I always enjoyed roller skating, but I gave it up for good about four years ago (to the relief of my embarrassed children). I had borrowed my oldest daughter's skates, which were built for stunts and have no brakes. That won't happen again. I just found out that roller skating goes back about 300 years:
...the devices never really took off until London inventor Joseph Merlin created a more refined version that comprised of boots with metal wheels on them. He used them to crash a party in a grand display by skating into the crowd while playing the violin. He almost immediately crashed into a wall-length mirror, which brought him even more attention…although likely not what he was looking for.
Not to mention seven years bad luck! Read the events that make up the history of roller skating at Rue the Day. Link
The perfect Halloween entree, composed of meatloaf, noodles, and olive eyes. Complete directions with meatloaf recipe can be found at Gather and Nest. http://gatherandnest.com/gather-and-nest/2848 -via TYWKIWDBI
In the Roaring Twenties, Lillian La France made a living as a stunt rider in the Motordrome circuit, performing in cars and on motorcycles for crowds around the U.S.
In 1894, Agnes was the second of nine girls born into honest-livin’, hard-workin’ Catholic family standards. She christened herself Lillian LaFrance and quickly shook the dust of her Kansas hometown from her boots sometime around 1916, and roared off to create the life she had always dreamt of, carving it raw as she went along. She began Motordrome riding in 1924, and left a blurry, yet brilliant legacy behind that still haunts many who are taken by the images of her incredible spirit staring back through squinty eyes in a copy of a copy of old grainy photos. Incredible.
See pictures of this amazing woman at The Selvedge Yard. Link -via Nag on the Lake
The Tumblr blog Muslims Wearing Things was launched as a reaction to former NPR analyst Juan Willams saying he gets nervous when he sees people in Muslim garb on planes. Looking through the pictures of the things Muslims wear, I was reminded of a neat bit of casting I knew about but had forgotten.
Prince Abdullah (now King Abdullah II) of Jordan, wearing a Starfleet uniform in a 1996 episode of Star Trek: Voyager.
It's time for another edition of Name That Weird Invention! -this time with a decidedly Halloween theme. Steven M. Johnson comes up with all sorts of wacky inventions in his weekly Museum of Possibilities posts. Can you come up with a name for this one? The commenter suggesting the funniest and wittiest name win a free T-shirt from the NeatoShop.
Contest rules: one entry per comment, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Please make a selection of the T-shirt you want (may we suggest the Science T-shirt, Funny T-shirt, and Artist-designed T-shirt categories?) alongside your entry. If you don't select a shirt, then you forfeit the prize. Good luck!
Update: Congratulations to our winners! T-shirts from the NeatoShop go to Barking Bud, who called it a Mortalcycle, and John P, who came up with the name Moto-Crossbones by Bone-Daddy Bikes (which comes in "his and hearse models"). Honorable mentions: Elizabeth (Bone Chopper), Hannah (Tyred of Life), Saudia (Nutcracker), Heather B (Dirt Nap Bike), deathbyawesomeness (diecycle), Sasha (BMXoskelton), and ladybuggs (The Grim Chopper).
Here's a bit of American history we're all familiar with... but know almost nothing about. The BRI wants to change that, because we don't want witch trials -or with hunts- in our era. After all, someone just might decide that reading in the bathroom is a sign of demonic possession.
(Image credit: Flickr user Lexie Rydberg)
BACKGROUND The trouble at Salem, Massachusetts, began with two young girls acting oddly. It explodes into one of the strangest cases of mass hysteria in American history. In the six-month period between March and September 1692, 27 people were convicted on witchcraft changes; 20 were executed, and more than 100 people were in prison awaiting trial.
CHILD'S PLAY
In March 1692, nine-year-old Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams, 12, were experimenting with a fortune-telling trick they'd learned from Tituba, the Parris family's West Indian slave. To find out what kind of men they'd marry when they grew up, they put an egg white in a glass... and then studied the shape it made in the glass.
But instead of glimpsing their future husbands, the girls saw an image that appeared to be "in the likeness of a coffin." The apparition shocked them... and over the next few days they exhibited behavior that witnesses described as "foolish, ridiculous speeches," "odd postures," "distempers," and "fits."
