Friday links

Before Seinfeld: The Origins of Festivus.

Chocolate meltdown closes German road.

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One of the Biggest Meteor Showers of the Year Returns This Week — Here’s How to See It.

In 1863, Santa Claus entered the fray on the side of the Union.

Dec. 14, 1799: The excruciating final hours of President George Washington.

The real history of ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ - it all started with a Montgomery Ward marketing campaign in 1939.

ICYMI, Wednesday's links are here, and include lots of ugly Christmas sweaters (plus instructions for making your own), how McDonald's got started, why woodpeckers don't get concussions, how your apps are tracking you (and who they're sharing the info with), and advice from c. 1200: on how to survive the winter (don't forget to lay off the purging and blood-letting, and keep your hands and feet covered in wolf grease).

Wednesday links

Lots of ugly Christmas sweaters, instructions for making your own, plus ugly Christmas sweater suits. Related, here's how to make Ugly Sweater Ornaments.

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret.

The Story of How McDonald’s First Got Its Start.

Advice from c. 1200: How to Survive the Winter. Don't forget to lay off the purging and blood-letting, and keep your hands and feet covered in wolf grease.

The lost art of flower-making.

Exploring the “G-Force”: Why Woodpeckers Don’t Get Concussions.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include using fake "master" fingerprints to unlock smartphones,  the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, an interactive map shows all the ways medieval London could kill you, and T'was the Overnight Before Christmas: The Merry Tale of How Air Cargo Deregulation Led To Amazon. 

Lots of ugly Christmas sweaters, instructions for making your own, plus ugly Christmas sweater suits.

Ugly sweater for two available here.

In the phrase "ugly Christmas sweater," the word "ugly" is a term of art, a description rather than a put-down. One wears an ugly Christmas sweater precisely because it is so over the top, crammed with images of weighted-down Christmas trees, cartoony reindeer, red-cheeked Santas, and leering snowmen. Sequins are encouraged, as are lights. And if the sweater is three-dimensional, all the better.

There are currently 314,601 listings on eBay for "ugly Christmas sweater".

Want to tart up your own outfit? Try this light-up LED Christmas bulb necklace.

New and improved: Ugly Christmas Sweater suits:

A few favorites:

This zombie version:

Pole dancing elves:

For Second Amendment types (Molon Labe ("Come and take them") was Leonidas' response to Xerxes when asked to surrender weapons at the battle of Thermopylae):

Wanna go the cheap route? The are lots of DIY kits, here's how to make your own - more ideas here and here. More photos here. And check out Collector's Weekly's All-Time Ugliest Christmas Sweaters.

And, of course, there are ugly Happy Chanukah sweaters: