Thursday links

It's William Shatner's birthday: here he is in 1978 'singing' Rocket Man, plus a Star Trek/Monty Python mashup.

Sold: Isaac Newton’s Notes on the Philosopher’s Stone. It was a long time before anyone admitted that he was interested in alchemy.

High-tech forgery: Computer-generated 'Rembrandt' painting unveiled.

"Nub City" - the Florida town where people cut off their appendages for insurance money.

Middle School Reading Lists 100 Years Ago vs. Today. Related: Check out this test for eighth graders in Kentucky dated 1912.

Moldy beer and pungent salt beef: a 17th c. sailor’s diet

ICYMI, Tuesday's links are here, and include science and myths of the vernal equinox, Silicon Valley billionaires prepping for the apocalypse in New Zealand, a message written by cows that could be seen from space (the message, not the cows), and a TED video classic from 2005: How To Tie Your Shoes.

Monday links

When Given Colored Construction Paper, Wasps Build Rainbow Colored Nests.

Goat Rituals and Tree-Trunk Gravestones: The Peculiar History of Life Insurance. Related: How Maritime Insurance Built Ancient Rome.

You can now Rent Julia Child’s Provencale Kitchen as she Left It, via Airbnb

Advice from 1658: How to Give Up Wine.

Check Out All the Largest Flying Boats in History.

How To Dress For Success And To Get A Man: A 1967 Guide. Related, "Women are teachable": 1940's booklet to “assist male bosses in supervising their new female employees"

ICYMI, Friday's links are here, and include the tax implications of the zombie apocalypse, a gallery of vintage mechanical calculators, the British plan for a chicken-heated nuclear bomb. a giant flesh-eating koala , and why UPS trucks don't turn left.