The official origin story of the board game Monopoly was that Charles Darrow invented it in the 1930s. He indeed became very wealthy from the idea, but it wasn’t his. The game was actually conceived by Elizabeth Magie, who filed a patent for her game in 1903. The Landlord’s Game was designed to show the evils of unrestrained capitalism.

She created two sets of rules for her game: an anti-monopolist set in which all were rewarded when wealth was created, and a monopolist set in which the goal was to create monopolies and crush opponents. Her dualistic approach was a teaching tool meant to demonstrate that the first set of rules was morally superior.

And yet it was the monopolist version of the game that caught on, with Darrow claiming a version of it as his own and selling it to Parker Brothers. While Darrow made millions and struck an agreement that ensured he would receive royalties, Magie’s income for her creation was reported to be a mere $500.

Long-time Neatorama readers knew this, as we posted about it in 2011. Cecil Adams goes into detail about why Magie’s version was not as popular as Monopoly. Sure, you might learn about contrasting economic systems, but it was more fun to crush your opponents and see them driven before you. Still, Elizabeth Magie’s story is fascinating. She was a single woman who supported herself and owned her own property even before women had the right to vote. She made national headlines for a stunt she pulled to mock the institution of marriage. And it was only in 1973 that her role in the creation of Monopoly was uncovered. Read about Magie and her game at the New York Times.

(Image credit: The Strong Museum, Rochester, New York)      

The following is an article from The Annals of Improbable Research.

(Image credit: Milad Mosapoor)

Highlights from gummy, chewy research literature about cognition
compiled by Katherine Lee, Improbable Research staff

Numerous researchers, doing numerous studies, have debated and are debating whether there are cognitive effects of chewing chewing gum, and if there are such effects, what, how strong, and how consistent those effects may be.

Cognitive Advantages of Chewing Gum
“Cognitive Advantages of Chewing Gum: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t,” Serge V. Onyper, Timothy L. Carr, John S. Farrar, and Brittney R. Floyd, Appetite, vol. 57, no. 2, October 2011, pp. 321–8. The authors, at St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, explain:

The current series of experiments investigated the effects of the timing of gum chewing on cognitive function, by administering a battery of cognitive tasks to participants who chewed gum either prior to or throughout testing, and comparing their performance to that of controls who did not chew gum. Chewing gum was associated with performance advantages on multiple measures when gum was chewed for 5 min before, but not during, cognitive testing. The benefits, however, persisted only for the first 15–20 min of the testing session, and did not extend to all cognitive domains. This... can potentially account for a wide range of findings reported in the literature.

Chewing Gum and Memory (2004): Yup
“Chewing Gum Can Produce Context-Dependent Effects Upon Memory,” Jess R. Baker, Jessica B. Bezance, Ella Zellaby, and John P. Aggleton, Appetite, vol. 43, 2004, pp. 207–10. The authors, at Cardiff University, Wales, U.K., report:

Two experiments examined whether chewing spearmint gum can affect the initial learning or subsequent recall of a word list. Comparing those participants in Experiment 1 who chewed gum at the learning or the recall phases showed that chewing gum at initial learning was associated with superior recall. In addition, chewing gum led to context-dependent effects as a switch between gum and no gum (or no gum and gum) between learning and recall led to poorer performance. Experiment 2 provided evidence that sucking gum was sufficient to induce some of the same effects as chewing.

Chewing Gum and Memory (2007): Nope
“Chewing Gum and Context-Dependent Memory Effects: A Re-Examination,” Christopher Miles and Andrew J. Johnson, Appetite, vol. 48, no. 2, March 2007, pp. 1548. (Thanks to Martin Gardiner for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, also at Cardiff University, report:

Two experiments re-examined whether chewing spearmint gum affects initial word learning and/or immediate recall for a word list. Both experiments failed to show effects of chewing gum at learning or recall, nor did they suggest that chewing gum produces a context-dependent memory effect.

Chewing Gum versus Depression

(YouTube link)

The 1980s were a golden age for coming-of-age movies. Was it because there were so many of them, or because they were so good? There was Flashdance, Footloose, Fame, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and movies that didn’t start with an F as well. Robert Jones assembled clips from a whole slew of them into one video, using the song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds, featured in the movie The Breakfast Club. -Thanks, Robert!  

Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, or Pancake Day as it’s known in many parts. It’s the final day before Lent, when all the rich foods and sweets need to be cleared out so they won’t tempt you during the fast. Still, many folks who don’t fast during Lent still celebrate Pancake Day. The colorful recipe you see here comes from Manchester, England, believe it or not, but chef Anyonita is an American who incorporated the New Orleans Mardi Gras colors into her recipe for Mardi Gras King Cake Fruit & Honey Pancakes at Anyonita Nibbles. It’s just one of many pancake and crepe recipes you may want to try out in a list at Buzzfeed.

