On August 6, the world will mark 80 years since the first nuclear weapon was deployed, an atom bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The 509th Composite Group landed at Tinian Island air base three days before and went over the mission plans in various detail, according to the recipient's need to know. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets was the commander of Special Bombing Mission No. 13. He supervised the re-assignment of call signs and plane markings, inspected the bomb called Little Boy, reviewed the mission with his crew, and played poker late into the night of August 5th. After all, none of his crew could sleep anyway. 

Early on the 6th, everyone on Tinian knew that something historic was happening, because lights, cameras, and military journalists were there to document the moment. Tibbets secretly tucked a packet of cyanide pills into his pocket. The Enola Gay and three other planes took off at 2:45 AM, following three weather planes that left an hour earlier. They were six hours and 15 minutes from Japan. Meanwhile, people in Hiroshima were going about their morning as they had for the past few years during wartime. Read about the hours leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima in a book excerpt at LitHub. -via Damn Interesting  

(Image credit: US Air Force) 

Ringo Starr and Buddy Rich impressed people with a bass drum, two tom-toms, and a snare, plus a couple of cymbals. Rich had more cymbals than he really needed, but they weren't too many. But ever since then, drummers seem to have become drum collectors, with ever larger kits. Are they experimenting, expanding what a drummer can do for a band, just showing off, or are they hiding from the audience? Carl Palmer enhanced his drum set with tympani, triangle, tubular bells, and gongs. Terry Bozzio tuned his numerous drums so that he could play songs on them like a piano. Other drummers built kits that tilted, rotated, or flew up into the air. In this video, Loudwire presents ten of the biggest and most extreme drum kits ever assembled. Some of these kits appear massively redundant, but they can impress an audience. We always need more cowbell. -via Laughing Squid 

The temperance movement was already declining in the UK in 1925 as the US experimented with Prohibition. In the photo above, John Grantham, the Sheriff of Newcastle, doesn't look happy about attending a temperance festival -or being photographed on a carousel horse. His wife Violet, however, seems to be having a good time. She would later become the Sheriff herself, and then later became the first woman Lord Mayor of Newcastle‑upon‑Tyne.  

In the grand scheme of things, 100 years is not that long ago. My grandmother was in high school, and had not yet met my grandfather, who was ten years older. In a gallery of painstakingly researched photographs, we get a glimpse into the lives of people 100 years ago. Some were, or became, famous, like John Scopes who went on trial that year for teaching evolution. Some were caught up in the events of history, like the boxer who made a living in Europe until the Nazis arrested him in 1940 for being Black and American. And many just lived their lives and left their legacy to the people who loved them. 

Have you noticed the proliferation of the word "unalive" on the 'net as a substitute for "kill" or "die"? It's not just a fad- there's a reason behind it. 

When you tell people they cannot say certain words, they will come up with new words that say the same thing. It's always been this way, which is why we say "golly" or "gee" instead of something that could be considered offensive or blasphemous. These polite terms evolved slowly enough that everyone knows how to use them. But in the internet age, the administrators of popular platforms (TikTok in this case) can make their own rules about what words are not allowed. Users then find substitutes, or make up new words like "unalive," but those terms are complete nonsense to people who don't use that platform. Five years on, I had no idea that "panini" means "pandemic," because why would that word be banned? Linguist Dr. Erica Brozovsky (previously at Neatorama) explains why internet language has become this incomprehensible. 

Although some people can do it better than others, everyone can draw a fish. That's the point of Draw a Fish. Go head and draw your fish, but don't let the algorithm below throw you off. I ended up with only a 60% chance of my drawing being a fish, but Bright Fish turned out better than a lot of other people's attempts.

