We have recently posted about some of the more obscure Christmas characters. Of course, most of those were either human or humanoid (in the case of elves) figures, but there's another subset of Christmas characters that we have yet to tackle, and those are the holiday beasts or Christmas creatures.

Leah Schnelbach of TOR makes a list of all the Christmas creatures she could find, and ranks them based on her subjective judgment. She does have a few caveats about the creatures on her list: they are not mythological and by no means does she imply that they aren't real.

Needless to say, the one to top the list would be everybody's favorite reindeer, Rudolph. And who wouldn't have the red-nosed reindeer as their favorite Christmas creature? He's so lovable that he not only has one but two animated features, the one from Rankin-Bass, and the one by Max Fleischer.

Other creatures on the list include the Abominable Snowbeast from the 1964 stop motion Rudolph film, Krampus, and the lioness Shiegra from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Check out the rest of the list on TOR.

(Image credit: Rankin-Bass/Wikimedia Commons)

Many children will probably be expecting gifts this coming Christmas, and parents, or even relatives, might be wondering what presents to give them.

For younger children, toys might be a more common choice, and scientists even recommend giving them certain toys because they help with children's brain development.

Sarah Gerson, a psychologist from the University of Cardiff in the UK, suggests three different types of toys constructive for children's mental, social, and emotional development.

The first category of toys are the building or constructing types of toys like the cone of stacking doughnuts, building blocks, and LEGOs because they help develop spatial reasoning as well as reading and math skills.

The second category are toys that develop a child's social processing skills which include dolls, figurines, and action figures. Whether they play with these on their own or with others, Gerson says they are great for enhancing storytelling, empathy, consideration for others, and perspective-taking.

Finally, there are crayons, coloring books, and clay which help with hand-eye coordination, color and spatial perception, as well as free play.

Gerson generally avoids recommending electronic toys except for those which can be categorized in one of the three like sequencing or memory games with the use of sound and light. Still, each child is unique and it's best to understand which toys fit the child's preferences and interests best.

(Image credit: Hannah Rodrigo/Unsplash)

Earlier this year, James Clerk Maxwell's "An Elementary Treatise on Electricity" had been returned to New Bedford Free Public Library in Massachusetts after over 119 years.

Just recently, a copy of Chauncey Brewster Tinker's translation of the Old English poem Beowulf, has just been returned to Sewickley Public Library after 54 years.

Under the overdue policy of the library when it was first borrowed, it would have accrued around $1,000 in fines, with a 5-cent-per-day fine. However, Sewickley's post on Instagram said that they would have just charged the cost of the item instead since it had been gone for so long. The borrower would have owed $0.98.

Luckily, the post mentions that Sewickley is a fine-free library today, so there would have been no worries of further repercussions for the borrower. As long as the books are returned, the account will be cleared and they can borrow books again.

(Image credit: Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton/Wikimedia Commons)

Mistakes can sometimes cost us a lot of time, effort, and money. But we're all human. We make mistakes and we learn from them. There are rare moments though, when mistakes can lead to something unexpectedly great.

Tanya Hammonds, of Newport, Kentucky, had asked her husband to buy her usual favorite scratch-off tickets, but he ended up buying the tickets right next to those instead. Whether it was by sheer luck or serendipity, those tickets turned out to be the winning lottery tickets, earning them $50,000.

At first, she couldn't believe it and thought that she was merely seeing things. However, it was later confirmed that the ticket indeed contained the winning numbers. So, she took a picture of the ticket and sent a screenshot to her mother. Quite a happy accident indeed.

Of course, $50,000 is already a sizable sum to receive, but hardly not the most surprising lottery win, as just last month, a newlywed couple won $1 million after the groom bought his bride lottery tickets as a gift to celebrate their first day of marriage.

(Image credit: Ryan Brooklyn/Unsplash)

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in September 1998, they initially called it "BackRub", referring to the system's algorithm which checked sites' backlinks to estimate their importance or ranking. They also had a third member, Scott Hassan, who was pivotal in developing the bulk of Google's code, but he left before Google became an official company.

Twenty five years later, Google is the #1 search engine, averaging over 99,000 searches every second according to 2022 statistics.

In celebration of Google's 25th anniversary, the company created a 'Where's Waldo'-inspired game where players look for some of the most searched terms over Google's 25-year history, divided into five different categories.

It's a fun game though it might take a while to find all the items and characters. But once you finish one category, it will give several tidbits about each of the search terms. Furthermore, if you're having difficulty looking for the hidden objects, just click on the item or character on the side panel, and a compass will point you toward the area where it can be located.

Apart from the game, Google also created a short video about the most searched terms. -via My Modern Met

(Video credit: Google/Youtube)

For divers, going underwater to retrieve objects, artifacts, or other materials is second nature. They don't mind getting wet, as it is part of what they do.

