Minnesota is known as the "Land of Lakes", but that sobriquet would better fit Canada. Canada has so many lakes that just naming them takes a lot of work. Manitoba's innovative and morally commendable response was to name 4,200 bodies of water after individual Manitoban soldiers who gave their lives during World War II.

Did geographers just get lazy by the time that they reached these two lakes in British Columbia? No. The British Columbia Geographic Names Office gave this body of water the official name of Another Lake because that's literally what local residents have called it since at least 1946. The Office rejected the name when it was originally submitted in 1968, but eventually accepted the common usage. And Another Lake has a similar origin story.

-via Terrible Maps

Journalist James Ball shares this photo from Victoria Station in central London. Among the shops that tantalize busy commuters is Duck Depot.

It's not just a single store but an entire chain of stores called Duck World that sells collectible rubber ducks in a vast variety of forms, often inspired by pop culture. Duck World also offers custom ducks for your particular anatine needs, as well as sponsorship for rubber duck racing events.

There's a similar store in Spring, Texas that focuses on rubber ducks and bath gear. It's across the street from a store that specializes in Dutch products. Train arrivals will not block your travels although parking is a chore.

My fellow Americans, I see a great deal of popular concern about the state of innovation in the American economy. We feel that we have lost the plot of our national story and are no longer driving technological progress in the world.

Cast those fears aside. This is America: the nation that introduced to the world the Dune popcorn bucket.

The pace of technological development is only increasing with news of the popcorn bucket produced for the fourth Despicable Me film. It's inspired by the Baby Björn baby carrier and provides a conveniently hands-free popcorn option for fans on the move.

-via Brenden Gallagher

Jordan Flom is a content creator and, more importantly, father of triplet babies. He has been working on a logistical challenge: moving all three babies at the same time. He's worked with various workarounds, such as Home Depot lumber carts.

But his ultimate solution is a wooden frame that locks into the handles of the three strollers. The front one articulates, thus providing tight steering for this Voltron-like rig. Not shown in this video is Flom's toddler daughter, who is presumably necessary before the team can form Blazing Sword.

Note: the video appears to be staged, as the context of Flom's other videos indicates.

-via Laughing Squid

Found a very cool bookstore in Tokyo! Each square on the bookshelves is rented to a different person. The renters are free to curate and sell whatever books they want in their shelf space. My favorite was the shelf filled with handmade photo books of the renter’s cat pic.twitter.com/ySLQG6HMOR

— grace ౨ৎ (@suzuranfairy) May 18, 2024

X user Grace (@suzuranfairy) shares photos of a unique bookstore in the Kichijōji neighborhood of western Tokyo. The area is home to unique shops and restaurants and is thus very popular with tourists. Close to the famous Ghibli Museum is a bookstore where people can sell their own books in sections of shelf space.

-via Super Punch

The Inspiration4 space launch in 2021 conducted by the private space travel firm SpaceX carried four humans into Earth orbit. The astronauts stayed for two days before they safely splashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

The New York Times reports that the crew performed medical and cognitive tests. One of them was a test of attention span. The astronauts stared at a box displayed on an iPad. When a stopwatch icon appeared on the screen, they pressed the icon. The program assessed how long it took for them to press the button and therefore how long they were paying attention to the game.

The results of the study revealed significantly decreased attention span while in space.

-via Dave Barry, who blasphemes "Exhibit A: Star Trek" | Image: Paramount

The Associated Press reports that a mixed human/canine family recently camped in the wooded mountains of Baker County, Oregon. One of the men was driving along a nearby road when his truck crashed and rolled down into a steep ravine. Four dogs were inside the truck, one of whom walked four miles to the campsite to alert his packmates of the accident. What a good boy!

In an authentic Lassie moment, he led the family to site of the crash. US Forest Service rescue workers then extracted the man from the scene using a complex rope system, photos of which you can see here. He was airlifted to the hospital. The man and all four dogs survived the accident.

Photo: Baker County Sheriff's Office

The development of submarine-launched ballistic nuclear missiles was a game-changer in Cold War strategy. The United States wanted to subtly express to the Soviet Union that it could place its nuclear-capable Regulus missiles anywhere it wanted. On June 8, 1959, it did so by using a Regulus missile from the USS Barbero to deliver 3,000 pieces of mail.

I'm old enough to remember coin-operated television sets in airports and bus stations. But what I found most surprising by this article in UCLA Magazine was that coin-operated typewriters existed. This particular model was designed in 1927 and the payment system was invented in 1938.