Once you are finished drawing, the real fun begins. You can name and save your fish, and then watch it swim in a tank with the others of the last 50 fish drawn- but hurry, mine was eclipsed by 50 others in a few minutes. Or you can watch the most popular fish swim together. Your saved fish will also go into the gallery, where other people can upvote or downvote it, and that rarely has anything to do with it being recognizable as a fish. Check out the gallery for an amazing assortment of fish drawings. -via Metafilter 

We're getting the band back together! It's been 41 years since we were introduced to the band Spinal Tap, and their 1984 film is finally getting a sequel. In Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest ), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are much older, and look even older than the actors who play them. Not so much with the documentary filmmaker Martin "Marty" Di Bergi (Rob Reiner). The youngest of these actors is 77. Anyway, the plot is that Spinal Tap disbanded 15 years ago, but now they are reuniting for one last show. The movie also gives us a glimpse of what's they've been doing in retirement. They still don't have a drummer, and you can imagine that their reputation is making it hard to recruit one. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is scheduled to open nationwide on September 12. 

Hay fever used to be an illness associated with aristocrats, but now it's pretty widespread. Cases of asthma, eczema, and food allergies have risen exponentially in the last few decades. But not for the Amish. While 8-10% of children have asthma, that rate is only 1-2% for Amish children. About half the general population is allergic to something, but a recent pinprick study shows only 7% of Amish children have those same common allergies. 

American children who grow up on farms have lower allergy rates than urban and suburban children, but the Amish rates are still much lower. In fact, when childhood allergies in Amish children were compared to Hutterite children, also raised on farms with similar ancestry, the Hutterite children had an allergy rate six times higher. Read what scientists have learned about allergy development -or non-development- in Amish children and how it could lead to better allergy relief for the rest of us.  -via Damn Interesting 

(Image credit: Gadjoboy) 

If you thought cats were manipulative, you obviously haven't had a ferret. I haven't owned a ferret, either, but I've heard enough stories from family members. Ferrets are known for their amazing flexibility and never-ending energy. They can fill your home with chaos, if you like that sort of thing. And underneath all that frantic activity, ferrets are pretty clever in getting what they want. YouTuber William Snekspeare got two ferrets, and before he knew what happened, he had five ferrets. Only then did he figure out how conniving they can be. They each have their separate personalities: Princess hates pork, Steve likes pork, and Toast plays video games, and they are all smarter than they look. William tries to keep their behavior under control, but they managed to turn the tables on him with their wits until it became clear who's the boss of the house. It ain't William. -via Geeks Are Sexy 

In 1979, a stuck valve led to a loss of water in a nuclear facility and ended in a partial meltdown at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania. Coincidentally, the movie The China Syndrome had opened 12 days earlier. It concerned a journalist who witnessed a stuck gauge leading to loss of water in a commercial nuclear power plant. I saw the movie after the Three Mile Island incident hit the news, and I recall a scene when someone described a nuclear meltdown as being able to flatten an area the size of Pennsylvania -and the whole audience giggled nervously. 

Younger people today would be forgiven for thinking that The China Syndrome was made about the Three Mile Island incident. But in 1979, the real disaster drove more people to see the movie, and it explained the danger better than the news did. Public support for nuclear power plunged, and the increase in nuclear power plants stopped in its tracks, with only a few projects being completed in the next thirty years. The China Syndrome wasn't the only film that swayed public opinion or otherwise changed history- read about seven such movies at Mental Floss. 

People who have pools or dumpsters know how dangerous they are for small animals- they can fall in, but it's hard to get out. A board added as a ramp can fix the problem. The city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands is tackling the problem in a grand way, by installing kitty steps in the city's concrete canals. When they determined that 19 cats had drowned in the last six months because they could not escape, the city council allocated €100,000 to build the wooden ramps. This is what they will look like. 

The escape ramps are officially called "wildlife exit sites," since cats aren't the only animals that have trouble escaping the canals. The first step is to determine where cats have been drowning, so that the most effective locations can be targeted. Amsterdam cares about its kitties. 

-via Metafilter, where I also learned about Amsterdam's Cat Boat, Animal Ambulance, and Cat Cabinet museum. 

(Image credit: Massimo Catarinella) 

Yesterday, British rock star Ozzy Osbourne passed away at the age of 76.

Here in Texas, we remember him for a particular incident which is emblematic of our state. The excellent history X account Traces of Texas describes it.

