Flagpole Sitting

The 20th-century award for Best Center of Gravity definitely belongs to Hollywood stuntman Alvin Kelly. In 1924, Kelly sat atop a flagpole for 13 hours, inspiring copycats across the country to replicate his feat (to varying degree of success). Kelly returned to the pole in 1929 just in time to set the world record (49 days) before the Great Depression put an end to such frivolity.



Read more about goldfish swallowing at BadFads Goldfish Swallowing

Or reason No. 452 why you should never let your elders claim that kids were more mature "in their day." On March 3, 1939, Harvard freshman Lothrop Withington, Jr., touched off a firestorm of publicity - and imitators - when he swallowed a goldfish on a $10 bet. For the next three months, students sucked down goldfish in record numbers while every authority figure from the Massachusetts State Senate to the U.S. Public Health Service tried to get them to stop. The craze slowed down after many schools threatened to expel the fish eaters, but the stunt managed to remain popular enough to ensnare the next generation. The current world record, 300 fish in one sitting, was set in 1974.

Have a Nice Day

The yellow smiley face [wiki] and its now-ubiquitous catchphrase actually began life separately. Smiley was originally created in 1963 as part of an insurance company campaign to improve employee morale following its merger with another organization. For the next seven years, the face smiled silently from office posters, buttons, and desk cards until entrepreneurs Bernard and Murray Spain began publicly marketing smiley buttons - "Have a Nice Day" included - in 1970. By 1971, the feel-good pair had sold more than 50 million of 'em. No doubt, they were smiling all the way to the bank.

Hula Hoop

Although the hula hoop [wiki] is thought to have made its first appearance (in wooden form) in 14th-century England, it didn't take America by storm until 1958. That's when Wham-O, Inc., the same friendly folks who brought you the Superball and the Frisbee, released a "futuristic" plastic version and promptly sold 25 millions in only four months.



J. Fred Muggs

Lancelot Link

Bear of B.J. and the Bear I Can't Believe There are All These Monkeys on TV! Scientific Name: Chimpanzeeus ontelevisionus Natural Habitats: Morning talk shows (J. Fred Muggs [wiki] of "The Today Show"), campy criminal underworlds (Lancelot Link of the 1970 series "Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp" [wiki]), and the cabs of 18-wheeler trucks (Bear of the 1979 sitcom "B.J. and the Bear" [wiki]). Lifespan: Long. Adding Muggs to "The Today Show" in 1953 saved the program from cancellation. But the fad truly took off in 1970, when the all-chimpanzee cast of "Lancelot Link" became superstars, spawning a chimp rock band (The Evolution Revolution), complete with chimp rock album. America's monkey mania ended when "B.J. and the Bear" was pulled off the air in 1981, but interest spread abroad. "Lancelot Link" was the No. 1 show in Kenya in 1987. Diet: Varies. While Lance Link and his cast mates apparently stuck to a traditional fare of veggies, Bear favored light bear (on and off the camera). J. Fred Muggs, on the other hand, had a taste for human flesh - once taking a bite out of comedian Martha Raye.



Cydia deshaisiana moth inside of the jumping beans. Jumping Beans

Americans love a good novelty item, and nobody appreciates that fact more than Mexico native Joaquin Hernandez. Since introducing the toy here in the 1940s, Hernandez has ruled as the "King of the Jumping Beans." A periodically recurring fad for more than 60 years, the beans are actually moth larvae trapped in seedpods [wiki]. But their mystery continue to capture the public imagination. In peak years, when the beans are really hopping, Hernandez has been known to sell as many as 20 million of them, employing as many as 50 people to collect, package, and export them.



The Kilroy schematic! Kilroy Was Here

And here. And here. During World War II, Kilroy was everywhere. Accompanied by a cartoon of a large-schnozzed man peeping over a wall, the "Kilroy Was Here" [wiki] phrase graced everything from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to hut walls on Polynesian islands. So who was Kilroy? Turns out, he was probably Navy shipyard inspector James J. Kilroy, who reportedly scrawled the phrase onto parts he'd examined. Sailors later made a game of the enigmatic phrase, vying to be the first to impersonate Kilroy in a newly liberated era. In fact, "Kilroy Was Here" became such a ubiquitous military fad that Apollo astronauts are said to have written it in the dust on the moon.