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  If you grew up with a set of little metal (or plastic) jacks and a small rubber bounce ball rattling around in a drawstring pouch, you already know the game holds up. All these years later, jacks is still one of the simplest, cheapest, and most satisfying games around -- all you need is a flat surface, a ball, and a set of ten jacks. Here's a refresher on how to play, from the basic rules to the trickier variations that separate the beginners from the champs. What You Need A small rubber bounce ball (a "pinky" ball is traditional, but any small bouncy ball works) A set of 10 jacks (the small six-pronged metal or plastic pieces) A flat, hard playing surface — a sidewalk, tile floor, or tabletop all work well One or more players — jacks can be played solo or with a group taking turns The Basic Idea The core of the game is simple: you toss the jacks onto the ground, bounce the ball, and try to scoop up jacks before the ball bounces a...

  You don't need years of practice, sleight-of-hand mastery, or a top hat to pull off a genuinely impressive magic trick. Some of the best party tricks rely on clever setups, simple math, or props that do the work for you. Here are seven beginner-friendly tricks you can learn in an afternoon and start performing tonight. 1. The Rising Card The effect: A card chosen from a deck seems to rise out of the pack on its own. How it works: Have someone pick a card and return it to the deck, secretly keeping it at the top. Hold the deck upright in one hand. As you talk, use your thumb (hidden behind the deck) to slowly push the top card upward. To the audience, it looks like the card is floating up out of the deck by itself. A little showmanship — wiggling your other hand mysteriously nearby — sells the illusion completely. Why it works for beginners: There's no complicated shuffle or sleight involved, just a slow, steady thumb push and confident patter. 2. The Impossible Knot ...

  There’s something almost universal about the way a child’s eyes light up when a coin vanishes, a card jumps out of a deck, or a scarf turns into a rabbit. Magic tricks don’t just entertain kids, they hook them. Here’s why that happens so reliably. Wonder Feels Like Power Kids live in a world full of rules they didn’t make and limits they can’t change. Magic briefly suspends those rules. When something impossible happens right in front of them, it feels like the universe just winked. That jolt of “wait… how?” is pure dopamine. It gives them a momentary sense that the ordinary world can be rewritten, and that feeling is intoxicating. They Get to Be In On the Secret (or Chase It) Children are natural detectives. A good magic trick creates a delicious mystery: “I know there’s a trick, but I can’t see it.” Trying to figure it out becomes a game. Even when they don’t solve it, the pursuit itself is fun. And when a magician finally shows them a simple method, the shared secret cre...

  The smoke inside Madison Square Garden on January 27, 1978, hung thick under the rafters, but down on the track, the air felt electric. Franklin Jacobs stood at the start of his mark, looking at a high-jump bar that looked structurally impossible for him to clear. In elite high jumping—a sport ruled by towering athletes with legs that seem to go on forever—Franklin was an anomaly. He stood just 5 feet, 8 inches tall. Standing next to his competitors, he looked less like an elite athlete and more like a spectator who had wandered onto the field. But Franklin had an equalizer: a radical, self-styled technique the track world called the "Jacobs Slope." While other jumpers used the traditional, elegant Fosbury Flop, Franklin approached the bar with explosive, physics-defying speed. He didn't just glide; he launched. On this legendary night at the Millrose Games , the bar was set at a staggering 2.32 meters (7 feet, 7.25 inches) . To break the world indoor record...