Heart UK

Omnibus

Every week, Ken Jennings and John Roderick add a new entry to the OMNIBUS, an encyclopedic reference work of strange-but-true stories that they are compiling as a time capsule for future generations.

In which a clue-filled dead body appears on a beach in Adelaide, Australia, sparking a tantalizing 75-year mystery, and Ken is not a team of seventh graders. Certificate #35821.

Somerton Man (Entry 1189.PS7902)

In which the collapse of the video rental industry sends one valuable and eccentric archive to an obscure and disaster-plagued town in western Sicily, and E. coli is no match for John. Certificate #43318.

Kim's Video (Entry 687.MT0542)

In which a mysterious World War II inscription marries image and text to create the modern meme, and Ken does not think gangrenous limbs are a meme. Certificate #25622.

Kilroy Was Here (Entry 687.EZ0810)

In which the bountiful gifts of American advice columnists include a now-ubiquitious happy afterlife for pets, and John might lose a swordfight because he's too heavy for a chandelier. Certificate #29810.

The Rainbow Bridge (Entry 1028.EC0319)

In which a self-crowned prince founds his own nation on a tiny piece of concrete in the North Sea, complete with commando raids, and Ken is only in favor of 3-D awards. Certificate #6611.

The Principality of Sealand (Entry 987.IS6022)

In which a village pastime for Sussex dairymaids gets urbanized into an exciting neighborhood pick-up sport in American inner cities, and John wants to pick the bittle up. Certificate #13472.

Stickball (Entry 1225.MK0608)

In which attempts to replace petrochemical plastic with corn and sawdust face fatal challenges of scale and efficiency, and Ken has never made a Prius. Certificate #32944.

Bioplastics (Entry 124.EZ3629)

In which the influence of spinet pianos and telegraph keys produces a satisfying new device interface for the electric age, and John thinks aliens just want a cuddle. Certificate #42007.

The Push Button (Entry 1012.DE0611)

In which the development of guardrail and concrete divider technology makes highway driving massively safer over the decades, and Ken lies under oath in a deposition. Certificate #40991.

Jersey Barriers (Entry 671.IS5714)

In which twenty-four bishops refuse to open the secret prophecies that will save Britain from war and banditry, and John wants to be called "Dicebox." Certificate #49596.

Joanna Southcott's Box (Entry 673.GN4910)

In which car registration numbers become modes for personalized creative expression and eventually a multimillion-dollar commodity, and Ken does not say "auto." Certificate #37808.

Episode 590: Vanity Plates (Entry 1383.EC1208)

In which centuries of inaccurate illustrations of our planet are abruptly upended by satellites and awestruck astronauts, and John never drew spaceships, just Japanese fighter planes. Certificate #35817.

Episode 589: The Earth from Space (Entry 391.GN0115)

In which budget-conscious Swedes rearrange American ideas about nutritious eating, and Ken is pretty sure M&Ms are not getting smaller.  Certificate #54063.

Episode 588: The Food Pyramid (Entry 487.MT0611)

In which we celebrate 167 years of Americans being able to claim any island they like as long as it has enough bird poop on it, and John thinks you can dip a pole in liberty. Certificate #39867.

Episode 587: The Guano Islands Act (Entry 554.PS10407)

In which a remote part of Idaho solves its beaver dam problem with some surplus parachutes and an even more remote part of Idaho, and Ken applies the transitive property to mules and culverts. Certificate #31297.

Episode 586: The Great Idaho Beaver Drop (Entry 548.JL0202)

In which German health nuts give the world the idea of social nude recreation before the Nazis can tell them not to, and John thinks of something that is better than itching. Certificate #53668.

Episode 585: Naturism (Entry 827.GE0225)

In which the ponds of New England become the wellspring of a new worldwide web of perishable foods, and Ken learns that gum is a forest treat. Certificate #23725.

Episode 584: The Ice Trade (Entry 615.PS14717)

In which the estate of the century's greatest scientist becomes a $200 million enterprise even as his brain tissue languishes in a cider box, and John compares it to pastrami. Certificate #21917.

Episode 583: Einstein's Brain (Entry 399.JB1909)

In which a ski bum with dad jokes explores new frontiers of film distribution and extreme sports, and Ken is a water machine.  Certificate #48941.

Episode 582: Warren Miller (Entry 789.IS5707)

In which the rift between two Communist dictators leads to a blooming of mariachi culture in the fertile soil of the Balkans, and John is baffled by Vietnamese karaoke.  Certificate #46465.

