A letter posted to "my dear Katie" in 1916 has just arrived in Crystal Palace.Stephen Oxford, editor of the Norwood Review, said Oswald Marsh was a highly regarded stamp dealer. Written by family friend Christabel Mennell, daughter of a wealthy local tea merchant Henry Mennell. pic.twitter.com/rmWSPZ2Tm0

— The Norwood Society (@NorwoodSociety) February 16, 2023

The Royal Mail delivered a letter to the home of Finlay Glen in London. The postmark says "2 Feb 16." Was this letter from 2016 and thus a rather late delivery? No, it was much, much older. The letter dated from World War I!

The BBC reports that the letter was written by Christabel Mennell to her friend, Katie Marsh. A local history magazine titled Norwood Review tracked down information about these two women and their families.

Strictly speaking, Glen broke the law by opening a letter not addressed to him. But he's not overly concerned about criminal prosecution and has offered to give the letter to any descendants of the correspondents.

-via Instapundit

The Canadian menace upon innocent America's northern border has only grown. We know that Canada has massed 90% of its entire population within 100 miles of the American border. Now we Americans face an even greater threat north of the 49th parallel: the "super pig".

The Guardian reports that a highly evolved* feral pig species originating in Canada is penetrating the US interior. Pigs, which Europeans introduced to the Americas in the Sixteenth Century, have become bigger, stronger, and perhaps more cunning. They can weigh 250 pounds (that's 113 kilograms in Canadian-speak). In Canada, some pigs have reached over 600 pounds and can survive the full strength of the northern land's brutal arctic winters.

Ryan Brook, a researcher at the University of Saskatchewan, boasts of his nation's super pigs, "They've definitely moved in, and they're here to stay."

-via Dave Barry

*Evolved or, I ask you, genetically engineered as a war machine? I don't know, but I am asking questions.

That's right. This train is not powered by a steam or diesel engine, but by the wind. It's called a sail bogey. This was a Nineteenth Century form of transportation in windy areas, especially those close to the sea. It often took the form of a boat that was mounted on a railway chassis.

You can see a photo and a description of another one in northeastern England here. Such sailing bogeys were, I gather, more recreational than practical.

I suspect but am not certain that the sail bogey photographed above is from the historical Ffestiniog Railway in northwestern Wales.

-via Wrath of Gnon | Photo: Michael Chapman

Through one means or another, you've been given the chance to travel back in time to ancient Rome in order to explore the city. You're not interested in disrupting history, so you're trying to stay inconspicuous. How do you accomplish this?

Garrett Ryan, a historian of ancient Greece and Rome, shares his expertise with us. His insights into Roman political history allow us to avoid tumultuous periods, such as the Year of the Four Emperors, in which the streets of Rome were too dangerous for travel. He also has tips about what to bring with you, what not to bring with you, and how to dress. For example, if you're a woman, don't wear a toga unless you'd like to be mistaken for a prostitute.

This video is part of a series of preparation guides that Ryan has made for time travelers to the distant Roman past. His others include instructions for participating in Roman nightlife and which neighborhoods you should avoid.

-via Nag on the Lake

As a general trend, heterosexual men have an interest in the bodies of attractive women. But to what degree does this interest change seasonally? Polish researchers Boguslaw Pawlowski and Piotr Sorokowski decided to find out.

They asked adult heterosexual men to rate the attractiveness of female faces, breasts photographed by cosmetic surgery clinics, and images of women with pronounced hip-to-waist ratios. They also had the subjects rate their own attractiveness and that of their romantic partners, if they had any. The researchers then followed up every three months for a year to see if their opinions changed over time.

Pawlowski and Sorokowski found that the men were quite keen on women’s breasts and hips during the winter as contrasted to the summer. Why? The researchers speculate that, during the winter, the men had fewer opportunities to look at women’s bodies without heavy protective clothing. The scarcity of such views led to their increased value.

Photo: Pixabay

Chart: Perception, v.37, 2008.

La Ruetta, which Google Translate is rendering as "The Wheel" is a road in Civitella del Tronto, Teramo, Italy. Measuring under 16 inches across, it's the narrowest road in Italy.

DeviantArt member Alexey, a woodcarver in Kiev, Ukraine, seems to call forth his art from the web of narrative that lies beneath and links together ancient and modern cultures. That's why I'm choosing to describe his work as mythopoetic. This pipe depicts Veles, a central figure in Slavic mythology.

