It was a beautiful sunny day in Athens, Alabama, when Little Johnny wrote to Santa Claus asking for a trampoline. Santa, wanting to get ahead on his Christmas chores, immediately complied. Then after a minute decided the trampoline didn't look all that good in the front yard; the driveway would be better. Johnny, who is old enough to write a letter on his own and therefore too old to believe in Santa Claus, thanked his puzzled parents profusely.

This actually happened last Thursday, and the bizarre incident was captured on Brooke and Zachary Stagg's doorbell camera from across the street. There doesn't appear to be any heavy weather brewing, but it was a bit windy. The wind speed was measured at 39 miles per hour at the airport in nearby Huntsville. Despite the viral video, we don't know if there was any damage done to the roof or the trampoline, or whatever was in its path. We do know that you're supposed to anchor a trampoline to avoid just this sort of thing. -via Laughing Squid

Göbekli Tepe in Turkey is an archaeological site that has confounded scientists for years. It dates back 12,000 years, longer than any other permanent human settlement yet found, and contains carved symbolism that we are just beginning to interpret. Various "V" shapes inscribed at the site could be a solar calendar that indicates the people there kept up with 12 lunar cycles and 11 extra days for a 365-day year. The summer solstice is marked with a special V. This would put annual timekeeping thousands of years earlier than we previously thought. The residents of Göbekli Tepe were very aware of the precise changes in the sky, the sun, moon, and stars, over long periods of time at the very dawn of civilization. They even factored in the wobble of the earth's axis, and how that affects the appearance of constellations.  

Scientists suspect that the calendar may have been inspired by a swarm of comet fragments that hit the earth 13,000 years ago. The event ushered in a 1,200-year ice age. As earth emerged from that ice age, people began living in permanent communities. These events may also have inspired the development of agriculture, religion, and writing. Read about the solar calendar at Göbekli Tepe at EurekaAlert!  -via My Modern Met

(Image credit: Dr. Martin Sweatman)

For sale: a 10,000-square-foot mansion on the Hudson River in Manhattan. Built in 1902, the Gilded Age building has five stories, five bedrooms, seven baths, two kitchens, and a separate full basement apartment. The landmark is named River Mansion. I was excited to see a tour, but then... oh my eyes! The decor is so ugly! Each room seems to be more of an abomination than the previous one. Apparently it was used as an art project, with a couple of dozen modern designers taking on a room each. The architectural details are nice, but the cost of getting these rooms back to a sensible and maybe even somewhat period-accurate look would be considerable. The good news is that the price has dropped from the $24 million this guy mentions to just under $10 million. That's only $63K a month. You could rent out the rooms to a dozen or so desperate New Yorkers and make that back in no time. Or we can wait and watch the price drop again. -via Nag on the Lake 

On August 25, 1944, 80 years ago today, Paris was liberated from the Germans who had occupied France for four years. But the city could have seen a completely different end to the war. As Allied troops moved east across France, Hitler was driven into a frenzy, and declared he wanted to see Paris burned to the ground before it fell into Allied hands. What Hitler didn't know was that General Eisenhower had drawn plans to bypass the city as they drove the Germans to the east because the Allies were low on fuel. On August 19, the Allies plus Free French fighters from the liberated territory were only 150 miles from Paris, so the French Resistance suddenly rose up and revolted against their occupiers. The German Army was low on men, and the Resistance was low on ammunition, but like the Allied fuel supply, none of this information was shared with the enemy.

But one secret was. A German officer who was stalling on Hitler's orders to burn Paris made a calculated risk to bring Eisenhower and his troops into the city. Read the details of the last-ditch efforts of the French Resistance and what happened to keep Paris from being destroyed at Smithsonian.

(Image credit: Jack Downey, U.S. Office of War Information)

Today, we look at Abraham Lincoln as a heroic figure, usually ranked as the second best president ever, just behind FDR. But a big chunk of the nation hated him when he barely squeaked into the White House in the 1860 election, and seven states were so mad they decided to leave the US! While Lincoln's reputation was rehabilitated over time, other historical figures did not fare so well. Some of the most successful heroes of the past were eventually discovered to have been ruthless and cruel, opportunistic, or greedy, which can be an advantage in getting ahead. Yeah, no one is perfect, but those who left a really big mark on history are judged by the long-term consequences of their decisions. The static image for this video is of Christopher Columbus, who changed the world by "discovering" the Western Hemisphere. He isn't included in the six people this video tells us about, because we already know how his actions were judged over time, from "it depends on what side you were on" to "imperialism sucks, no matter who you are."