In the 17th century, Europeans were introduced to new hot drinks from all over the world: tea from Asia, coffee from the Middle East, and chocolate from the Americas. The effects of these strange beverages concerned users, and eventually they were considered to be drugs.

Chocolate was the first of the three to enter the pharmaceutical annals in Europe via a medical essay published in Madrid in 1631: Curioso Tratado de la naturaleza y calidad del chocolate by Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma. Colmenero’s short treatise dates from the era when Spain was the main importer of chocolate. Spain had occupied the Aztec territories since the time of Cortés in the 1540s — the first Spanish-language description of chocolate dates from the 1552 — whereas the British and French were only beginning to establish a colonial presence in the Caribbean and South America during the 1620s and 30s. Having acquired a degree in medicine and served a Jesuit mission in the colonies, Colmenero was as close as one could come to a European expert on the pharmaceutical qualities of the cacao bean. Classified as medical literature in libraries today, Colmenero’s work introduced chocolate to Europe as a drug by appealing to the science of the humors, or essential bodily fluids.

The explanation of how chocolate could be used to advance one’s health was nonsense even in the medical knowledge of the time, bordering on magic, but the promotion of chocolate as a cure-all (and aphrodisiac) was quite profitable. Connecting chocolate with tea and coffee promoted it as exotic, yet the inclusion of the Aztec culture’s contribution to pharmaceutical beverages was even more exotic than the slightly more familiar and civilized regions of Asia and Arabia. Read about the history of chocolate in Europe at the Public Domain Review. -via the Presurfer

All of the U.S. presidents have left a legacy in history and politics, but some leave even more: inventions and products they inspired. One president registered a patent, but many others had ideas, or at least gave others ideas. Washington invented farm machinery to do more work. Jefferson invented things, too, and discovered an extinct species that was named after him.

Roosevelt didn't invent anything, but he did inspire an enduring toy: the teddy bear. Roosevelt gave permission to use his name to toymaker Morris Michtom, who based his design off of the editorial cartoons of Clifford Berryman.

Of course, Teddy Roosevelt had plenty of other accomplishments. Celebrate Presidents Day by learning more about our forefathers from this list at Mashable. -via Daily of the Day

Imagine contact lenses that can switch your field of vision from normal to telescopic sight. Does that sound creepy? Yes it does, on the surface. But the point is not to enable spying; it’s to correct bad vision. Telescopic contact have been developed by EPFL in Switzerland, and unveiled at the AAAS Annual Meeting earlier this month.

The technology involves a bit more than just the contacts. The system is based on the interaction between a pair of normal-looking eyeglasses and the weird lenses above, which are embedded with what are really just a pair of supertiny aluminum telescopes. The contacts are still only about 1.5 millimeters thick, and feature 1 mm-wide channels or pores that allow the required breathability-maintaining airflow. This last part proved to be one of the biggest challenges, requiring years of experimentation.

So far, the contacts need to be used with glasses, as the glasses hold the method of changing light polarity to turn the telescopic view of the lenses. You control that by winking. The next step is to make them controllable without the glasses. I think I’ll just stick with my bifocals for now. -via Digg

(Image credit: EPFL)

Was there a certain movie that you watched as a kid that turned you into a real fan? One that opened up a whole new world to you, be it sci-fi, fantasy, tech, or something else? The ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s were full of classic films that tied together a generation of geeks that now run the internet. Geeks Are Sexy lists eight of those movies for your nostalgic pleasure. If you are of a different age, you may have a different list. Personally, I would include Planet of the Apes (1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Time Machine (1960), and The Andromeda Strain (1971). Because I’m an old geek.

While we deal with ice and snow in February, in Australia it’s the height of summer. The town of Chinchilla, Queensland, cooled off this past weekend with their annual Melon Festival. Oh, yes, every place has a harvest festival, but Chinchilla takes it to the next level with sports, activities, and competitions that require the use of 20 tonnes of watermelons. My favorite is shown above: melon skiing, in which you place your feet inside nice juicy watermelons and try to stay upright as you are pulled down a melon juice-covered ski run. Don’t forget your melon helmet! There’s also melon bunjy (sic), a melon tug-of-war, seed-spitting, the melon carving contest, the melon growing competition, the melon eating contest, and the Iron Man, in which you carry a watermelon through a course of obstacles and try to keep it intact. That’s the way to cool off on a hot summer day! See more pictures of the melon events at Buzzfeed.

