Chainmaking

Boing Boing has a post with an animated GIF showing a machine making chain.

Google Street View on a Submarine

I have always like submarines and now Google Street View will let you take a tour of HMS Ocelot a submarine at the Chatham Historic Dockyard in the UK.

via Google Maps Mania

How Common is your Birthday?

The Daily Viz has a post with a heat map showing how common a particular birthday is (at least among people born in the US between 1973 and 1999).  July, August and September seem popular with September 16 being the most common.

The Great Sahara Sea

According to this article on IO9, in the 19th century there were plans to dig a canal from the Mediterranean to flood the low lying areas of the Sahara desert and create a giant inland sea.

The London Times said that the plan "dazzles the imagination, yet it has a sufficiently substantial basis to satisfy several shrewd traders in African commerce and some distinguished engineers." The Daily News called the project "the most remarkable that has ever been devised."

The Royal Navy in the First World War

The Guardian has an animation that shows the movement of the ships of the Royal Navy during the First World War.  The information comes from a project that is going through all of weather information in the ships' logs as part of a study on climate change.  I am assuming it doesn't include all RN ships but it doesn't really say.

500 New Fairy Tales Found

The Guardian reports that 500 new fairly tales have been found in an archive in Germany where they had been sleeping for 150 years.

For example, there is the tale of a maiden who escapes a witch by transforming herself into a pond. The witch then lies on her stomach and drinks all the water, swallowing the young girl, who uses a knife to cut her way out of the witch. However, the collection also includes local versions of the tales children all over the world have grown up with including Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin, and which appear in many different versions across Europe.

Animated Beer Labels

For some reason this guy makes animated gifs of beer labels.

Average Female Faces

FSToppers has a post about the average female face in various countries.  It is interesting that there are noticeable differences between the various European countries (and also between the South American ones).

Power on Tap

Low-Tech Magazine has a post explaining that before the spread of electricity people used to power household devices using the water pressure from their water taps.

Victorian Lockpickers

Slate has the story of Alfred C. Hobbs an American locksmith who shocked Victorian London by picking a supposedly unpickable lock.

A Map of History

Slate has an article about a "Histomap", published in 1931, that purports to show human history in chart form.

The 5-foot-long Histomap was sold for $1 and folded into a green cover, which featured endorsements from historians and reviewers. The chart was advertised as “clear, vivid, and shorn of elaboration,” while at the same time capable of “holding you enthralled” by presenting:

 the actual picture of the march of civilization, from the mud huts of the ancients thru the monarchistic glamour of the middle ages to the living panorama of life in present day America.

Names Are Becoming Less Common

The Economist reports (with graphs) that the names of newborns in the US are increasing not in the top 100 names.

In fact since the 1950s names have become less uniform across the board. Back then 76% of baby boys were given one of the 100 most popular names. Now the proportion is 43%.

Dolphins Have Names

The Guardian has an article that says that, essentially, dolphins have and use names for each other.

Where the Countries used to be

Flowing Data has a post with a map showing the original continent of Pangea with modern day country borders.  It looks like you could have walked from Newfoundland to Morocco.

Invented in Canada

Mental Floss as a post with a list of 19 things invented in Canada.  In addition to the usual suspects there were a few on the list that I hadn't known were Canadian.

Where Could Snowden Go?

The Economist has a post with a map showing which countries have extradition treaties with the US.  This could be useful information if any of you are considering a life of crime (or whistle-blowing).

Where to see Spaceships (in the US)

Space.com has an article with an infographic (also known as a map) showing where you can see various retired spaceships around the USA.

Montreal Moving Day

The Wall Street Journal has an article about a Canadian phenomena that I have always wondered about.  Why does everyone in Montreal move house on the same day?

DIY Grad School

The Art of Non-Conformity has a post about a do-it-yourself version of grad school.  I have been vaguely considering going to grad school but maybe I should try this instead.  Especially since I already have a subscription to the Economist.

Escher Tile Hardwood Flooring

Technabob has a post about hardwood floor cut into the shape of the Escher reptiles.  I think this might look a bit strange in reality but maybe I'm just hung-up on have long thin strips of wood.