Episode 581: Yu-Mex (Entry 1455.1C1408)

In which the smartest people in the world bloom early but often struggle to live up that promise later in life, and Ken's phone thinks he lives at the zoo.  Certificate #50285.

Episode 580: Prodigies, Failed (Entry 990.LK0240)

In which a late-night Christmas party in a West Point barracks gets out of hand, almost changing the course of the Civil War, and John is not anti-Julius.  Certificate #32683.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 579: The Eggnog Riot (Entry 398.RO1313)

In which tensions over slavery and its westward expansion boil over into an assault on the floor of the United States Senate, and Ken does not have a single cloak.  Certificate #46116.

Episode 578: The Caning of Charles Sumner (Entry 180.PR2314)

In which governments around the world deliberate on how creatively parents may name their children, and John thinks "Tilden" sounds like a kind of cheese. Certificate #26934.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 577: Legal Baby Names (Entry 710.LK0160)

In which the world's overfished oceans begin to teem with a sudden surplus of ancient and puzzling invertebrates, and Ken just wants sex tourists not to pee on his bunion.  Certificate #23757.

Episode 576: Jellyfish Blooms (Entry 671.PS10425)

In which a teenaged slacker from Sedona with a love for llamas jump-starts the digital music age, and John explains why large people prefer old things.  Certificate #38550.

Episode 575: Winamp (Entry 1433.PR2603)

In which the successor to one of the great medieval bridges is shipped to the Arizona desert by an American tycoon, and Ken is skeptical about product placement in slasher movies.  Certificate #28472.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 574: London Bridge (Entry 733.LK1626)

In which a science fiction-loving professor dreams of conquering death with the cold, hard science of low-temperature preservation, and John just wants to be a brain with a nose.  Certificate #48643.

Episode 573: Cryonics (Entry 302.1C1535)

In which evangelical Christians wrestle with the problem of whether rock music is inherently good, evil, or neither. and Ken wonders about angel monkeys.  Certificate #34822.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 572: Christian Rock (Entry 220.EP0519)

In which the rituals of Masonry and its more casual offshoots produce a "golden age of fraternalism" for American men, and John is discomfited by noisy day care teachers.  Certificate #35320.

Episode 571: Lodge Night (Entry 731.GN2922)

In which the remains of a useless Nazi "chandelier" unexpectedly emerge in Maryland and Washington, and Ken thinks about Bilbo Baggins too late.  Certificate #35410.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 570: Uranium Cubes (Entry 1376.1K0710)

In which the legend of feral children is traced from ancient mythology all the way up to Smurfs and Russian street dogs, and John cannot recommend the Madrid Zoo. Certificate #22714.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 569: Raised by Wolves (Entry 1028.GE4927)

In which an adman who survived Nazi and Soviet invasions goes on to reinvent gay eroticism, and Ken wonders which Founding Father looked best naked. Certificate #7136.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 568: Tom of Finland (Entry 1315.EX0402)

In which a ghost-written memoir explains how a great British stage magician defeated Rommel in North Africa with his trickery, and John considers saying "Abracadabra" as a swear. Certificate #37883.

Episode 567: The Magic Gang (Entry 747.EX0722)

In which a perfect storm of construction, coal mining, and Communist commemoration creates twelve days of gridlock in central China, and Ken imagines an ancient Roman in a stadium parking garage. Certificate #34985.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 566: The Traffic Jam of the Century (Entry 1325.EZ1704)

In which one Canadian newsman convinces America for several decades that daily drinking is the key to solving the "French Paradox," and John thinks Ken looks inhibited holding a spatula. Certificate #13766.

Episode 565: One Glass of Red Wine (Entry 866.DE3233)

In which Japanese soldiers, unwilling to believe that World War II is over, hold out for decades on islands all over the Pacific, and Ken will never give up on bar soap. Certificate #44164.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 564: (LIVE) Hiroo Onoda (Entry 867.1C1526)

In which a nationwide panic over "stranger danger" turns regional dairies into activists for missing children, and John likes when things are "de minimis." Certificate #25468.

Episode 563: Kids on Milk Cartons (Entry 686.DE2407)

In which the world's first nuclear-powered merchant vessel is launched in all its modernist glory, and Ken wants an infinitely long ship.  Certificate #26615.

Episode 562: The NS Savannah (Entry 849.MK0436)

In which the three nascent American broadcast networks face a challenge from a scrappy engineering lab, and John thinks gadgeteers should be certified.  Certificate #28450.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 561: The DuMont Network (Entry 386.LK2417)

In which the "behavioral sink" of rodent utopias is discovered in a Maryland barn, and Ken sings about a urinal trough.  Certificate #38792.

