DayStrider: Tales from a Time Traveler

Apr 23rd: Happy Birthday YouTube

• Truman Pastworthy • Episode 25

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How long would it take to watch every video on YouTube? (Spoiler: it's mind-boggling!) Our digital landscape, beverage choices, and literary understanding would look dramatically different without the plot twists of April 23rd. Join us for three tales of pivots, blunders, and centuries-old mysteries that prove sometimes the most brilliant successes start with spectacular failures!

  • YouTube turns 20 today! Follow the incredible journey from a failed Valentine's Day dating site to a half-trillion dollar empire that's revolutionized how we learn, parent, and entertain ourselves. 


  • New Coke's spectacular 1985 crash-and-burn wasn't just a marketing disaster—it accidentally became Coca-Cola's greatest triumph. Discover why Americans stockpiled original formula, poured New Coke down sewers, and sent angry executives scrambling to restore the classic recipe after just 79 days!


  • Shakespeare may be history's greatest literary genius...or perhaps its most elaborate front man. Dive into the delicious 400-year-old mystery that has scholars questioning how a grammar school kid from nowhere gained intimate knowledge of royal courts, Italian geography, and advanced legal concepts.


If it's a special day for you or someone you care about, why not learn a little more about today by listening to some fun, engaging tales of the past? You'll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can share while waiting for Mr. Beast’s next mega-video. If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).


Fun links from today’s stories (these links worked in mid-2025 - not sure how long the links will be available):

The rest is under construction!



Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!


~~~ DayStrider Fun ~~~


Do you want to be mentioned here in the podcast? Or do you want me to do a shout-out for a loved one? All you need to do is send me an e-mail: daystriderstories@gmail.com


Better yet, you can record your own shout-out by leaving me a voice message using this SpeakPipe link


Do you have a story that you wish to share? Join me as a guest and let’s tell the world together! Once again, just send me an e-mail or find me here on Facebook: Truman Pastworthy


If you had as much fun listening as I did creating this episode, please click "follow" in your favorite podcast platform . . . oh . . . and even better - why not share it with a friend (or three)! I’m betting you know just the perfect person who would enjoy today’s stories!


If you feel adventurous, how 'bout writing a great review? :-)



Truman:

Welcome seeker. Can you guess how long it would take to watch every video currently posted on YouTube? We're going to answer that question for you as we celebrate YouTube's 20th birthday. And if you like corporate blunders, we've got one that happened on this day that would make your inner hoarder salivate. Yep, today is April 23rd, and without it, there'd be no mindless doom-scrolling on shorts or reels. Instead, you might actually be reading Shakespeare to pass the time. And by the way, it's his birthday today. Our journey begins with the origin story of humanity's largest content repository that within just two decades has actually rewired modern life. Then, we'll crack open the fizzy tale of how Coca-Cola execs poured 99 years of tradition down the drains, causing many Americans to nearly riot for their beloved classic formula. Finally, we'll don our detective caps to chase the ink-stained trail of Shakespeare, history's most brilliant wordsmith, or perhaps its most elaborate Renaissance frontman. The portal's humming, history secrets are waiting, and our day striding adventure begins now. Grab your curiosity and let's to be or not to be into the past. Welcome, seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider, the podcast where we embark on a daily journey through history. I'm your travel guide, Truman Pastworthy, and together we'll explore some fascinating stories that happened on this exact day, but from some time in the past. From groundbreaking inventions to remarkable birthdays and extraordinary events to quirky national holidays, we've got it all. So kick back, relax, and open your mind for some lighthearted stories that'll leave you saying, huh, I never knew that happened on this day. Alrighty then, let's get to it. A billion hours of human attention disappeared yesterday. And a billion more are going to disappear today. You want to know where it all went? Well, here's a hint. It started as a failed dating site, got ghosted on Valentine's Day, and now it's got your toddler, your teenage neighbor, and your favorite uncle glued to their screens. Yep, today is YouTube's 20th birthday, and we're going to hear the origin story of humanity's largest repository of, well, pretty much everything. But first, we need to rewind a little to January 