Eighteen-year-old Amari Dancy of Woodbridge, Virginia, was only trying to keeper younger relatives busy with a game of hide-and-seek inside the house. She took note of all the places she had hidden before, and decided to jump into the washing machine. And then couldn't get out. The Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue was summoned to the home to extract Dancy from the top-loader. 

“I was really worried to see if they were going to get me out or not,” the teen said. “Once they figured out what to do ... I just felt relieved. I just wanted to be out of there.”

Suni Dancy said her relatives found the situation funny. “She doesn’t even normally play with the younger kids,” Suni Dancy said.

Once she made it out of the laundry machine, Amari Dancy was able to see the humor in her predicament as well.

The rescue crew was able to remove the top of the machine, which created enough space to get Dancy out. Read the whole story at NBC News. -via Bits and Pieces

In case you have some extra time, and might be looking to treat yourself with something delicious, you might want to make some maple butter, which has no butter in it, so it may be more accurate to call it maple cream, although it has no cream in it, either. The terms are interchangeable, and have more to do with its consistency than its ingredients.

What is maple cream?  It’s maple syrup that’s been transformed (miraculously) into a creamy, spreadable, butter-like consistency through a process of crystallization.

It’s meant to be spread on English muffins, or toast or even … on a grilled cheese with bacon and green apples.

I prefer to eat the maple butter by just taping the jar to my head and licking my way to the bottom like an anteater.

Maple cream has only one ingredient -maple syrup. However, it's not that simple, as making it requires a candy thermometer, some elbow grease, and time. If you have those things, check out the instructions at The Art of Doing Stuff. -via Nag on the Lake

Almost everyone has memories of a distinct incident that happened at their high school that was scandalous, criminal, or just really weird. That happens when you put hundreds of teenagers together, who try to impress each other without thinking through the consequences. The one about the bats stands out, as related by maceylou:

"My high school in Florida had a bat problem. The school was tired of cleaning up bat poop, so one winter evening after the bats left for the night, they covered the openings where the bats would go (this is illegal in Florida). The next day, students arrived to find frozen bats all over the ground, unable to move. Here’s where the real stupid happens..."

"Some students thought this was so cool, so they put bats in their pockets and went in to class. After about fifteen minutes in the nice, heated classrooms, the bats started defrosting and WAKING UP. So bats broke loose of pockets, biting the students and flying around. Later, any student who came in contact with the bats was required to get a round of shots."  

Yeah, this may have happened last year or decades ago, but it's the kind of thing you will never forget. Read 16 outrageous high school incidents at Buzzfeed, with more in the comments.

(Image credit: Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren)

People will argue all day about the best way to hang toilet paper on the dispenser. Are you an Over or an Under? Or maybe you prefer a vertical orientation to stop the arguing. According to a survey taken by Today I Found Out, the majority prefers the Over orientation to the Under. And everyone has their reasons, which vary widely.

Others argue that because Seth Wheeler’s 19th century patent for rolled toilet paper explicitly shows toilet paper hung in the Over orientation that this proves this is the “correct” way. But we’re guessing those same people aren’t caring that they pronounce UFO as U-F-O instead of “yoofo” as the coiner of said term intended, among countless other examples like this where the creator of something’s thoughts were ignored. So we’re guessing the only reason individuals putting forth this argument care what the fittingly named Mr. Wheeler drew on his patent application is that it vaguely supports their position. In the end, what the original creator of something thought was best doesn’t inherently matter to what’s actually superior. If it did, we’d all be advocating for Greedo shooting first and using bubble wrap as wallpaper which is what it was originally invented for.

On the flipside, advocates for the Under orientation note that it tends to provide a slightly more tidy appearance rather than just dangling out there in its best imitation of a kilted Scotsman. And, most importantly there, if one has beings of the feline or human parasite persuasion, the more concealed Under orientation tends to prove less tempting for these two groups to play with.

However, it turns out there is a difference in the best way to hang toilet paper in public restrooms, which has to do with bacterial contamination. And there's some extra information about bacterial contamination in public vs. private privies at Today I Found Out.

(Image credit: Darren Foreman)

Take a guess at the most dangerous place in history. Auschwitz in 1944? Hiroshima in 1945? Chernobyl in 1986? The salient quote includes the word "arguably," but it reveals the best guess so far about a dangerous place produced by nature and not mankind. And that would be what is now the Sahara Desert.