Episode 560: Universe 25 (Entry 1350.GE0907)

In which Sufi mysticism inspires a Bolivian philosopher to divide all of humanity into nine personality types, and Ken visualizes the ur-cow. Certificate #25935.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 559: Enneagrams (Entry 415.JM0124)

In which a panel of concerned atomic scientists quantify the dangers of the nuclear age with a timely visual aid, and John's mother has a favorite fact about Benjamin Franklin.  Certificate #26973.

Episode 558: The Doomsday Clock (Entry 372.1P0407)

In which a medieval pope's disturbing nightmare leads to the addition of "baby doors" at convents and hospitals across Europe, and John thinks robots could replace orphans. Certificate #43431.
This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/omnibus to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code OMNIBUS.

Episode 557: Foundling Wheels (Entry 495.IS4915)

In which a Yemeni construction crew finds a priceless trove of Quranic literature and promptly stuff it into potato sacks, and Ken would like to burn some French translators at the stake. Certificate #24503.

Episode 556: The Sanaa Manuscript (Entry 1100.2T0316)

In which a unique piece of Jewish medieval art barely survives two European wars, and John imagines that the Venetian papal censor was a chill guy. Certificate #48606.

Episode 555: The Sarajevo Haggadah (Entry 1102.EX1243)

In which California's largest lake, created by accident in 1905, teeters on the brink of collapse, and Ken complains about a hotel sink. Certificate #44008.

Episode 554: Salton Sea (Entry 1098.GN1403)

In which an asthmatic British cartoonist sells two million copies of his books of non-jokes for cat skeptics, and John knows what the handle of a gun is called. Certificate #29573.

Episode 553: 101 Uses for a Dead Cat (Entry 606.LV0724)

In which a Shakespearean insult for an obnoxious blowhard comes to be used as an anti-white slur, and Ken wants to test the Appalachians for testosterone. Certificate #38163.

Episode 552: Crackers (Entry 290.NA0302)

In which a QAnon-like conspiracy theory insists that fancy 19th-century architecture was all built by a mysterious, long-lost superstate, and John is concerned about neighborhood dogs with heads the size of pumpkins. Certificate #20354.

Episode 551: The Tartarian Empire (Entry 1279.NA0206)

In which a vast hoard of gold and diamonds disppears near the Mozambique border during the Boer War, and Ken thinks most penguin species look like hoboes.  Certificate #15845.

Episode 550: The Kruger Millions (Entry 693.JB2801)

In which Latin America's first Marxist democracy tries to collectivize the means of production by inventing a proto-internet in 1970, and John just hopes it was orange and brown. Certificate #53432.

Episode 549: Project Cybersyn (Entry 993.AC0245)

In which the pilots of a Canadian commercial jetliner abruptly realize over Ontario that they're entirely out of fuel, and Ken likes sad character licensing attempts at amusement parks.  Certificate #41746.

Episode 548: The Gimli Glider (Entry 528.PS6104)

In which German university students create a new status symbol when they add swordplay to their drinking society meetings, and John's closet skeletons are all bar fights. Certificate #36857.

Episode 547: Dueling Scars (Entry 385.PR0633)

In which generations of New Yorkers read about, and lasso, a series of not-legendary-at-all interlopers beneath their city, and Ken doesn't think you should trim a reptile like a bonsai tree. Certificate #36161.

Episode 546: Alligators in the Sewers (Entry 033.LV1142)

In which a self-proclaimed electronics prodigy from Greece wows the credulous Beatles with five years of inventions he will never invent, and John insists that his recursive t-shirt feature Wil Wheaton.  Certificate #45939.

Episode 545: Magic Alex (Entry 747.JE0708)

In which a future three-time Oscar winner becomes the nemesis of America's favorite fake swamp-rocker, and Ken has prepared a little skit about the death of Stalin. Certificate #42240.

Episode 544: Saul Zaentz (Entry 1455.1S1435)

In which underslept Wyoming railroad workers strike back against a tide of pushy brush and encyclopedia salesmen, and John appreciates the Jehovah's Witnesses. Certificate #12881.

Episode 543: The Green River Ordinance (Entry 549.RV0320)

In which the unsavory feeding practices of British dairy farms introduce Europe to a new degenerative brain disease, and Ken believes Prince Edward is not necessarily human.  Certificate #41602.

Episode 542: Mad Cow Disease (Entry 746.GE4120)

In which mediums and other charlatans wage a 150-year war with their sworn enemy, elite stage magicians, and John would never yell at a lake or birdbath. Certificate #44722.

