The transition between horse drawn carriages and automobiles was abrupt, and it took some people decades to realize horse based transportation was not going to come back because cars were here to stay.

This transition was so abrupt in fact that relics from the horse-powered city still exist in cities across the globe, which people walk by (or on) every day without a clue what it is or why it's there.

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The large doors found alongside the entrances to homes in places like Greenwich Village, New York are called "horse walks"- interior passageways made so urban horses can safely go from the street to the stable.

And those staircases with the short yet wide stairs are known as a "riders' staircase", and they're found primarily in old European cities where they're part of the city's infrastructure forever more.

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Also integrated into the infrastructure (hopefully forever more) are the metal tethering rings and hitching posts that add a bit of horsey historical flavor to the cityscape.

See 10 Relics From The Horse-Powered City at Mental Floss

When I first came across articles discussing "The Balloonfest tragedy in Cleveland" I assumed the reports were referring to something involving hot air balloon mishaps and people dying.

But Balloonfest '86 had nothing to do with hot air balloons- it was a fundraising event for United Way of Cleveland, Ohio, where 1.5 million balloons were launched to set the world record for most balloons launched in a single day.

Adverse weather conditions caused most of the balloons to drift back down to earth, with many landing in Lake Erie where they impeded the Coast Guard's search for two fishermen who disappeared during a subsequent storm. They were later found drowned, and the balloons from the event were blamed for the Coast Guard's failure to find them in time.

This tragic tale of a fundraising stunt gone wrong is well told in Nathan Truesdell's short documentary "Balloonfest":

Balloonfest from Topic on Vimeo.

-Via Laughing Squid

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Celebrities often look nothing like their former selves after becoming famous, the Hollywood makeover leaving them looking like a much more "perfect" and polished version of a human.

But comedians aren't like mainstream actors- they don't care about looking perfect or hiding their nerdy side, so they still look recognizable in their high school yearbook photos.

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Donald Glover is playing young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Han Solo movie, which is obviously a dream role for him since he was wearing a Star Wars tee in his yearbook photo.

Tom Hanks bridged the gap between mainstream acting and comedy and has therefore undergone the Hollywood makeover, but watch his early movies and TV show appearances and you'll see this goofy kid on your screen.

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And who knew Matt LeBlanc and Louis C.K. attended the same junior high and high school in the 80s? Well, Matt LeBlanc and Louis C.K. did, obviously!

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See 13 Famous Funny People's Amazing Yearbook Photos here

Spider-Man earned his "friendly neighborhood" nickname by helping his fellow citizens live safer and more peaceful lives, but his services are pretty much limited to doing whatever a spider can.

John Spiderman, on the other hand, earned his "friendly neighborhood CPA" nickname by providing citizens with low cost accounting services, tax filing and a friendly smile...which you can't see since he's wearing a mask.

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This ridiculous video by The Warp Zone may not give Spider Man: Homecoming a run for its money, but it does present an alternate version of Spider-Man Marvel hasn't thought of yet, and that's something, ain't it?

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

Some little girls become so obsessed with princesses they start dressing like them, acting like them and telling everyone who will listen that they want to be a princess when they grow up.

They may even mistake real life people for princesses from fairy tales, like this little girl did when she came across a bride named Shandace Robertson decked out in her wedding dress.

In the little girls mind the beautiful white dress she wore made Shandace look just like her favorite princess from The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins, a book she was carrying around when she met the bride.

This happy coincidence was captured by photographer Stephanie Cristalli, who was busy shooting post-wedding pics of the bride and groom on a sidewalk in Seattle when the little girl and her mom Kelsey Edwards approached the "princess".

Now that little girl can live happily ever after since she got to hang out with a princess in Seattle, and the bride has an extra heartwarming element to add to the tale of her wedding day.

And BTW- The Woman In White is not exactly what I would call a kid's book, but maybe the little girl is a really advanced reader?

