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Month: October 2021

By The Generalist Posted on October 15, 2021January 25, 2023

The other binary

In binary, 010 is equal to 2. But what if it were 3 instead?

Categories: Computer science
By The Generalist Posted on October 14, 2021October 12, 2021

Calypso queen

From 1939 until 1977, the winner of the annual Trinidad calypso competition was crowned the Calypso King. In 1978 Calypso Rose won the title, so they had to change the name.

Categories: 20th century history, Music, North & Central America, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on October 13, 2021October 11, 2021

Statue graveyards

When politicians’ historical crimes catch up with them, what happens to their statues?

Categories: 20th century history, Art, East Asia, Europe, North & Central Asia, Politics & law
By The Generalist Posted on October 12, 2021January 25, 2023

The linguistics of speaking in tongues

Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, occurs sometimes in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian gatherings. It is supposed to be the language of God – but what does it say?

Categories: Language, Religion & belief
By The Generalist Posted on October 11, 2021October 9, 2021

The blob from the stars

The 1958 horror film The Blob was inspired by a real event in 1950: a close encounter between four police officers and a star jelly.

Categories: Animals, Film & television, Plants
Kim Jong-il
By The Generalist Posted on October 10, 2021January 25, 2023

Featured category: East Asia

The North Korean reality show about haircuts, the impressive moves of the smallest sumo wrestler in Japan, Hong Kong’s backwards-named street, and Mao Zedong’s epic war… against sparrows.

Categories: Featured category
McGonagall
By The Generalist Posted on October 9, 2021January 25, 2023

From the archives: The worst

The worst poet in history, the worst tank ever made, the worst performance by a chess master, and the worst smell.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on October 8, 2021October 6, 2021

Longest elevator fall

In 1945 an Air Force bomber crashed into the side of the Empire State Building. An elevator cab carrying Betty Lou Oliver fell 75 floors straight down; she, incredibly, survived.

Categories: 20th century history, North & Central America, Technology
By The Generalist Posted on October 7, 2021January 25, 2023

Space probe software bug

NASA lost contact with the space probe Deep Impact in 2013 because of a single software bug.

Categories: 21st century history, Astronomy, Computer science
By The Generalist Posted on October 6, 2021October 3, 2021

The last smallpox survivor

In October 1977, Ali Maow Maalin was the last person to contract naturally occurring smallpox. He died thirty six years later while coordinating a polio vaccination drive.

Categories: 20th century history, Africa, Health & medicine
By The Generalist Posted on October 5, 2021October 3, 2021

Texas mess

“Don’t mess with Texas” is an iconic expression of state pride, but it began as an anti-littering ad campaign.

Categories: 20th century history, North & Central America
By The Generalist Posted on October 4, 2021January 25, 2023

Animal helmets

The Vikings may not have worn horned helmets, but the ancient Greeks had helmets covered in boar tusks and the Dayak of Borneo had helmets covered in fish or pangolin scales.

Categories: Ancient history, Animals, Europe, Fashion & design, Military, Southeast Asia
Sopona
By The Generalist Posted on October 3, 2021January 25, 2023

Featured category: Health & medicine

Smallpox cultists, the half a billion neurons in your guts, androgen immunity, and the citric acid panic of 1976.

Categories: Featured category
Cristina Calderón
By The Generalist Posted on October 2, 2021January 25, 2023

From the archives: The life and death of languages

The ancestor of hundreds of languages, including English, Italian, Russian, Farsi, and Punjabi; the last speaker of Yahi; the last speaker of Yaghan; and nests to revive endangered languages.

Categories: From the archives
By The Generalist Posted on October 1, 2021September 30, 2021

Who was the real Betty Boop?

A 1932 lawsuit attempted to answer the question “who was the real Betty Boop?”

Categories: 20th century history, Film & television, Music, North & Central America, Politics & law

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