Episode 541: The Amazing Randi (Entry 038.EX0711)

In which a pioneering chemist never sees a cent of the billions of dollars that her tough new polymer earns for her employer, and Ken wonders how many Alaskans fake their own deaths. Certificate #34836.

Episode 540: Kevlar (Entry 684.EX2822)

In which the greatest turncoat in Chinese history betrays every single warlord or government he ever serves, and John had the 4chan version of the '90s. Certificate #40824.

Episode 539: The Defector General (Entry 326.IS3301)

In which a playful-looking but delicate little species is unable to thrive anywhere but its 11-foot wide home near Death Valley, and Ken witnesses a jellyfish tragedy. Certificate #41036.

Episode 538: The Devils Hole Pupfish (Entry 342.PS10529)

In which a British magazine very gradually takes over film culture with its once-every-decade top ten list, and John is careful not to endorse an invasion of the Sudetenland.  Certificate #51403.

Episode 537: The Sight and Sound Poll (Entry 1158.DE0413)

In which a series of lapses at a Union Carbide India chemical plant leads to the worst industrial accident in history, and Ken can't get behind a midnight tea break.  Certificate #52760.

Episode 536: The Bhopal Disaster (Entry 118.JE2106)

In which an Oklahoma tribe becomes the world's richest people before the swindling and the murders start, and John enjoys a web of intrigue. Certificate #47911.

Episode 535: The Osage Headrights (Entry 877.MT2508)

In which a bizarrely illustrated codex baffles codebreakers for almost four hundred years, and Ken should not have sent that text about the collected works of Dickens. Certificate #42634.

Episode 534: The Voynich Manuscript (Entry 1403.DA0515)

In which Europe is so besotted with exotic ungulates that Roman emperors battle them, artists engrave them badly, and salons honor them in wig form, and John asks about Ken's milk bags.  Certificate #27983.

Episode 533: Rhinos in Europe (Entry 1069.JB3910)

In which underground nuclear testing in Alaska leads two Jewish Quakers into a new age of direct action in environmental activism, and Ken is grateful for the air fryer. Certificate #53211.

Episode 532: Cannikin (Entry 180.IS0219)

In which the divine right of kings, along with golden amulets, is considered the only cure for a disfiguring disease, and John considers which celebrities might be carved from wood. Certificate #22347.

Episode 531: The Royal Touch (Entry 1087.MT1902)

In which a rare oxidized form of hemoglobin changes the skin color of a whole holler full of Kentuckians, and Ken wonders when elves got plastic surgery. Certificate #26015.

Episode 530: Blue Fugates (Entry 137.DA1006)

In which the world's first cultural superpower decides to make all its citizens a year or two younger overnight, and John could not have been a better baby.  Certificate #38756.

Episode 529: Korean Age (Entry 692.JB1117)

In which a colorful newcomer to San Francisco loses a fortune on Peruvian rice and declares himself American royalty, and Ken would have pixelized Kiss. Certificate #42631.

Episode 528: Emperor Norton (Entry 408.MT2221)

In which a future music megastar bridges the gap between rock and hip-hop with one ambitious, illegal remix album, and John is such a good ally that he listened to Suzanne Vega. Certificate #19205.

Episode 527: The Grey Album (Entry 550.MT1906)

In which a western religious holiday becomes a romantic poultry-eating occasion in modern Japan, and Ken destroys all his Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts.  Certificate #24940.

Episode 526: Christmas KFC (Entry 220.DE1411)

In which an emperor convenes the first ever ecumenical council to figure out just whom Christians have been worshiping all this time, and John thinks the invention of the wheel led to mass depravity. Certificate #23027.

Episode 525: The First Council of Nicaea (Entry 472.AC1502)

In which a national campaign to eradicate a misunderstood predator from the United States very nearly succeeds, and Ken would like to see John James Audubon burning in a pit. Certificate #52363.

Episode 524: Custer the Wolf (Entry 308.JN1012)

In which utility companies take it upon themselves to provide the informational staple of every 20th-century household, and John is looking for a missing Jordanian.  Certificate #48730.

Episode 523: The Phone Book (Entry 931.RV2015)

In which a Finnish architect upgrades the prefab, modular homes of the 1960s by turning them into flying saucers, and Ken wants to know his table's name. Certificate #49729.

Episode 522: The Futuro House (Entry 510.1K0609)

In which southeastern Arizona is menaced by a giant, murderous cryptid with a macabre rider, and John conjures up Mr. Clickety-Clack. Certificate #45334.