-Via Bored Panda

Folks had funny ideas about what the home of the future would look like back in the 20th century, and for some reason they saw the Year 2000 as a far off futuristic age full of technological wonders.

As we all know the actual 21st century has not lived up to expectations, which is why it's so fun to take a look back at what those kooky post-war/post-modern minds thought we'd have in our homes today.

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This vision of the future comes to you courtesy of the Philco-Ford Corporation, who released this speculative short film entitled Year 1999 A.D. back in 1967 to show homeowners what their company had planned for the future.

Carnivorous plants are seen as the ultimate bug eating machines, but their entice, entrap and devour technique only works on some bugs, and those who are immune to their tricks feed on them instead.

But even weirder than the eaters of carnivorous plants are those industrious insects who develop a symbiotic relationship with the killer plant- like the Camponotus schmitzi ants that live on the Bornean pitcher plant:

An insect-eating pitcher plant teams up with ants to prevent mosquito larvae from stealing its nutrients, according to research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mathias Scharmann and colleagues from the University of Cambridge and the University Brunei Darussalam.

The unusual relationship between insect-eating pitcher plants and ants that live exclusively on them has long puzzled scientists. The Camponotus schmitzi ants live only on one species of Bornean pitcher plants (Nepenthes bicalcarata), where they walk across slippery pitcher traps, swim and dive in the plant's digestive fluids and consume nectar and prey that fall into the trap. Though the benefits to the ants are obvious, it has been harder to tell what exactly the plants gain. However, plants that harbor the insects grow larger than those that do not, suggesting a mutualistic relationship exists between the two.

Here's a related video from AntsCanada showing what happened when he introduced pitcher plants to a terrarium teeming with yellow ants. He thought it would help thin the population, but the colony had other ideas...

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-Via Boing Boing

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WikiHow became "the world's most popular how-to website" by being a treasure trove full of useful illustrated tutorials, but it does have one major problem- the images make no sense without descriptive text.

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That's why the images are often turned into memes, using the expression on the character's face to tell a tale of heartbreak and/or heartburn we can all relate to.

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Looking through a collection of WikiHow illustrations without context quickly becomes a fun game of "WTF is this drawing trying to teach me?", with the occasional "WTF is this dog thinking?" for good measure.

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See 10 No Context WikiHow Illustrations That Raise A Lot Of Questions here

Whales look (and sound) totally cool when they're cruising around under the sea, but they look even cooler when they're cruising around on an alien planet IN OUTER SPACE! Of course, even whale poop looks cooler on an alien planet so that's not saying much.

But can you imagine how cool it would be to come across a whale while exploring the surface of an alien planet?

Don't spend too long thinking about it, space out on the surreal and beautiful short PANACEE by Jules BOULAIN-ADENIS, aka NALEB, and watch the space whales soar!

PANACÉE from NALEB on Vimeo.

-Via The Mary Sue

Eddie Cochran claimed there "ain't no cure for the summertime blues", but poor Eddie died before he could spend much time doing the one thing that cures my summertime blues- grillin' stuff.

Whether I'm grilling meat, veggies or an apple fritter it all comes out tasting so deliciously smoky I can't help but get happy when I eat some BBQ, like Scooby Doo after a Scooby Snack happy.

But, as this Jake Likes Onions comic shows, my cereal eating neighbors don't appreciate my love of BBQ as much as I do, which may have something to do with my favorite grilling attire...*wink*

-Via Geeks Are Sexy

We've finally been treated to a fantastic trailer for Black Panther, and even though many casual comic book fans didn't have a clue who Black Panther was before Captain America: Civil War they're all on board the train to Wakanda now!

So to help get everyone hyped about Black Panther, which is slated to be released in February, 2018, here's a look at the amazing costumes designer Ruth E. Carter created for the film.