2005, when three former PayPal wizards, doesn't it seem like they always come from PayPal? Yeah, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Kareem were at a dinner party. And they became frustrated that they couldn't find any videos of Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction that happened during the halftime show of the Super Bowl a year earlier. You remember that one? Yeah, they couldn't find it online anywhere. And so their friendly dinner conversation spiraled into a debate about how the world needs a better way to share videos. At the time, the only option was using emails, and frankly, that option sucked. The size limits were way too low, and back then, two-thirds of Americans were still using dial-up modems. Remember those? Half my listeners are asking, Truman, what's a modem? So they decided to create a site that would allow people to post and share videos. But they also wanted to make money. So they dreamt it up as a dating site where people could post dating videos. Yeah, they even concocted a fun tagline, tune in, hook up. What's amazing is they only needed six weeks to get this thing built. And their creativity hit the pinnacle when they went live on Valentine's Day of that year. But much to their chagrin, This idea bombed. They struck out. Whatever cliche you want to insert here as an example of a pickup line that totally flopped. No one wanted to tune in in order to hook up. And they were so desperate that they started offering women 20 bucks to make videos for the site just so they'd have something out there posted. But if there's anything you've learned here at Daystrider, It's that some of history's greatest inventions and discoveries start out as an accident or a flop. And when the boys realized that their sight was toast, they decided to drop the dating part and double down on the video idea to solve this huge gap in the market. They didn't have any ideas how they could make money at it at first. And they never could have known that their idea would eventually be worth more than the GDP of most countries. Yeah. So on April 23rd, 20 years ago today, co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the platform's first video called Me at the Zoo. It was 18 seconds of awkward commentary about elephant trunks. Yeah, definitely not one of those one small step for man types of events, right? Well, I'm going to leave you the YouTube link to that video in the show notes. And to be clear, this is the very first YouTube link ever. So that's the humble origin story. But the rise to the top is staggering. In only 19 months after that zoo video started, Google made what many called a reckless gamble, paying $1.6 billion for this quirky video platform with a goofy name that wasn't even profitable. Industry experts called it insanity. The Wall Street Journal questioned Google's judgment. But boy, were they wrong. And not just a little wrong, they were way off. Because no one would have guessed that that overpriced acquisition would now be worth a half a trillion dollars. Yes, today's YouTube division only is worth $500 billion, roughly 300 times what Google originally paid. But those aren't the only staggering numbers here. YouTube generated $54 billion in revenue last year alone. Analysts predict that by next year, this failed dating site will generate more revenue than Disney. Yeah, that's the entire House of Mouse, all of its parks and princesses, and the Marvel superheroes thrown in. If YouTube were a standalone company today, it would be more valuable than 97% of the companies in the S&P 500. That's crazy, right? But forget the dollars for a second. You want to hear something really bonkers? They've basically built a parallel universe right inside of our phones. What are you talking about, Truman? Back in YouTube's first full year, they had 830,000 daily users. Today, that headcount is 83 million. Yeah, an invisible nation the size of Germany... exists only in our screens watching YouTube every single day. And hold on to your brain cells. Those 83 million people watch 1 billion hours of content. 1 billion hours every single day. Our attention span is being completely rewired. And there's no end in sight. If you started watching YouTube videos right now and did nothing else, No sleeping, no eating, just bleary-eyed consumption. It would take you over 100,000 years to watch all 5 billion videos currently on the platform. That's crazy, right? And the content tsunami never stops. Every minute, literally every 60 seconds, creators upload 360 more hours of fresh video. So I'll do some quick math for you, folks. Since I started talking about YouTube just a bit ago, 12,000 new videos were uploaded onto the platform. Oh, check that. 200 more just got uploaded. Is your head spinning yet? All right. I'll stop with the numbers. You know me. I just can't help it. But those figures are staggering. But what's worse is the reality of all this content. we've seen a fundamental reshaping of how humans spend their