Christine Sismondo, author of the new book America Walks into a Bar, explains how the local tavern contributed mightily to what America is today. In colonial times, it was a place for people to discuss anything as equals.

In taverns people could mix together: you see men drinking alongside the people they work for. Early laws fixed the price that tavern-keepers could charge for a drink, so they couldn’t cater to wealthy patrons. And once you add alcohol in there, it changes the way everyone relates to each other. You end up with accelerated relationships—and occasionally cantankerous ones. People become more willing to go out and raise hell over things that they might have let go when sober.

Labor and civil rights movements started or spread in taverns, which was one reason the powers-that-be wanted to shut them down at various times in history.

Laws shutting taverns on Sunday in the 1850s are the worst example, because they targeted immigrants. Taverns were the only recreational space they had access to and Sunday was the only day they had off. But city governments, especially in Chicago, wanted to stifle the machine politics of the immigrant taverns. During Prohibition, the chasm between working-class and respectable drinking places was even clearer—the law wasn’t enforced equally.

Get the rest of the story at Smithsonian. Link

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YouTube member slamacow shows us what 8-bit video game characters do when you're not busy making them commit violence upon each other. Now that you know, you might see them in your dreams. -via The Daily What Geek

The art group Skrekkogle took the graphic of dancing cards that you see when you win computer solitaire and rendered built it. A thousand card faces were printed and laminated onto black foam, then positioned as you see here. Link -via The Daily What Geek

A tiny black and white kitten was found at a dump in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and taken to the local SPCA shelter. He had been dropped there by a red-tailed hawk!

"He was dropped by the hawk from not a great height, so he didn't suffer any broken bones. He has a slightly injured foot, which has healed, and he had some talon punctures in his side, which has now been treated by a vet and have healed also," shelter manager Leon Davis said.

He said that the dump keeps birds of prey around to scare pigeons away and stop them from roosting on neighbourhood homes.

Shelter staff named the kitten Hawk, and he will be adopted out when fully recovered. The red-tailed hawks are employed by the dump to keep pigeons away. Link (with video) -via Arbroath

This five-foot diameter mattress is from Korean designers Lily Suh and Zoono of i3lab. The image of the moon is by astrophotographer Chin Wei Loon. There's also a glow-in-the-dark pillow to go with it. Link -via Laughing Squid

One of the authors at mental_floss asked managing editor Jason English a question he couldn't answer, so he asked the readers.

“Is it ever explained why Marty hangs out with Doc Brown? He’s just in Doc’s house to start the movie and it’s just implied that they’re good friends.”

— Brett Savage

Among the many comments at that post was one from Bob Gale {wiki}, one of the co-writers of the three Back to the Future movies, who helped shape the history of all the characters. His explanation got its own post today. Link

Oh, now this is a great bunch of photographs, all a bit reminiscent of the opening shot in the Disney movie The Lion King. Great beasts in silhouette against a sunrise (or sunset, or in one case, the moon) would make great computer wallpaper. See a dozen of these at Environmental Graffiti. Link

(Image credit: Flickr user Xavi Talleda)

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Shawn spent an entire year getting ready to throw a surprise wedding for Colleen, and make everything exactly the way she wanted it to be. No detail was overlooked. Shawn even brought her bedroom furniture to the wedding venue so Colleen could get dressed in familiar surroundings. It all came together this past Saturday. Have someone been chopping onions in here? -via Cynical-C

This photograph of a meteor burning up in our atmosphere was taken by astronaut Ron Garan from the International Space Station. Dr. Phil Plait brings us the picture and a little math to explain how many more meteors you could see from the ISS than from the planet's surface, which leads to the question of meteors hitting the ISS. What are the odds? Find out at Bad Astronomy Blog. Link

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Being a tortoise, he couldn't make a quick getaway, so the barbecue was eventually recovered by its rightful owners. -via Arbroath

John Littleboy designed four decks of beautiful playing cards. One side is, of course, all the same, while on the other side, each card has a different illustration. Placed sequentially, they tell a story. The decks are named Bag of Bones (pictured), Mermaid Queen, Kitten Club, and Pack of Dogs. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Yes, we know that "lol" usually means something is supposed to be funny, and we assume that you are not, in fact, laughing out loud. Nothing new. Still, I found the concept chosen for illustrating this Twaggie to be nonsensically humorous. Link

This graphic makes you think, but how true is it? When I watch TV, it's usually crime shows, in which successful, independent woman are over-represented as cops, lawyers, scientists, politicians, and criminals. Maybe it all depends on the shows you choose to watch. Link -via @John Farrier

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The title of this video at YouTube is "Machine delivered to SA without instructions," but there is no additional information. Could they possibly be out of fuel? What other explanation could there be? (warning: "Surfer Bird") -via the Presurfer

I've always advocated that you don't have to be intelligent to have rights, but this idea from Defective Yeti has wondrous, if perverse, appeal. What if you had to prove that you had a grasp of basic grammar before you could log on to the internet? You'll find a rotation of these at the site, with working buttons that will determine whether you are worthy. Link -via Rue The Day!