It started with a bit of a brag by Saguaro National Park in Arizona as they posted the picture above at Instagram with the caption "Ummm, what?! Did you know @saguaronationalpark has the best sunsets in the world?" It's certainly a lovely sunset, but in response, Joshua Tree National Park had to post their sunset.
And a battle was born. Other national parks got involved, and then visitors joined in to show off their best pictures of national park sunsets.
You can see the pictures, which are still coming in, with the hashtag #parksunsetwars. -via Nag on the Lake
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Hero climbs up outside of Paris building to save child dangling from balcony. This guy Peter Parker as in Spiderman! Humanity still exists.
— ᵈᵉʷᵃ ᵏˡᵃˢᶤᵏ ᵃˡᵉˣᵃᶰᵈᵉʳ (@Dewa_Klasik) May 28, 2018
Mamoudou Gassama (22 years old from Mali) scaled 4 storeys in 30 seconds to save child dangling. Good job brother, wakanda forever! pic.twitter.com/jJavpXDAGu
On the fifth floor of an apartment building on the outskirts of Paris, a 4-year-old boy had fallen from the balcony railing, and was hanging on by his hands. People on the street heard him crying and 22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama instantly sprang into action. He didn't even pause to put his Spider-Man costume on, but climbed all four floors in 30 seconds to lift the child to safety.
"I just climbed up and thank God, God helped me. The more I climbed the more I had the courage to climb up higher, that's it," he added.
He said that the boy was crying when he hauled him to safety and had also suffered an injured foot.
Firefighters arrived to find the child had already been rescued.
"Luckily, there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get the child," a spokesperson said.
French President Emmanuel Macron later met with Gassama, an undocumented immigrant from Mali, and said he would be made a naturalized French citizen. -via reddit
The 442nd Infantry Regiment was formed in 1943, and in a little more than two years became the most decorated unit in US history. During World War II, about 14,000 men served in the regiment and earned 9,486 Purple Hearts, 21 Medals of Honor, and numerous other medals and citations. Yet the 442nd was only formed after two years of struggle, because the US military didn't want soldiers of Japanese ancestry in their ranks.
In the months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans from the West Coast and Arizona were interned under Executive Order 9066; about two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Americans of Japanese ancestry were also reclassified as “enemy aliens” and were no longer allowed to join the military. Despite the fact that Japanese-Americans had served in the military for decades, many already-enlisted troops were discharged from service. The government even seized items like cameras or radios from Japanese-Americans, in case they might use them to spy.
The ousted troops and other young Nisei men wanted to help the war effort, and started from the bottom to work their way up into military service. Mental Floss has the story of how they did that, and the historic feats of bravery the 442nd performed in Europe once they were allowed to fight.
The Women's Army Corps was founded in 1942 to fill non-combat positions in order to free up men to go to the front lines in World War II. It soon became clear that the brass preparing for women soldiers did not understand women. For example, they stockpiled smelling salts for those who fainted during vaccinations, which was unnecessary, but fed the new recruits a standard army ration of nearly 4,000 calories a day. That led to the peculiar condition of women gaining weight during basic training, and the harassment from male soldiers that followed. It took a while for real change, so the WACs took it upon themselves to correct the menu.
The master menu had been written for men: Women found it heavy, fatty, and overly sweet. To counteract this, women mess officers bartered with the men’s barracks next door to swap out undesirables for things women wanted to eat. Pastry, lard, and syrup, for instance, might be swapped out for fresh fruit and vegetables. “For the first years of the war, adjustment was attempted on a local level,” writes Treadwell, “with the WAC mess sergeant ordinarily adept at swapping mayonnaise for salad oil, potatoes for lettuce, and large quantities of pork for small steaks.”
There were other hiccups, such as women wrestling with equipment designed for the average sized man and the unavailability of hair stylists to help women conform to uniform rules. Read about the rough beginning of the Women's Army Corps at Atlas Obscura.
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was founded as a secret nuclear research facility for the Manhattan Project. My mother's family lived in East Tennessee already, and my grandfather got a job as a day laborer in Oak Ridge. He didn't ask questions, because people who asked a lot of questions didn't last long there. -via Digg
If you're interested in the history of Oak Ridge, you might want to read the story of John Hendrix, a mystic from East Tennessee who died in 1915. The story is not quite as believable as the video above, but it is interesting.
