Friday links

July 14 is Bastille Day, the anniversary of the French revolution in 1789.

What did medieval peasants eat?

That Time When America Air-Dropped Pianos For Troops in Battlefields.

These poorly translated English language T-shirts spotted In Asia are a hoot.

Julius Caesar came. He saw. He conquered. Here's how Rome celebrated.

The Century-Long Evolution of the U.S. Army Helmet.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include why monkey butts are so colorful, Nikola Tesla's birthday, how to buy your kid's way into college, and the 47 names Disney considered for the 7 dwarfs.

Defense News has a series of shocking stories about the F-35

Defense News:

The Pentagon is battling the clock to fix serious, unreported F-35 problems

Defense News exclusively obtained documents detailing the F-35 jet's most serious deficiencies.

Two F-35 partners threatened to quit the program. Here’s why they didn’t.

How serious were the problems? Serious enough that a couple countries threatened to pull out of the program, according to U.S. Defense Department documents.

 

Supersonic speeds could cause big problems for the F-35′s stealth coating

Supersonic flight at the edge of the F-35 jet's flight envelope could cause structural damage or degrade its stealth coating, warn documents

A fix is coming for a problem that left two F-35 pilots in ‘excruciating’ pain

Oxygen deprivation isn't the only issue known to cause physiological episodes among F-35 pilots.

When the F-35 blows a tire, it can set off a chain reaction of potential failures.

The problem has been fixed in the carrier variant, but why aren't the "A" and "B" models getting the same correction?

FAQ: Your guide to understanding how the military rates F-35 technical shortfalls

 

When US Navy and Marine F-35 pilots most need performance, the aircraft becomes erratic

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ F-35s become unpredictable to handle when executing the kind of extreme maneuvers a pilot would use in a dogfight or while avoiding a missile.

The Marine Corps’ ‘No. 1 priority’ for the F-35 involves a rough landing in hot environments

When it's a hot one, the F-35B might struggle to land safely. And that could be bad news for industry.

Thursday links

The massive 19th century fight over Sunday mail delivery.

The U.S. Air Force Learned to Code and Saved the Pentagon Millions.

Male contraceptive advice: just wear a polyester sling, and let the heat and the electrostatics do all the work, with bonus Monty Python.

Skittles and Nine Holes, or Bumble Puppy: sporting pastimes in the Georgian era.

The Cutting-Edge Science That Can Turn Everyday Objects, Like a Bag of Chips, Into a Listening Device.

How People Created Ice in the Desert 2,000 Years Ago: the ancient art of "night-sky cooling."

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include Nikola Tesla's birthday, the U. S. Navy's 1920's ice cream barge, how alcohol and caffeine helped create civilization, and eye-searing fashion ads from the 1970's.

Friday links

How Merv Griffin Came Up With That Weird Question/Answer Format for Jeopardy!

Why the Military Can't Quit Windows XP.

How Ketchup Revolutionized How Food Is Grown, Processed, and Regulated.

On June 10, 1964, Democrats Filibustered the Civil Rights Act.

Pit Liquor Is Born: ‘We Love Whiskey, Why Not Put It In Our Armpits?’

The Japanese Balloon Bombs of World War 2.

ICYMI, Wednesday's links are here, and include the Thai military response to garlic smuggling, D-Day links, neuroscience on the reasons why we can't remember dreams, the origins of elevator music, and foolproof pick up lines, per Chinese scientists (personal favorite: "Your smile is a naughty goblin.").

Tuesday links

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879: here's a short bio, video, an explanation of gravitational waves, and the strange post-mortem saga of his brain.

New Zealand Could Have Been Part of the United States.

Project Habakkuk: Britain’s Secret Ship Made of Ice.

3.14: Happy Pi Day.

National Geographic Infographics, A Pictorial History.

Why Some Cars Have Gas Tank Fillers On The Left Or The Right.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include Chuck Norris' 77th birthday, Japanese equipment for clearing a path through 60 feet of snow, Daylight Saving Time history (including Ben Franklin's proposal), how Mickey Mouse evades the public domain, and how to make prescription eyeglasses from scratch.

Tuesday links

"I should have killed you when I had the chance" - the movie supercut.

Scientists Are Lifting Fingerprints Left by People Hundreds of Years Ago.

100 best infographics.

Here's a roundup of recommendations for beer, wine and whiskey pairings to go with all of those Girl Scout cookies you're buying.

The World's 20 Most Impressive Fortresses.

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." Photo Gallery of Early Supercomputers.

ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and include a canonical list of recipes for World Nutella Day, lots of Super Bowl links, the top 10 Pyrrhic victories, and a discussion of the fact that humans are the only animals with chins.

Friday links

January 17 is Ben Franklin's birthday - bio, quotes, videos, his 200 synonyms for drunk, the bodies found in his basement, and more.