However, there are cases when it's unsafe to go diving in certain areas such as those with rapid currents. So, they make use of specialized chambers which allow them to go underwater without getting wet. They are called diving bells. Currently, there are two diving bell ships in operation at the Rhine River.

The way the chamber works is that when it goes down, air is pumped into the chamber pushing the water out, at which point, the divers can descend the chamber to collect the items they are searching. But before going down, divers acclimate themselves in a pressurized cabin to get used to the atmosphere inside the chamber.

(Video credit: Free Doc Bites/Youtube)

In ancient times, when people had conflicts in their business affairs or rivals in romance, they used to write curses on lead tablets, invoking the powers of the darkness to remove whatever obstacles stood in their way.

These tablets were then folded up and stashed in places believed to be gateways to the underworld, like graves, wells, or temples. So, it wasn't surprising to find one such tablet in a 15th century latrine in Rostock, Germany.

It had been discovered when Rostock's town hall was undergoing some excavation for renevations. They found the metal rolled up, and when they unfurled it, an inscription was written in Gothic script. It was a curse that invoked devils to presumably break up a couple.

Though about 1,500 curse tablets have been discovered so far, this is the first one to be found in Rostock, Germany. Moreover, despite the practice being abandoned in the 7th century in most parts of Europe, it seems that it continued on in Germany well into the Middle Ages.

(Image credit: The History Blog)

For three years, everybody had to stay at home and attend classes or work meetings from the comforts of their own room, which had its perks. But, as many have reported, doing meetings or classes over videoconferencing platforms like Zoom, Teams, Skype, or Webex, gets really tiring after a while, and that's why many simply do other things while the meeting is ongoing, unless you have to speak.

Although most of that is anecdotal, a new study has now provided supporting evidence that shows how our brain and our heart experiences fatigue when having an online meeting as opposed to attending the same in person.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Graz University of Technology in Austria. They had 35 students attend an engineering lecture, and divided them into two groups, ones who attended online, and those who attended in person. After a week, they had the students switch and attend another lecture.

To measure the level of fatigue, the researchers monitored the students' brain and heart activity through EEG and ECG, respectively. Through these, they observed reduced alertness, a change in heart rhythm, and a change in mood for the participants attending online.

This doesn't mean that we have to do away with videoconferencing tools altogether, but it just goes to show that these tools can complement in-person meetings or lectures, but they can't be replacements for face-to-face interaction.

(Image credit: Chris Montgomery/Unsplash)

When you look at the photo above, you can't help but think it looks like one of those sliding puzzles wherein you have to rearrange the pieces to restore the image to its original order.

However, it's not a puzzle, but the ceiling art of Suwajinja shrine's worship hall. For almost 60 years, the pieces have stayed in disarray causing the chief priest, Shoko Koshiba, to constantly feel as though something is not right with it whenever she looked at it, but she just couldn't put her finger on what. Until a few researchers from the Institute of Technologists in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, visited the shrine to study the worship hall.

Given the perfect timing, Koshiba asked Shinichi Yokoyama, professor of historic architecture studies about the ceiling art. True enough, the fifteen pieces were all in the wrong place. Of course, the reason why it got like that was because of a storm that blew the roof off the shrine in 1966, when Koshiba's grandfather was still chief priest.

Having no reference photos or any witnesses to the original order of the tiles, Koshiba had no idea how to put them back. With some help from Yokoyama and his lab, they were able to solve the puzzle after six months, and even learned a bit of history about the tiles themselves.

Apparently, 9 of the 15 tiles had been donated by parishioners of the shrine in 1862, as a token of gratitude for being able to arrive safely at another shrine in Mie Prefecture.

(Image credit: Yokoyama Lab)

Here at Neatorama, we have read about several Guinness World Records being achieved this year such as Jovante Carter's gurning, Steve Kueny's pumpkin paddling, and Tami Manis' mullet, just to name a few. But, of course, as the holder of the largest database of records, the Guinness World Records is constantly in search of any and all kinds of records to bestow upon, not just people, but animals too.

On this list, curated by UPI, we have ten of the oddest records achieved in 2023. These include a tabby cat skipping rope as shown in the video above, a parrot skateboarding, a dog with the longest tongue, and Kimberly Winter, the woman with the loudest burp, which we have also reported here.

A couple of the records are also death-defying like the man who ran the longest distance while on fire and the magician who did the most magic tricks while underwater.

(Video credit: Guinness World Records)

Mary and Jake Jacobs' relationship is truly one that has stood the test of time. Jake, who was originally from Trinidad, had been serving in the US Air Force and was stationed in the UK during World War II when he met Mary. At the time, they were both attending the same technical college, and got to talking.

When Jake had to go back to Trinidad after the war, they kept in touch by exchanging letters. Four years later, in 1948, Jake returned to Britain and proposed to Mary. She was 19, he was 23.

However, not everybody approved of their relationship, as the thought of an interracial marriage was still frowned upon in the UK during those times. Mary's father, who was totally opposed to the idea, even threatened to banish her from his house, never to let her set foot in it again.

