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Between the Folds of This Silk Fan Is a 19th-Century Horse Racing Program
It was February 20, 1892, in the middle of New Zealand’s hottest months. In the stands overlooking Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, an earl and a countess watching the races cooled themselves with a...
View ArticleWatch Lights in Madison Square Park Pulse to Heartbeats
In 2008, if you took a walk through the central oval lawn of Madison Square Park in New York City at dusk, you would have been immersed in flashing lights pulsing to the beat of someone's heart....
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Found: Some Old Uranium in This Woman's Garage
Certain uranium isotopes, famously, were used to start the nuclear age, like Uranium-235, the isotope used in the bomb known as "Little Boy," which fell on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and almost...
View ArticleLocal Council Is 'Sorry' After Planting a Bunch of Trees on a Soccer Field
Council apologises after trees planted on football pitchhttps://t.co/XN4WXC5gXVpic.twitter.com/5CcI8tmUdI— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 13, 2017In Logie Durno, in the council area of Aberdeenshire...
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The True Origins of the Phrase 'Bleeding-Heart Liberal'
Westbrook Pegler was extremely good at calling people names. Particularly politicians. In his syndicated newspaper column, he called Franklin D. Roosevelt “Moosejaw” and “momma’s boy.” Truman was “a...
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The Best Way to Find a Time Capsule
There might not be buried treasure in your area, but there could very well be a forgotten time capsule, which can be just as exciting to discover.Let's start by defining just what a time capsule is....
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Found: An Essay Winston Churchill Wrote About Alien Life
Late in the 1950s, when he was solidly in his 80s and retired, as much as was possible for a man like him, from political life, Winston Churchill brought a draft of an essay down to a villa in southern...
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Murcia, Spain, Has a New Eel Staircase
Every day, pedestrians in Murcia, Spain use the Manterola Bridge to cross over the Segura River and get to work, class, or other engagements.Starting this week, though, they'll have new commuting...
View ArticleFound: An Albino Kangaroo Abandoned in a Dam Evacuation
Nearly 200,000 people in California's Central Valley were evacuated this week—and later allowed to return—after officials said they were concerned that a spillway connected to the Oroville Dam might...
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The Hidden Tunnel Workers of Chongqing
Under the pavement of Fujiagou, a small town in the greater city of Chongqing in southwest China, craftsmen and women hustle to produce machinery parts in tunnels that were built as shelter against...
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The Improbable Life of the Inventor of the Modern Bra
Mary Phelps, known as Polly to friends, was born in 1891 to a family that could trace its heritage to such luminaries as William Bradford, Plymouth Colony's first governor, and Robert Fulton, the...
View ArticleOrdinarily Tame Pet Squirrel Attacks Burglar, Defends Owner's Home
Adam Pearl, of Meridian, Idaho, owns a pet squirrel named Joey, who enjoys Whoppers (the candy) and running around Pearl's home, occasionally spooking guests. Joey doesn't usually bite, Pearl told...
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Remembering Nüshu, the 19th-Century Chinese Script Only Women Could Write
In 1988, Yi Nianhua, a frail, sickly woman in her 80s, spent many evenings scribbling elegant characters at a table in her kitchen in the small rice-farming village of Shangjiangxu Township, China....
View ArticleFound: A Glimpse of Marcel Proust, Caught on Film
The film above is thought to contain the only known footage of Marcel Proust, the French author most famous for the masterwork In Search of Lost Time. The footage was captured in 1904, at the wedding...
View ArticleA Philly Guy Filled a Crack in the Street With Sprinkles
The South Philly crack full of jimmies was public art because of course. https://t.co/UQRggAEiQ2pic.twitter.com/SVGI4U1WS7— Billy Penn (@billy_penn) February 15, 2017Most days, South Philadelphia...
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In Heraldry, Hearts Can Symbolize Everything From Lily Pads to Testicles
For about as long as heraldry has been around, the heart symbol has been a common feature on coats of arms and other armorial bearings. The earliest examples date back to the Middle Ages. “You can find...
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When Churches Tried to Get Dirt on a Famous Sexologist From the FBI
A version of this story originally appeared on Muckrock.com.When the final season of Showtime’s Masters of Sex started this past Fall, it occurred to me that the show’s protagonists, sex researchers...
View ArticleUsing a Motor to Make Two Hearts Fuse
Next time you want to tell a loved one how you feel, you can build them an electrically powered heart. In the video above posted on YouTube by MrfixitRick, two copper-wire hearts spin together as one...
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The Surprisingly Stubborn Theory That Beethoven's Heartbeat Influenced His Music
The spring of 1809 was a rough time for Ludwig van Beethoven. His beloved, the countess Giulietta Guicciardi, had recently cut off contact, citing irreconcilable class differences. He was experiencing...
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Someone Made Off With a 1,000-Pound Chicken Statue in North Carolina
In a bit of foul play, a statue of a chicken was stolen over the weekend in Alexander County, North Carolina.The statue, seen above, weighs 1,000 pounds and is said to be worth $1,100, according to the...
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