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Month: September 2021

By The Generalist Posted on September 30, 2021September 29, 2021

The Yale blackboard rebellion

In 1830, nearly half of the mathematics class at Yale was expelled for refusing to use a blackboard in their exams.

Categories: 19th century history, Education & philosophy, Mathematics & statistics, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on September 29, 2021January 25, 2023

Castaway rabbits and cattle

Rabbits and cattle were introduced to a remote island near Antarctica as food for shipwreck survivors; they bred there in isolation for more than a century.

Categories: 19th century history, 20th century history, Animals, Oceania
By The Generalist Posted on September 28, 2021September 27, 2021

Long Hindu time

One of the longest measurements of time appears in ancient Hindu scriptures: the mahā-kalpa, equal to 311.04 trillion years.

Categories: Religion & belief, South Asia, Weights & measures
By The Generalist Posted on September 27, 2021September 26, 2021

Siberian monstrators

When is a protest not a protest? In Russia, when it’s a performance art parody of a protest. But that still didn’t stop the Russian government from overreacting.

Categories: 21st century history, Art, Europe, North & Central Asia, Politics & law
Solveig Jacobsen
By The Generalist Posted on September 26, 2021January 25, 2023

Featured category: The poles

The first people born in Antarctica, the polar parka made from animal guts, the town without appendices, and a mysterious death at the South Pole.

Categories: Featured category
By The Generalist Posted on September 25, 2021January 25, 2023

From the archives: Science fiction patents

The intersections between sci-fi and real patents: tractor beams, transparent aluminium, mid-ocean tunnels, and the prolific predictions of Hugo Gernsback.

Categories: From the archives
Norwegian cow
By The Generalist Posted on September 24, 2021September 23, 2021

Cow magnets

If you’re a bovine veterinarian, one of the tools in your arsenal might be the cow magnet.

Categories: Animals, Health & medicine, Technology
By The Generalist Posted on September 23, 2021September 22, 2021

Da Vinci’s fractal trees

Leonardo da Vinci observed that tree branches together are always as thick as the trunk beneath them. This is true, and there are some good ideas why.

Categories: Art, Europe, Mathematics & statistics, Physics & chemistry, Plants
By The Generalist Posted on September 22, 2021January 25, 2023

Update 8

Today’s post was #900. So, as is my tradition, it’s time for some updates.

Categories: Updates
By The Generalist Posted on September 22, 2021January 25, 2023

The search engine of 1896

In 1896 Paul Otlet set up a bibliographic query service by mail: a 19th century search engine.

Categories: 19th century history, Education & philosophy, Europe
By The Generalist Posted on September 21, 2021September 19, 2021

Samoan constitutional crisis (Part 2)

The 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis came to a head with a face-off between the old prime minister who wouldn’t leave, the new prime minister who couldn’t start, the head of state, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, and the Speaker of the House. [2 of 2]

Categories: 21st century history, Oceania, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on September 20, 2021January 25, 2023

Samoan constitutional crisis (Part 1)

Samoa’s first female prime minister was elected this year despite the most dramatic and twist-filled constitutional crisis in the country’s history. [1 of 2]

Categories: 21st century history, Oceania, Politics & law
Lead
By The Generalist Posted on September 19, 2021January 25, 2023

Featured category: Physics & chemistry

The chemist who changed the planet’s atmosphere more than any other living thing in history; the physics of falling bullets; why two events can be both simultaneous and not simultaneous at the same time; and old people smell.

Categories: Featured category
Chartreuse
By The Generalist Posted on September 18, 2021January 25, 2023

From the archives: Drunk and disorderly

The green elixir of long life; Oliver Reed’s last day; Peter the Great’s All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters; and prime minister who got drunk and announced a snap election.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on September 17, 2021September 16, 2021

Sheep fruit

Behold the fabulous creatures of myth and legend! The dragon, the phoenix, the basilisk, the roc, the unicorn… and the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary?

Categories: Animals, Early modern history, Medieval history, North & Central Asia, Religion & belief
By The Generalist Posted on September 16, 2021September 16, 2021

Big remade

Naani is a 2004 Telugu remake of the Tom Hanks film Big. I gotta tell you, though… it gets weird.

Categories: 21st century history, Film & television, South Asia

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