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Month: July 2020

Tarasque
By The Generalist Posted on July 31, 2020July 29, 2020

The dragon’s ordure

The tarasque is a famous dragon of medieval French folklore. It burned its victims with fire, but the fire did not come from its mouth. Quite the opposite.

Categories: Arts & recreation, Europe, Literature, Places, Religion & belief
Trinity
By The Generalist Posted on July 30, 2020April 28, 2021

Pre-nuclear steel

If you want to build a Geiger counter you need to first find a shipwreck from before 1945.

Categories: 20th century history, History, Military, Physics & chemistry, Sciences, Technology
Juan Perón
By The Generalist Posted on July 29, 2020January 25, 2023

Hands of Perón

In 1987 the tomb of Argentinian president Juan Perón was broken into and his hands dismembered and stolen. A ransom note was received but never paid, and the hands were never seen again.

Categories: 20th century history, History, Places, Politics & law, South America
Dallol
By The Generalist Posted on July 28, 2020January 25, 2023

Extreme heat

The Danakil Depression in the Afar Triangle, Ethiopia, is the point where three tectonic plates diverge; has the highest average annual temperature on the planet; and Lucy, the Australopithecus fossil, was found there.

Categories: Africa, Earth science, Places, Sciences
Tu Youyou
By The Generalist Posted on July 27, 2020April 28, 2021

Secret war on malaria

As part of a secret government project begun in 1967, the Chinese scientist Tu Youyou discovered an ancient herbal remedy that would end up saving millions of lives.

Categories: 20th century history, East Asia, Health & medicine, History, Military, Places, Sciences
Equestrian
By The Generalist Posted on July 26, 2020April 21, 2021

Multi-hemisphere Olympics

The equestrian events of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, were held in Sweden.

Categories: Europe, Games & sport, Oceania, Places
By The Generalist Posted on July 25, 2020July 24, 2020

Sci-fi patents

In 1953 the sci-fi author Hugo Gernsback proposed provisional patents for sci-fi writers’ hypothetical inventions. 42 years earlier, he had predicted radar, television, remote controls, solar power, synthetic cloth, and videophones.

Categories: Arts & recreation, Literature, Sciences, Technology
Ivan Mosjoukine
By The Generalist Posted on July 24, 2020April 17, 2021

Soviet montage

A hundred years ago Soviet filmmakers such as Lev Kuleshov and Sergei Eisenstein demonstrated how you could create meaning purely through film editing.

Categories: Arts & recreation, Film & television
Guarana
By The Generalist Posted on July 23, 2020January 25, 2023

Guarana and bullet ants

What do bullet ants and guarana have in common? The Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil.

Categories: Animals, Food & agriculture, Places, Plants, Sciences, South America
Scrabble
By The Generalist Posted on July 22, 2020January 25, 2023

Comic Scrabble

The French comic publishing house L’Association made a game that plays like Scrabble – except that it uses comic panels instead of letters.

Categories: Arts & recreation, Games & sport, Literature
Cat in Istanbul
By The Generalist Posted on July 21, 2020April 17, 2021

Cats of Islam

Cats hold a special place in Islam, reaching back as far as Muhammad’s own love of the animals.

Categories: Animals, Religion & belief, Sciences
Knockout mice
By The Generalist Posted on July 20, 2020April 17, 2021

Knockout mice

How do you work out the function of a specific gene? Knock them out one by one and see what happens.

Categories: Animals, Health & medicine, Language, Sciences
Earth shadow
By The Generalist Posted on July 19, 2020April 17, 2021

Earth’s shadow

That band of deep blue in the sky opposite a sunrise or sunset? It’s the shadow of the planet.

Categories: Astronomy, Sciences
Acros Fukuoka
By The Generalist Posted on July 18, 2020April 28, 2021

City ziggurat garden

Fukuoka, Japan, is home to an iconic ziggurat-like building topped by a dozen roof garden steps.

Categories: Architecture, East Asia, Places, Plants, Sciences
Ghost light
By The Generalist Posted on July 17, 2020April 17, 2021

Ghost lights

On a theatre stage in the middle of the night, one light remains lit. It’s there to appease old ghosts… or prevent accidents that would make new ghosts.

Categories: Arts & recreation, Religion & belief, Theatre
Human letters
By The Generalist Posted on July 16, 2020January 25, 2023

Human letters

In 1909 two suffragettes mailed themselves to the the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Categories: 20th century history, Europe, History, Places, Politics & law

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