Jason at mental_floss has taken advantage of The New York Times archives to determine when they first mentioned certain subjects. Some of the entries seem strange from the vantage point of many years later, like the first mention of Microsoft in 1981:

Instead of having to type detailed instructions on a keyboard, using a special language, in a few years users will be able to communicate with computers more like they do with fellow human beings. Computers might develop the ability to understand the particular nuances and style of their owners. “They will have as much stored knowledge of what you know, what you’ve said, what you’ve done than any friend would have the patience to learn,” predicts William H. Gates, president of Microsoft, a Bellevue, Wash., company that has designed software for many personal computer manufacturers, including I.B.M.

Other “first mentions” include The Simpsons and Barack Obama. Link

Simon Waldman found a 1938 issue of Homes and Gardens magazine, containing an article called "Hitler’s Mountain Home", about the dictator’s private retreat. He scanned the pages and posted them (not without some controversy), along with readable-size text. Link -via Reddit

Brisbane rugby player Ben Czislowski found out his headaches were caused by a tooth (from opposing player Matt Austin) that had been lodged in his forehead since April first! The original wound was stitched up, but the embedded tooth was apparently missed at the time. Or not missed, on Austin’s part.

"I've got the tooth at home, sitting on the bedside table," he said. "If he (Austin) wants it back he can have it. I'm keeping it at the moment as proof that it actually happened."

Czislowski had been competing for four months with the extra tooth in his head. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/17/asia/AS-ODD-Australia-Embedded-Tooth.php -via Arbroath

Fun with Sodium acetate {wiki} in a supersaturated solution, which becomes exothermic (releases heat) when it crystallizes. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Dark Roasted Blend

Pan-kun took his dog James for a ride on the local, from the Japanese TV show Shimura Zoo. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Japan Probe

Stardoll is an online paperdoll site featuring celebrity dolls you can dress up. I dressed up Johnny Depp, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Dennis Rodman (who I believe should be taller). You can also design your own doll. Link -via Ursi’s Blog

A baby black panther at the Belgrade Zoo was given to a nursing Siberian Husky Rhodesian Ridgeback after her mother tried to kill her.

"The mother panther has killed all her cubs since 1999," zookeeper Dragan Jovanovic said.

"We believe she has been traumatized by the sound of NATO bombs" during airstrikes in the Serbian capital intended to stop former President Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999, he said.

Push play or go to YouTube. Link to story. -via Arbroath

Correction: The above video is of an earlier panther cub, possibly from the same mother. Videos of the latest cub adopted by a dog are here. (Thanks, Mark!)

I keep going back to this video, because there’s just something irresistably cute about this cat enjoying corn on the cob. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Cynical-C

The New York Times has an infographic on the wealthiest Americans in history. The fortune of each is adjusted for inflation into 2007 dollars. The rankings are based on wealth as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product. Only two are alive today, and although many were born relatively rich, only one made the list soley by inherited wealth. Link -via Reddit

A phenomenal exhibition of strength, flexibility, and balance. These performances were recorded during the 2006 world championships of Sports Acrobatics in Portugal. The music is from Cirque du Soleil. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Metafilter

Why fly south when you can hitch a ride? Push play or go to YouTube. -via Arbroath

This enormous graph plots every NBA player who played between 1979 and 2007 by their stats. The Y-axis shows points per game, and the X-axis ranks the total of other stats. You can zoom in, although it may be a slow load. I looked at the top right corner and zoomed in on, no surprise, M. Jordan. Link to graph. Link to a detailed explanation. -via The Presurfer and Metafilter

Subtitled “The story behind the face on the bottle,” this article at Modern Drunkard Magazine has the stories behind Johnny Walker’s striding man, the Captain Morgan pirate, the Bacardi bat, and more. Link -via Dump Trumpet

This Indian commercial takes a grim subject (the plight of widows) and turns it on its ear. The result is surprisingly funny. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Ectoplasmosis

American stuntman Robert McDonald built a Viking ship from 15 million recycled popsicle sticks! The ship had a test run today on Netherlands' IJsselmeer lake. McDonald hopes to take the 50-foot ship across the Atlantic. Link -via Fark