The plastic tips on the end of shoelaces are called aglets, from the Old French aiguillette, which is a diminutive form of the French word for needle.  Before the invention of buttons, aglets were very helpful in fastening clothes. 

Before the invention of buttons????

Buttons have been around for thousands and thousands of years, but apparently more for decoration than functionality.

Functional buttons used to close or fasten clothes first appeared in Germany in the 13th century.

When you start with an exciting fact about aglets and then move to buttons, you know it’s going to be a good day.  No ifs, Ags, or Butts. 

First (and worst) pun using “aglets” and “buttons.”

The bikini was invented in 1946.  I don’t really understand how it was “invented” in 1946.  Could no one honestly figure this one out on their own?  Anyway, the “inventor” named the swimsuit after Bikini Atoll, the site of nuclear weapon tests earlier the same year.  I was at the beach this weekend.  As great as bikinis can be, there really is a fine line between a swimsuit and a weapon of mass destruction.

The mullet is undoubtedly one of the most painfully enchanting haircuts of all time.  There are hundreds of epithets for the mullet: “Business in the front, party in the back,” “The Tennessee Top Hat,” “The Kentucky Waterfall,” and my favorite “The Missouri Compromise,” to name just a few.  But the Oxford English Dictionary credits the term “mullet” to the Beastie Boys, and their 1994 song “Mullet Head.”  Just recently, in attempt to thwart westernization, the Iranian government issued a catalog of acceptable male haircuts.  The mullet has officially been banned.  Hmm… Iran actually got that one right.  Maybe we should try to thwart westernization too… 

NOT! 

The mullet is proof of the duality of the human soul. 

The first personal timepieces were introduced in 16th century Europe.  These “clock-watches” were about the size of a clock and usually worn on a chain around a person’s neck.  This is four hundred years more old school than Flavor Flav.

The Charlie Chaplin mustache, also known as the toothbrush mustache, or perhaps, (who are we kiddin’?) the Hitler mustache, was actually a popular style of facial hair in the 1920s.  The mustache pretty much lost its appeal as it became increasingly connected with Adolf Hitler.  It is rumored that Hitler wore the ‘stache because it properly fit under a gas-mask. Perhaps he should have ditched the gas-mask instead of ditching 66% of a normal mustache.   Hitler ruined a once totally acceptable style.  It’s similar to how hipsters ruined everything truckers, farmers, and old men in general like to wear.