Episode 521: The Red Ghost (Entry 1042.LV1104)

In which a man who can't find his golf balls solves every law enforcement problem known to man, and Ken has some bad news about parking tickets. Certificate #21137.

Episode 520: The Quadro Tracker (Entry 1016.LK1202)

In which an earthenwork dam enjoyed by millionaires fails and a town of steelworkers disppears from the map, and John is terrified by the menace of West Virginia. Certificate #33180.

Episode 519: The Johnstown Flood (Entry 674.NA0108)

In which one lonely cosmonaut is left in space while his nation disappears from under him, and Ken thinks couples therapy should be about Mars. Certificate #35916. 

Episode 518: The Last Solviet Citizen (Entry 702.LA0417)

In which a bored Phoenix mom has a sparkly dream that ends up changing both teen literature and Washington State tourism, and John explains that his virginity had little to do with vampires. Certificate #18573.

Episode 517: Twilight (Entry 1352.DE1223)

In which forests and their fungi form such close relationships that they essentially become a giant leafy brain, and Ken is excited about pre-Wil Wheaton science. Certificate #46162.

Episode 516: Mother Trees (Entry 810.LK2129)

In which a space detective learns that hundreds of Richard Nixon's tiny gifts to the world have gone missing over the years, and John wonders if religious sacraments are more effective in space.  Certificate #25614.

Episode 515: The Goodwill Moon Rocks (Entry 539.JB1804)

In which the counterculture of the 1960s encourages powerful institutions to create a square but multiracial song-and-dance troupe that takes the world by storm, and Ken imagines President Eisenhower as a stern ad executive.  Certificate #53773

Episode 514: Up with People (Entry 1376.MT0715)

In which half a million colonists decide the American Revolution isn't really their thing, and John needs to know how many lanterns there were, just in case.  Certificate #13747.

Episode 513: Loyalists (Entry 738.1S0819)

In which a medieval legend about a chunk of sandstone means that Scottish cooperation is necessary for Charles III to be crowned king, and Ken passes a Bible quiz. Certificate #42504.

Episode 512: The Stone of Scone (Entry 1229.PS11822)

In which the history of papal transportation is traced from sedan chairs to Hyundai sedans, and John has been researching the care and upkeep of Catholic moms. Certificate #15163.

Episode 511: The Popemobile (Entry 965.JE4615)

In which cities, over the centuries, gradually discover the most efficient way to collect garbage for disposal, and Ken hasn't looked in his pocket since Christmas. Certificate #28712.

Episode 510: The Dempster Dumpster (Entry 332.LA0345)

In which a computer millionaire takes early retirement to self-publish a 50-pound reference work about the chemistry of food, and John discovers a surprise cherry tomato. Certificate #24537.

Episode 509: Modernist Cuisine (Entry 798.PR2303)

In which one eventful Dutch voyage to Indonesia leads to a mutiny, a shipwreck, and a massacre off the coast of Australia, and Ken claims he has a bed in a port somewhere.  Certificate #20229.

Episode 508: The Batavia (Entry 103.AC2741)

In which two Depression-era "drugstore cowboys" let their Wild West outlaw fantasies lead them into a life of crime, and John breaks the news to Ken about pirates.  Certificate #26056.

Episode 507: The Last Train Robbery (Entry 702.EZ0722)

In which the "Dragon's Jaw" across the Song Ma River in North Vietnam proves a challenge for the most advanced air weaponry on earth, and Ken thinks teens should be in parking lots. Certificate #22691.

Episode 506: The Thanh Hoa Bridge (Entry 1293.2C0409)

In which human memory and identity are so fragile that a series of people simply walk away from them, and John wishes more things were the movie Tron.  Certificate #28975.

Episode 505: Dissociative Fugues (Entry 363.HE1017)

In which a high school Kennedy confidante becomes an influential White Hoise voice while hiding a delicate secret, and Ken wants to blur some of John Lithgow's wrinkles.  Certificate #36906.

Episode 504: Lem Billings (Entry 121.PR2705)

In which a racist Mississippi state legislator kills his childhood friend, a civil rights organizer, in broad daylight with no consequences whatsoever, and John thinks Ken pronounces "Montgomery" like a Southern belle.  Certificate #34239.

Episode 503: The Murder of Herbert Lee (Entry 817.EX2307)

In which a pair of outraged Canadians, kept off the TV airwaves, change the world with their anti-consumerist art magazine instead, and Ken thinks Mr. Ed should have had pop-up ads.  Certificate #29414.