waking hours. And it's created three revolutions that have happened right under our noses. Of course, there's the revolution of the creator economy, a career path that didn't exist when that first zoo video got uploaded. Today, YouTube has minted a whole new class of celebrities. Jimmy Donaldson, who's Mr. Beast, sits at the pinnacle. But thousands more make comfortable livings producing content from their bedrooms. It's the gold rush of our era. And this goldmine gets two and a half million new prospectors every single day. All fighting for your attention. But my point with this revolution is that those folks at Disney and over at Netflix... They not only have to worry about each other and what they're up to, they also face competition from millions of micro-competitors out there, all trying to come up with fresh content, hoping to go viral. Yeah. Now, my favorite revolution is what I like to call YouTube University, the greatest educational institution that nobody ever enrolled in. Suddenly, knowing how to change brake pads, or fix leaky showers, or perfecting your Boston accent for a podcast skit is no longer gated behind textbooks or experts. Now, it's just a few clicks away. And yes, I actually learned how to change my own brakes on my cars and those of my family thanks to the YouTube Auto Mechanics. I also learned how to record and edit stories for this very podcast at YouTube University. But my real point here, knowledge has been democratized in ways that would make those Dewey Decimal librarians weep with joy. Or scream with horror, I'm not sure which. But you can learn anything you want. And not just education. You can go to YouTube for motivation, inspiration, and even perspiration. Alright, now this final revolution might make you think a little harder. about our future as a species, the parenting revolution. Now, I know I said no more numbers, but what do you think are the most watched videos in YouTube's history? Parents, get ready to sigh, because you'll knowingly nod along when you hear that three of the top four videos in history, with Baby Shark at over 15 billion views, And Johnny Johnny Yes Papa and Wheels on the Bus with 7 billion views each. Yeah, kid videos. And what's more scary, that Baby Shark video, it's been watched twice for every human being existing on Earth. Yeah. Parents haven't just embraced YouTube, they've surrendered to it, transforming the platform into history's most accessible digital babysitter. Sadly, the modern lullaby, it isn't sung anymore. It's streamed. So there you have it. The platform that began because three guys couldn't find a wardrobe malfunction video online has become the digital nervous system of modern life. In the time it takes you to say one Mississippi, 30 more videos get uploaded into YouTube's ever-expanding universe. And some of them, they might become legends. But most will just vanish into the algorithm abyss. But YouTube, it's more than a platform. It's the accidental empire that is redefining how we learn, laugh, and live. And we're only 20 years in. What do you think the next 20 years will bring? Will that next upload change the world? We'll see.

Transition Music:

Music

Truman:

Roses are red and quills doth shine. Prithee, a review would be most divine. Hast thou no words, fear not, good friend. Type this pod doth enchant, beginning to end. Can you imagine waking up one day to discover your favorite beverage in the world, something you've cherished your entire life, has suddenly vanished? Not just misplaced, but deliberately replaced with an imposter claiming to be better? That's exactly what happened to millions of Americans on this day in 1985, when Coca-Cola committed what seemed like corporate suicide by killing off its iconic 99-year-old recipe and replacing it with new Coke. This wasn't just some fun new flavor gimmick they try for a bit that sits alongside the original. No. Coca-Cola literally discontinued the classic recipe, locked the legendary Formula 7X in an Atlanta bank vault, and told America, trust us, you'll like this new one better. Spoiler alert, America called BS to that, and many customers rebelled. Literally rebelled. To understand why Coca-Cola would risk everything on such a dramatic move, we need to rewind to the late 70s and early 80s. The bigwigs in Atlanta were sweating bullets as they watched their arts rivals, Pepsi Challenge commercials, demolish their market share. These weren't just ads, they were public executions of Coke's reputation. Regular people, famous people all on camera choosing Pepsi in blind taste tests. And worse still, when Coke secretly ran their own tests behind closed doors, the horrifying truth was being confirmed. America really did prefer Pepsi's taste. What scared the Coke execs even worse, many of their own employees preferred Pepsi as well. For a century-old company, whose entire identity was the best tasting cola, this wasn't just a marketing problem, it was an existential crisis. Yeah, the Coca-Cola brass