A Florida high school photoshopped all traces of cleavage out of girls’ yearbook photos

In today’s “What century is this again?” news, a high school in St. Johns County, Florida is under the spotlight for its bizarro Photoshop attempt to eliminate all evidence of girls’ breast tissue in its yearbook photos. Dozens of female students at Bartram Trail High School have had their yearbook photos edited to have their…

Annie Reneau

May 21, 2021

Photo credit: First Coast News/YouTube – Array

Dozens of female students at Bartram Trail High School have had their yearbook photos edited to have their cleavage removed, causing an outcry from students and parents. Reporter Ben Ryan of Action News Jax out of Jacksonville investigated the story and shared examples of some before and after photos on Twitter, explaining that the before photos were deemed “inappropriate” by the school.

This is a before and after yearbook photo taken of Bartram Trail 9th grade high school student, Riley O’Keefe.

She says it was deemed inappropriate by the school and photoshopped in the printed edition.

Parents and students are now asking for a major change.@ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/f8MjkZMDOw— Ben Ryan (@BenRyanMedia_) May 20, 2021

Students and parents said that at least 60 photos were edited like this—some of them badly—to erase all traces of cleavage from girls’ chests. The school confirmed that the number was actually 80, all of them girls. (This is not the first time something like this has happened. A Utah school came under fire for the same thing a few years back.)

We’re not talking deep, plunging necklines here. The photos Ryan shared on Twitter show scoop neck shirts and v-neck sweaters that just happen to show a crease where breasts come together at the top as breasts tend to do.

One student, 9th grader Zoe Iannone told Action News Jax that she felt confident that she had looked good and was within the school’s dress code when she went to school that day, but that changed when she saw her edited photo. “When I sent it to my mom and all of us saw it, I felt very sexualized, like that was what they were worrying about,” she said.

Ninth grader Riley O’Keefe, featured in the above photos, told Action News she had worn the same outfit to school and had been told it was fine. Seeing the edited photo in the yearbook made her feel uncomfortable, and she decided to speak up about it for girls who might not feel comfortable saying something.

“You’re not only affecting their photo, it’s not just for protecting them, you’re making them uncomfortable and feel like their bodies aren’t acceptable in a yearbook,” she said.

“You’re not only affecting their photo, it’s not just for protecting them, you’re making them uncomfortable and feel like their bodies aren’t acceptable in a yearbook,” said Riley O’Keefe.

Read the full story here: ⬇️https://t.co/B8aPkXMV2D @ActionNewsJax— Ben Ryan (@BenRyanMedia_) May 20, 2021

The school sent Ryan this statement:

“Bartram Trail High School’s previous procedure was to not include student pictures in the yearbook that they deemed in violation of the student code of conduct, so the digital alterations were a solution to make sure all students were included in the yearbook. At this point the school is offering refunds to any parents calling about this issue. The school is receiving feedback from parents/guardians/students on making this process better for next year.”

The school said it offered to refund parents’ yearbook money, but the damage was already done. Students and parents told Ryan they understood what the school was trying to do, but that they went too far.

“Our daughters of Bartram deserve an apology,” one anonymous mother said. “They are making them feel embarrassed about who they are.”

Another mother told First Coast News that her daughter was being bullied after the photo edits made her a target.

As of this afternoon, Ryan was unable to get any interviews with or additional responses from the school.

School dress codes have been under fire for some time now, as stories of girls being sent home for wearing outfits most people would not consider immodest have repeatedly gone viral. But these girls were not in violation of the school’s dress codes, and photoshopping cleavage out of photos is just strange. Someone is looking for a problem where one doesn’t exist, and placing the blame for the fictional problem on the wrong parties.

If someone sees a fold of skin at the top of a shirt in a high school yearbook and starts thinking dirty thoughts, that’s on the viewer, 100 percent. There may be some people who think zero cleavage should ever be seen anywhere, but that’s neither realistic or reasonabled. Unless you’re wearing a turtleneck, cleavage happens with most fashionable clothing. And it happens more for some girls than others. Cleavage is literally just skin and tissue being pressed together—no one is showing actual cuppage or nipples or anything of the sort in these photos.

All this kind of policing does is make girls feel weird about their bodies and ashamed of the way their breasts come together at the top. It’s unnecessary, controlling nonsense and it needs to stop. People can rightfully debate where a line should be drawn when it comes to appropriate yearbook photo attire, but a little bit of cleavage definitely should not be that line.