About 100 million years ago, the area was home to a vast river system, filled with many different species of aquatic and terrestrial animals. Fossils from the Kem Kem Group include three of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever known, including the sabre-toothed Carcharodontosaurus (over 8m in length with enormous jaws and long, serrated teeth up to eight inches long) and Deltadromeus (around 8m in length, a member of the raptor family with long, unusually slender hind limbs for its size), as well as several predatory flying reptiles (pterosaurs) and crocodile-like hunters. Dr Ibrahim said: "This was arguably the most dangerous place in the history of planet Earth, a place where a human time-traveller would not last very long."

The dinosaurs were big and hungry, but their prey was huge, too. Read about the fossils of the Kem Kem beds at Eureka Alert. -via Damn Interesting

(Image credit: Davide Bonadonna)

French socialite Madame Juliette Récamier was a renowned beauty in turn-of-the-19th-century Paris. Her salon drew many admirers, intellectuals, and artists. Woman wanted to know the secret of her flawless complexion, and many artists painted, sculpted, and drew her likeness.

“She was a compound of ingenuous gracefulness, talent and goodness, harmonized by that delicacy which alone forms the charm of loveliness. I have often discovered a resemblance between her and the Madonnas of the pious Italian painters; but this resemblance was purely intellectual. It proceeded not from regularity of features, but from that soul which animated her eyes and beamed forth from under her long eye-lashes, and from the high and intellectual forehead, blushing under its fillet of leno, the only head-dress with which, for many years, she set off the charms of her countenance. In the smile which so often separates her lips of rose, you might perceive the innocent joy of a young and ravishing creature, happy to please and be loved – who saw nothing but bliss in nature, and answered the salutation of love which met her on all sides, by an expression of silent benevolence.”[10]

Madame Récamier's influence outlived her, not only in the many artworks depicting her, but also the beauty product formulations she purportedly used, and in the women who mimicked her casual poses for their own portraits. Read about Madame Juliette Récamier at Geri Walton's blog.  -via Strange Company

(Image credit: François Gérard)

RegalPlatypus recently adopted a cat named Tormund. He wanted to show his friends what life with a cat is like, so he set up a camera that recorded while he slept -or tried to. Tormund believes his human has slept long enough and it's time to wake up for kibble, cuddles, and playtime. Bonus points for the excellent choice of music. -via reddit

James McNeill Whistler is most widely known for his Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, which most folks call Whistler's Mother. But how he decorated the Peacock Room is a much better story. British shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland was redoing his new home in 1876, and engaged architect Thomas Jeckyll to design the dining room to highlight his collection of Chinese porcelain and his Whistler original painting. Whistler himself was working on decorating another part of the home. When Leyland went out of town and Jeckyll fell ill, Whistler took over the dining room.

Alone and unsupervised, Whistler began to take a few liberties with the dining room. He covered the entire room, from the ceiling to the walls, with Dutch metal, or imitation gold leaf, over which he painted a lush pattern of peacock feathers. He then gilded Jeckyll’s walnut shelving and embellished the wooden shutters with four magnificently plumed peacocks.

When Leyland returned unexpectedly in October that year, he was stunned to find his dinning room entirely transformed, but it was more than he had asked for. The floral-patterned leather on the walls were completely painted over, and every surface shone with luminous shades of green, gold, and blue. To add fuel to fire, Whistler had been inviting other artists and members of the press into the house to watch him work in the room, without the permission of Leyland. The straw which broke the camel's back was the bill that Whistler presented to Leyland—£2000, a huge sum at that time. Leyland refused to pay.

The fight over the dining room led to bad feelings and -believe it or not- more artwork. Read the story of the Peacock Room, which is now in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution, at Amusing Planet.

(Image credit: Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries)

Tribute bands and parody bands weren't really a thing in 1964, but with Beatlemania raging around the world, the time was ripe for those wishing to jump on the bandwagon. The manager of a group called the Ardells coaxed them into growing out their hair and changing their name to the American Beetles. It was a joke that paid off well for them, except for that time they were booked for a tour in Argentina as the Beatles.

In the spring of 1964, as Beatlemania swept the world, newspaper headlines announced that The Beatles would be travelling to South America that summer. Millions awaited their arrival with bated breath –  and in July, when four young moptops descended into Buenos Aires Airport, it seemed that teenage dreams were about to come true.

The Beatles were actually nowhere near Argentina at the time. The British group – who split 50 years ago this month – were back home in London, on a rare rest stop between concerts and recording. But with or without their knowledge, four young guys from Florida named Tom, Vic, Bill and Dave had taken their place.