A young unknown writer named Joanne Rowling got a book deal in 1997 that started a phenomenon. When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published, Rowling already had the entire universe set and a grand arc of plots for all the books ready. That meant serious documentation, albeit in cursive handwriting. Harry Potter fans will enjoy a look into the mind of JK Rowling as she was plotting out the adventures of the young wizard over twenty years ago. A collection at Flashbak includes her notes, charts, synopsis, and more from the days of constructing the stories which eventually spanned seven books and eight films. -Thanks WTM!
In one of the goofiest Simon's Cat videos yet, the cat encounters a crow. Crows are smart, and this one gets a real kick out of tormenting the cat for laughs. The cat isn't going to take that lying down. There's a bit of back and forth to determine who will have the last laugh. -via Tastefully Offensive
Several 19th century European monarchs married young women who were renowned for their beauty. As they took their place as wives of world leaders, they were all aware of the impression they made upon the public and worked hard to keep up appearances. Empress Eugénie, wife of Napolean III, wasn't at all vain, but was mindful that her choice of dress influenced an entire fashion industry. Empress Elisabeth, wife of Franz Josef, on the other hand, set aside an entire day to wash her hair, and spent three hours daily having it dressed. It wasn't wasted time, though, as she took lessons while her hair was tended to. Princess Alexandra of Denmark (pictured), who became the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of Edward VII, made the deepest impression of all on her subjects.
Princess Alexandra’s effect on fashion was so profound women even copied what some people might have considered to be a drawback. It was her limp. She acquired it in 1867 after suffering an illness that “threatened to contract her leg and make her a cripple.”[8] Thus, whenever she appeared in public she used a walking stick and exhibited a slight limp. Her infirmity was soon copied by “distinguished people, and the ‘Alexandra limp’ was adopted by various members of fashionable society!”[9]
Although fashion conscious women might have copied the Princess’s limp, perhaps, the most prized beauty secret of the Princess Alexandra was her goodness.
Alexandra’s most lasting legacy was the choker necklace, which she used to cover a scar. A Google image search shows that she wore jewelry to cover her neck the rest of her life. Read about all three women and their beauty regimens at Geri Walton's blog. -via Strange Company
The format of a nature documentary works pretty well with the wildest species in the world -the human. In a video from Viva Dirt League, the goal is made perfectly clear with narration by a David Attenborough soundalike. However, not all mating rituals are successful, especially when the participants are inexperienced and awkward. The survival of the species depends on whether they learn from their mistakes. -via Laughing Squid
German paraglider Ewa Wisnierska set a world record in 2007, but not because she was trying to. She was practicing in Australia for a competition when an updraft swept her aloft.
But this one was a bit stronger than usual, and before she knew it, Winsnierska was rising at a rate of 65 feet per second. She soon passed out from lack of oxygen, and when she woke up half an hour later, she was six miles above the Earth. That's cruising altitude for airplanes.
Then she heard thunder.
Wisnierska rode the storm for about an hour, being hit by huge hailstones. When she finally landed, she was 40 miles from her starting point. She suffered some frostbite, but was otherwise okay. Her path was traced by a global positioning beacon that indicated she flew as high as 32,000 feet. Her story is one of 5 People Who Straight Up Survived The Unsurvivable at Cracked.
Genesis tour manager Regis Boff recalls a stage stunt from the mid-70s that will remind you of something out of Spinal Tap. It no doubt contributed to the inspiration behind the film. Here's what was supposed to happen:
A standard early-to-mid-70s Genesis show finished with Peter Gabriel dressed in his “Magog” outfit: a long velvet black cape and a giant triangular headpiece. Towards the climax of the show, Peter would throw off his hat and cape to reveal himself in a silver jumpsuit. We made him momentarily invisible by detonating controlled explosions that came from metal pods at the front of the stage. The audience was blinded and dazed so it made for an excellent finish. We filled these canisters with a martini of flash and gunpowder that would be criminally outlawed today, whereas back then it was quietly banned. We never told anyone we were going to do it. One of our roadies filled them a couple of hours before the show and set them off just at the right moment.
Someone had the inspiration to “fly” Peter into the air while the audience was blinded (it was most likely Peter himself). He’d be hoisted fifteen feet into the air by nearly invisible thin metal wires and finish the song floating in a silver jumpsuit, as the curtain closed. End of show. Nice. He’d also be concealed by the smoke machines and the intense fog that bubbled up from stage hands dumping huge blocks of dry ice into buckets of water. If the prevailing winds permitted, this vapor would fill the entire stage.