But, love conquers all as they say, and the two got wed at the civil registry office with no other kin celebrating with them. The couple struggled during the first few years, but in time, Jake found a job at the Post Office, and Mary became a deputy head teacher.

In 2019, they celebrated their 71st anniversary. Sadly, Mary already had Alzheimer's and later that year, Jake would pass away at 93. Mary would soon follow him, passing away in July 2020.

Still, their story endures as an inspiration that, with a lot of hard work and effort, relationships can withstand even the harshest criticisms and rejection from others.

(Image credit: The Homemade Home)

Many rumors about Mars' M&Ms have been circulating throughout the decades. The green M&Ms were thought to be aphrodisiacs. If the last M&M was red, they tell you to make a wish and it will come true. If it was yellow, then you'll be sick. Orange M&Ms were for good luck, and brown M&Ms were bad luck.

The idea that green M&Ms were aphrodisiacs emerged from an urban legend in the 70s, when students were apparently giving them to their crushes or lovers. It is not exactly known why the green ones specifically were picked out, but some suggest it was because green was believed to represent healing and fertility.

Despite denying that these stories originated from them, Mars decided to take advantage of the rumors and released a few ads in 2001 titled "What is it about the green ones". Later, Mars made a Valentine's Day promotion in 2008, featuring bags of all-green M&Ms, along with the usual all-red and all-pink bags.

(Image credit: Snopes)

(Video credit: LittleKittyCheezPoof)

(Video credit: ClassicCommercials4U)

The infographic above summarizes the genealogy and history of several Middle Eastern and North African flags, and as we can see, several of these countries' flags have more than one thing in common.

First of all, their color schemes are generally the same which include red, green, black, and white. Secondly, some of the flags' elements include a crescent moon, stars, or both. The meaning behind these colors and elements have something to do with the nations' history and identity.

Some sources suggest that the four colors represented the different periods of Arab history: black for the Rashidun and Abbasid caliphates, white for the Umayyad dynasty, green for the Fatimids and Rashidun successors of the Prophet Mohammed and Islam, and red for the Hashemite dynasty.

On the other hand, another theory points to a 14th-century verse by Iraqi poet Safi al-Din al-Hilli which states that the white symbolizes their acts, black their battles, green their fields, and red their swords.

As for the star and the crescent, these were originally Turkish symbols, which had been used to represent Islam since the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, the Middle Eastern states are not the only ones having similar-looking designs on their flags, as Scandinavian countries all bore crosses on their flags, just in different color schemes; Central American countries also have similar patterns and colors on their flags; and countries in the Pacific, Australia and Oceania bear similar elements on their flags as well.

(Image credit: Aofen/Reddit)

Russian movies aren't as famous internationally as big blockbuster Hollywood films, although there have been some recent films coming from Russian cinema that have received international acclaim such as Hardcore Henry, Leviathan, Night Watch, and Brother. 

As such, not many people would probably realize that there were some Hollywood remakes based on famous Russian movies. RBTH gives us a list of 9 Hollywood remakes of famous Russian movies.

The most recent of which was the 2022 romantic comedy film About Fate, a remake of the 1976 Soviet television film The Irony of Fate. It's probably not surprising that the American remake was directed by Maryus Vaysberg, a Russian film director whose other film The Elder Son is also on the list.

The 1943 action war film Sahara, starring Humphrey Bogart, was based on the novel Patrol by Philip MacDonald, but also the Soviet 1936 film The Thirteen. Check out the full list on RBTH.

(Image credit: Planeta Bur/IMDb)

In response to a question in Quora asking which rock band had the most educated members, musicologist Alex Johnston answered with a fringe band that found success in the 1970s avant-garde scene. That band was called Henry Cow.

Of course, he prefaced his answer by saying that many people would probably say Queen, and who wouldn't?

Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, is a genius astrophysicist. Roger Taylor, the drummer, had studied to become a dentist, but shifted and attained a degree in biology instead. Their bassist, John Deacon has a degree in electronics. And Freddie Mercury studied graphic art and design, earning a diploma from Ealing Art College.

But Johnston argued, Henry Cow had the advantage of having more band members, most of whom obtained bachelor's and master's degrees, with one member, Georgina Born, even getting a PhD in anthropology.

The band was the subject of Cornell professor Benjamin Piekut's book, Henry Cow: The World is a Problem, wherein he explored how the experimental band challenged not just themselves but also the audience through their music. The band's members came from different musical backgrounds and interests, ranging from classical orchestra to free jazz, rock and electronic music.

From the time the band was formed in 1968 until their disbandment in 1978, they toured around Europe, was among the first groups to do free improvisation on stage and in the recording studio, and had collaborations in London's avant-garde scenes. They continued to work with one another in various musical projects even after they disbanded.

(Image credit: Alex Johnston/Quora)