became convinced that their century-old formula was the problem. Nah, they didn't think Pepsi's youth-focused marketing or the Pepsi generation campaigns were doing the trick. They started blaming the taste of their flagship product. And this belief would drive them to a decision that nearly collapsed an American institution. In 1982, while they were developing Diet Coke for the diet soda market, their flavor scientists stumbled onto something interesting. In single-sip taste tests, which is how they conducted their research, people naturally gravitated towards sweeter flavors with less bite or acidic edge. And this led them to create a sweeter formula that consistently beat both regular Coke and Pepsi in blind taste tests. And executives were ecstatic. They found the silver bullet, the formula that could reclaim their eroding market share. And so, for the next three years, Coca-Cola operated like a secret government agency. conducting taste tests with almost 200,000 Americans behind closed doors. And the data looked flawless. The new formula was winning. Victory was certain. But, and there's always that but, right? Buried in their mountain of spreadsheets was a ticking time bomb that they completely ignored. About 10% of the taste testers who liked the new taste became visibly angry at the mere suggestion that this might replace the original. And I'm not talking about disappointed or concerned here. I'm talking furious. And these angry few were remarkably effective at turning the other testers in the room against the new formula. It was the research equivalent of a check engine light And Coca-Cola's response was, eh, just put some tape over top of it and keep driving. So, on April 23rd, 1985, at New York's Lincoln Center, Coca-Cola staged an elaborate press conference that would go down in marketing infamy. Chairman Roberto Gazzetta unveiled New Coke with extraordinary confidence, calling it smoother, rounder, yet bolder, with a more harmonic flavor. Huh. The media immediately noted what executives wouldn't admit. New Coke tasted sweeter and more like Pepsi. Yeah. Coca-Cola president Donald Keogh declared, I've never been as sure about a decision as I am about the one we're announcing today. Yeah. Meanwhile, as the executives smugly sipped their New Coke on stage, the company's share price plummeted. was already dropping over in the New York Stock Exchange. And of course, Pepsi, with perfect competitive instinct, took out full-page newspaper ads across the country declaring, after 87 years of going at it eyeball to eyeball, the other guy just blinked. Yeah, they even gave their employees a day off to celebrate what they saw as Coca-Cola's surrender in the Cola Wars. And then what happened over the next few weeks shocked everyone at Coca-Cola. Within days, the company was flooded with angry phone calls, 5,000 a day, escalating up to 8,000 by June. They had to hire additional operators just to feel the outrage. Yeah, grassroots protest organizations formed with names like Old Cola Drinkers of America and the Society for the Preservation of the Real Thing. Yeah, this actually happened. At public demonstrations, people were pouring new Coke down the sewer drains. And in grocery stores across America, people were panic buying thousands of dollars worth of original Coke, clearing the shelves. A Seattle customer even filed a lawsuit demanding the return of the original formula. I guess he thought it was unconstitutional. And then there's the delicious irony of Gay Mullins, who became America's anti-New Coke crusader. This dude was on national television, leading protests, demanding the return of his Coke. And guess what? He actually failed a blind taste test where he preferred the taste of New Coke. And his reaction? He kept protesting anyway, because this wasn't about taste. It was about something far more powerful. The audacity of a corporation telling Americans that they couldn't have what they'd grown up with. And all this outrage came despite the fact that in Blind Taste Test, people consistently rated New Coke better tasting than the original. Guess what? This wasn't about flavor. It was about identity, nostalgia, and the audacity of a corporation thinking it could simply replace a cultural icon. So fast forward just 79 days, and those titans of industry who remember they were up there in their crisp suits before, raising crystal glasses and toasting the death of their century-old recipe, they were now... before the cameras looking like hostages at their own press conference. Miserable. And Donald Keogh, the company president, practically whispered the corporate equivalent of uncle when he admitted, the consumer is our boss. We want them to know how sorry we are. The company announced that the original formula would return as Coca-Cola Classic. And this news was so significant that television networks interrupted regular programming for special reports for a soft drink returning. Yeah, I'm serious. That's how big this news was. And now