Science reacted to the Covid-19 pandemic in an amazingly rapid way, by harnessing the promising and already-existing technology of mRNA vaccines. The genetically-engineered vaccines work by teaching our immune systems to fight an enemy it has never encountered before. Now that we know it works, mRNA technology can be used for other deadly diseases, like lung cancer.   

Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common form of lung cancer, and a vaccine called BNT116 has gone into clinical trials for around 130 lung cancer patients in various stages of the disease in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and the US. The trial involves a massive number of injections over more than a year along with immunotherapy. The upside is that mRNA vaccines harness the body's own immune system to specifically target cancer cells without destroying healthy cells. Standard radiation and chemotherapy destroy both, leading to dangerous side effects. Another benefit to training the immune system is that cancer cells are less likely to ever come back. Read more on the new mRNA vaccine trials for lung cancer at the Guardian. -via Damn Interesting

(Image credit: National Cancer Institute)

You've heard that people in olden times drank wine all the time because their water wasn't safe. While the water supply wasn't quite as safe as what we drink now, people always drank water, but only when they couldn't afford beer. In Medieval Europe, beer, wine, and/or cider were always available. Hard liquor wasn't a thing, and the beer and wine weren't as strong as it is today, but that just meant you had to drink more of it. Beer was used to hire workers, feed them through the day, and to to pay them for their labor. It was used to hydrate, celebrate, and medicate. People gathered in drinking establishments according to the price of beer, which segregated them by social status. It was part of all life's stages, from weddings to childbirth to funerals, and children indulged, too. Alcohol was even used for church fundraisers! Yes, people sometimes got very drunk, but mostly it was a case of getting through a difficult life with a constant light buzz.

Fairy tales, myths and legends, epic adventures, and Christmas romances are all based on standard formulas, and get dressed up with details and movie stars for blockbuster films. The most original and fresh plots are based on true stories, because we all know truth is stranger than fiction. Not only does the plot differ, but if that story involves crime, we also get dramatic tension and a subversion of expectations. Okay, so to make a great movie, you start with an exciting true crime, something that no one wants to be involved with, but will find thrilling to watch on a screen. You condense the timeline, add interesting details, and cast talented actors in the roles. If the crime is too recent or you might get sued, just change the names and the setting. If it's not recent at all, you can go wild with fictionalizing it. In the right hands, it's a sure-fire formula for a great movie.

Den of Geek introduces us to twenty movies that were inspired by true crimes and became either critically acclaimed or big hits. They go back as far as 1931, but most are readily available to watch. They also vary in how fictionalized they are, and they adhere to no plot formula. They don't lend themselves to prequels or sequels. And you'll find a description of each movie, along with the true crime they were based on, plus a trailer for each.


 

The folks at It's a Southern Thing have a video in which discount stores compete on a cooking show. That sounds pretty random, but putting a personality on inanimate objects based on their reputation can be funny. It turns out this is an experiment, called a sketch cobbler. Viewers sent in random elements, they pulled a few out of a hat, and made a comedy sketch out of it. Can they incorporate all the elements and still make it funny? Yes, but they could have left the smaller details out. All they really needed was "discount stores" and "cooking show." Anyone who has shopped all all these stores will understand. We all know who the winner is; since we have a discount grocery store against two discount stores who sell a few food items on the side. And now you know the reason I keep a stash of quarters in my car; it's not for emergency car washes.

My mother used to say that life is like a roll of toilet paper- it goes faster the closer we get to the end. Anyone who has achieved some age can understand. It took forever for me to grow up, but it took much less time for my children to grow up, and then grandchildren grow up in the blink of an eye. Young people can't wait for Christmas, while older people can't believe it's Christmas again already. Why do we experience the passing of time so differently at different ages?

I've read that it's because of percentages. A five-year-old has spent 20% of his life in the last year, while a 50-year-old has only spent 2% of their life in the last year. But that's not the whole story. Dr. Betsy Holmberg explains that the child and adolescent brain works differently from the more mature brain, so their experience of time passing is different. She not only explains how that works, but also gives us some tips to make our lives move a little slower at Psychology Today. -via Real Clear Science

You know how it is to eat Grape-Nuts for breakfast. The first few bites are like eating rocks, then the cereal softens up a little bit in milk, and by the time you get the bottom of the bowl, it's just mush. But when you eat Grape-Nuts cereal mixed into ice cream, it stays at the medium-chewy consistency. Yes, Grape-Nuts ice cream used to be a thing, and the recipe goes almost as far back as the development of Grape-Nuts itself in 1897. You might think it was a scheme to add some fiber to a decadent dessert, but it was actually a substitute for more expensive cookie crumbs in an ice cream flavor called bisque. We would call that cookies-and-cream flavor today.