What could possibly go wrong? Oh, so many things, most of them unforeseen. The story of how it all went horribly wrong one night "either in Cleveland or Berlin" is a comedy of errors that will paint an unforgettable picture in your mind. -via Nag on the Lake
(Image source: YouTube)
One thing we all know about dogs is that they're all good dogs. This episode of Scatterbrained from Mental Floss has a lot of neat stuff about dogs, starting with trivia. Then learn how bloodhounds work, how a breed gets into the American Kennel Club, the origins of the Puppy Bowl, and research on dogs' ability to smell human emotions. No, it's not everything there is to know about dogs, but the entire show is about dogs, so it's all about dogs.
You know when you get a press release to cover a Guinness world record attempt for tallest stack of waffles & expect it to be some big commercial thing & then it's just a guy's house? This is SO MUCH BETTER. Follow along, #Denver! Things might get weird! pic.twitter.com/xcxqZCMJZM
— Elizabeth Hernandez (@ehernandez) May 26, 2018
Today was a momentous day in Denver. Spencer McCullough and Cory Trimm invited all their friends and a few professionals to attempt the Guinness World Record for waffle stacking. Elizabeth Hernandez of the Denver Post was dispatched to cover the event. She is preparing a proper article for the Post, but first posted a Twitter thread as the event unfolded.
Land surveyor Dustin Hoaglin laughed when he heard about his services requested for a waffle record stack measurement but then he figured he had a bunch of fam in town for his son's graduation & decided it sounded GREAT to do this
— Elizabeth Hernandez (@ehernandez) May 26, 2018
The previous record was 51 centimeters. Guinness sent a 40-page document with their rules for waffle-stacking, including a long and precise definition of "waffle." Friends flew in from out of town, and total strangers joined the fun. Hernandez' enthusiasm grew as time went along, and you have to wonder how grim her other assignments are.
THE RECORD IS BROKEN THE RECORD IS BROKEN I REPEAT HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE, THIS IS THE TALLEST STACK OF WAFFLES EVER RECORDED *IN THE WORLD* (without official confirmation from Guinness but with official confirmation from a, uh, measuring tape)
— Elizabeth Hernandez (@ehernandez) May 26, 2018
The stack was 67 centimeters! You can witness the drama unfold in her Twitter thread.
-via Metafilter
Update: Here's a threadreader version if you prefer that to Twitter, and the Denver Post story has been published.
The expected dress of a proper women in antebellum America was hot, uncomfortable, and impractical. The preferred silhouette required a cinched waist, multiple petticoats, and a floor-length skirt. All that fabric was dangerous for a working woman, and even upper-class housewives had trouble maneuvering. Imagine climbing stairs with a lamp in one hand, a baby in the other arm, and trying not to trip over your skirt. That's where bloomers came in. But they were not invented for Amelia Bloomer -they were just named for her.
An editor of the Seneca County Courier had one idea: maybe women could avoid the discomfort and dangers of their attire by switching to “Turkish pantaloons and a skirt reaching a little below the knee.”
The editorial, written in February 1851 by a man who had previously opposed the women’s suffrage movement and the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, drew the attention of one feminist. Amelia Bloomer was herself an editor of the first women’s newspaper, The Lily. She used her paper to gently upbraid the Seneca County Courier writer for supporting dress reform, but not women’s rights.
At almost exactly the same time, Bloomer’s neighbor, suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, received a visit from her cousin, Elizabeth Smith Miller—who was wearing the very outfit Bloomer had just been discussing in the press. Alternately called “Turkish trousers” or “pantaloons,” the outfit combined knee-length skirts with loose pants. Stanton exclaimed over the style and made herself up in the same way. Bloomer wasn’t far behind, feeling that it was her duty to do so, as she’d engaged in the question of women’s dress in the media, and announced her decision to her readers in the April 1851 edition of The Lily.
The practical bloomer outfit became a sensation, but didn't last long. Amelia Bloomer's suspicion that they were a distraction from more important battles was precient. Read about the rise and fall of bloomers at Smithsonian. -via Strange Company
KLAS-TV in Las Vegas was doing a live report from Lake Las Vegas. Photojournalist Chris Benka was walking along the dock, following the reporter's boat, and wasn't watching his feet. Luckily, the water wasn't all that deep. The camera is okay! Oh, yeah, he's okay, too. In fact, he kept on rolling that live footage. -via Digg
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