Dude: Amazon Prime members get a $10 Amazon credit just for starting an Audible 3 month free trial

I've been meaning to try Amazon's audio book service, but the free trial was only for a month and I had no intention of paying for it after the month is over, so it barley seemed worthwhile. Now, though, they've upped the free trial to three months, and thrown in a $10 credit.

Note: This is only available for first-time Audible members.

During the trial, you’ll get one book credit per month to use on any of Audible’s 180,000 titles. Even if you cancel your trial later on (as I plan to do), those books are yours to keep. And if you do stay a member, you’ll be charged $15 per month for a single book credit. But hey, even if you have zero intention of becoming a paying member, or even using your three book credits, this is basically $10 for free.

Friday links

July 9 is Nikola Tesla's birthday: bio, Tesla coil music, Tesla vs Edison rap battle, infographic from The Oatmeal.

Why Did the Star Trek and Star Wars Universes Turn Out So Differently?

John T. Scopes, the defendant in the 1925 anti-evolution “monkey trial,” appeared on “To Tell the Truth” in 1960.

Ancient Minoan Culture Illustrated with Scantily-Clad Barbies, bonus 1961 video: When Barbie Met Ken.

An Archive of 3,000 Vintage Cookbooks.

Inside the Castle in the Middle of the Death Valley Desert.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and consist entirely of lots of July 4th stuff.

4th of July links

Large set of Independence Day links: the full text of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's 1858 speech on the meaning of Independence Day ("Let us stick to it then. Let us stand firmly by it then.") and more inspirational speeches from Coolidge (1926) and Reagan (1986), the most bad-ass founding fathers, Dave Barry's 1998 column for the 4th of July. the science of fireworks and of barbecue, SciFi Independence Days, more.

14 Bold Facts About Bald Eagles.

July 4th, 1826: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die. More on July 4, 1826 and events that took place on other July Fourths throughout American history.

In the midst of World War I, American Independence, British Style: Churchill on July 4, 1918.

1960 Saturday Evening Post: Seamstresses rush to complete the new 50-star flag.

July 4, 1976- The Raid on Entebbe: When Israel Showed The Spirit of '76.

The Sacrifices Made by the Men Who Signed the Declaration.

Classic Mark Steyn column on The Spirit of Independence.

18 Vintage Photos of People Celebrating Independence Day.

Saturday Evening Post's Fourth of July Covers Throughout the Decades.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the Night of the Long Knives (Hitler's purge of those standing in his way), a gallery of beautiful combs made for lice removal, why monkey butts are so colorful, and a video compilation: 100 years of Holmes and Watson (1916 - 2016).

June 1960 Saturday Evening Post: Seamstresses rush to complete the new 50-star flag

Stars in their eyes: Seamstresses rush to complete the new 50-star flag in 1960.
(Photo by Larry Keighley, © SEPS)

From the June 4, 1960 issue of the Saturday Evening Post (wiki):

One more month and the proud new 50-star flags you see being sewn together by the busy Betsy Rosses at left will become officially ensigns of the United States. It has been a hard two years on manufacturers such as the Dettra Flag Company of Oaks, Pennsylvania.

After 47 years of an unchanging 48-star design, two newcomer states forced the rearrangement of the flag’s union, or starred blue field, twice within a year. On the double change-over, Dettra lost about $150,000 in canceled orders and unsalable inventory. The short-lived 49-star flag started the biggest boom the flag business had ever known. This boom collapsed utterly when Hawaii’s admission to the Union was voted by Congress in March 1959.

However, when President Eisenhower announced on August 21 which 50-star design was to be used, the boom revived, and by the Fourth of July Dettra will have made 2 million bright new banners — twice as many as it ever made before in a single year, and about 40 percent of the year’s total for the country.

Related: Saturday Evening Post's Fourth of July Covers Throughout the Decades.