Tag: history
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I Have a Confession to Make
I Have a Confession to Make | Rob Sheridan on Patreon (Patreon) Official Post from Rob Sheridan: That goober you see above is me as a nerdy high school kid in my bedroom in 1998, being interviewed on TV for a dumb website I made. Allow me to explain.20 years ago this month, an episode …
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The Pig War of 1859
The Pig War of 1859 (Historic UK) Undeniably one of the most obscure and unusual 'wars' in history, this is the story of how the killing of an escaped pig almost caused a war between the United States and Britain. 'The Pig War' is perhaps one of the most obscure and unusual wars in history. …
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Diary
The time capsule was buried in a secluded square in Murmansk in 1967 on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Inside was a message dedicated to the citizens of the Communist future. At short notice, the authorities brought forward the capsule’s exhumation by ten days, to coincide with the city’s … -
In 1973, I invented a "girly drink" called Baileys
My dinner-party party piece for many years was to say, “Well, actually, I invented Baileys. You know, Baileys Irish Cream. I did that back in 1973.”
If one of the unfortunate listening group is a woman – and this is based on actual past experience - she is likely to respond something like … -
Welcome To Nauru, The Most Corrupt Country You've Never Heard Of
Nestled in a cluster of islands in the central Pacific Ocean is Nauru, a small country with a totally insane story.
In 1980, the island nation was considered the wealthiest nation on the planet; in 2017, BusinessTech listed it as one of the five poorest countries in the world.
This is a story of a country that journeyed … -
You'll Never Be as Radical as This 18th-Century Quaker Dwarf
It was September 1738, and Benjamin Lay had walked 20 miles, subsisting on “acorns and peaches,” to reach the Quakers’ Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Beneath his overcoat he wore a military uniform and a sword — both anathema to Quaker teachings. He also carried a hollowed-out book with a secret compartment, into which he had … -
history of the entire world, i guess
Bill Wurtz -
What Happens When You Mix Java with a 1960 IBM Mainframe
As an engineer for the U.S. Digital Service, Marianne Bellotti has encountered vintage mainframes that are still being used in production — sometimes even powering web apps. Last month she entertained a San Francisco audience with tales about some of them, in a talk called “7074 says Hello World,” at Joyent’s “Systems We Love” conference.
Created under the Obama … -
The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems
I have a vivid, recurring dream. I climb the stairs in my parents’ house to see my old bedroom. In the back corner, I hear a faint humming.
It’s my old computer, still running my 1990s-era bulletin board system (BBS, for short), “The Cave.” I thought I had shut it down ages ago, but it’s been … -
IBM PC - Computerphile
Computerphile -
History of the browser user-agent string
In the beginning there was NCSA Mosaic, and Mosaic called itself NCSA_Mosaic/2.0 (Windows 3.1), and Mosaic displayed pictures along with text, and there was much rejoicing...
WebAIM
Have you ever wondered why every major web browser identifies itself as "Mozilla"? Wonder no longer... -
TIL the ancient Greeks used shocks from electric rays to numb the pain of childbirth and operations
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Wrestling is fake! This contract shows that Demetrius was specifically paid-off to fall in the third round.
AltOld manuscript
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Before we had the Oxford Tube/X90, we had this. It only cost £1, but on the other hand it took eight hours...
Timetables uncovered by Memory Lane reader David Brown show that a stagecoach service was operating between the two cities as late as 1928.
You could take the stagecoach from Oxford to London, then catch a train back to Oxford, or vice versa.
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Oxford Mail -
Odd One Out?
Which is the odd-one out: gypsies, turkeys, french fries, or the Kings of Leon? It's a simple riddle, but it's still better than whatever you've gotten out of your cracker.