here's where this corporate disaster takes a twist that would make M. Night Shyamalan jealous. Within months, Coca-Cola Classic wasn't just back. It was thriving again. and outselling Pepsi at double the rate. This failure had millions of Americans suddenly remembering why they loved Coke in the first place. People who hadn't bought Coke in years were now stocking their fridges with it. In fact, some cynics suggested that the whole debacle was an elaborate marketing ploy, a conspiracy theory that Coca-Cola denies, with Keogh's famous line, we're not that stupid or that smart. Meanwhile, New Coke was rebranded as Coke 2, and it limped along for about 15 years until it was finally discontinued. But guess what? As late as 1987, blind taste tests still showed that people preferred the taste of New Coke over both Pepsi and Coca-Cola Classic. And many just refused to admit it once they knew what they were drinking. Now, a lot of people like me were saying, sure, One sip is delicious, but an entire can? Uh-uh, not for me. This is because that new flavor was only good as a little sip. But when you need a cold Coke to cool down after mowing the lawn, it just wasn't going to do. And those flavor scientists, they reluctantly agreed with me here. But the marketing guru still suggests that this fiasco wasn't about taste buds. It was about heartstrings. And Americans weren't drinking a beverage. They were sipping nostalgia in a carbonated form. And that curved bottle wasn't just packaging. It was identity in a glass. That sounds like marketers would say, right? Well, whichever you believe, at least one thing seems to be true. The real secret formula that makes Coca-Cola special can't be locked in some bank vault. So the next time you open a Classic Coke, Raise it high as your trophy of consumer rebellion. In a world where corporations seem to control everything, that fizz represents something remarkable. The time an entire nation looked a billion-dollar company in the eye and said, nice try, guys. Now bring us back the good stuff. A time traveler's delight we journey hence, to tales of yore and great reverence. If these stories warm thine heart with glee, to share or not to share, do so I plead. Everybody knows the name Shakespeare. But what if history's greatest literary genius was actually a fraud? Yeah, there are many out there that believe the man from Stratford was just a front for the real author of Romeo and Juliet. They argue that this Glover's son from a small town far from London with his limited formal education could never have possessed the intimate knowledge of royal courts, foreign lands, and the specialized subjects that fill his works. And as Shakespeare scholar Gary Taylor explains...

Gary:

The argument that Shakespeare, because he was from a small town in the English Midlands and he didn't go to a university, is exactly the same kind of prejudice.

Truman:

Whoa, big words there. And we'll get to those in a minute. But today, April 23rd, marks the cosmic symmetry of Shakespeare's life. The same day he entered this world in 1564, he exited it 52 years later on this same day. What are the odds of that? This plot twisting genius enjoyed the perfect poetic ending to his own life story. And that's exactly why I needed to dig deeper. And I wanted some help. So I called in an expert on these conspiracy theories.

Gary:

I don't think that I could possibly change anyone's mind. People who believe in these conspiracy theories, it's very hard to convince someone that a conspiracy theory is wrong, because if you attempt to do so, you just become part of the conspiracy.

Truman:

All right. Well, meet Professor Gary Taylor. He's an expert of all things Shakespeare. He's written dozens of books and essays, and he's created compilations of the Swan of Avon's works. He's the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor from Florida State University, And he has much to say about Shakespeare's genius.

Gary:

Shakespeare is very unusual among playwrights, but also, I think, among writers of all kinds, in his ability to tell stories in which not only do human beings interact with other human beings, but also human beings interact with the non-human natural world.

Truman:

Yeah, good stuff there, right? And if we stay in Professor Taylor's camp, we believe that our hero was fully or mostly responsible for about 37 plays and over 150 sonnets. And we believe he was a masterful businessman in addition to these literary works. And I say masterful because he was able to produce his plays that included a great deal of political satire. So he was poking fun at the establishment much to the pleasure of the common folk, all while keeping his head.

Gary:

In Shakespeare's lifetime, the theater is censored, books are censored, and his most important predecessor and collaborator in the English theater, Christopher Marlowe, was almost certainly politically assassinated for his pushing the boundaries in a way that upset the political authorities.