As for Ray Bradbury's iconic novel Fahrenheit 451, he composed the original version of the story at some point in the late 1940s (the precise date appears to be uncertain) when he had a newborn baby at home and wanted peace and quiet in which to write. He went to the basement of the Powell Library at UCLA and used one of the rental typewriters for 20 cents an hour. $9.80 later, he had a functional draft.

-via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Art Blast

80 years ago, the brave men of the western Allied armies were saving Europe and having a rough go of it. Conditions in the field were spartan and beer was a usually unobtainable luxury.

Pictured above is a RAF Supermarine Spitfire that flew from England to Normandy a few weeks after D-Day. Instead of external fuel tanks, the plane has a pair of barrels rigged for delivery of a fuel more precious than aviation gasoline: beer

The Spitfire Academy, an organization dedicated to preserving these historic aircraft, shares the story of British, Canadian, and American aircraft that ferried beer across the Channel to thirsty soldiers. Initially, the technicians attached standard fuel tanks that had been steam-cleaned. But after soldiers complained that the beer tasted like gasoline, despite the cleaning, they switched to flying the barrels themselves.

-via Chris Bolton

The Teton Juggler gets his name from his famous videos showing him juggling while skiing. He's a "flow artist" who does impressive tricks while on the powder, including throwing a pin around a tree while he skis next to it (0:07) and balancing a pin on another while in motion (0:25).

But he can do a lot more than just ski and juggle! The Teton Juggler also has videos showing juggling on a tightrope, mountain biking, mountain unicycling, and riding a horse. My favorite performance is when he does a back flip while skiing and doesn't miss a single pin.

-via Massimo

By July of 1953, most of the fighting in the Korean War was over. Yet many thousands of US service members remained on duty in this explosive war zone.

The following February, Marilyn Monroe married the baseball giant Joe DiMaggio. The couple honeymooned in Japan and, while there, made a brief visit to South Korea. The patriotic Monroe visited about 100,000 troops at ten shows over four days in her official capacity of a United Service Organizations volunteer.

Pictured above is her official registration card with the Department of Defense, using her legal name of Norma Jean DiMaggio. It sold at auction several years ago for $31,250.

-via Book of Joe

How quickly could you type the alphabet with your nose (with spaces)? India's Vinod Kumar Chaudhary did it in 26.73 seconds ⌨️👃 pic.twitter.com/IBt7vghVai

— Guinness World Records (@GWR) May 30, 2024

In his biography of Alexander the Great, the First Century AD Roman author Quintus Curtius Rufus described the seemingly limitless physical courage of Alexander, who often led his armies from the forefront. Curtius praised his courage, but also leveled at Alexander:

[...] the charge of reckless daring, which he had in abundance, can have less force, because there was never an opportunity to decide whether he had acted rashly.

Great men of transcendent ambition, such as Alexander the Great and Vinod Kumar Chaudhary, are compelled to push themselves past ordinary limits--to accomplish the impossible again and again. Great striving brings great risks.

Chaudhary established a Guinness World Record last year when he typed the alphabet with his nose in 27.8 seconds. Yet, like Alexander after Issus, Chaudhary was only getting started. He insisted on breaking that record, setting a new one of 26.73 seconds. Now, he's broken that record, striking the keystrokes, with a space between each one, in a mere 25.66 seconds.

Will Chaudhary press forward again? Or will he face a mutiny as Alexander did and be forced to settle for the empire has has been able to conquer?

-via Dave Barry

In one of the holiest temples of America's civic religion there is a bullet hole. Search carefully in the frieze of the Lincoln Memorial and you may be able to spot it.

Here's a clearer image. How did this happen?

In September 1942, when the U.S. government worried about Axis attacks on the American homeland, anti-aircraft defenses stood guard over major cities and important sites. One soldier manning a .50-caliber machine gun in Washington, D.C., accidentally discharged his weapon, firing a burst. Three bullets struck the Lincoln Memorial. One of bullet holes could not be practically repaired, so it remains there to this day.

-via U.S. Naval Institute | Photos: U.S. Park Service

Luna Lee is a Korean musician who specializes in traditional Korean instruments. She's a world-acclaimed master of the gayageum, a stringed instrument somewhat similar to a large European zither. In the past, we've featured her version of Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" and AC/DC's "Thunderstruck."

Yesterday's Memorial Day commemorations may put my fellow Americans in a patriotic mood, so it is appropriate that Lee recorded a performance of our majestic national anthem.