Wednesday links

It's the birthday of Dr. Samuel Johnson: here's a selection of his excellent insults.

82-year-old shopkeeper fought off a robber by whacking him with her walking stick.

Bacon Vending Machine.

From 1803, The Ottoman Empire's First Map of the Newly Minted United States.

How to Jump from a Moving Train Using Science.

Study of French postmen's testicles - the researchers taped thermometers to men’s testicles to try to work out if both are the same temperature.

ICYMI, most recent links are here, and include the anniversary of the 1814 battle of Baltimore (inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner), code breakers of Renaissance Venice, Tater Tot history, the guy who collects the mud used to treat every single regulation major league baseball, and how ancient Romans managed to build perfectly straight roads.

From 1803, the Ottoman Empire's first map of the newly minted United States

Via Slate:

What did the United States look like to observers from the Ottoman Empire (wiki) in 1803? In this map, the newly independent U.S. is labeled “The Country of the English People” (“İngliz Cumhurunun Ülkesi”). The Iroquois Confederacy shows up as well, labeled the “Government of the Six Indian Nations.” Other tribes shown on the map include the Algonquin, Chippewa, Western Sioux (Siyu-yu Garbî), Eastern Sioux (Siyu-yu Şarkî), Black Pawnees (Kara Panis), and White Pawnees (Ak Panis).

Click here for a zoomable version, and/or visit the map's page in the digital collections of the Osher Map Library, University of Southern Maine. 

Click here to embiggen

Related:

Political maps of the United States, 1850 and 1880

Map: How Fast You Could Travel Across the US in the 1800's.

More old US maps here.