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In Partnership With Habitat For Humanity →

Homeowners celebrate the completion of their new home in Cambodia's Siem Reap Province alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers and staff.

Culture, Family

A safe, stable home can change lives for the better. Here’s how Habitat for Humanity wants to make that possible for everyone.

Better health, better jobs, and a brighter future all start with access to a safe, affordable home.

Sarah Watts

3/25/2026
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.

A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.

Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project.

Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.

Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.

Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia.

Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.

Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
- Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
- Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
- Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
- Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
- Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.

Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
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Photo credit: TikTok/@alliekeepsitreel [with permission] – Allie Hartung shares an emotional story about a kind compliment she received while grocery shopping.

Culture, Wholesome

She grocery shopped hat-free during chemo for the first time. A tiny compliment led her to tears.

“You never know what someone is carrying, and something as simple as a compliment can have a lasting impact,” Allie Hartung tells Upworthy.

Emily Shiffer

5/1/2026

A simple compliment can have the most powerful impact. Allie Hartung, a young woman battling breast cancer, shared the story about a life-changing interaction with a thoughtful grocery store worker that is showing the world the true significance of small acts of kindness.

Allie told Upworthy, “My journey started with a small lump near my rib cage that I was told twice was ‘probably just a lymph node,’ but I trusted my instincts and sought a second opinion. During an ultrasound at my third doctor’s request for answers, a full breast exam revealed a different small mass, and two days before my 32nd birthday, a biopsy confirmed it was cancer.”

Allie recently went through chemotherapy that resulted in total hair loss. Back in March, she visited her local grocery store to get some essentials. Only this time, she made the brave choice to not cover her baldness.

Her courage did not go unnoticed, and she shared the story in a moving video. “Anyway, compliment a stranger,” she captioned it.

@alliekeepsitreel
anyway, compliment a stranger #hair #chemo #compliment
♬ Run Away with Me – Instrumental Version – Louis Island

Her interaction at the grocery store

In the video, Allie shares what happened after she went to the grocery store.

“I was getting stuff I need, and the lady who worked there stops me while she as mopping, and she was like, ‘Girl! You rock your hair like that!’” she says. “And I said, ‘Thanks. It’s not by choice.’ And we both kind of went our separate ways.”

But they find each other again in the store.

“She comes back around and she says, ‘Did you just say it’s not by choice?’ And I said, ‘Yes. I’m going through chemo.’ And she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re going to rock it! And you’re gonna kill it!’” Allie noted she doesn’t remember exactly what the kind woman said to her, but that she thanked her.

But before she left the store, Allie found her once again.

“I stopped her and I just said, ‘Actually this is the first time I’ve left the house without wearing a scarf or a hat. And I know it was something [a] very small part of your day, but I’ll never forget this moment and it really means a lot to me.’”

She adds that the two hugged, and the interaction had a deep impact on her.

“I think through cancer, I’m realizing compliments can go a really long ways,” she shared, explaining that she used to work at the store for years, but that two of her managers didn’t recognize her without her hair.

“I’m just not really feeling like myself, and I just really needed that,” she concluded.

Allie met up with the kind stranger

The woman who complimented Allie was named Tracy. She found and commented on Allie’s video, sharing more details about their chance meeting:

“…I was mopping the store and saw her come around the corner I told myself ok yeah she looks really good and she’s rocking that hair style. I was fighting with myself on telling her and a voice just told me to go for it, worse thing thing she could do is chew me out. She told me her story before she left. I never expected this to blow up like it did! I’m so glad to have gained and friend and make someone feel good about themselves. I also try to give a compliment even if I don’t receive anything in return I don’t do it for that. Keep pushing Allie!!! I’m here always girl.”

The two met once again after the video had gone viral. Allie brought Tracy a little gift basket of flowers to show her appreciation, and shared it with her followers.

@alliekeepsitreel
kindness takes so little but can mean so much. you never know how much someone needs to hear it. compliment a stranger and if you’re lucky, you may make a new friend. the biggest shout out to my newest pal @tracy for being a shining light in my cancer journey. also please forgive the recording angle and audio. i find it creepy to record others when they’re not expecting it 🙃
♬ nhạc nền – cblvvch – cblvvch

“Kindness goes a long way, and this has impacted me in the most unbelievable ways that I could think of,” Allie says in her car before meeting Tracy.

She finds Tracy, and gets to tell her about the impact her kindness made. “It really meant more to me than you know,” she tells her.