In 1982, while thoroughly intoxicated, Osbourne urinated on the Cenotaph, a monument to the Alamo martyrs which stands in front of the old chapel. He was arrested and, after his performance the following night, banned from performing in San Antonio for a decade.

Osbourne returned in 1992, profusely apologized for his act of defilement, donated $10,000 to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (which maintains the site), and performed for two nights.

David Crockett famously said, "You can all go to hell and I'll go to Texas," before leaving Tennessee on his final journey into glory. Texas is a home of second chances and starting over. Ozzy Osbourne received his second chance and redemption for an impulsive act just a few yards from where Crockett fell. The official Instagram account for the Alamo mourns his passing with respect and kindness.

Photo: Focka used under Creative Commons license

In an alternate version of the near future, a space station research lab orbiting Mars has a catastrophic accident. A crew member manages to survive in an escape pod, but what then? She can't establish communication with earth, and doesn't have the capacity to return home on her own. That might remind you of The Martian, but this science fiction story is different. The prospect of drifting through space all alone until you die is pretty terrifying, but things can always get worse. You'll know exactly the moment that this sci-fi tale suddenly turns into a horror story. 

Alone by Nicholas Acosta is the latest release from Dust. It seems shorter than it is, because it moves fast and leaves you wondering- and happy that you watched it long before bedtime. Not only will you wonder what happens after the short film ends, but also why three people got acting credits. -via Geeks Are Sexy 

The 1980 film The Shining has terrorized audiences for 45 years now. It was co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick, loosely based on a story by Stephen King, and starred Jack Nicholson, so how could it not? But film buffs pointed out the parts that didn't make sense, and audiences were confused trying to keep up with what was happening. Even the cast and crew were filled with questions, to which Kubrick responded that the movie didn't have to make sense. Over the years, various philosophical interpretations of The Shining have been presented, but that didn't help the original audiences in 1980.

Warner Bros. didn't like how confusing the film was. After The Shining opened in New York and Los Angeles, the studio asked for the final scene to be cut because it was confusing to the audience. Kubrick didn't object, because he knew the audience would be confused enough without it, which is how he intended to film to be. From the description of the deleted ending, it sounds as if it would have resolved the story a little better. Read what the original ending of The Shining told us at Dangerous Minds. -via Nag on the Lake 

Occasionally, women must go to great lengths to stave off the romantic efforts of men. This is true for animals as well as humans. ABC News reports that a recent study found that the females of a species of frog will actually pretend to be dead when approached by males.

The males, the article notes, are not particularly choosy. They very interested in mating with any and every available female. The females are more selective and so must fend off the advances of many males during mating season. Sometimes they give off vocalizations that create the impression that they are actually male. But the most innovative tactic is playing dead--what the scientists call "tonic immobility."

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Richard Bartz

The new movie Fantastic Four: First Steps opens this weekend, and Marvel, as a well as Marvel fans, are holding their breath hoping it will be good. The Fantastic Four comic book characters haven't had a great run at the box office; in fact this is the fourth attempt at making a Fantastic Four movie. The first was back in 1994, when Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger produced The Fantastic Four, which was never released and indeed was only made so that Eichinger could retain the film rights to the characters. Their budget was only $1 million, but if anyone could squeeze a superhero film out of such a budget, it was Roger Corman. Enjoy the nonsensical plot, lack of action scenes, and cheap production values in this Honest Trailer. 

The Fantastic Four of 1994 answers the question "How bad could it be?" and makes all the subsequent Fantastic Four movies look good by comparison. The story of the production is wild- the actors used their own money to promote the film, trailers were shown, and a premiere event was set. Then it all suddenly stopped. One version of the story has it that Eichinger never intended to release the film. But Eichinger said that Marvel Studios founder Avi Arad heard about the impending release and paid him $2 million for all prints of the movie to be destroyed. However, if you enjoyed this Honest Trailer, you can watch the full movie at YouTube. 

And this weekend, look for the four principle actors from the 1994 movie as they appear in cameos in Fantastic Four: First Steps.