But you won't find Grape-Nuts ice cream at your local grocery store anymore, at least not in the US. However, it is really common in Jamaica, where they consider Grape-Nuts to be an ice cream ingredient instead of a breakfast cereal. Read the odd history of Grape-Nuts ice cream at Atlas Obscura. There's a recipe, too.

(Image credit: Kristen Taylor)

The Holy Grail is a term referring to the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper before his arrest, trial, and execution. The term is more familiar to most people now as a metaphor for anything important yet unobtainable, that if it were ever found would change everything. That we even have a term for the cup is a testament to its value as a religious relic. But far from being unobtainable, there are Holy Grails in around 200 cathedrals in Europe alone, with more in the Middle East and elsewhere.

According to the canonical Bible, Jesus did not own the cup. The room for the Passover feast was donated or rented from a Jerusalem resident, and the dishes would have been reused and replaced as needed. A medieval story says Joseph of Arimathea retrieved the cup, but contemporary accounts only mention him as taking responsibility for interring Jesus' body. In any case, interest in the grail only arose hundreds of years later, as Christianity spread through Europe. Recovering the grail was a big part of the Crusades, and Middle Eastern entrepreneurs were happy to help fulfill their quests for a price. Read about the medieval obsession with the Holy Grail and the many relics that are still venerated today at CNN. -via Strange Company

(Image credit: Johannes Adam Simon Oertel)

In the US, we have a presidential election every four years, plus elections for senators every six years and congressional elections every two years. The time between is spent campaigning, and there's nothing we can do about it. In the UK, they decide to have an election at random times for one reason or another, and a couple of weeks later, they vote. They don't even have political TV ads! And that's before even getting into the subject of campaign financing.

Laurence Brown grew up with the UK system, but has lived in the US for 16 years now. Having obtained his citizenship, this year will be his first vote in a presidential election. Therefore, without giving a hint as to his political leanings, he tries to explain the difference between the way elections work in the UK and in the US. The upshot is that US elections are exhausting, and UK elections are not. But you already knew that. There's a 90-second skippable ad at 1:55.

Star Trek, The Original Series had a memorable episode in 1967 titled "Space Seed" in which Ricardo Montalbán played Khan, a genetically-superior human from the 20th century. By the end of the episode, Khan, the villain, was exiled to planet Ceti Alpha V. The character was resurrected in the 1982 movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Khan proved so popular that he also was in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013, although that was set in an alternate universe, with Khan re-cast since Ricardo Montalbán died in 2009.  

But Star Trek fans are still drawn to the character. What happened to Khan during those years as an exile on Ceti Alpha V? Nicholas Meyer, who directed The Wrath of Khan, sets out to answer that question in an upcoming podcast series titled Ceti Alpha V. The podcast series will explain how Khan went from an exile on a healthy planet to a desperate and cutthroat survivalist before returning to seek revenge on Captain Kirk. The story has been in the works for years, and now Meyer says it's in the casting stage. Read what we know about the podcast and the story at Inverse.

Back in 1974, the magazine Saturday Review brought together twenty of the era's experts to predict what the world would be like 50 years into the future. Now that 2024 is here, we can see how those predictions stand up. Several notable thinkers saw that the world would have interconnected computers, a system that would allow us to watch TV, read books, keep up with the news, shop, pay bills, work remotely, and even make video calls. One assumed that we would print out the news to read like we would a newspaper. None mentioned the astonishing miniaturization of computers. Still, pretty good predictions. Several also predicted the use of alternative energy sources, including an electric vehicle that would walk on legs so that roads would not be necessary.

Neil Armstrong had walked on the moon only five years earlier. He predicted extensive travel to the lunar surface, with people working in factories there. Wernher von Braun envisioned space flight with lavish first class airline service, which wildly missed the devolution of airline travel. One visionary thought a woman might be a US president by 2024, while another said maybe by 2074. Read up on how the best and brightest of 1974 saw the future and how right or wrong they were at The New Stack. -via Kottke