OTD in 1785, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter proposing what we now call bifocal eyeglasses, with distance lenses on top and reading lenses on the bottom. 'I have only to move my eyes up or down, as I want to see distinctly far or near, the proper glasses being always ready.'

On this date in 1980, #PacMan debuted in Japan. The video game came to American shores later that year. It quickly caught fire, and remains one of the most popular games of all time. thoughtco.com/pac-man-game-1…

Arguably the single greatest headline in the history of journalism.

“Here are the girls/women who can get pregnant. These are the Zionists. You are so beautiful.”

OTD in 1973, then-Xerox PARC researcher Bob Metcalfe typed a memo (with a sketch) proposing a way of connecting computers called 'Ethernet.' He later said: 'If Ethernet was invented in any one memo, by any one person, or on any one day, this was it.' computerhistory.org/tdih/may/22/

Sweet dreams, boys and girls! x.com/i/status/17928…

This is the liquid analog to “bugs taste good, actually.”

Huge W

Link rot: one-quarter of all webpages that existed between 2013 and 2023 are no longer accessible, including 38% of 2013 webpages. 54% of Wikipedia pages have at least one 'Reference' link to a page that no longer exists; ditto for 21% of government sites. pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024…

A few days ago in Kyle, Texas, 706 people named Kyle showed up. They were aiming to set the Guiness World Record/Guinness World Records for the largest same-name gathering.

They weren't close. In 2017 in Kupres, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2,325 people named Ivan convened. dallasnews.com/news/texas/202…

On one hand, he “traveled to many parts of Iran” and “there was some reform in processing a backlog of court cases.”

On the other, he was “hated by many Iranians for his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in the 1980s” and “pour[ed] billions of dollars into

RIP, Red Lobster.

146 years ago today, a San Francisco businessman and Reno tailor got a patent for an 'IMPROVEMENT IN FASTENING POCKET-OPENINGS,' in which metal rivets would bind denim fabric together. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis’ “waist overalls”—what we call blue jeans—were off and running.

New Minnesota Tourism Bureau slogan:

Steve Martin shows his juggling skills on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' in 1968, his first major television appearance

As a UChicago Law School graduate, I’m embarrassed that a purported “Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics” and winner of supposedly prestigious academic prizes is ignorant of the indisputable facts Shadi Hamid recounts, has a Malthusian obsession with India to make

“The French Post Office has released a scratch-and-sniff postage stamp to celebrate the baguette, once described by [Emmanuel Macron] as ‘250 grams of magic and perfection.’” The stamp “depicts a baguette decorated with a red, white and blue ribbon.” 🥖 theguardian.com/artanddesign/a…

Report: “Rescue teams haven’t been able to locate a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after it made a ‘difficult landing’ in northwestern Iran. … Also aboard the helicopter was Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.” wsj.com/world/middle-e…

One of the greatest albums of all time in my book. Cannot begin to describe how much wear and tear I put on this cassette tape.

My favorite songs at first were the more popular ones, but I soon became enamored with “Mercy Street.” Still my top pick. youtu.be/DYw9UrsFJa4?si…