Reverend Samuel Parris was startled by his daughter's condition and took her to see William Griggs, the family doctor. Griggs couldn't find out what was wrong with the girl, but he suspected the problem had supernatural origins. He told Rev Parris that he thought the girl had fallen victim to "the Evil Hand" -witchcraft.
The family tried to keep Betty's condition a secret, but rumors began spreading almost immediately -and within two months at least eight other girls began exhibiting similar forms of bizarre behavior.
THE PARANOIA GROWS
The citizens of Salem Village demanded that the authorities take action. The local officials subjected the young girls to intense questioning, and soon the girls began naming names. The first three women they accused of witchcraft were Tituba and two other women from Salem Village, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
The three women were arrested and held for questioning. A few weeks later two more suspects, Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse, were arrested on similar charges. And at the end of April a sixth person -the Reverend George Burroughs, a minister that Abigail Williams identified as the leader of the witches- was arrested and imprisoned. The girls continued to name names. By the middle of May, more than 100 people had been arrested for witchcraft.
THE TRIALS
On May 14, 1692, the newly appointed governor, Sir William Phips, arrived from England. He immediately set up a special court, the Court of Oyer and Terminer, to hear the witchcraft trials that were clogging the colonial legal system.
* The first case heard was that against Bridget Bishop. She was quickly found guilty of witchcraft, sentenced to death, and hung on June 10.
* On June 19 the court met a second time, and in a single day heard the cases of five accused women, found them all guilty, and sentenced them to death. They were hung on July 19.
* On August 5 the court heard six more cases, and sentenced all six women to death. One woman, Elizabeth Proctor, was spared because she was pregnant- and the authorities did not want to kill an innocent life along with a guilty one. The remaining five women were executed on August 19.
* Six more people were sentenced to death in early September. (Only four were executed: one person was reprieved, and another woman managed to escape from prison with the help of friends.) The remaining sentences were carried out on September 22.
*Two days later, the trials claimed their last victim when Giles Cory, an accused wizard, was executed by "pressing" (he was slowly crushed to death under heavy weights) after he refused to enter a plea.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
By now the hysteria surrounding the witch trials was at its peak: 19 accused "witches" had been hung, about 50 had "confessed" in exchange for lenient treatment, more than 100 people accused of witchcraft were under arrest and awaiting trial -and another 200 people had been accused of witchcraft but had not yet been arrested. Despite all this, the afflicted girls were still exhibiting bizarre behavior. But public opinion began to turn against the trials. Community leaders began to publicly question the methods that the courts used to convict suspected witches. The accused were denied access to defense counsel, and were tried in chains before jurors who had been chosen from church membership lists.
The integrity of the girls then came into question. Some of the adults even charged that they were faking their illnesses and accusing innocent people for the fun of it. One colonist even testified later that one of the bewitched girls had bragged to him that "she did it for sport."
As the number of accused persons grew into the hundreds, fears of falling victim to witchcraft were replaced by an even greater fear: that of being falsely accused of witchcraft. The growing opposition to the proceedings came from all segments of society: common people, ministers -even from the court itself.
THE AFTERMATH
Once the tide had turned against the Salem witchcraft trials, many of the participants themselves began having second thoughts. Many of the jurors admitted their errors, witnesses recanted their testimony, and one judge on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Samuel Sewall, publicly admitted his error on the steps of the Old South Church in 1697. The Massachusetts legislature made amends as well: in 1711 it reversed all of the convictions issued by the Court of Oyer and Terminer (and did it a second time in 1957), and it made financial restitution to the relatives of the executed, "the whole amount unto five hundred seventy eight pounds and twelve shillings."
This special edition book covers the three "lost" Bathroom Readers - Uncle John's 5th, 6th and 7th book all in one. The huge (and hugely entertaining) volume covers neat stories like the Strange Fate of the Dodo Bird, the Secrets of Mona Lisa, and more ...
