Mass Historia: 365 Historical Facts and (Mostly) Fiction

By Chris Regan

You can't change the past, but with Mass Historia, Chris Regan has done a very fine job of making fun of it." --Stephen Colbert

The History Channel meets Comedy Central in this sidesplitting, quasi-historical almanac by Chris Regan, a five time Emmy award winning comedy writer and one of the coauthors of Jon Stewart's bestselling America (The Book).

Regan flips through our nation's historical calendar to offer up unknown, unrepentant, and often-unbelievable facts for every day of the year. Based on genuine, historical occurrences, Regan sets out to rewrite history with his unique satirical voice.

As Regan explains, "Enjoy this book, learn something from it, but do not reference it in any scholarly paper." Consider entries like June 12th, 1991: "Russians elect Boris Yeltsin president. Yeltsin suggests a toast to Democracy, wakes up shoeless on a bus eight years later." Or Regan's entry for May 15th, 1718: "A London Lawyer named James Puckle patents the world's first machine gun, because lawyering was not doing enough to crush the soul of mankind." The reader will also learn about the November 11th, 1918 birth of "Armistice Day, which was later changed to Veterans' Day, so that Americans could more easily pronounce what they annually ignored."

Full-color photographs, along with amusing sidebars, lists, and mock historical images aid in providing definitive answers to historical curiosities such as, "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" or the similarities between music moguls Kevin Federline and Johann Sebastian Bach. Readers will even discover that Alexander G. Bell's famous cry of, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you," during the first telephone conversation was, in fact, the invention of the Booty Call.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0740768697
• ISBN13: 9780740768699
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 2.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.5" x 10.4"

Customer Reviews

Chris Regan has an "interesting" mind.

I've enjoyed Chris's blog for several years now, so I have been looking forward to the publication date. I've got to tell you THIS BOOK IS HILARIOUS!!, but there are two caveats you should be aware of: 1) Do not use this book to cram for your American History final. 2) Do not take this book into an upscale restaurant, thinking you will read it while you are waiting for your meal to arrive. You will make a fool of yourself laughing out loud. Trust me. (The head waiter suggested that "Perhaps Monsieur would like to close ze book and sit on it." I hate it when the French are right; fortunately for the world, that almost never happens.) Several people here have referred to "Mass Historia" as the ideal coffee table book and I suppose I'll use it in that way as well. (Note to self: Get a job so you can buy a coffee table.) I learned a number of interesting historical facts that, of course, I googled and found that many are actually correct. For instance, on February 5, 1947, J. Danforth Quayle turned one day old and he "celebrates by halting any further cognitive development." Good, huh? So buy this book, already. You will not be disappointed.

History made funny

Why couldn't Chris Regan have been my history teacher? I never would have dozed off in class if his lessons were anything like those found in the hilarious "Mass Historia". Then again, I may have been too dumb back then to appreciate his smart, witty look at the past. This book spans the ages, covering many of history's most notable births, deaths, wars, beheadings and touches upon milestones in everything from literature to transportation to hot wings, (first "Hooters" opens, October 4th, 1983. It's in there). It really does cover a lot of ground and keeps you laughing and engaged the whole way through. Hilarious, well illustrated, and fun. Highly recommended.

Purchase, Distend X-mas Stocking Orafice, Insert

I bought this book with the idea of home schooling my children and ended up delighting myself!!! Regan delivers more laughs per page than any other living writer. Buy it.

A great addition to the pantheon of funny coffee table books

After reading Mass Historia: 365 Days of Historical Facts and (Mostly) Fictions, all I can say is too bad there are only 365 days in the year. I did not want this book to end. The zingers come fast and furious. The writing is smart and funny. And the book is big enough to fit nicely on the coffee table, yet not too big to leave a mark on your bare thighs when you take it into the bathroom. I can't recommend this book enough.

A truly funny book!

MASS HISTORIA is one of those laugh-out-loud books that I love to have on my coffee table - it's great for people like me who love trivia but are not overly concerned with the accuracy of such! Actually, the author does give some great bits of very compelling historical facts, but the very wry humor comes first and foremost, much to his credit here. The author wrote for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, so if you like that hilarious show I bet you'd find this as funny as I do. A great example of the humor on the anniversary of the Titanic sinking: "...Of the seven hundred people who survived, many were wealthy women and children and... wealthy men willing to dress themselves up as wealthy women and children." The book's also great for picking up, having a quick laugh, and putting back down again for later - perfect for short attention spans like mine! Highly recommended.