This photo isn't flipped. You are looking at it correctly. This fig tree is actually upside-down and it grew that way!

Atlas Obscura tells us that near the Italian coast town of Bacoli are ruins from the ancient Roman resort town of Baia. Throughout the centuries, several Roman emperors had vacation villas there, including Nero. This tree grows under an archway of a villa thought to be owned by Nero.

The origin of the tree is uncertain, but tourists flock to see it as it blooms and fades, each year. You can find it at the Parco Archeologico delle Terme di Baia.

-via Oddity Central | Photo: /u/AsterUwu

No, I'm not referring to that gentle, romantic ballad by Aerosmith. This is an older and true story set during World War II. Paul Wilson shares the story of how he met the love of his life while she was working as an elevator operator in Wichita, Kansas. It's a sweet How I Met Your Mother story that he tells his daughter.

The recording is part of an interview conducted as part of NPR's StoryCorps project. This ongoing enterprise encourages people to interview each other, especially older friends and relatives, and share those stories. StoryCorps has excellent resources to help you participate so that we can document the lives of people dear to us.

-via Laughing Squid

The great J.K. Rowling is thoroughly English, having been born and raised in Glouchester and educated in western England. But let's imagine if she originated north of Hadrian's Wall. What would a Scottish Harry Potter sound like?

Voice actor Richard Crossman is actually Canadian, but can speak French, German, Italian, Russian, and Welsh and perform many English dialects. In his narration of Matthew Fitt's version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, he speaks Scottish-accented English. Or a sort of English.

Soundcloud has a selection from the first chapter when Dumbledore appears. Crossman renders the great wizard as Albus Dumbydykes. Minerva McGonagall, though, keeps her proper name.

-via Kottke

Instagram user @di_vsn jokes, "What do you bring to the table?"

To this, model Sarah Dahll answers, "I am the table" and walks away.

The luxurious skirt that she wore to the dinner party in Copenhagen was sewn into the tablecloth on which food was served. When it was time to leave, she presented herself to the audience and then confidently strode out of the hall.

And that is how you make an exit.

-via Dave Barry

I mention that because Geert Chatrou says that although, "it's very difficult to be sad and whistle," he can do it.

That's a very good argument in favor of whistling as a practice. 

Geert Chatrou (warning: autoplay music) has thrice won the world championships (2004, 2005, 2008) for whistling. He's given solo performances, but has also accompanied jazz combos and classical orchestras. Lately, Chatrou has been performing with Cirque du Soleil.

Chatrou can also play the flute and recorder but, as you can see, the human mouth is his ideal instrument. With it, especially the throat, he can replicate masterpieces such as Duke Ellington's In a Sentimental Mood and Debussy's Clair de Lune.

-via Laughing Squid

Sora News 24 encountered a rumor that a particular plot of land in the city of Nagasaki was Russian territory. It sent a reporter to investigate and found a clump of abandoned shacks. What was the purpose of this place?

It turns out that the imperial government of Japan gave it to, well, the imperial government of Russia in 1875, when the Russians wanted a consulate in Nagasaki to promote their business interests. Thirty years later, there was some unpleasantness between the two nations, but the block remained in use by Russia until the fall of the Tsar in 1917. Then it was abandoned.

In 1987, the Soviet Union wanted to make use of the area and Japan granted Moscow extraterritorial control of it. Nothing came of the grant, though, and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The Japanese government recognized Russia as the legitimate successor of the Soviet Union and, in 1994, the Russian ambassador to Japan had a sign placed on a wall in the plot asserting Russian control.

Sora News 24, though, found only one inhabitant--a cat.

This new emergency service in Wales offers another way to quickly reach people in need of immediate medical attention. The Great North Air Ambulance Service, in addition to operating helicopters, now has a jet suit and paramedics trained in its use.

Would you call this "breaking the fourth wall"? This image definitely pops out to the audience in a novel way.

Andrew Scott, an artist in Rochester, New York, has a new series of images titled Breakthrough. They show the subjects literally breaking through the glass cover for the prints in which they reside. Scott accomplishes this with his finishing touch for each print: tapping on the glass with a steel point at the visual point of image. It's an amusing and fresh way to engage the audience.

Scott sells these prints, which are completely safe and durable: he covers the broken layer of glass with an additional layer.

-via How Things Work