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Step into an infinite world of stories

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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 Cantonese restaurant in San Franciscos's Chinatown spreads American revolving-table technology worldwide, and Ken wonders how long it takes to get sick of a musician in your spare bedroom. Certificate #43576.

Lazy Susans (Entry 706.LK1237)

In which astronauts and cosmonauts smuggle sandwiches, golf clubs, harmonicas, collectibles, and ashes into orbit, and John wants to blow bubbles on the Moon. Certificate #54825.

Space Contraband (Entry 1194.JB1312)

In which the childhood Christmas tradition of two Georgia twins becomes a cultural tug-of-war over surveillance psychology, and Ken is going to buy a light blue tree. Certificate #45509.

Elf on the Shelf (Entry 404.PR1503)

In which a solar storm in 1859 leads to eye-popping auroras and a harboring of technological doom, and John compares gold pan and pizza sizes. Certificate #54094.

The Carrington Event (Entry 189.2P0312)

In which British investors power the Industrial Revolution with arguably too many waterways for the nation's barges, and Ken thinks escalators are not cheating. Certificate #27217.

Canal Mania (Entry 178.PR0516)

In which scientists and paranormal investigators puzzle over a string of mysterious deaths beginning with a "dull and heavy" Italian countess, and John learns about the peat of the Maldives. Certificate #40714.

Spontaneous Combustion (Entry 1206.PR0627)

In which an Atlanta pastor changes his name after a very inspiring visit to Germany and begins an American civil rights dynasty, and Ken gets to make a chart. Certificate #45274.

Martin Luther King, Sr. (Entry 688.PR1301)

In which an inescapable awards-season acronym is jump-started twenty-five years earlier by an eccentric TV cop actor and a pop reference book, and John's family would like to kick in hotel room doors. Certificate #42952.

The EGOT (Entry 398.AC2810)

In which a Disneyland-trained dreamer invents a new art form with the help of a cookie entrepreneur and a jellybean innovator, and Ken has a theory about the worst balloon vendors. Certificate #32691.

Balloon Man (Entry 094.DE1501)

In which a veiled, fume-huffing priestess tells the ancient world what to do for over a millennium, and John only knows what time it is from his truck clock. Certificate #25192.

The Oracle of Delphi (Entry 872.1S0911)

In which a poison made from dried beetles becomes a schoolyard legend as an alleged aphrodisiac, foreshadowing our modern age of creepy predator celebrities and erectile dysfunction infomercials. Certificate #31327.

Spanish Fly (Entry 1195.SS0713)

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