You can thank Wham-O's SuperBall for inspiring the name of the NFL's Big Game (buh) and you can thank the fear and the Soviet launch of Sputnik aroused in America for the invention of SuperBall! Learn the history and physics of this bouncy legend.
# Stuff You Should Know: The Superball Episode
This episode takes you on a bouncy journey through the surprising history of the Superball, from its accidental invention by a rubber company scientist in 1965 to becoming a Cold War-era phenomenon that somehow inspired the naming of a certain famous football championship game. Josh and Chuck explore the physics behind why these little purple spheres bounce so impossibly high and unpredictably, thanks to their amazing elastic properties and tricky surface friction, while also uncovering how knock-off versions nearly destroyed the original's market dominance. It's a delightfully nerdy dive into how a simple toy created by Norman Stingley became a staple of science classrooms and sparked wildly chaotic bouncing adventures for generations of kids.
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