Allie’s message on early detection

Early detection and self-advocacy were essential for Allie’s early breast cancer diagnosis, and she encourages other young women to take steps for early breast cancer detection.

“A self exam doesn’t have to be complicated, you’re just looking for changes. A new lump, (sometimes it can feel as small as a lemon seed), swelling, skin dimpling, or anything that feels different from your normal,” she tells Upworthy. “And if something feels off, even if you’re told it’s probably nothing, it’s okay to push for answers or seek a second opinion. Trusting yourself can make all the difference. Early detection truly saves lives.”

@alliekeepsitreel
and just like that i’m loving life again 🥹🩷💪 i have a month long of radiation ahead but so thrilled to be done with this chapter. i have been so blessed with the best doctors and nurses throughout this process. i don’t know how yall in health care do it but i couldn’t be more thankful. #chemo #cancer #breastcancer #nursing
♬ Loving Life Again – Ella Langley

Allie recently finished her chemotherapy treatment, and will soon start radiation.

“If there’s one thing I hope people take away from all of this, it’s that kindness truly matters,” Allie says. “It takes almost no effort, but it can completely shift someone’s day, or even how they’re feeling about themselves. You never know what someone is carrying, and something as simple as a compliment can have a lasting impact.”

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Photo credit: Canva – Older people remember being young.

Culture, Generations

64-year-old woman explains the simple but profound reason young people should listen to elders

“We remember being you.”

Annie Reneau

5/1/2026

“Listen to your elders” sometimes feels like a saying from a bygone era, especially in the “OK, Boomer” age. While it’s true that age doesn’t always equal wisdom, we may have tossed the Baby Boomer out with the bathwater when it comes to giving an ear to elder perspectives.

A woman who goes by “TikTok Memaw” shared a video addressing people younger than her.

“I’m 64 years old, and I’m gonna tell you that you don’t know what you have,” she said. “But not in the same way people usually say it.”

@tiktokmemaw
I know what it feels like to be young. But you don’t know what it feels like to be old. old young
♬ original sound – Tik Tok Memaw

Young people think they have time

She shared that she heard an older person say, “I know what it feels like to be young. But you don’t know what it feels like to be old.” And that stuck with her.

“That’s the part nobody warns you about,” she said. “Because when you’re young, you think you have time. That’s just something you have. You spend it like it’s endless. You put things off. You say, ‘later’ like it’s promised. Later, I’ll take the trip. Later, I’ll call them back. Later, I’ll wear that outfit. Later, I’ll start living.”

Memaw pointed out that older people don’t have to guess what it’s like to be young. They remember it.

“We remember having energy and not realizing that was a gift,” she said. “We remember bodies that didn’t hurt. We remember chances we thought would come back around. We remember being you.”

Old people remember being young more clearly than young people might imagine. Photo credit: Canva

Time is shorter looking back than looking forward

Those of us in the latter half of life do remember being young. It’s easy for young people to assume that older people can’t relate to them, that their youth is just a distant memory. When you’re young, “old” feels like the distant future. But when you’re old, young feels an awful lot like yesterday.

“One day, you’re gonna remember being who you are right now,” Memaw said. “And it’s gonna hit you in the chest when you realize this moment you’re rushing through was the life you’re going to miss. You don’t know what it feels like to wake up and wish you had just one more ordinary Tuesday with the people you love. You don’t know what it feels like to look at your hands and realize how much time has passed through them. But the older people do.”

Our hands tell the time. Photo credit: Canva

‘Trying to reach backwards and hand you something before it’s too late’

Memaw highlights why it’s important to listen when an elder tells young people to slow down, or take the picture, or take the trip while they are able to.

“It’s not nagging,” she said. “It’s memory talking. It’s experience. It’s trying to reach backwards and hand you something before it’s too late, and it’s gone.”

It’s not always easy for young folks to hear such advice. Life feels so big when you’re young. There’s so much to figure out. So many possible paths you could choose, which is both exhilarating and terrifying. But older people know how that feels, too. They lived it. And their perspective looking back might just help you live your younger years with greater rewards and fewer regrets.

‘A live well-lived’ vs. ‘a life…well, lived’

An Oscar-nominated short film called Retirement Plan speaks to the idea of not squandering time and prioritizing how you want your life to be spent while you have it.

As one person wrote in the comments on the film, “There is a difference between a ‘life well-lived’ and ‘a life… well, lived.’”

