Friday links

This short 1901 film has some rather impressive special effects: The Fat and the Lean Wrestling Match.

The Mathematics Of Measuring Cups.

The Krakatoa volcanic eruption in 1883 was so loud it ruptured eardrums of people 40 miles away, traveled around the world four times, and was clearly heard 3,000 miles away.

Flowers Have Secret Blue Halos That Bumblebees Can See.

10 Fun Fashion Facts from the Middle Ages.

How The Princess Bride Built Film’s Most Beloved Sword Fight. Here's the fight scene.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include how Martian laws will differ from Earth laws, a set of 1860s photos of the five stages of inebriation, eating the world's spiciest chip, and, for Rita Hayworth's birthday, a compilation of her dancing.

Tuesday links

Happy Birthday, Rita Hayworth: here's an excellent compilation of her dancing, set to Stayin' Alive.

John Quincy Adams' Obsession with Weights and Measures.

How Will Martian Laws Differ From Earth's Laws?

Here's A Giant Drunk Puppet Roaming The Streets Of An Irish City. Related, an 1860s series of photos illustrating the '5 stages of inebriation'.

Nathan Straus and the Milk Stations That Saved the Lives of New York City Kids.

We ate the world's spiciest chip, cried for 45 minutes, then wrote this article about it.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the anniversary of the 1066 Battle of Hastings, a part-time monarch who's also a full-time auto mechanic, White House leaks from Abe Lincoln's presidency, and a joyful rock version of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy".

Happy Birthday, Rita Hayworth: here's an excellent compilation of her dancing, set to Stayin' Alive

October 17th is the anniversary of the birth of superstar American movie actress and dancer Rita Hayworth (1918-1987) in Brooklyn. Born Margarita Carmen Cansino to two professional dancers, Hayworth started dance lessons at an early age and in 1927 moved with her family to Hollywood, where her father had hoped to land dancing parts in the movies. Finding minimal success, he formed a dance act with his daughter, and since she was too young to appear in night clubs in California, they performed across the border in Tijuana. 

This 1941 photograph of Rita Hayworth
became one of the most popular
pin-ups among U.S. servicemen during
 World War II. Life magazine, however,
 decided it was too risque to put
on their cover

Hayworth's career really took off in the early 1940s, and by 1944, when she appeared with Gene Kelly in Cover Girl, she was one of the hottest stars in Hollywood, and in Charles Vidor's erotic film noir, Gilda (1946), she established herself as a leading femme fatale. 

She was married and divorced five times, and counted among her husbands Orson Welles, Prince Aly Khan* (by whom she had two daughters), and Dick Haymes. Late in life, she suffered from alcoholism and died of Alzheimer's disease in New York City in 1987.

She was quoted in 1977 as saying, 

"Men fell in love with Gilda, but they wake up with me."

Dancing in Tijuana when I was 13 - that was my "summer camp." How else could I keep up with Fred Astaire when I was 19?

~ Rita Hayworth (New York Times, 25 October 1970)

This has been around for a while, and will make you feel like dancing all day.  Watch full screen:

Clips:

"Down to Earth": 0:00 / 1:03 / 2:46 / 4:20
"You'll Never Get Rich": 0:14 / 0:24 / 0:28 / 0:46 / 2:35 / 3:16 / 3:49
"Tonight and Every Night":  0:20 / 1:11 / 1:22 / 1:36 / 1:54 / 1:55
"Cover Girl": 0:34 / 0:38 / 1:13 / 1:48 / 2:13 / 3:07 / 3:29 / 3:31 / 3:54 / 4:06 / 4:31
"You Were Never Lovelier": 0:50 / 2:20 / 2:42 / 3:00 / 4:10 / 4:38
"Gilda":  1:17 / 2:04
"Miss Sadie Thompson": 1:38 / 1:46 / 4:28
"My Gal Sal": 1:42 / 3:23 / 3:35 
"Pal Joey": 2:00 / 3:20 / 3:41
"Affair in Trinidad": 2:05 / 2:52 / 3:04 

* N.B. A son of Aga Khan III, the head of the Ismaili Muslims, Aly Kahn (1911-1960) was a fabulously wealthy international socialite and playboy, who later served as Pakistan's representative to the United Nations. He was married to Rita Hayworth between 1949 and 1953).

Related:

Gene Kelly's birthday: here the famous "Singin' In The Rain" dance.

It's Fred Astaire's birthday - here are clips of some of his best dancing

video h/t ‏@GarySinise