
After the war, veterans brought this practice back home. Luxury brands like Cartier began designing their watches after the military models. No longer just a novelty, wristwatches became a symbol of prestige.
3. The Wild Celebration at Le Bal Des Ardents
For certain historical moments, comedy arises when tragedy is mixed with time. For others, however, comedy plus time only deepens the tragedy. Few events illustrate this better than Le Bal des Ardents (“The Ball of the Burning Men”).
In the 1300s, third weddings were lighthearted affairs where pranks were common. King Charles VI of France decided to prank the wedding of his queen’s lady-in-waiting, Catherine de Fastaverin. What was meant to be an amusing celebration quickly turned into disaster, as Charles VI ruined the evening by making a party foul.
The prank was far from witty; it was more an act of foolishness. The plan involved having guests dress up as wild apes, howling and shouting obscenities. To enhance the effect, their costumes were covered with hair made from hemp, linen, and tar.
For a brief time, their behavior was the highlight of the party. However, everything changed when Charles VI’s brother arrived late and drunk, carrying a torch. The torch's embers ignited the men's costumes, setting them ablaze.
Four men perished as their costumes caught fire. The intense heat was so severe that it caused their testicles to drop to the ground. The king narrowly escaped with his life by leaping into his aunt’s skirt.
Although Charles VI was already mentally unstable, this horrific event pushed him to the brink. It also exposed the vulnerability of his mind. Worries about the stability of the throne sparked sectarian violence, and Charles was soon seen as a failure. His Valois lineage was disgraced, setting the stage for two decades of civil war over the throne.
2. The Butt That Killed Thousands
Mooning may be ridiculous, especially considering the first syllable of the word. For something so absurd, it’s remarkable how simple the joke is. All the necessary materials are already part of the person making it. Add a fart, and you’ve reached the peak of bathroom humor. Jewish historian Titus Flavius Josephus recounted a story where one particularly loud fart wasn’t just silent, but fatal.
In AD 66, it was a dangerous time to be a devout Jew. The Roman government had marginalized the religion, creating deep divisions. Tensions were especially high during religious holidays. One soldier unintentionally worsened the situation by exposing a crack of his own.
The Jewish pilgrims who had been mooning felt humiliated, particularly during Passover. Outraged by the insult, they began throwing rocks at the soldiers, who then called in reinforcements. The ensuing chaos caused a stampede that left more than 10,000 people dead. This riot became one of the most significant events leading up to the First Jewish–Roman War.
1. A Prank Might Have Killed Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh is nearly as well-known for his death as he is for his life. His suicide fits the tragic image of a misunderstood genius, so shunned by society that he would rather end his life than endure any longer.
Many years after his untimely death, van Gogh's brilliance was finally recognized, which only made his death seem more tragic. This narrative, though poignant, is misleading. According to Pulitzer Prize–winning researchers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, they believe van Gogh's death was the result of an accidental shooting during a prank that went horribly wrong.
Van Gogh had as much luck making friends as he did wearing earmuffs. He was often harassed by a group of teenagers who enjoyed getting drunk and tormenting him. Van Gogh, however, took a particular interest in Gaston Secretan, though it was actually Gaston’s brother who would have the most significant impact on his life.
While Gaston was a quiet figure, Rene Secretan was a playful prankster. Rene enjoyed playing harmless tricks on Van Gogh, such as adding salt to his coffee or sneaking a garden snake into his paint box.
Much to Van Gogh’s dismay, Rene also had the unsettling habit of waving a malfunctioning gun around while dressed as the legendary Buffalo Bill. Naifeh and Smith argue that one fateful night, Rene’s antics turned tragic when the gun accidentally discharged, striking Van Gogh in the abdomen. He passed away 29 hours later.
This theory has been heavily criticized by some historians, but there is some supporting evidence. Despite his inner turmoil, Van Gogh left no suicide note. In 1956, after the release of the acclaimed biopic Lust for Life, Rene admitted to tormenting the artist.
In 2014, medical experts pointed out that Van Gogh would have had to hold the gun in an unusually awkward way for the bullet to enter his body at the angle suggested by the wound. This would have caused black powder burns on his hands, yet no such burns were reported at the time.
In 2014, Dr. Vincent Di Maio, a renowned forensic expert in handgun injuries, stated: "In my professional opinion, based on medical probabilities, the wound sustained by van Gogh was not self-inflicted. To put it simply, he did not shoot himself."
