Friday links

July 26 is Brave New World author Aldous Huxley's birthday: here's a brief bio, audio of him narrating Brave New World, a 1949 letter from Huxley to Orwell and a Huxley vs Orwell infographic.

Why is airport food so expensive? The reasons you pay a massive markup on a water bottle are more complex than you might think.

These Sisters will make your Evil Siblings look like Angels.

Birthdays this weekend include free-market economist Milton Friedman's (July 27): here are some favorite quotes and short videos, and Beatrix Potter's (July 28): in addition to Peter Rabbit et al, she produced some gorgeous botanical drawings.

The house from The Goonies gets so many fan visits (around 1200 per day), the owner has tried to stop them coming by covering the house in a blue tarp.

Why It May Make Sense to Draw Eyes on Cows’ Butts.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include the Apollo 11 anniversary, early blacklisting in Hollywood, a laser that identifies people from a distance by heartbeat, and the anniversary of the 20th of July plot (the unsuccessful bomb attempt by insiders to kill Hitler in 1944).

Beatrix Potter's birthday

Once upon a time there were four little rabbits, and their names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter.

~ Beatrix Potter (wiki), The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Don't go near Mr. McGregor's garden: your father had an accident there, he was put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor. 

~ Ibid. 

Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.

~ Potter, attributed

And the best quote ever on why you should ply your children (and grandchildren!) with good books throughout their childhoods:

For quiet, solitary and observant children create their own world and live in it, nourishing their imaginations on the material at hand.

In the UK, stamps depicting Beatrix Potter's creations
were released on the 150th anniversary of her birth.

July 28 is the anniversary of the birth of the English writer and illustrator of children's books, Beatrix Potter (wiki) (1866-1943). Most familiar as the author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) and The Tailor of Gloucester (1903), Beatrix Potter was born in London and despite having no formal artistic training, illustrated all her books with simple, unassuming watercolors, while creating the characters of Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, the hedgehog Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and others.  

After 1927, she wrote very little but became a farmer and sheep-breeder in the north of England. From the age of 15 until she was past 30, Potter kept a journal in a secret code that was not broken until 20 years after her death. 

Here's a brief documentary on Potter's life:

She also produced a series of gorgeous, scientifically accurate paintings of various types of fungi, as discussed and illustrated in Linda Lear’s highly regarded Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature:

Flammulina velutipes (Armitt Museum and Library)

Strobilomyces strobilaceus (Armitt Museum and Library)

Hydrocybe coccinea (Armitt Museum and Library)

Related links:

Recommended reading: Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales.

The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots, a new story written by Beatrix Potter more than 100 years ago, featuring Peter Rabbit, was published in 2016 for the first time. She had done only one illustration for the story, so that task has been taken over by others: 

She sent the story to her publisher in 1914, saying it was about "a well-behaved prime black Kitty cat, who leads rather a double life".

The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots also features an appearance from an "older, slower" version of Peter Rabbit.

Beatrix Potter Based Peter Rabbit On Her Pothead Bunny. 

The Economist had an interesting article on her in 2007.

Here's an article on her mushroom illustrations, with several excellent examples.

Friday links

July 27 is free-market economist Milton Friedman's birthday: here are some favorite quotes and short videos. And Beatrix Potter's birthday is this weekend: in addition to Peter Rabbit et al, she produced some gorgeous botanical drawings.

How to build a mountain range.

Stealing Passwords by Reading Thermal Residue on Keyboards.

Advice from 1380: How to Tell if Someone Is or Is Not Dead (the onion test), plus bonus Monty Python.

How to Make a Fossil in a Single Day and How To Become A Fossil After You Die.

How the tiniest plot of land in Manhattan came to be.

ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and include cutting hair with fire, the instant pot of the 1600s known as the Digester of Bones, the 2018 UK snail racing championship, and for Aldous Huxley's birthday, an audio of him narrating Brave New World.

Friday links

It's Beatrix Potter's birthday: in addition to Peter Rabbit et al, she produced some gorgeous botanical drawings.

The Invention of the Chilean Sea Bass.

The Proper Names of 17 Bodily Functions.

Some examples of bad taxidermy.

Medieval Fashion Trends.

Meet the Woman Behind New York’s 1800s School For Crooks.

ICYMI, Wednesday's links are here, and include a history of prosthetic limbs,  Aldous Huxley's birthday, why monks have strange haircuts, and what happens when you leave a tetherball hanging in the forest.

Friday links

Free-market economist Milton Friedman's birthday is this weekend: some favorite quotes and short videos. And Beatrix Potter's birthday was yesterday: in addition to Peter Rabbit et al, she produced some gorgeous botanical drawings.

Ready for a career change? The Smithsonian is Looking for a Beer Historian.

Scientists think cockroach milk could be the superfood of the future.

Check out this test for eighth graders in Kentucky dated 1912.

Extreme Alpine Soccer Is Played on Impossible Slopes.

What Is American Cheese, Anyway?

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include toasters of the 1920s, the coldest places on earth. how a grizzly bear ended up on California's flag, Aldous Huxley's birthday, and an excellent photoessay of animals at war during World War I.