From the archives: Second place
The second-fastest animal, the second-greatest wall, the second disease eliminated by humans, and the second human in orbit.
Month: May 2021
Fatal television
An episode of the 1970s television series The Goodies killed a man. He died laughing.
The Church of One Tree
The Church of One Tree in Santa Rosa, California, was built in 1873 out of a single giant redwood tree.
Invisible art
The French artist Yves Klein sold empty space – an invisible “zone of immaterial pictorial sensibility.” Buyers paid in gold, half of which Klein would throw into the Seine River.
DNA lasso
In 2004 a new white blood cell defence mechanism was discovered: the cells extrude DNA threads like nets or lassos to trap and neutralise harmful bacteria.
Arecibo reply
In 1974 the Arecibo message was broadcast into space. In 2001 hoaxers made a reply “from aliens” in a field next to another observatory.
Featured category: Architecture
The hot dog stand at the centre of the Pentagon, a Japanese garden ziggurat, a town under Australia, and the building that housed 1% of a country.
From the archives: Film firsts
The first (accidental) 3D film, the surprising origin of the Wilhelm Scream, the first damsel in distress, and the first closed captions.
The houses have eyes
The houses in the Transylvanian city Sibiu are watching you.
Update 7
It has been 800 posts since I began this website, so it’s time for an overhaul, a redesign, and some more updates.
The universal catalogue
The Universal Decimal Classification aims to label all human knowledge, and it’s even more thorough than the Dewey Decimal system.
Religion at the poles
According to Jewish law, Shabbat begins at sundown. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. But what do you do if the sun does not set?
Death by immortality potion
Poisoned potions of immortality caused the death of up to seven Chinese emperors – the last less than three centuries ago.
Highest unclimbed mountain
It is illegal to climb Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan, so no-one has ever reached the top. It is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world.
For President: Convict No. 9653
Eugene Debs received more than 900,000 votes in the 1920 American presidential election – while in prison for sedition.
Rachmaninoff’s All by Myself
The Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff has a songwriter credit for the power ballad “All by Myself.”
The Generalist Academy 