Naturally, not everyone responds to advice to live life to its fullest in the same way. Some people really need to hear it and find it inspiring. Other people already feel anxious about all the things they aren’t doing or haven’t done, so being reminded of the fleeting nature of time tends to increase anxiety.

Still, the perspective older people have can be really valuable. Elders may not fully understand the external realities facing young people in the modern world, but wisdom about time is timeless.

You can follow TikTok Memaw on TikTok for more wisdom and advice.

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Photo credit: Anthony Marinelli Music/YouTube – Michael Jackson, left, and Matt Forger.

Culture, Pop Culture

Michael Jackson’s sounds engineer reveals the genius origins of ‘Annie’ from ‘Smooth Criminal’

She is definitely not OK.

Heather Wake

5/1/2026

With the latest Michael Jackson biopic taking the box office by storm, the late singer and his work are back in the pop culture zeitgeist. Now, even more lore has been added to the conversation, courtesy of Jackson’s longtime personal sound engineer, Matt Forger.

In an interview with Anthony Marinelli, Forger revealed the inspiration behind the character Annie in “Smooth Criminal,” saying that while on tour with the Jackson 5, each of the brothers took a CPR class, where they practiced on a Resusci Anne doll. Part of the protocol was asking, “Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?” to check a patient’s condition.

A nod to genius

“That catchphrase sort of stayed in his memory,” Forger said, noting it as one of many examples of Jackson’s innate gift for songwriting. Like many of the greats, Jackson was able to expertly pinpoint hooks with the most emotional punch and build out full-blown stories from there.

In the song lyrics, we get a story of a woman attacked in her apartment by a “smooth criminal,” who breaks in through the window and then violently strikes the victim. By the second verse, Annie is being resuscitated, seemingly to no avail.

The doll has a fascinating, dark history

Anne’s story began in France in the late 1880s, when the body of an unidentified teenage girl was found in the River Seine. Unlike the case in “Smooth Criminal,” there was no evidence of violence at the scene. Presumably, the girl had taken her own life. Death masks were still a common ritual, and one was created for her to immortalize the eerily calm expression she left behind, as some legends say. It became so popular that it was mass-produced.

Fast forward to the late 1950s, when Norwegian toy maker and publisher Åsmund S. Laerdal was commissioned to create a realistic, life-sized manikin for training people in the new mouth-to-mouth resuscitation method. He recalled seeing one of these masks in his in-laws’ home and felt it was the perfect expression for the dummy.

Today, Resusci Anne is also known as “the most kissed girl in the world” since millions of trainees have performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her over the decades.

Viewers react

You would think this connection is well known among those who have learned CPR. But judging from the comments on Forger’s interview, it’s still a largely buried fact:

“Wow, too many times I have said, ‘Annie are you ok” and proceeded to give compressions and then 3 breaths. I never made the connection.”

“I studied CPR last year and the mannequin was called Annie but I thought it was because of the song, didn’t realise the mannequin Annie came first.”

“I took CPR but never put that together about this song.”

Whether you’re into obscure history, pop music, or fun explainers, this story has just what you’re looking for. It also goes to show just how deeply interconnected our world is. Thanks to a bit of human creativity, a tragic mystery from 19th-century France turned into a life-saving training tool, followed by one of pop’s most iconic songs. There really is an endless supply of inspiration.

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Photo credit: Super Festivals/Wikimedia Commons – Actor Matthew Lillard.

Culture, Pop Culture

Matthew Lillard had a surprisingly humble explanation for his recent Hollywood comeback

The “Scooby-Doo” star is back in the limelight after the massive “Five Nights at Freddy’s” success.

Tod Perry

5/1/2026

Actor Matthew Lillard can trigger Millennial nostalgia like few others. He was perfectly cast in the popular Scooby-Doo films of the early aughts as Norville “Shaggy” Rogers and appeared as Stu Macher in the original Scream (1996). He also had memorable roles in She’s All That (1999), Thirteen Ghosts (2001), and Without a Paddle (2004).

Lillard’s career began to cool down in the late ‘00s. Although he never went away, he transitioned from a comedic performer to starring in dramatic roles, most notably in 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return. However, now, after the lead role in the massive 2023 horror hit, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Lillard is in the midst of a comeback, starring in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025), The Life of Chuck (2024), and the Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again.

Lillard talked about his recent success with a refreshing sense of gratitude and humility on a recent episode of the Phase Hero podcast, hosted by Brandon Davis.

