Archive for the ‘history’ Category
The Peony
June 23rd, 2009
Regarding peonies:
“In Europe, in the Middle Ages, superstitious gardeners dug its roots by the light of the moon to avoid observation by woodpeckers. It was believed that if woodpeckers looked on anyone digging or planting peonies he would be struck by blindness.”
- quoted from Herbs and Herb Lore of Colonial America
Nixon Now!
June 21st, 2009
There aren’t a lot of things that I like more than old campaign advertisements. This is one of the best.
Sources of Information
June 18th, 2009
Baekdal has a neat little article (with some terrific infographics) discussing how sources for news and information have changed over the past couple hundred years.
While you’re there, take a look at the steel pipe lamps, pillows, and inflatable beach sofas.
King Neptune
May 31st, 2009
A pig named King Neptune was repeatedly auctioned off to benefit the US Navy in WWII. He raised nearly $19,000,000 and was given a full military burial. The world is strange and wonderful.
Almost Everyone Poops
May 21st, 2009
According to 2nd-century gnostic theologian Valentinus‘ epistle to Agathapous:
“He was continent, enduring all things. Jesus digested divinity; he ate and drank in a special way, without excreting his solids. He had such a great capacity for continence that the nourishment within him was not corrupted, for he did not experience corruption.”
I just love the world so much.
The Pseudodoxia Epidemica
March 8th, 2009
In the 1600s a doctor named Thomas Browne wrote a comprehensive refutation of many of the superstitions of his day. This has recently been published online.
Some of the propositions he refutes:
- The common Tenent, that Crystall is nothing else but Ice strongly congealed.
- That bitter Almonds are preservatives against Ebriety.
- That an Elephant hath no joints.
- That Iews stinke.
- Concerning the beginning of the world, that the time thereof is not precisely knowne, as commonly it is presumed.
You get the idea. This book is amazing.
Salutations
February 26th, 2009
Because there aren’t enough things about which to be neurotic, here’s a list of rules governing salutations in emails. Though I’m going to continue to ignore their suggestions, I have to approve of any document that references both Twitter and A Guide to Letter Writing for Ladies (1898). In terms of comprehensiveness, though, it’s still got nothing on Shapiro and Anderson’s 1985 classic, Towards an Ethics and Etiquette for Electronic Mail (pdf, 1.8 MB).
The Hofmeister Kink
February 22nd, 2009
Back in the 1960’s, BMW started putting a little kink in the frames of the rear side windows of its cars, and they’ve retained this stylistic quirk ever since. The neat thing is that now everyone unconsciously associates this kink with a quality car, so virtually every other luxury car manufacturer has adopted it. You can read all about this phenomenon here. Memes are everywhere. Like in the back seat of your car RIGHT NOW LOOK OUT
Staying tangentially on the topic of design, I clearly need a new desk chair, since I just fell out of my broken one for approximately the googolth time.
Bill Pickett
February 10th, 2009
Bill Pickett (1870-1932) was a cowboy with a very particular talent:
“He invented the technique of bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground. Pickett’s method for bulldogging was biting a cow on the lip and then falling backwards.”
He worked his way up from performing at county fairs to touring with the Wild West Show. He was eventually kicked to death by a horse.
Armand Dufaux
January 22nd, 2009
Armand Dufaux (1883-1941) was one of the first Swiss aviators. Trained as an engineer, he designed a number of flying machines, including the Dufaux 4, one of the first biplanes. In 1910, he flew this plane across the length of Lake Geneva, winning a prize of 5000 Swiss francs.
He wasn’t always so successful, however. Dufaux’s first attempt at an aircraft was the helicopter pictured above. It worked about as well as you might imagine.
art+design, flight, history, old dead white guys, science | No Comments »