Friday links

An animated history of Valentine's Day, plus an explanation of why the heart is associated with love.

DIY machine sorts M&Ms and Skittles by color.

BBC: The 'untranslatable' emotions you never knew you had.

Supercut of people running in slow motion in movies.

Humans And Booze - A 9,000-Year Love Affair.

Eating spicy food might help you live longer.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include the etymologies of all 50 state’s names, 1649 suggestion for adding weasel brain to your cheese to keep rats and mice away, WW1 meatless (and wheatless) recipes, and a Bill of Mortality showing causes of death in London for the week of Aug 15 - 22, 1665. 

Monday links

Add some weasel brain to your cheese to keep rats and mice away: advice from 1649.

Cops use pacemaker data to charge homeowner with arson, insurance fraud.

The etymologies of all 50 state’s names.

This Bill of Mortality shows the death tally of all city parishes in London for the week of Aug 15 - 22, 1665. The Plague is the number 1 cause of death, followed by various fevers, consumption, and Griping in the Guts.

How Mr. Coffee made coffee-making a man’s job.

Recipes for the Meatless, Wheatless Meals of World War I America.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include lots of Super Bowl-related stuff, what would happen if we flooded Death Valley, and a plethora of recipes for World Nutella Day.

Friday links

February 5th is World Nutella Day - just in time for your weekend baking, here's a canonical list of Nutella recipes.

Submarine tourism didn’t catch on.

What If: Since Death Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the ocean and fill it up with water?

Some Super Bowl reading:

Life magazine archive of photos from Super Bowl 1.

An Animated Guide To American Football For Liberals, Ladies and Limeys.

Super Bowl stadiums (stadia?) made from meat.

Football during WWII, when almost all able-bodied men joined the military: The combined Steelers/Eagles team called the Steagles.

Why Championship Football Games are Called “Bowls”.

The Lost Tribe of Gypsy Harlots: The Mythical Invasion of the Super Bowl Hookers.

Were footballs ever actually made of pigskin?

'Super Bowl Babies' Come Together to Sing About Being Conceived After Super Bowl Victories. (From 2016 - if they've done an update I haven't found it.)

ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and are all about Groundhog Day (the day and the movie) and/or February: why February is all about purification (februa = purify), what's up with February 2nd and weather predictions, how often the groundhog has been right (spoiler - 39% of the time since 1887), and doing the math on how long Bill Murray was stuck in Punxsutawney in the movie (8 years? 34 years?).

February/Groundhog Day links

Groundhog Day, Candlemas and weather predictions. Related: Where Did Groundhog Day Come From? 

February links - pagan Roman purification (februa = purify) and Mary's purification 40 days after the birth of Christ.

Don't like what the groundhog has to say about how long winter will last? You're in luck: Punxsutawney Phil has been correct just 39% of the time since 1887.

Jonah Goldberg's classic Groundhog Day column.

8 years? 34 years? How long was Bill Murray stuck in Groundhog Day?

How to Write Groundhog Day by... the writer of Groundhog Day.

As Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell take off down the street once Groundhog Day has ended, Nat "King" Cole is singing Almost Like Being In Love - here's Mark Steyn with a history of that song.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the history of domesticating chickens, beer yoga, 1960's disposible dresses, 25 animals that scientists want to bring back from extinction, and why it's nearly impossible to castrate a hippo.

Friday links

The history of chickens and eggs: When and why did they get domesticated?

In the Days of Human Zoos.

25 animals that scientists want to bring back from extinction.

Why It's Nearly Impossible to Castrate a Hippo.

Beer Yoga goes international.

From Hospital Gowns to Paper Couture: The Unlikely Origins of '60s Disposable Dresses. 

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include images of Tokyo before it was a city, London's train for the dead, using laser weapons to turn the atmosphere into deflector shields, and the small, short-legged dog that was the best kitchen gadget of the 1600s.