(Image creditL Tourism and Events Queensland)

This Presidents Day article is from the book Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into the Presidency.

Uncle John puts on his top hat and tails to get the gilded dish on White House weddings.

THE FIRST WEDDING

The dish: President James Madison was only the third president to occupy the White House and the first president to hold a wedding there. The bride was Lucy Payne, the sister of First Lady Dolley Madison; it was Lucy’s second time at the altar. Lucy was a widow who accepted the proposal of Supreme Court Justice Thomas Todd. The 1812 ceremony wasn’t as grand as later White House weddings, but the event was carried off with typical aplomb by Mrs. Madison, perhaps the most consummate Washington hostess of all the First ladies.

Some deep dish: Guests at the wedding were treated to a pinch of snuff from Dolley’s own snuffbox. The First Lady loved her habit and very generously shared it with her company. A-choo!

THE MOST EXCLUSIVE WEDDING

The dish: In 1820 James Monroe was the first president to see his daughter marry in the White House- but he sure got a lot of grief for it. Held in what is now known as the Blue Room, the wedding was an elegant, candlelit affair that honored a young, romantic couple. The bride was a shy, seventeen-year-old poet, Maria Monroe; the groom was her handsome cousin, Samuel Gouverneur, a presidential secretary. So why did the ceremony generate so much criticism?

The movie The Breakfast Club was released on February 15, 1985, 30 years ago today. Generation X related to the film and made it a hit. But there are probably a lot of facts about the movie's production that you don’t know. The cast could have been completely different.  

8. Emilio Estevez was originally slated to play Bender, but Hughes couldn’t find anyone else who was right for the Andrew role, so Estevez ultimately switched and the Bender gig went to Judd Nelson.

9. Similarly, Molly Ringwald was first asked to play Allison, but she wanted the Claire (named "Cathy" in the first draft of the script) role. Hughes eventually let her have it.

10. Other actresses that could have played Claire? Robin Wright, Jodie Foster, and Laura Dern, who all auditioned for the part.

15. John Cusack was also considered for the role of Bender, as was Nicolas Cage.

But there’s more than casting facts about The Breakfast Club in a list of anniversary trivia at mental_floss.

(YouTube link)

Remember the movie The Jerk when Steve Martin got excited about the new phone books? Jackie Mason’s line was “I wish I could get that excited about nothin’!” That’s the impression I got from this video. Storm Tracker Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel was reporting live in Plymouth, Massachusetts when he confirmed the storm was thundersnow. A true weather geek knows how rare that is, and to be reporting live at the scene excited him to no end. See the longer version of this weather report at The Weather Channel.

Massachusetts has had a huge amount of snow: Boston recorded over 45.5 inches of snowfall in February, the most in one month since at least 1872, when record-keeping began. They’ve received over 89 inches of snow this winter, another record. And more is on the way. The forecast for my corner of Kentucky calls for 6-12 inches tomorrow, the most snow since 1998. But unless the electricity goes out, I’ll be able to get to work. -via Uproxx

Chris Brennaman, like many people, has thought about how cool it would be to be Batman: Attractive millionaire by day, terrifying crime-fighting hero by night. Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Except, I wouldn’t be awesome.

Not really. No one would be. If anyone were in fact Batman, that would mean we would have access to all the resources that make Batman, well, Batman. And having access to all that and opting to put on a cape and a cowl and patrol the cities at night in the most badass vehicles ever is probably the most irresponsible thing a person could do, especially if what that person wants to do is make real change.

What could the character do in the real world that would be more awesome than being Batman? A lot of stuff, if he weren’t so stuck in the rut of playing the hero and protecting his secret identity. Read about four major ways Bruce Wayne could be more effective than Batman at Forces of Geek.
 

The place called Mo'ynaq in Uzbekistan was once a thriving city, but now is little more than a ghost town. What’s really strange about Mo'ynaq is the fleet of abandoned and rusting boats. What are these boats doing sitting in the desert? The nearest shoreline is 150 kilometers away!

The secret is that Mo'ynaq used to be a port city on the Aral Sea. The water, diverted for irrigation by the Soviets, has receded to around 10% of its original size. As the fishing industry collapsed, residents of Mo'ynaq moved out, taking what was useful but leaving the scrapped fishing boats behind. The vanishing shoreline caused a host of problems for the people of Mo'ynaq. Read about what happened and see lots of pictures of the abandoned fleet at Kuriositas. -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Flickr user neil banas)