“Scooby-Doo one and two are more popular now than they ever were when they came out,” Lillard said. “So I do think there’s a weird nostalgia thing happening in our industry and in the zeitgeist, because I think that people are longing for ye olde times.”

“I think that’s one of the reasons I’m having this moment, to be honest, is because I was identified in that moment, so people are hiring me again,” he added. “That’s why I’m working. I don’t think anyone really likes me. They just missed the old times. ‘Who should we get? Who’s old and relatively warm and fuzzy feeling? Let’s get Matthew Lillard. Talented? No. But do we like him? Yes.’”

Matthew Lillard says Quentin Tarantino dissing him "sucked" and felt like he got "punched in the mouth"

“It felt like I had died and was in heaven watching everyone send out their RIP tweets, sort of living through nice things people say after you die.”pic.twitter.com/euNqCZK6bl
— Emir Han (@RealEmirHan) February 23, 2026

The 56-year-old actor’s self-awareness was also on display in how he gracefully handled some very blunt criticism from director Quentin Tarantino. Last December, Lillard was brought up in a conversation in which Tarantino criticized actor Paul Dano’s performance in There Will Be Blood.

“I’m not saying he’s giving a terrible performance,” Tarantino said. “I’m saying he’s giving a non-entity [performance]. I don’t care for him. I don’t care for Owen Wilson, I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.”

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A post shared by Matthew Lillard (@matthewlillard)

The very public diss inspired many of Lillard’s colleagues to sing his praises.

“It felt like I had died and was in heaven watching everyone send out their RIP tweets. I mean, it was really being a part of your own wake, sort of sitting there living through all the nice things people say after you die,” Lillard told People. “Everyone, from the people at the mall this weekend with my kids to George Clooney and James Gunn and Mike Flanagan, I mean, people have sort of been really generous with telling me how much they loved me and liked my work.”

Lillard’s response to his sudden success is a great example of someone who has been in the industry for decades and has learned how to keep his head on his shoulders. There are going to be highs and lows, but when your feet are firmly planted in reality, you can make it through them all.

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Photo credit: Canva – "Wow" is a lot older than people might guess.

Culture, Generations

‘Wow!’ may sound like a modern slang term, but it dates all the way back to the 1500s

“Wow” is actually older than “huzzah.”

Annie Reneau

5/1/2026

Many old words, such as “fortnight” or “swashbuckle,” sound as archaic as they are. But some words that sound modern are surprisingly old.

Scottish actor and writer Kenny Boyle shared that the word “wow” has been around a lot longer than people might think. While it may sound like slang from the 20th century, it actually dates back over 500 years to Scotland.

“This is one of those anachronistic things,” Boyle said in a TikTok video. “If you were to read a historical fiction or something like that, and one of the characters were to say ‘Wow!’ you’d probably think, ‘Well, that’s weird. That’s a very modern word, isn’t it?’ The answer is actually no, at least not in Scotland.”

@kennyboyleofficial
A word that you didn’t know was Scottish. Wow, what a surprise! #scotland #scottishculture #scotslanguage #tradition
♬ original sound – Kenny Boyle Official

We first see the written use of “wow” in 1513

Boyle explained that “wow” dates to the 1500s and meant basically the same thing it does now: an expression of disbelief or surprise.

Babbel notes that the first known written use of “wow” appeared in 1513 in a Scottish English translation of Virgil’s Aeneid. The exact quote is, “Out on thir wanderand spiritis, wow! thow cryis.” It was possibly a modification (or perhaps even a typo) of the exclamation “Vow!”, which was an intensified version of “I vow!”

“Wow” doesn’t really have a meaning in and of itself, but is rather a natural exclamation. The “W” sound is one of the easiest sounds to make, so we find natural exclamations similar to “wow” across different languages.

Facial expressions also play a role

Babbel explains that many natural exclamations relate to the facial expressions people make. “The facial expression associated with shock or surprise is an open, rounded mouth, which happens to coincide with how a human pronounces ‘wow,’” the video states.

Other exclamations (also known as emotive interjections) that seem to coincide with facial expressions include “Ow!” and “Ouch!”, as well as “Yay!” and “Hooray!”

When we say, “Wow!” it looks like we’re saying “Wow!” Photo credit: Canva

“Hooray” and “hurrah” are thought to be modifications of “huzzah” or “huzza,” which we probably recognize as old terms. But interestingly enough, “wow” is even older than “huzzah.” (Not by much, but still surprising.)