Gizmodo's Germain Lussier took these up close pics of Ruth's costumes at D23, giving us a glimpse of what the characters Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Zuri (Forest Whitaker), as well as Black Panther's updated costume with his cool new mask/cowl.

See Up Close With The Gorgeous Costumes of Black Panther here

The next time an older person tells you they don't understand social media or the internet, claiming it's strictly for young people, you should show them Baddiewinkle's Instagram account and shut them up for good.

Baddiewinkle is the alternate identity of 88-year-old great grandmother Helen Ruth van Winkle, who has amassed over 3 million followers since posting to Instagram for the first time back in 2014.

Peace and Love

A post shared by badddiiie (@baddiewinkle) on Apr 9, 2014 at 10:03pm PDT

The creation of Baddiewinkle has made a very positive impact on Helen's life, and she even has a new book out called Baddiewinkle's Guide To Life, but internet fame hasn't changed the Instagrandma one bit:

Before she became famous, Baddiewinkle lead a pretty normal life in Waco, Ky. "I had a little 6-acre farm. I took care of it by myself for 15 years," she says. "I did everything that you're supposed to do: mowed, trimmed, had a little garden. I kept busy at all times."

Then one day her great-granddaughter saw her in a pair of cut-off shorts and a tie-dye shirt and said, "Let's make a picture, Grandma, you look awful cute today."

"So I said, 'OK!' " Baddiewinkle recalls. "But from there, you know, it went viral and I was so surprised."

What did people see in that photo? "I think they saw a great-grandmother that didn't care what anybody thought about her," Baddiewinkle says. " 'Here's a rebel. We like her.' "

hi guys! I have a new book coming out on July 4th you can pre order it now for cheaper!! it's about fashion, my life experiences, advice, everything!! and over 100 never before seen photos thank you guys for everything and always supporting me! Link is in bio @ryannhall

A post shared by badddiiie (@baddiewinkle) on Jun 27, 2017 at 7:02pm PDT

Read more about Instagrandma Baddiewinkle Says She's 'Always Been A Rebel' at NPR

The great thing about roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons is the freedom you have to imagine your character doing whatever you want, but this freedom is also the terrible thing about RPGs.

Absolute freedom means figuring out all the nasty things your character can do "just because", and when some people let their imagination run wild it heads straight for the darkest part of the fantasy forest.

Redditor Gate4043 asked the fine people of Ask Reddit "D&D Players, what's the most screwed up thing you've ever done in a game?" (NSFW) and suffice it to say their responses were darker than the darkest Grimdark novel- and much more comical!

See 12 D&D Players Admit the Most Twisted Thing They've Done In-Game here (NSFW language)

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Not every rich person is an obnoxious, self obsessed egotist, and those who earn their wealth through hard work tend to be pretty humble, but based on their social media posts kids who grow up rich are spoiled brats.

The Rich Kids might be playing it up to earn new followers, or they could be trolling us all by pretending to be the young, rich and greedy when they're actually broke kids with a healthy love of ironic humor.

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But whatever the story behind the "Rich Kids" accounts on Instagram and Snapchat their excess spending is sure to make those of us who work hard for the money excessively angry!

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See more at Ranker

The castles of Los Angeles aren't limited to Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland (which is actually in Anaheim, not L.A.) or Hogwarts Castle at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter inside Universal Studios Hollywood.

There's also Hearst Castle and the Houdini Estate (above), both of which are more epic mansion than castle, and then there's the Magic Castle, which is the home base for the Academy of Magic Arts and definitely looks like a castle.

Now if you're looking for a bona fide castle in L.A. you're looking for the Chateau Elysee, a seven story castle "built in 1927 as a replica of a 17th Century Normandy Castle" which offers Sunday brunch and free guided tours.

The Elysee's 77 rooms were rented out to guests in the 30s and 40s, and Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart all stayed there, but now it's the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center so if they ask you to stay over say NO.

See 10 Castles In And Around Los Angeles That Are Too Beautiful To Miss here