Ask the Memphian: Why is there a Poplar viaduct?
For that matter, what is a viaduct, anyway?
Topic: Ask the Memphian
RSSThere are 67 article(s) tagged Ask the Memphian:
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September 2025
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Ask the Memphian: Did someone really try to steal Elvis’ body?
In what a former Memphis police chief laughingly calls a “goat rodeo from the word go,” three bumbling crooks hatched a harebrained scheme to steal the body of Elvis Presley two weeks after his death. It didn’t go very well.
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Ask the Memphian: Justin Timberlake, his tequila and two annoyed women: How 901 Day began
After a barrage of ads for Justin Timberlake’s 901 Tequila annoyed them, two social media whizzes came up with the idea for 901 Day. Thirteen years later, it’s bigger than ever.
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Ask the Memphian: Is it true DeSoto County once had a beach? And it was full of sand from Destin?
The owners of DeSoto’s Maywood Beach routinely headed down to Destin, but it wasn’t to frolic in the waves.
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Ask the Memphian: The lizards have invaded Memphis! But it’s not really a bad thing
Two species of geckos can now be found in Memphis, part of an “invasion” from Florida. But not to worry: they aren’t causing any trouble.
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Ask the Memphian: Why are my lights off but my neighbor’s are on?
To understand why the lights may be on on one side of a street but not on the other is to gain a window into the intricate, man-made spiderweb that is MLGW’s distribution system.
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Ask the Memphian: Why are there so many Steelers fans in Memphis?
When the Tennessee Oilers — expected to play in Memphis for two years before relocating to Nashville — held their final home game of the 1997 NFL season, it didn’t feel like much of a home game. Most of the 50,000 fans in attendance were rooting for Pittsburgh.
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August 2025
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Ask the Memphian: Where did all those tiger statues come from?
Done in 2012 as a means to raise funds and awareness of the University of Memphis Alumni Association, the 100 fancifully painted tiger statues spread around the city have become part of our everyday lives.
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Ask the Memphian: Did The Beatles’ show in Memphis lead them to stop touring?
The Beatles stopped in Memphis during their August 1966 tour amid a backdrop of protest. The supergroup never toured again, and Memphis could have been a factor in the decision.
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May 2025
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Ask the Memphian: Why is the Memphis NBA team named the Grizzlies? (There’s more to it than you think.)
You know the Memphis NBA team is named the Grizzlies because they moved from Vancouver. But why did the Vancouver team have that name?
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April 2025
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Ask the Memphian: What is that metal menagerie in Downtown Memphis?
Lions, a tiger and bears, oh my, play into this week’s Ask the Memphian. Because we’re not just horsing around.
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Ask the Memphian: What is pollen, and why is there so much of it here?
In the latest installment of Ask the Memphian, we take a look at why this city is so bad for allergy sufferers.
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Ask the Memphian: No, the bluffs do not protect us from tornadoes
The belief that the bluffs in Downtown Memphis somehow protect the city from tornadoes “is not a real thing,” experts say.
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Ask the Memphian: Where’s Tennessee’s western boundary? In Arkansas
In an odd quirk of geography and politics, parts of West Tennessee are across the Mississippi River in Arkansas, a situation that creates difficult situations for people on both sides.
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The Early Word: Why Midtown is anti-Memphis 3.0; plus, a pollen primer
The flood waters have parted, pedestrian deaths are on the rise and xAI wants to go nuclear.
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Ask the Memphian: Why are there buffalo, er, bison at Shelby Farms?
For more than 35 years, buffalo have been a part of Shelby Farms. In the latest installment of “Ask the Memphian,” we take a look at their past and future as symbols of the park.
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March 2025
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Ask the Memphian: Why did Memphis build a monorail?
The Mud Island monorail was thought to be a sleek and futuristic attraction when it was first considered and opened in 1982, but it proved to be trouble for those responsible for its maintenance.
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