How “wow” became an everyday English exclamation

According to Babbel, “wow” was commonly used by the 19th century, but it really took hold in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1920, however, “wow” was used as a noun, as in “This song is a wow.” Today, “wow” is rarely used as a noun but is often used as a verb. For example, “I was wowed by that song.”

A more obscure meaning of “wow” from the 1930s referred to pitch distortions in audio recordings. But by far the most common usage today is simply the emotive interjection “Wow!”

And then there’s always the sarcastic use of the word as well: “Wow. That’s really interesting.” Just changing the punctuation to periods instead of exclamation points gives it a whole different flavor.

Thank you, 16th-century Scotland, for such a useful exclamation.

You can follow Kenny Boyle on TikTok for more fun Scottish history and etymology.

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Photo credit: @AllThings1990s on YouTube – The children of 90s kids can now get free pizza for reading books.

Culture, Nostalgia

’90s kids rejoice as Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! program returns for a new generation of readers

Books and pepperoni reunited again.

Erik Barnes

5/1/2026

In the 1990s, kids were given a tasty incentive to pick up a book and read. The mission, should they choose to accept it, was to read a certain amount each month to earn a button, stickers, and a free personal pan pizza. Now, ’90s kids can offer this same challenge to their own children, because Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT Summer Reading Program has officially returned.

The BOOK IT program is a free reading incentive tool for parents and teachers to help encourage youngsters to read recreationally during the summer. While back in the day participants manually filled out forms to track their progress, parents today can do so on an app. The app can also redeem rewards for free pizza throughout the summer. Enrollment begins on May 1, 2026.

Brief History of BOOK IT

Per The Takeout, the history of the BOOK IT program begins in the mid-1980s with then-president of Pizza Hut Arthur Gunther and marketing executive Bud Gates. As President Ronald Reagan encouraged businesses to promote education, Gunther wanted to participate. He was inspired by his son’s struggle with literacy as a child. With that in mind, he developed the program to reward young kids for reading. Kids from pre-K through sixth grade would get a free personal pan pizza if they reached certain monthly reading benchmarks. This not only encouraged kids to read for free pizza, but also got their parents to order food for themselves while they were there.

The program would continue in various forms for 40 years, and has had a lasting legacy with many Millennials. Many enjoy remembering finishing up a Goosebumps, Encyclopedia Brown, or other book series of their youth to get a free one-topping six-inch pie.

There are critics of the Pizza Hut BOOK IT program, though. Many argue that reading should be encouraged for its own sake. There is also understandable concern about linking a child’s education to a national fast food pizza chain. Others argue that, in an age when children’s reading skills are declining nationally, such incentive programs can still help. After all, many adults on social media today credit BOOK IT for making them readers.

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How to get kids to read more (pizza optional)

There are other ways to boost a child’s literacy without pizza (though pizza goes well with everything). Aside from continuing story time with younger kids, parents can still bond with their elementary-aged children by playing word games with them such as Scrabble or Boggle.

Another way to join your child is to share their interests. If they want to read a young adult book they’ve picked out, consider reading it too. It’ll create something to bond over as a “family book club.” After you both finish it, you can discuss the novel over a fun dinner out, whether at Pizza Hut elsewhere.

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Photo credit: Canva – Three older adults eat ice cream outside a store.

Culture, Generations

100 people who’ve lived to 100 were asked the secret to a long, happy life. Here are their answers.

The average 100-year-old surveyed only “feels” 68. That’s incredible.

Evan Porter

4/30/2026

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) recently interviewed 100 centenarians, or people who have lived to the ripe age of 100.

Fascinatingly, 100-year-olds feel younger than ever. The report reveals that the average centenarian only “feels” about 68. It’s a number that’s dropping dramatically. In 2015, when UHC conducted a similar survey, the average respondent said they felt 79. That’s incredible.

What that ultimately means is that these folks can teach us an awful lot about how to live both a long and joyful life, how to feel decades younger, and how to keep living life to the fullest into our 100s and beyond. Here are some of their secrets:

1. Staying up-to-date on tech keeps you young

You might think of centenarians clinging to their rotary phones and the vinyl record players they had long before they were “cool.” You’d be wrong.

UHC found that 100-year-olds are experimenting with ChatGPT and other AI—around 27% of them. And a stunning 40% of them regularly play video games.