If a relaxing week at the beach is boring after all these years, there are ways to have the trip that takes the idea of "vacation" to an extreme you'll never forget! How about a naked vacation? Or one centered around ghosts, or mermaids, or even a vacation in a war zone? They can be arranged, as travel agencies cater to those with an offbeat sense of adventure. There are even vacations to the moon!
Space Adventures provides the opportunity for you to blast off in a Soyuz spacecraft for a circumlunar mission. During the seven-day space flight, which reaches top speeds of 17,000 mph, you'll see stars, the illuminated far side of the moon, and the Earth from 250,000 miles away. Candidates must train for four months alongside Russian cosmonauts at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Two seats are available for $100 million each.
Gulpiyuri beach is near Llanes in Spain. It's a stunning place to build memories, as pictures don't do it justice. And there's one thing very different about it.
Gulpiyuri’s name isn’t its only bizarre facet: this beach is found completely inland, in a gorgeous little cove which looks like something out of a fantasy. I kept expecting to see Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields rolling around on the sand, making out. The Cantabrian Sea bored through the earth to create this sandy spot, and though you can’t see the ocean, its waves to lap the shore just like any beach — it’s odd, like a magical wave pool.
Mechanical typewriters go back almost 200 years, or even longer depending on how you define "typewriter". In the early days, the design was not standardized, and many configurations were tried out. Letters were chosen on a slider in one style, on a disc in another. Another configuration was the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball (featured previously). Eventually, manufacturers settled on the QWERTY keyboard layout that we still use today, even though typewriters are rarely used anymore. See a variety of these early machines at Dark Roasted Blend. Link
In case you were busy when the link appeared, here's another chance to try out Neato-Puzzle #3!
Steven Johnson gave us the Name That Weird Invention! contest. Congratulations to winner NathanBBlu, who named the invention "Stalaglites," and explained why. And also to winner lolamouse, who came up with "Light in the Loafers" (used to tell interested observers which way you go). Both win t-shirts from the NeatoShop!
Join us also at Facebook and Twitter for more contests, giveaways, discussions, and extra links. And look for lots more Halloween goodies in the coming week!
Some communities need residents. Some need jobs. Some need development. In order to get those things, a few communities will give you free land! These small communities want you to build a house and make yourself at home.
Several small cities in rural Kansas will give you a land lot if you agree to fashion housing of at least 1,000 square feet on it. Mobile homes are welcome, and we'll be sure to wave as yours flies by in the next tornado. If one lot isn't large enough and you'd like to garden, the city of Marquette, Kansas would be pleased as punch to just give you a second lot adjacent to the first, also for free, says its website. These are developed lots, by the way -- they already have water, sewer and electricity.
There are opportunities in Nebraska, Iowa, Maine, and Michigan as well. Link-Thanks, Steven Johnson!
Video games are great fun, until one day you run smack-dab into the natural order of things. Susanne Wohlfahrt and Marcus Blättermann created this during a four-day animation workshop. -via The Daily What
Theodore Gray (featuredpreviously at Neatorama) teaches us how stunt men can go around in flames. By setting himself on fire. On video.
There are a few perks to my job as a mad scientist, and one of them, as I recently learned, is being able to tell my colleagues that I can’t attend their terribly important meeting because I’m going to set my hand on fire. In the movies, people on fire stumble out of burning buildings all the time. If you look closely, however, you’ll notice that they are almost always fully dressed, and that they tend to keep moving. These are two important factors that make the stunt much easier.
Warning: do not try this at home. http://www.popsci.com/node/49107/?cmpid=enews102110 -via the Presurfer
Flintstones Vitamins continue to be popular, even though both the children who take them today and most of their parents are too young to remember when the television show that inspired them was on in prime time.
Perhaps some of the explanation for the Flintstone Vitamins continued success is in their nostalgia for the generations of children who grew up with them — and who are now parents themselves. There’s even a Facebook group for those who ate the vitamins as a kid. And then there’s that jingle — “Ten million strong and growing!” — which, incidentally, was composed by Martin O’Donnell, the same guy who composed the music for the intensely popular Halo video game series.
Mental_floss takes a look at how the vitamins came about and how they've changed over the years -including the saga of the Betty Rubble vitamin. Link