1932: U.S. Army Kicks U.S. Veterans Out of Washington.

A brief  history of shaving.

Prohibition in the United States began on January 16, 1920.

The Delicate Art of Breeding Cheetahs.

Dinosaurs performed dances to woo mates, according to new evidence.

ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and include the Feast of the Ass, an infographic on the most powerful weapon in sci-fi history, a map of power outages caused by squirrels (with bonus squirrel-related links), and that time President George H. W. Bush escaped cannibals.

Friday links

Paraskavedekatriaphobia: Why is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky?

The Physics of the Star Wars Trailer’s TIE Fighter Formation.

The Unlikely Struggle Of The Family Whose Neighbor Is Area 51.

Advice on hair washing from the 12th and 17th centuries.

World's fastest lawnmower reaches 133 mph.

I'm not sure why they don't still do this: in the early 1950s, as part of a "cost conscious" program, the U.S. Army put price tags on equipment.

ICYMI, Wednesday's links are here, and include Veterans/Armistice/Remembrance Day links, the science of how female turkeys choose mates (and avoid the ones they don't want), and a set of characters from classical paintings inserted into contemporary settings.

Monday links

Yesterday, October 25, was the anniversary of three major battles: Agincourt, the charge of the Light Brigade and Leyte Gulf: history, maps, Shakespeare, and documentaries, including one that contains Thomas Edison's 1890 recording of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, reading his own poem Charge of the Light Brigade.

The Science of Little House on the Prairie.

Dead Men’s Teeth: A History of Dentures.

Video: Halloween pumpkin carving tricks.

Instructions for servicemen serving overseas: How The Army Handled Cultural Sensitivity Training in WWII.

Once a book was published and galley proofs were in hand, there was no further use for the original manuscript, so Charles Darwin, father of 10, gave his kids the manuscript of On the Origin of Species to draw on. Here are the surviving pages, complete with drawings.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include lots of Halloween-related links, why more firstborn kids need glasses, a gallery of photos from hot-air balloon festivals, a 400 ft long baguette and a pizza nearly a mile long, and recycling penicillin from patients urine.

Friday links

Advice from 1896: how to Drive an Electric Car

A brief history of athletes drinking their own urine.

How Difficult Is It to Land on an Aircraft Carrier in Rough Seas?

August 29th, 2:14 AM: Skynet Becomes Self-aware.

Everything you've heard about chastity belts is a lie.

Buffalo Bill's house (from Silence of the Lambs) is for sale.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include the anniversary of the Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii, a gallery of ads for 19th century magic shows, the $30 million cheesemaking ring smashed by the Russian police, and Pop-Tart (and Count Chocula) beer.

News anchor's rant on Chattanooga terrorism and Obama's half-baked policies

Apparently freedom of expression is controversial. Transcript below - any substantive or grammatical mistakes are mine:

Four United States Marines are now dead. Climate change didn't kill them. Lack of free community college didn't kill them. The income gap? Wage inequality? Nope, not those things, either. Gay marriage? Nope. White racism? Not that either. So what did? 

President Obama if you wanna say it I will - radical Islam. This is not workplace violence, this is not a criminal act with motives unknown, this is terrorism. The suspected shooter Mohammed Abdulaziz, was a devout Muslim. Do I care that he seemed like an all-American young man? Do I care that he was good at mixed martial arts or a smart quiet guy? Do I care that is high school friend wouldn't classify him as overly religious? No, I don't give a flying you know what about any of that. Was he linked to ISIS or al Qaeda or Hamas, or any of the other 15-plus offshoot terrorist groups? Does it matter?

I'm sorry, but radical Islam is becoming the rule not the exception. Yesterday's moderate is today's terrorist. I care that this SOB killed four United States Marines and I care that our Commander-in-Chief is more concerned with Muslim sensitivity then the honor and sacrifice made by these marines.

This is the 21st time our military men and women have been attacked here at home (caution - autoplay). This is not a middle East problem - this is an American problem, and I'm sorry but I can't sit here and let this go not anymore. I come from a family of Marines. My grandpa was a World War Two paratrooper, my uncle a Vietnam Purple Heart recipient, my cousins both Marine Corps officers, and I have some very close Navy SEAL connections as well. In fact someone very close to my heart is deployed to the Middle East right now, but the sad thing is that I was telling him last night that I think you're safer over there then you would be right here in the United States America.

I've had it with this failed strategy, this halfway, half-baked if we'll be friendly to Jihadis mentality pushed by this administration. Be a leader, someone! They, the radical Islamists, have brought the fight right here to the red white and blue and it's about time we bring it to them, full force. Let's show what the United States of America looks like up close and personal. Show them what a B-one bomber looks like flying overhead. Show what they're messing with. Put the fear of God in their desert, because clearly our lack of strategy isn't working.