Truman:

Yeah, so if you'd like more on the backstory about this execution, you can catch that in the bonus episode. But my point here is that Shakespeare's brilliance wasn't just in his writing. It was in his survival. He was able to navigate the deadly political waters of Elizabethan England better than any of his characters navigated their fictional dilemmas. And ironically, this very ability to adapt and survive... also fuels the conspiracy theorists. Because if he was just a simple man from Stratford, how could he have been so politically savvy? So let's track how this skepticism evolved. So Shakespeare wrote his content just over 400 years ago. And then about 200 years ago, scholars began to question the authenticity of his authorship. And then in the last 50 years or so, people have really picked up the thread and taken it in all kinds of directions. And their conspiracy web is tangled with the cast of unlikely ghostwriters, each with their own dramatic backstory. First up, the Earl of Oxford theory. This highly educated aristocrat with his fancy European travels supposedly used Shakespeare as his literary puppet. Why? Well, writing plays was beneath his noble station, and he needed to avoid political fallout from his thinly-veiled royal critiques. Just one small problem with this one. Oxford died in 1604, while Shakespeare's creative juices kept flowing for another decade, churning out masterpieces like The Tempest and Macbeth after the Earl was in his grave. Then there's Christopher Marlowe, the spy turned playwright who supposedly staged his own murder. While history records his death in a tavern brawl in 1593, and remember that's the assassination you just heard about a bit ago, conspiracy theorists claim he faked the whole thing, disappearing into the shadows only to keep writing and now using Shakespeare's name for the next two decades. Come on, this has all the elements of a binge-worthy Netflix original. Espionage, fake deaths, and stolen identities. In the Francis Bacon corner, believers argue that this brilliant lawyer, philosopher, and scientist was juggling political ambitions with a secret playwright career. And of course, rather than keeping it simple... The Baconians insist that he embedded elaborate cryptographic signatures throughout the texts, secret codes that only they can decipher as proof of his authorship. Because apparently being a genius philosopher and father of the scientific method wasn't enough achievement for one lifetime. Well, anyway, if you listen to these theorists long enough, you might start nodding along. Their passion is pretty contagious. But guess what, Professor Taylor? He isn't buying any of this literary identity theft.

Gary:

I find the argument implausible. And the fact that so many different candidates have been proposed for the person who was really Shakespeare should tell you that there isn't really a single candidate who is believable.

Truman:

And when I challenged him a little more, he shocked me with this retort.

Gary:

Well, I don't really care, and I've never cared. I mean, it wouldn't make any difference to me, you know, if the person that we think is Shakespeare turns out to be the person that we know as the Earl of Oxford or whoever else.

Truman:

Bam! It doesn't matter, even if we have proof of this stuff. It doesn't matter. The professor's saying we shouldn't be spending all of our energy on that. Instead, we should be focusing on and celebrating the great works of art that have been given to us and have been played and replayed for all these hundreds of years. And guess what? Our hero wasn't just a literary genius. He was also a shrewd businessman.

Gary:

This was the most important moment in Shakespeare's career because it meant that... He was not just a freelance trying to sell scripts to any company that might take them or a jobbing actor who just got whatever roles he could in whatever theater company was looking for extra actors for a particular show. He was one of the core actors of the company and also one of the shareholders of the company and eventually Five years later, became one of the shareholders of the Globe Theater itself. And every one of their shareholders got a part of the profits from every performance.

