Wednesday links

Today is ANZAC Day, the anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli: here's some history, a documentary, and a Lego re-enactment.

How DNA Can Lead To Wrongful Convictions: labs today can identify people with DNA from just a handful of cells, but a handful of cells can easily migrate.

The 19th century art of measuring criminals.

It's Oliver Cromwell's birthday - here's his excellent speech throwing out the corrupt Parliament, the posthumous travels of his head, and bonus Monty Python.

An Eccentric Millionaire and his Lost Rocky Mountain Treasure.

How to download a copy of everything Google knows about you.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include 10 Medieval riddles, a supercut of epic movie explosions, the actual costs of restaurant foods vs what they charge, vintage animation lessons on how to make things cute, and the massive sewer system engineering undertaken to resolve London's "Great Stink".

Friday links

March 10th is Chuck Norris' 78th birthday: his 5 most badass movies and a bunch of Norris "facts" plus a supercut of Norris's best kicks. Related: UK scientists recreated Neanderthal man, who looks just like Chuck Norris.

Check out this Street-Legal Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle.

How Knot Analysis Can Reveal the Perpetrator of a Crime.

Daylight Saving Time starts this weekend: here's some DST history (including Ben Franklin's proposal), stories and video. Related: How daylight saving time works and why these states want to ditch it.

The Unlikely Friendship Between Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin.

The golden age of false rumps.

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include a map of how butterflies are related to each other, a roundup of funny colonoscopy videos, when you grow up never realizing you're on the run from the Mob, and, for Michelangelo's birthday, his illustrated grocery list.

Thursday links

It's that time of year again: beer and wine pairings for all those Girl Scout cookies you're buying.

One for Criminal Minds/Mindhunter fans: 10 Cases That Shaped the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Illustrated fitness tips from 1900.

Firing a .50 Cal Sniper Rifle in Slow Motion.

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

Recreating ancient recipes.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include W.C. Fields' birthday, crimes that changed history, beaming music at a potentially life-friendly exoplanet, advice from ancient Greece on which spices to rub on your livestock to make them frisky, and visiting Niagara Falls in the early 19th Century.

Monday links

"A woman drove me to drink, and I never even had the courtesy to thank her": It's W.C. Fields' birthday: quotes, a brief biography and film clips.

Goldman Sachs president's personal assistant stole $1.2 million worth of his boss's wine, then embarked on a world tour while the FBI tracked him. But who was he before?

The crimes that changed history.

Advice from ancient Greece: Need Your Livestock to Breed? Reach for the Spice Cabinet.

Visiting Niagara Falls in the early 19th Century.

Is music universal? The Norwegian group Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI) is beaming binary-coded music at one potentially life-friendly exoplanet 12 light-years away. 

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include Australia Day, the science of why swearing reduces pain, that time the Soviet Union paid Pepsi in warships, and the anniversary of the Soviet Army liberation of Auschwitz.

Wednesday links

A collection of vintage ads you would never see today.

Stolen Van Gogh paintings found after 14 years.

The 1980s Crime Ring That Poisoned Japan's Candy And Never Got Caught.

These maps show how the continents would look if you could see gravity.

How All 50 State Capitals Got Their Names.

Stalin's body double.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include how birds avoid crashing into each other in mid-air, old pictures of the death-defying sport known as ‘Auto Polo’, Columbia grad's experience with the gender misconduct system after he called himself handsome, and the Buddhist Kung Fu nuns who are biking the Himalayas.

Man With Tom Brady Helmet Tattooed On His Head Is Jailed On Felony Narcotics Charge

This sounds like a pretty lame charge - $15 worth of synthetic marijuana is the felony, plus misdemeanor trespassing, per The Smoking Gun. The helmet is the best part:

As noted in the “Scars, Marks, Tatoos or other distinguishing features” section of the report, Thompson has “Tattoo Head-Patriots Football Helmet.”

Thompson had a series of tattoos inked on his head to make it appear that he is wearing a New England Patriots football helmet. Along with team logos on each side of his head, Thompson got Brady’s number 12 and the word “Patriots” inked on the back of his head. He added the name of the helmet maker (“Riddell”) on his forehead, as well as an American flag and an NFL logo.

Thompson even included the small green dot indicating that a helmet is equipped with an electronic device allowing its wearer to receive plays from the sideline.

He also had a likeness of the Super Bowl trophy tattooed on the top of his head. Additionally, his noggin features inked replicas of the signatures of players Rob Gronkowski, Wes Welker, and Randy Moss. Somehow, Thompson forgot to add Aaron Hernandez’s John Hancock to his cranium.

Everything's a crime #___: If You Know Too Much About Poppies, You Can Lose the Farm (and Go to Jail)

At Reason:

Although Papaver somniferum is commonly used in gardening, floral arrangements, and food, it is also listed on Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act as "opium poppy." That status usually means a substance can be produced and distributed only by people licensed to do so. But since the plant is widely grown in the United States by people ignorant of its identity as the source of opium, drug warriors generally do not bother with it.

Earlier post: Glenn Reynolds: Due Process When Everything is a Crime