Monday links

That time Columbus tricked Jamaicans into providing supplies using knowledge of an upcoming eclipse. Related; Columbus has been cleared of importing syphilis from the Americas to Europe.

Why Are Plastic Army Men Still from World War II?

Painting 'Zebra Stripes' on Cows Wards Off Biting Flies.

Physiognomy of eyebrows: everything you wanted to know about eyebrow interpretation from the 16th century.

The Behind-the-Scenes Quest to Find Mister Rogers’s Signature Cardigans - his mother knitted them for him, and he wore those for another 10 years after his death. They were not easy to replace.

Scientists Try to Make a Knife out of Frozen Human Poop.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include how ancient Greeks dig a 4000-foot tunnel from both ends and met exactly in the middle (200 years before Euclid), the invention of rock, paper, scissors (and how to win), awkward Russian food art, typewriter evolution, and the ownership of the North Pole.

Friday links

This 1983 episode of The Family Feud pitted the cast of Gilligan's Island vs the cast of Batman.

Jazz was America’s “Secret Sonic Weapon” Against Communism.

South Indian frog oozes molecule that inexplicably devastates flu viruses.

April 22 is Earth Day: here's the story of the co-founder who killed, then composted, his girlfriend.

The Science Behind Your Cheap Wine.

The Coffee Revolt of 1674: Women Campaigned to Prohibit “That Newfangled, Abominable, Heathenish Liquor".

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include the history of women pirates, the 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed 80% of San Francisco, the 8 year long McDonald's Monopoly Fraud, and some history - T'was the eighteenth of April in seventy-five (the midnight ride of William Dawes and Samuel Prescott (and Paul Revere))

Friday links

Before it was Veterans Day it was Armistice Day, for the fallen of the First World War: here's some history. Related: some Veterans/Armistice/Remembrance Day reading links.

In 1987, Heineken Tried to Convince Beer Drinkers That Corona Was Actually Urine.

Ranking the Most Beloved TV Shows That Got Canceled. Firefly, of course, is number 1.

Early- to mid-20th century visions of sex in the future.

Why The Heck Do Animals Live In Our Houses?

This Siberian beach is covered with thousands of giant snowballs made by nature. A similar phenomenon occurred on Lake Michigan in 2014.

ICYMI, Monday"s links are here, and include a set of excellent newspaper corrections, labyrinths of note, Renaissance-style portraits of auto mechanics, and the reasons to elect a supervillain President, with bonus Homer Simpson proving that both candidates are aliens.

Supercut: Best/Most Memorable Catchphrases in TV History, Parts 1 and 2

Part 1 highlights: "That's what she said", "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!", "Kiss my grits", "Nanu nanu", "Book'em, Dano", "Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!".

Part 2: "Let's be careful out there", "Hi Ho Silver, away!", "Don't make me angry - you wouldn't like me when I'm angry", "One of these days, Alice, Pow! right in the kisser", "Live long and prosper".

via Tastefully Offensive