2. A strong body can go the distance

Centenarians have changed their approach to longevity in the past decade. Compared to 2015, far more respondents today are doing regular strength training and monitoring their diet.

Overall, they’re more active in almost every way. A higher percentage of 100-year-olds are doing cardio, gardening, and even meditating or practicing intentional stress relief. Meditation jumped from 29% of centenarians to 42% today.

“Staying active keeps my heart strong, mind sharp, body moving, spirit high, and health steady every day,” one said.

The only activity that declined was walking and hiking, and only by a small margin. But these busy seniors had to find the time to hit the gym somewhere.

3. Finding humor in daily life is the best medicine

It’s one thing when Joe Schmoe says “laughter is the best medicine.” It’s another when some of our oldest citizens are living proof that it’s true.

It might be reading between the lines, but the cranky and miserly don’t seem as likely to make it to 100. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they laugh often and find that having a sense of humor comes easily to them.

“A good belly laugh can make you feel better than any pill, I’ll tell you that,” one said.

4. There’s something to look forward to at every age

One of the most interesting questions asked of the participants was about their “best decade.”

The answers from the 100 centenarians, who’ve lived through and seen it all, reveal that there’s so much good to find in every season of life. Life doesn’t go downhill after a certain age; you just have to learn to appreciate what it has to offer.

Your 20s are for freedom and exploration. Your 30s and 40s are all about family. Your 50s and 60s are the best for community and friendship. Your 70s and beyond are about finding contentment and joy in the simple things.

Even in the harder decades, the centenarians now have the perspective to know there was always light at the end of the tunnel:

“I’d tell myself to embrace every messy moment because it all works out in the end. I really needed to hear that in my late teens when everything felt like such a big deal.”

5. “Feeling old” has nothing to do with age and is sometimes out of your control

Fascinatingly, the respondents were asked when they first started to “feel old.” Their answers had nothing to do with a specific age.

It came down to the moments: giving up driving, the death of a spouse, and moving out of a beloved home and into a smaller place where they could age.

There’s something peaceful about that. Some things may be in your control—keeping your body and mind sharp can delay certain events. Others are completely out of your control. But the overarching theme is that there’s no reason to fear a number.

6. Family and friends are key to survival

Being isolated and lonely is devastating for your health and longevity. Seventy-eight percent of the seniors in this report, thriving at the age of 100, credit a big part of their vigor to regularly spending time with friends and family.

“They are everything to me. I try to spend as much time with my family as I can,” one of the 100-year-olds said. “Life is short; you never know when it’ll be the last day.”

7. The advice they’d give their younger selves is what we all need to hear

Centenarians say the secret to happiness is really no secret at all. It’s mind-numbingly simple: Don’t worry so much. Spend time with your loved ones. Move your body. Be true to yourself.

The difference is that these 100-year-olds have the wisdom and urgency to really mean it. Don’t wait until you’re their age to start living like you know you should.

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” one said, referring to getting a promotion at work, but more generally, anything you truly want. In other words, go for it.

The overall trends identified in the report are surprising and hopeful.

In 10 years, our centenarians will likely be even more focused on their physical and mental health, finding even more joy in their lives as they age, and, through it all, feeling younger than ever. We can learn a lot from watching what they’re doing right.

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Before and after photos of people who drank wine.

Culture, Pop Culture

19 viral photos show what happens after drinking 1, 2, and 3 glasses of wine

This is what it looks like to “wine” down.

Upworthy Staff

4/30/2026

Marcos Alberti’s “3 Glasses” project began with a joke and a few drinks with his friends.

The photo project originally depicted Alberti’s friends drinking, first immediately after work and then after one, two, and three glasses of wine.

But after Imgur user minabear circulated the story, “3 Glasses” became more than just a joke. In fact, it went viral, garnering more than 1 million views and nearly 1,800 comments in its first week. So Alberti started taking more pictures and not just of his friends.

“The first picture was taken right away when our guests (had) just arrived at the studio in order to capture the stress and the fatigue after a full day after working all day long and from also facing rush hour traffic to get here,” Alberti explained on his website. “Only then fun time and my project could begin. At the end of every glass of wine, a snapshot, nothing fancy, a face and a wall, 3 times…by the end of the third glass several smiles emerged and many stories were told.”

Why was the series so popular? Anyone who has ever had a long day at work and needed to “wine” down will quickly see why.

Take a look:

This article originally appeared ten years ago. It has been updated.

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