Truman:

See that? Shakespeare wasn't just a poet scribbling by candlelight. He was a Renaissance entertainment entrepreneur. And he knew exactly how to turn words into gold. And that business savvy makes the conspiracy theories even more fascinating. All right, well, it's time for us to wrap up now. But if you want to hear more about Shakespeare or hear what Professor Taylor's favorite plays were, it's all waiting for you in the bonus episode. So be sure to check that out. So on this cosmic day of symmetry, when Shakespeare both entered and exited the world stage, perhaps We should marvel less about who held the quill and more at what flowed from it. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, he wrote. And his dream continues to shape ours. Happy birthday, Shakespeare. And happy death day, too. The curtain may have fallen on your life 400 years ago, but your encore never ends. What a ride through time today, folks. We traced YouTube's remarkable journey from that first elephant video to a platform where Mr. Beast is still working hard to get as many views as that baby shark video. Hard to believe that a failed dating site accidentally created what we now call the creator economy. Then we witnessed Coca-Cola's epic face plant when they tried fixing something that wasn't broken. Those 8,000 angry calls per day and people pouring new Coke down the sewers really showed that products aren't just about taste. They're about an emotional connection and identity. And finally, our literary mystery tour revealed the tantalizing gaps in Shakespeare's biography that keep conspiracy theorists buzzing. Whether our wordsmith was a grammar school genius or a convenient front for a shadowy cabal of Tudor steward propagandists, his work remains the greatest collection of content in literary history. From accidental empires to fizzy fiascos and renaissance mysteries, April 23rd has shaped our world in surprising ways. So please share these stories with your favorite history buff. And until next time, keep striding through time with curiosity as your compass. And you know what else? If today's stories made you grin, there are dozens of other stories waiting for you in the back catalog. Origin stories, if they stir up your sense of wonder, we have so many of those. Some of the most popular, the origin of the Sports Illustrated magazine on August 16th, the Red Cross on May 21st, and the game of basketball on December 21st. If bubbling beverages boost your brainwaves, then you gotta hear about the greatest beer run ever on January 19th. And if celebrating birthdays of famous folks perks your interest, well, check out this hodgepodge of famous folks. Confucius, birthday on September 28th. Chuck Berry, birthday on October 18th. And Abraham Lincoln, birthday on February 12th. If your passion is fun guests with great stories to tell, there are half a dozen bonus episode options waiting for you. To find them, just scroll through the feed and look for those words, bonus episode. Every day has a story and there's so much fun. And we are going to stride through them all until we're done. So after you share these special stories, you can also mention the following famous folks who celebrate their birthdays today. Maybe you know one of today's birthday boys as the Doctor of Thuganomics, or the Chain Gang Soldier. No? Never heard of that? Well, those are John Cena's nicknames in the WWE, where he's had a very long and decorated career. And he's been in a number of action movies as well. But here's a really fun fact. He's got a great reputation when it comes to charitable work. And Senna holds the world record for the most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. That's pretty neat, right? Let's raise our glass of Shirley Temple to say cheers to the late Shirley Temple, who honored today each year of her amazing life. She was a famous child actress in the 1930s depression era, appearing in 29 movies by the age of 10. Once she retired from the screen and stage, she went into public service as a diplomat. And of course, she has a fun drink named after her. Khloe Kim adds another candle to the cake today when she's not getting rad on the snowboard halfpipe. where she's won Olympic and X-Game gold medals. She's surprising folks with her singing abilities. Yeah, she appeared on The Masked Singer during season four as the Jellyfish. You can check that out. And you already know that our most famous birthday from the history books is William Shakespeare. And in addition to all that you've learned about people questioning if he even wrote all those plays and sonnets, there's actually some question as to prove that today was actually his birthday. Huh, weird, right? Well, famousbirthdays.com says it's today and has him ranked as the sixth most famous person born today. So, that's good enough for me. And speaking of my most often quoted website, the 50th most famous person born today, according to famousbirthdays.com, is Laura Anderson. She rose to fame on the fourth season of Love Island when she became the runner-up with her partner, Paul Knops. She springboarded that experience into more reality shows like Celebrity Karaoke and Celebs Go Dating. Yeah, I don't know. But I did watch a morning talk show interview with her from about six years ago. She seems lovely, but that's all I got for you. So good luck, Laura. And when I looked at Wikipedia's centenarians list, I discovered that the Korean author and philosopher Kim Hyung-suk, who turns 105 today. Yeah, he was born in 1920. And what's crazy is he was still authoring books in his late 90s. And he had three books published the year he turned 100. Wow. You can bet I won't be podcasting when I turn 100. If I even get to 100. Let's get to today's holidays. April 23rd is Picnic Day. And there's a holiday that everyone should celebrate. Of course, if the weather cooperates. Make some sandwiches, gather some snacks, and get outside to enjoy your lunch with some others. Here's a quick fun fact. