History in the Making

Ka-pow

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:43:51 -0400

theatlantic: The Invisible Borders That Define American...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:46:12 -0400

The Invisible Borders That Define American Culture

One of the clearest regional differences in the U.S. can found by tracking the words people use to refer to soft drinks, which is in fact the map you saw at the top of this story. Pop or soda, or even Coke, these small linguistic differences are not as small as we might think. While “soda” commands the Northeast and West Coast (green) and “pop” is in between (black), “Coke” reigns in the south (turquoise). These small distinctions can often act as touchstones for larger cultural differences.

Read more. [Image: Samuel Arbesman]

Photo

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:24:23 -0400

nycgov: Mayor Bloomberg and Kermit the Frog enjoying...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:08:41 -0400

nycgov:

Mayor Bloomberg and Kermit the Frog enjoying the Yankees’ first home game of the season.

Photo

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:22:35 -0400

funny-pictures-uk: An escaped convict on Google Street View!

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:51:52 -0400

funny-pictures-uk:

An escaped convict on Google Street View!

Historical Nonfiction: The Naked Duel

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:01:13 -0400

Historical Nonfiction: The Naked Duel:

historical-nonfiction:

When British MP Humphrey Howarth and the Earl of Barrymore (both well-known drunks) got into a tipsy disagreement at a bar at the Brighton races in 1806, they did what seemed only logical — to shoot point-blank at each other at night in the middle of field. And so the two men met the following…

todaysdocument: Dated March 16, 1865, Owen G. Warren of New...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:44:24 -0400

todaysdocument:

Dated March 16, 1865, Owen G. Warren of New York City sent this sketch for an attack-defense weapon to the U.S. Army’s Office of Ordnance. Warren’s invention was a shovel with a detachable scoop. The handle could convert into a double pointed pike to be used for attack. The scoop part of the shovel could be attached to a soldier’s vest as a protective breast plate. Warren wrote, “In strong hands it more than matches the bayonet.” His idea was not implemented.

More Civil War Inventions

contagiouscool: laughingsquid: All My Friends Are Still Dead,...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:57:37 -0400

contagiouscool:

laughingsquid:

All My Friends Are Still Dead, Sequel Book to All My Friends Are Dead

These are the kind of books I plan to get my children. They are probably going to be really messed up.

I believe the word you are looking for is...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:15:53 -0400

I believe the word you are looking for is “fagots.”

kimjongunlookingatthings:

looking at bundles of sticks

Photo

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:22:14 -0400

historical-nonfiction: Jerry Doyle, appeared in the...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:22:02 -0400

historical-nonfiction:

Jerry Doyle, appeared in the Philadelphia Record December 7, 1935.

ilovecharts: Chocolate -thethreefoldgirl

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:44:06 -0500

ilovecharts:

Chocolate

-thethreefoldgirl

npr: This 14-Year-Old Girl Just Bought A House In Florida When...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:43:19 -0500

npr:

This 14-Year-Old Girl Just Bought A House In Florida

When a 14-year old can afford to buy a home, does that mean home prices have hit bottom? Willow Tufano is a child of the housing collapse. Her real estate agent mom scrapes together a living in Florida by selling foreclosed properties. Willow found her own niche scavenging abandoned washes, dryers and furniture from her mother’s properties and selling them on Craigslist. In just six months, Willow saved enough money to buy a two-bedroom fixer upper for $12,000. -Chana Joffe-Walt (Photo by Chana Joffe-Walt/NPR)

theatlantic: After the Fall: The Economics of Shattered...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:37:45 -0500

theatlantic:

After the Fall: The Economics of Shattered iPhones

Things happen. Even if your brand new iPhone is all smashed up it still keeps 72% of its value. Heck, you can drop it in the toilet and it’s still worth a good chunk of change. There is little need to live in fear and smother your phone with protective measures. There is entire ecosystem that takes broken phones and makes them whole again, so prices of broken phones aren’t even that low. You don’t walk around with a bumper case around your head and that’s pretty valuable. If you’re phone breaks, you can just fix it. It will be okay.

Read more. [Image: Ryan Salerno]

Thank the heavens that NASA was kind enough to put these arrows...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:37:10 -0500

Thank the heavens that NASA was kind enough to put these arrows in cause otherwise I would just think that looked like the moon.

itsfullofstars:

Apollo 11 Landing Site, from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

This image of the Apollo 11 landing site captured from just 24 km (15 miles) above the surface provides LRO’s best look yet at humanity’s first venture to another world. When Neil Armstrong took his famous first steps onto the lunar surface, he kicked around the soil. “Yes, the surface is fine and powdery.” Gazing at the flat horizon, he took in the view. “Isn’t that something! Magnificent sight out here.” After collecting a contingency sample Neil looked around and observed, “it has a stark beauty all its own. It’s like much of the high desert of the United States. It’s different, but it’s very pretty out here.” A few minutes later Buzz Aldrin descended the ladder and joined Neil on the surface of the Moon!

You can see the remnants of their first steps as dark regions around the Lunar Module (LM) and in dark tracks that lead to the scientific experiments the astronauts set up on the surface. The Passive Seismic Experiment Package (PSEP) provided the first lunar seismic data, returning data for three weeks after the astronauts left, and the Laser Ranging RetroReflector (LRRR) allows precise measurements to be collected to this day. You can even spot the discarded cover of the LRRR.

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Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:42:35 -0500

npr: warbyparker: Whoa. The MLA has officially devised a...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:35:05 -0500

npr:

warbyparker:

Whoa. The MLA has officially devised a standard format to cite tweets in an academic paper. Sign of the times.

#signofthetimes

Photo

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:19:01 -0500

pbsthisdayinhistory: MARCH 2, 1904: DR. SEUSS BORN On this day...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 01:09:30 -0500

The Lorax

Horton Hears a Who!

Yertle the Turtle

pbsthisdayinhistory:

MARCH 2, 1904: DR. SEUSS BORN

On this day in 1904, Theodor Seuss Geisel was born. He would have been 108 today.

Most people know Dr. Seuss as the man behind The Cat in the Hat. But how many know that Yertle the Turtle was modeled after Hitler - or that Dr. Seuss created WWII political cartoons that denounced racism, isolationism and other issues of the day?

From 1941 to 1943, Seuss served as chief editorial cartoonist for the New York liberal newspaper PM, and his work commented on issues of the day. His political cartoons during World War II denounced isolationism, racism and anti-Semitism.

However, in Dr. Seuss Goes to War, historian Richard H. Minear, writes: “…it is a surprise that a person who denounces anti-black racism and anti-Semitism so eloquently can be oblivious of his own racist treatment of Japanese and Japanese Americans…. to realize that the cartoonist is the same Dr. Seuss we celebrate today for his imagination and tolerance and breadth of vision: this is a sobering experience.”

Flip through Independent Lens’ “The Political Dr. Seuss” photo gallery.

Images: Dr. Seuss/ Random House