After months of excitement, the deception was immediately apparent, and chaos ensued. Read the story of the American Beetles in Argentina at BBC Culture. -via Damn Interesting

(Image source: YouTube)

How did those lights get up there in the sky? You can thank the animals. A Finnish folk tale explains the stars and even the aurora borealis. This animated sequence was Keilidh Bradley's final project at Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Scotland. -via Laughing Squid

Magazines give us news, features, essays, feel-good stories, and all kinds of information in a digestible length. Some articles win Pulitzer prizes, while others kind of fade away... until they inspire some screenwriter to adapt it into a full-length feature film, which may or may not resemble the original article. For example, the 2001 movie The Fast and the Furious was based on a 1998 feature article in Vibe titled Racer X.

    “The excitement of going fast is like nothing else,” says Javier Ortega, a Columbian-American who screeches his blue Honda Civic to a halt in front of the store. “Another group gets excitement from doing drugs or whatever. Speed excites us.”

    Few know that excitement like Estevez. Six feet tall with stooped shoulders and a healthy gut, he writes his own rules. Forget about valor, compassion, honor; in his book, that’s all synonymous with second place.

    “People say I cheat all the time,” explains Estevez, a Huck Finn grin spreading across his face. “They say I jump the line, I do this, I do that. Drag racing is war. If you bring a knife, and I bring a machine gun, you’re dead. That’s it.”

Who could imagine that Ortega and Estevez would inspire an entire series of movies? You can read that original article online, and 24 others that inspired big movies, linked in a list at Longreads. -via Metafilter

For the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day (which was Wednesday), PBS Nature, KQED’s Deep Look, and Ze Frank got together to give awards to the Earth's animals. The categories include Best Dressed, Most Traumatic Early Childhood Experience, and Best Fish Out of Water, so you can assume that Ze Frank came up with them. You'll see some weird critters doing some amazing things. -via Kottke

The eating disorder anorexia nervosa only became familiar to us in the last few decades, but documented cases go back to antiquity. It wasn't quite recognized as a mental illness because sufferers appeared to be completely rational, even when their behavior was self-destructive. Accounts tell of holy women, some of them saints, who transcended earthly flesh by not eating. One of them was Catherine of Siena (1347-80).

By the age of 15, her already frugal diet was reduced to small quantities of bread and raw vegetables. Five years or so later, following the death of her father and more visions of Christ, Catherine cut out the bread, and, from her mid-20s, apparently ate ‘nothing’ other than sacramental wafers at Holy Communion. She was dead from self-starvation by the age of 33. According to Raymond, during those last years of severe starvation, not only did she have no need of food but the very act of eating was physically unbearable. ‘If she forced herself to eat, her body suffered extremely, her digestion would not function, and the food had to come out with an effort by the way it had gone in.’ In other words, she was forcing herself to vomit, which she did by swallowing branches of fennel or other bitter herbs. Despite her frailty, she remained physically energetic to the last and, indeed, seems to have been prone to bursts of hyperactivity. In Raymond’s words: ‘She did not know the meaning of fatigue.’

Neuropsychologist Paul Broks compares the modern diagnosis of anorexia nervosa to the medieval anorexia mirabilis, or holy anorexia, in terms of the struggle between the body and the soul at Aeon.  -via Strange Company
 
(Image credit: Didier Descouens)

When the first Star Wars movie came out, it was fairly clear that Chewbacca was included to keep the story from being totally human-centric and to show that there were other sentient species in that galaxy far, far away. But 43 years and a dozen movies later Chewbacca is a beloved character fans care about and want to make sense of. So you may as well learn more about him. -via Geeks Are Sexy

A society of people now called the Cucuteni-Trypillians lived in Eastern Europe five to eight thousand years ago. Evidence of their huge Neolithic settlements was only uncovered in the late 19th century. We know very little about them, as they left no evidence of a written language (and history is written by those who write), but their artifacts indicate they were quite civilized. Another barrier to learning about them was their habit of completely burning down their cities every few decades.

To intentionally torch an entire settlement, huge amounts of whatever they were using for fuel would have been required, as well as a highly organised community effort. There have been some experiments to try to replicate the results of these ancient settlement burnings, but according to the research, “no modern experiment has yet managed to successfully reproduce the conditions that would leave behind the type of evidence that is found in these burned Neolithic sites, had the structures burned under normal conditions.”

Termites, maybe? Or possibly disease? The burnings could have had a cultural importance, or could have been just a general urban renewal project. Read some of what we do know about the Cucuteni-Trypillians at Messy Nessy Chic.

(Image credit: Kenny Arne Lang Antonsen)