Harold Shipman

Harold Shipman was an Englishman who killed more people than possibly any other serial killer in recorded history: 218 confirmed victims, although that number is probably more than 250. How'd he do it? He was a doctor who ended his patients' lives with lethal injections. Most of them were elderly women; in fact, his youngest victim was a 41 year-old man.

No one knows for sure why Shipman did what he did, although there might be a confusing reason as to why, involving his wife and the National Health Service.

"MDMA got you feeling like a champion"

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, is the chemical name for ecstasy.

Skip to 3:15.

In the next line, Jay-Z says: "The city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambien." Ambien is a drug used to treat insomnia. Now it all makes sense to me what the hell he was saying.

Are bars of soap self-cleaning?

No, but it might not matter anyway.

Tuesday Night Football

Since the blizzard in Philly canceled Sunday's game pitting the Eagles and Vikings, the league moved it to today. On a Tuesday. The last time an NFL game was played on a Tuesday was October 1, 1946.

Thundersnow

It's thunder, lightning, and... snow.

Press Complaints Commission

The Press Complaints Commission is a self-regulatory body for British magazines and newspapers (and their websites). The members of this commission include representatives of the major publishers. Because of its self-regulatory nature, taxpayers do not fund the PCC; its revenue comes from the annual levy it charges newspapers and magazines. However, it has no legal powers. The commission focuses mostly on the accuracy of reports, as well as invasion of privacy by the press. There is no parallel to the PCC in the United States.

Website
BBC report on the 10-year anniversary of the PCC

History of mistletoe and kissing

In the first century AD, the Druids believed that "mistletoe, taken in drink, will impart fecundity to all animals that are barren." But it wasn't until the 18th or 19th centuries that the British incorporated mistletoe for their Christmas celebrations. Washington Irving and Charles Dickens wrote stories in which men kissed young and pretty women under the mistletoe.

Why is Facebook blue and white?

Because Mark Zuckerberg can't see red or green.

Tokyo Tower

During the postwar boom of the 1950s, Japan searched for a monument that represented its rise to a global economic force. They built the Tokyo Tower, which was inspired by the architecture of the Eiffel Tower. It opened on this day in 1958.

Denisovans

The Denisovans are the new human group that scientists have discovered. They are a Neanderthal sister group, living in the same time period and inhabiting eastern Eurasia. (Neanderthals ruled western Eurasia.) The big thing about Denisovans: they most likely mated with modern humans, and perhaps even mated with Neanderthals.

Which other countries have the right to bear arms?

Mexico, Haiti, and Guatemala.

Caliginous

Caliginous is an archaic term that means "misty; dim; dark."

Origin of Fig Newton

Fig Newtons were named after the town of Newton, MA.

Indian burn

Yeah, I think I may have had one or two of these in school. It's when you grab someone's forearm with both hands and twist both hands in opposite directions.

Schrodinger's cat

I've been really getting into The Big Bang Theory lately. I can't explain Schrodinger's cat any better than Sheldon.

Click here for more information.

Miscarriage statistics

15%-20% of pregnancies result in miscarriage.
74% of women say that the miscarriage was "partly their fault."
22% said they would hide a miscarriage from their spouse.

Skip to 8:55.

Bobby soxer

A bobby soxer was a teenage girl in the 1940s, usually a fan of Frank Sinatra. (Sinatra is considered the first teen idol.) By the 1950s, high schoolers often used their basketball gyms as dance floors, and girls were required to remove their shoes and dance in their bobby socks.

How to spot a conspiracy theory

A good summary of how to discredit a conspiracy theory.

Thomas Nast

Thomas Nast is known as the "Father of the American Cartoon." He worked for Harper's Weekly, and created the modern version of Santa Claus, the Democratic Party donkey and the Republican Party elephant, and the Tammany Hall tiger. Read what he did to Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall in the early 1870s.

Oakland Señors

The Oakland Raiders were initially known as the Oakland Señors. The Oakland Tribune held a "name the team" contest, and Señors won. After being made fun of and being accused that the results were fixed, the organization changed its name to the Raiders, which placed third in the contest.

Pearl snap shirts

This is what a pearl snap is. I guess it has two pockets in the front.

Honey trap

A honey trap is a woman planted by the government in order to seduce a sexual molester. Defenders of Julian Assange claim that a honey trap got him.

Pinckney Pinchback

Pinckney Pinchback was the first black governor of a U.S. state (Louisiana). Actually, he was the first non-white governor. He took office on this day in 1872, after the incumbent governor, Henry Clay Warmoth, was forced to step aside because of impeachment charges. After the charges on Warmoth were dropped, Pinchback stepped aside on January 13, 1873 (35 days).

Guyliner

It's eyeliner...for dudes. Rock stars wear it and shit. So does Johnny Depp.

whoever this guy is

Tiger stripes

National Geographic is celebrating Big Cat Week this week (still not as badass as Discovery's Shark Week). Did you know that no two tigers can have the same pattern of stripes?

"When I get sad...

...I stop being sad and be awesome instead."

Somehow people love stupid shit like this. I found this quote floating around a couple of my friends' Facebook profiles so I decided to look it up. It's from some show called How I Met Your Mother, or something.

I don't understand how a quote can be so great when it received almost no laughter from the audience.

Winnow

Winnow means "to separate or distinguish (valuable from worthless parts)."

Cartoon characters for your Facebook profile picture

I'm pretty new to Facebook (2 months), so I'm not privy to the hip memes that happen every so often. I noticed that one of my friends changed his profile picture to a scene in Tom and Jerry. Badass cartoon, but dumb choice for a profile pic. Call me old school, or lame, but I believe everyone has a right to know what the hell you look like on a social networking website like Facebook. My pic is the best.

I commented on his pic that it was a dumb choice. He must have agreed, or something, because the next day he took it down and replaced it with a normal image of himself. But then I noticed everyone doing the cartoon thing. Turns out that I made my friend go against the grain, because last week Facebook users listened to the meme gods and did the cartoon thing. Something about stopping child abuse, or something.

If I have the power to make one person disobey the meme gods, imagine what else I can do....

Krampus

Krampus is a mythical creature who accompanies St. Nicholas during Christmas, warning and punishing bad children. He is popular in some European countries, especially Austria and Hungary.

This is from The Colbert Report, dated December 9, 2009.

You can put symbols in a URL

Apparently.

Our Lady of the Angels School fire

The Our Lady of the Angels School fire (elementary school in Chicago, IL) happened on this day in 1958. Shortly before students were dismissed for the day, a fire broke out at the foot of a stairway, eventually killing 92 students and 3 nuns. This tragedy generated sweeping school fire safety regulations.

No one has been prosecuted for it, but it's suspected that a fifth grader, who had been excused to go to the restroom at around the same time, set the fire. He confessed to the police in 1962 but later recanted.

The day produced this photograph, published in Life magazine, of a boy named John Jajkowski, Jr. being carried out by a firefighter. John, like most of the victims, died from suffocation of the black and oily smoke.