Found: A Maud Lewis Painting in a Thrift Store Bin
Big surprise when valuable art by Canadian painter Maud Lewis was discovered at New Hamburg Thrift Centre: https://t.co/6A0bGQTBqT. pic.twitter.com/xtyL6yU7XJ— NewHamburgIndy (@NewHamburgIndy) March...
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The Folger Shakespeare Library Will Lend Chilly Readers a Handmade Shawl
In the reading room of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., researchers might spend hours carefully paging through a 16th-century pamphlet or the only surviving quarto edition of Titus...
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These Passionate Latvian Linguists Refuse to Lose Their Language
It’s 8:30 p.m. in Kolka, Latvia, and there’s only one place with its lights on. The Tops market sells some staple groceries and produce, but mostly, it sells beer, rows and rows of malt liquor sold in...
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Caught: A 50-Pound Carp in the Middle of Los Angeles
Eddie S., of Compton, Los Angeles, has Mondays off work. So yesterday, LAist reports, he did what he always does with his free time—went down to MacArthur Park, walked to the northern edge of the lake,...
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Why 40% of Vietnamese People Have the Same Last Name
In the United States, the most popular last name is Smith. As per the 2010 census, about 0.8 percent of Americans have it. In Vietnam, the most popular last name is Nguyen. The estimate for how many...
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Why We Think Outhouses All Had Crescent Moons in Their Doors
The rickety old Wild West outhouse with a crescent moon cut out of the door is one of the most enduring symbols of the era. It’s one of those images that you remember, but can’t place exactly where you...
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A Kangaroo on the Streets of Detroit
It's not everyday one sees a leashed Kangaroo on the streets of Detroit, so the person who filmed a Snapchat video of just that could be forgiven for expressing some animated surprise. The video, which...
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Man Returns Library Book After 35 Years With an Apology, Donation, and...
Libraries can get pretty serious about getting their books returned, even if stealing a library book (usually by checking it out and not returning it) remains a disturbingly easy form of petty...
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Found: A New Population of Endangered Tigers
The Indochinese tiger, a tiger subspecies native to southeast Asia, is a rarity in today’s world. There are fewer than 250 of them in the world, reports the BBC, and they’re endangered by poaching and...
View ArticleA Basketball Was Stuck On an NYC Subway Track for Three Weeks
For 3 days, there's been a basketball on a Chelsea subway track. Wonder how long until MTA deals with it. pic.twitter.com/WC0RBlZeuQ— Jacob Bernstein (@BernsteinJacob) March 9, 2017Most subway trash is...
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How a Wild West Showman Brought Man-Lifting Kites to the British Army
On a clear day, somewhere between 1914 and 1918 (the exact year has been lost to time) a crowd of American military men assembled in a field strewn with wildflowers. They were dressed in the official...
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The Strange Business of Suction Cups
A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.It was the cup that comicalYouTubeunboxingvideos were made for.Last year, the...
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Why Japan's Rail Workers Can't Stop Pointing at Things
It is hard to miss when taking the train in Tokyo. White-gloved employees in crisp uniforms pointing smartly down the platform and calling out—seemingly to no one—as trains glide in and out of the...
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The Strange Way Mosquitoes Fly
Mosquitoes are one of nature’s most annoying creations, and also one that we are still learning about. In fact, we weren't even actually sure quite how they get off the ground until just this week,...
View ArticleJust an Unsettlingly Large Chicken Egg
Dennis Goslow keeps hens in Echo Bay, Ontario, near the Canadian-American border and the city of Sault Ste. Marie. Last week, according to CBC News, he made a surprising discovery: the biggest egg he's...
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Trading One Bad Map for Another?
Earlier this month, the social studies classrooms of Boston Public Schools underwent a slight but significant change in decor. Down came the Mercator Projection—a common choice of world maps for...
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Found: Unworn Levi's From 1893
Solomon Warner went west in 1830s. A tall man—6’6”—from upstate New York, he traveled to California to find gold, before settling in Tucson and setting up a business selling goods to people passing...
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The Case for Preserving the 20th Century Tollbooth
Massachusetts is destroying its toll plazas. By the end of this year, every single one on the Massachusetts Turnpike will have been demolished. Drivers will still pay to use the road—they will zoom...
View ArticleWhy Were These Dinosaurs Crossing the Thames?
Avoid Southwark Bridge. We have an animal containment breach alert. pic.twitter.com/KnUobc6Q3k— George Kyriakos (@KyriakosGeorge) March 27, 2017Why did the dinosaurs cross the bridge? After two of the...
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The Complications of Joining an Office Bowling League at the CIA
A version of this story originally appeared on Muckrock.com.In most professions, all it takes to form an after-work bowling league is an overly long email chain and some beer money. As a declassified...
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