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized the largest picnic ever in 2009, which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, with over 20,000 people picnicking. Today is also Table Tennis Day. The International Table Tennis Federation picked today because that's when their organization was formed about 100 years ago. But here's something I bet you didn't know. The original version of this sport, and yes, ping pong is an Olympic sport, the original version was played with a golf ball, and the paddles were books, and the net Also made of books lined across the center of a table. How about that? Yeah, learn something new today. Learn lots of things new today. And then here's a great holiday. Take a chance day. Yeah, make it a point to circle this day on your calendar and then go do something outside of your comfort zone. Like maybe there's a special someone that you want to be more a part of your life. Well, today's the day. You ask them to join you on a picnic date because it's picnic day. Yeah, two holidays in one. And you can triple up. Find a place to have your picnic where there's a ping pong table nearby and play a friendly game of ping pong. Yeah, the holiday hat trick. Oh, wait a second. Hold on. You can turn this hat trick into a holiday grand slam and celebrate Shakespeare's birthday. You can sneak in a quote from Hamlet. to your special someone. Ready? We know what we are, but know not what we may be. There you go. Helping make things happen in your life here, folks. So do you have a loved one who celebrates April 23rd? Well, if you do, and you want to make them feel really special about this day, then I've got some gift ideas that will turn you into their hero. Why do I say that so confidently? Well, it's because these gifts are customized to their special day. And not only that, many of these ideas are things that they don't own. They are unique. And guess what else? There are links in the show notes so you can easily find and order these gifts and they'll be at your place just in time. Our first segment today was about YouTube. And if your loved one is into doom scrolling on that platform, some YouTube decor would spice up their living space. For example, a plush pillow. They could rest their tablet on the pillow, and then rest that on their lap, and away they go, contributing to that billion hours of watch time. And then we talked about Coca-Cola, and there are literally dozens of gift ideas featuring Coke, including some of the beverage itself in those iconic glass bottles. And make sure you tell them how their favorite beverage almost died on this day. but it pulled through because it was special, just like your loved one. Now, don't roll your eyes when we get to Shakespeare. You may be too cool for anything book-y or poem-y, but maybe your loved one likes that kind of thing. No? All right, well, Shakespeare does have some witty famous quotes that may be perfect as a wall hanging, so they're worth checking out. And the famous folks that were born today, they all have some great books and CDs and wall hangings that might be just what you're looking for. But my favorite of all the things I found was a John Cena action figure. Now he'd make a great addition to the trinket shelf or someone's office desk. Remember when I said it was picnic day? Surely an image of a picnic basket came to mind, right? Well, they have some really fancy baskets that you could give as a gift. And you could double down and actually make a picnic meal and get them out of the house on their special day and enjoy a picnic together. And then they get to keep the basket. And even better than that, you shouldn't be surprised to know that they sell custom ping pong balls. Yeah, you can get whatever saying or image you want printed on them. Now there's a gift that nobody has, right? Yeah, so no more hemming and hawing about the person who has everything, because they definitely do not have customized ping pong balls. And if none of those outstanding ideas work, there's one other way to make this day special. You could dedicate a personalized shout-out right here on this podcast, and they'll be memorialized forever. Yeah, I could do the shout-out for you. Just send me an email, something fun you want to share. Or you can do your own shout out by using the Speak Byte link that's available in the show notes. Today's shout out is for someone who must be pretty special because so many folks wanted to join in.

Guest:

Happy birthday, Heather. I hope you have the best day ever. I'm super glad I've gotten to share a cubicle with you this whole year and I'm really going to miss you. Hola, my work daughter. Happy birthday. Many blessings. Love you. I don't

Gary:

know about me, but I'm feeling 33.

Truman:

Very nice job, peeps. Especially that little duet we heard. And as I mentioned, you can find the link to do that in the show notes. And as always, if you have a story that just needs to be told about any day in the past, send me an email and let's connect. All right, time to wrap up. So I'm going to quote some Shakespeare to bid farewell. Are you ready? Our revels now are ended. These are actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air. Parting is such sweet sorrow. that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, this is Truman Pastworthy reminding you that every day has a great story. And we'll be striding through them all to find some more goodies for you. Now get out there and make your own great story today.