History
Old Quaker Booze
Once upon a time, thanks to Schenley liquors, you could get as wasted as old Ben Franklin (note: not a Quaker, just partied with them), in the manner of this Curly-Howard-lookalike above. Then you'd be "feeling your Quaker Oats."
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 25, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: History, Historical Figure, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1930s, Alcohol
Save The History
Built in 447 BC, the Parthenon sits on the Acropolis in the center of Athens Greece. Unfortunately it is in danger due to decay of the Acropolis. Repairs are being attempted, all the best of luck in that endeavor. It would be a tragedy to lose such a great piece of history.
Posted By: patty - Sat Oct 04, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: History, Archaeology
A Snort History
The takeaway message? Drinking and driving is an eternal fun recreation of humanity, encoded in the genome of the species, and will never cease.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 22, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: History, Motor Vehicles, PSA’s, Alcohol
Conjugal Duels
From Charles Harper, Revolted Woman: Past, Present, and to Come (1894):
The images of the conjugal duelists come from Hans Talhoffer's Fechtbuch, 1467 (plates 242-250). [Via Wondermark]
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 04, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: History, Husbands, Wives, Marriage
Detect Dangers Before They Happen!
MCP from dath - Tobias Haase on Vimeo.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 06, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Death, History, Humor, 1900s, Cars
The Covered Wagon
Since readers seemed to enjoy Bill Haley's "Candy and Women," we now add another of his pre-rock'n'roll songs, which qualifies--by a couple of lines on Native Americans, and a general reckless disregard for human and animal life--for our category of pre-PC weirdness.
"Pappy wound up with four deuces, and the squaw with six papooses."
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 29, 2012 -
Comments (2)
Category: History, Music, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1940s, Native Americans
Ancient Minoan Culture Illustrated with Barbies
More here. (Scroll down.)
This incredible find courtesy of hardcore WU-vie Zoltan Ness.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 26, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: History, Toys, Outsider Art, Foreign Customs, Reader Recommendation
It’s Everybody’s Business
Wouldn't it be swell if things actually still worked this way?
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 25, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Business, History, PSA’s, 1950s
Dumb History
Just got my copy of this title, and it looks like a winner for all WU-vies. I'll report more soon.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 18, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: History, Stupidity, Weird Studies and Guides, Books
Weird Science – Watch and Learn
Outside it is not much to look at, little more than a discoloured rock dredged up from the sea floor. But an x-ray scan of the object, actually a pocket watch recovered from a 17th century shipwreck, has revealed that the internal mechanism has been perfectly preserved. The computer aided tomography system used was sensitive enough to pick out the tiniest details, included the engraved name of the master watchmaker, one Niccholas Higginson of Westminster, London (Gizmodo).
As if more proof were needed that they don’t build them like they used to, a UK group has started collecting donations to build the first fully working version of Babbage’s “Analytical Engine”. The original design, dating from 1837, was never completed, possibly due to a combination of the strict engineering tolerances needed and Babbage’s notoriously prickly temperament. If the final machine works as advertised, it will be very strong confirmation of the claim that Babbage designed the first general purpose, programmable computer (BBC News).
Meanwhile, in Slovenia, Borut Povse and his team are busy teaching a modern descendant of Babbage’s design to hit people. Somehow Povse has convinced six volunteers to let an industrial robot hit them on the arm with various sharp or blunt implements in an effort to determine how much pain each blow causes. Obviously this has a beneficial use in that robots can be programmed not to exceed certain levels of force near a human obstacle, but will also be of immense interest to the machines during any future robot uprising (New Scientist).
Another robot out to supplant humans is HRP-4, a gynoid (female android), that has learnt to sing by copying the inflection and expressions of a human performer, right down to the breathing. The hope is to make robots behave in a more convincingly natural way, and so overcome the so called ‘uncanny valley’. From the video, it looks like they’ve still got a way to go (Daily Mail).
More in extended >>
Posted By: Dumbfounded - Fri Oct 22, 2010 -
Comments (5)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Charities and Philanthropy, Futurism, History, Archaeology, Injuries, NGOs, Robots, Science, Technology
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |