Month: November 2016

Last week, NASA released a beautiful fly-through of the International Space Station (ISS), captured in 4K Ultra-HD resolution. We drift through various modules of the station for 18 minutes, enjoying views usually reserved for astronauts.

This is exactly the relaxing, beautiful video you need today to space out. Enjoy:

Note that the video was captured using a wide-angle “fisheye” lens. That causes distortion around the edges of the image, but also allows the viewer to really feel like you’re there. If you’re wondering who really is there, check out this handy NASA site.

You may recall that in 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the electoral college. George W. Bush, of course, went on to become the president.

In 1824, Andrew Jackson found himself in an even more confusing situation: He won both the popular vote and got the most votes in the electoral college, but lost the election anyway.

That year, there were four main contenders for president, all from the Democratic-Republican party: Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Secretary of the Treasury William Harris Crawford, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, and Tennessee Senator Andrew Jackson.

At the time, a candidate needed 131 electoral college votes in order to win the presidency. After all of the ballots were counted, Jackson had received 99 votes to John Quincy Adams’s 84. The remaining votes were split between Crawford and Clay—41 and 37 respectively.

Though Jackson clearly received the most votes—both popular and electoral—he didn’t reach that magic 131 number. Because no one did, the election was kicked to the House of Representatives. According to the 12th Amendment, which refined the process of voting for the president and vice president, the House could only consider the top three candidates, which meant Clay was out.

And that’s when things got interesting. Clay didn’t particularly care for John Quincy Adams, but we know the two of them met privately before the House voted. It’s since been alleged that the pair made what is now known as a “Corrupt Bargain”—Clay promised to work behind the scenes to get the House vote to go Adams’s way, and in return, Adams guaranteed Clay the Secretary of State position.

Both men denied making such a deal, but the proof may have been in the pudding. Clay began actively campaigning for Adams, working hard to turn his votes into votes for Adams. In the end, Adams carried 13 states, Jackson took seven, and Crawford four. As the results were announced, there was so much booing, hissing, and general uproar from the public galleries in the House that the Speaker of the House—Henry Clay—had them all thrown out.

Jackson eventually had his revenge, though. In the 1828 election, he handily defeated the incumbent John Quincy Adams, and served two terms to Adams’s one.

At one time or another, most Disney fans have experienced the pain of having one of their favorite restaurants or attractions close (RIP, Maelstrom). Even Michael Eisner isn’t immune.

When Disney’s Pleasure Island entertainment district was in the planning phase in the 1980s, the creative executives behind the project reportedly knew they would have more luck getting Eisner’s buy-in if they paid homage to one of his favorite movies: Splash.

Madison’s Dive, named after Daryl Hannah’s character in the movie, was going to be a themed saloon built at the end of a pier. Imagineers planned to include extras that would wow patrons, like old seadogs that would sing shanties and tell tales about the one that got away, and elusive mermaids that would occasionally drift by the underwater windows.

Eisner loved it, of course, and Madison’s Dive got the stamp of approval. Disney was so far along in planning that they even announced Madison’s to the press, along with plans for another unrealized venue: a “dance hall surrounded by a roller rink” called Zephyr RockinRolladrome.

Of course, such a place is much more expensive to erect than your typical hole-in-the-wall drinking establishment, so when the Pleasure Island project went over budget, Madison’s Dive was one of the first places to get the axe. (Zephyr RockinRolladrome obviously wasn’t too far behind.)

Disney wasn’t totally devoid of references to Madison the mermaid, however. Since opening day in 1989, Hollywood Studios has used a real prop from the movie as park decor: the mermaid fountain Madison gave to Allen. Though it looked like it was a brass statue surrounded by stone, the whole thing was made of fiberglass. The fountain was still there as of earlier this year, but with the Toy Story Land expansion currently underway, it seems like Splash may be sunk.

On June 13, 1966, in Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court ruled that, in order for confessions and other information obtained while a suspect is in custody to be admissible in court, police had to first give a run-through of a few key aspects of the judicial system—starting, as any Law and Order fan knows, with the right to remain silent. In the 50 years since, the Court has codified several times just when and how a suspect should be Mirandized. (Yes, it’s a verb.) Here are 10 facts about Miranda rights.

1. NOT BEING READ HIS RIGHTS DIDN’T ALLOW MIRANDA TO GO FREE.

The Miranda in Miranda v. Arizona is Ernesto Arturo Miranda, a Phoenix man who had amassed a long rap sheet—including attempted rape, assault, and burglary—by his early 20s. In 1963, Phoenix Police arrested him for robbery and rape after a car believed to be involved was traced back to him. In the lineup, two victims thought he looked right, but neither was positive. A pair of officers questioned him for two hours in an interrogation room, emerging with a signed confession.

At the trial, Miranda’s defense attorney, Alvin Moore, tried to have the confession thrown out, arguing that Miranda, who hadn’t advanced beyond the ninth grade, was not properly made aware of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Miranda was convicted. His lawyer appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, which upheld the conviction. The case caught the attention of Robert J. Corcoran, an attorney at the Phoenix branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, who helped take it to the U.S. Supreme Court

In a 5-4 decision, the Court reversed Miranda’s conviction. “[W]e hold that, when an individual is taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities in any significant way and is subjected to questioning, the privilege against self-incrimination is jeopardized,” wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren. “Procedural safeguards must be employed to protect the privilege.” The Court ruled that certain Fifth and Sixth Amendment safeguards were meaningless unless suspects like Miranda understood them during interrogation, given the enormous power possessed by police in such a situation.

But Miranda didn’t walk free, and the state of Arizona retried him. Even without the confession, the jury found him guilty and a judge sentenced him to 20 to 30 years. (Failure to give a Miranda warning doesn’t free a suspect on a technicality; it only means information obtained during post-arrest interrogation can’t be used in court.)

In 1971, Miranda was paroled; four years later, he returned to prison on a parole violation and was released again soon after. On January 31, 1976, he was fatally stabbed in a bar fight. Though no one was ever charged with or convicted of the murder, police did briefly detain a suspect. He was read his Miranda rights.

2. THE SCRIPT CAME FROM A CALIFORNIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY WITH A PRINTING BUSINESS.

While the Supreme Court gave a list of the rights individuals must be informed of, they didn’t come up with an exact script. That came from a meeting of California’s district attorneys held weeks after the decision. Attorney General Thomas C. Lynch appointed Assistant Attorney General Doris H. Maier and Nevada County District Attorney Harold Berliner to compose a short, easy-to-memorize script that relayed the essential rights stipulated in the court decision. It consisted of fewer than 100 words, including four statements and two questions:

You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you are being questioned.
If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning, if you wish one.
Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you?
Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?

Berliner had a side business in letterpress printing. He printed the Miranda warning on easy-to-carry vinyl cards (able to withstand a washing machine cycle in the pocket of a police uniform) and sent samples to law enforcement agencies across the country. He sold tens of thousands of the cards, popularizing the classic script familiar to criminals and TV viewers. Berliner would later say that he regretted adding “and will” to the warning, because “[i]t is not an exact statement of the truth of the situation” since not everything said will definitely be used against the suspect. But he liked how the sentence flowed.

3. THE SCRIPT WAS FURTHER POPULARIZED ON DRAGNET.

A stickler for procedural accuracy, actor/producer Jim Webb inserted the California-phrased Miranda warning into the NBC show upon its 1967 revival, reinforcing that wording as the standard.

4. SOME BORDER STATES ADD A LINE.

States along the U.S.-Mexico border add a line: “If you are not a United States citizen, you may contact your country’s consulate prior to any questioning.”

5. THERE IS A PUBLIC SAFETY EXEMPTION.

In New York v. Quarles (1984), the Court carved out a public “safety exemption” for situations “in which police officers ask questions reasonably prompted by a concern for the public safety.”

This case stemmed from an incident that occurred in Queens in 1980. NYPD officer Frank Kraft darted into a grocery store to chase down a suspect. He had been forewarned the suspect, later identified as Benjamin Quarles, was armed. After Quarles surrendered, Kraft found an empty holster while doing a pat-down. “Where’s the gun?” he asked. Quarles gestured toward some empty milk cartons and said, “The gun is over there.” Police retrieved a loaded handgun. After that, an officer read Quarles the Miranda warning.

The State of New York charged Quarles with criminal possession of a weapon, among other crimes. The State exempted statements made pre-Miranda warning (as well as the gun), but as the case bounced from an appellate court to the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices were cornered into ruling on the matter. Speaking for the majority, future Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote, “We conclude that the need for answers to questions in a situation posing a threat to the public safety”—such as the location of a loaded gun—“outweighs the need for the prophylactic rule protecting the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination.”

The exemption has been utilized in recent terrorism cases. In 2009, the FBI questioned the attempted “Christmas Day bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for nine hours before Mirandizing him. In 2010, Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to ignite a car bomb in Times Square, also spoke to investigators for several hours before being Mirandized. In 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston bombing perpetrator, was in custody for 16 hours before he heard the Miranda script.

6. MIRANDA RIGHTS DON’T APPLY TO SIMPLE TRAFFIC STOPS.

Police officers don’t read Miranda rights during traffic stops, even though they do question drivers. In Berkemer v. McCarty (1984)—in which an Ohio man fought his DUI arrest on the grounds that the officer did not Mirandize him during the stop—the Supreme Court ruled that advisement of rights only applied when a suspect was in police custody.

7. MIRANDA RIGHTS DON’T PREVENT UNDERCOVER OFFICERS FROM OBTAINING ADMISSIBLE INFORMATION IN JAILS.

Miranda rights were codified again in 1990 in Illinois v. Perkins, which protected police working undercover.

Four years prior, long-time offender Lloyd Perkins told a fellow inmate, Donald Charlton, about a murder he had committed, but not been charged with. Charlton went to police, who had Officer John Parisi pose as an inmate at a jail in Montgomery County, Illinois. Charlton and his new associate tried to recruit Perkins in an escape plan that would involve killing guards. Undercover, Parisi asked Perkins if he’d ever “done” anyone, and Perkins confessed to the killing of Richard Stephenson in East St. Louis, Illinois in 1984.

Once convicted, Perkins’s attorneys tried to throw out the confession arguing Parisi had never Mirandized him. The Supreme Court made a distinction between police deception and coercion and ruled that a jail doesn’t have the inherently coercive and “police-dominated atmosphere” of an interrogation.

8. THE WARNING APPLIES TO SOME INTERROGATIONS OUTSIDE OF CUSTODY.

In another follow up to the Miranda case, John J. Fellers of Lincoln, Nebraska, impressively appealed his drug conviction all the way to the Supreme Court, without a lawyer, and the Court ruled 9-0 in his favor. After Fellers had been indicted, two police officers stopped by his home and questioned him about his drug problems before taking him to the station, Mirandizing him, and charging him with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

In Fellers v. United States (2004), the Court clarified the traditional understanding that Miranda rights began at arrest. Instead, the right to counsel began “at or after the time that judicial proceedings have been initiated.” Because clearly judicial proceedings had begun and the intent of the meeting—regardless of location—was to exact information, Fellers should have been Mirandized as soon as it began.

9. MIRANDA WARNINGS MAY HAVE LOWERED CONFESSION RATES.

Many studies [PDF] have tried to document the impact of Miranda on confessions and crime-solving. The results can be difficult to understand and are often criticized within academia for parsing data one way or another. There is no consensus on Miranda’s impact on convicting suspects, but several studies have pointed to lowered rates of confession and self-incrimination since the decision.

A study of Pittsburgh police data found that 48.5 percent of suspects confessed from 1964 to the Miranda requirement and 32.3 percent did in the months after Miranda. However, researchers found no change in Pittsburgh’s conviction and clearance rates. A study of Miranda’s effects on criminal persecution in Manhattan found that confessions were used in court in 49 percent of felony cases in the six months before Miranda and in only 14.5 percent immediately afterwards. A study of serious crimes prosecuted by the Philadelphia District Attorney found that 90 percent of suspects gave some kind of statement before 1964. As Philadelphia police gradually introduced Fifth and Sixth Amendment warnings into interrogation, even before Miranda, that rate began to drop. By the start of 1967, only 40.7 percent of arrestees for the same crimes gave statements.

10. THE D.O.J.’S GUIDELINES ON MIRANDIZING DEAF SUSPECTS: DON’T; JUST GET A LAWYER.

Department of Justice training material recommends that police not even question Deaf suspects until a lawyer for that person is present because of the Miranda hurdle. Providing a written Miranda warning is ill advised because it assumes the suspect reads at a level to understand it. Lip-reading is also inadequate; only 5 percent of spoken words can be understood through the technique. Agencies might be tempted to bring in a sign language interpreter, but many legal and technical terms are not easily conveyed in sign language. Just wait for a lawyer.

 
As the largest gulf in the world, the Gulf of Mexico has long played a significant role in the economy and ecology of the United States—and beyond. Here are a few things about this impressive body of water you might not have known.

1. IF STRETCHED ACROSS LAND, THE GULF OF MEXICO WOULD SPREAD FROM LOS ANGELES TO NEW YORK.

From the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to the island of Cuba, the Gulf’s shoreline extends for 3500 miles. According to the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, the Gulf holds 643 quadrillion gallons of water and reaches a depth of more than 12,000 feet. It contains half of the nation’s coastal wetlands, 90 percent of its seagrass, and all its mangrove habitat.

2. ITS WATERS ARE TEEMING …

This sea boasts incredible biodiversity—scientists have inventoried 15,419 species in the Gulf ecosystem, ranking it in the top five ocean areas globally. Residents include hundreds of species of fish, hundreds more of crustaceans, four species of whales, 28 species of dolphins, five species of sea turtles, and many sharks, including hammerhead, tiger, thrasher, and great white. The Gulf contains one of only two breeding grounds for Atlantic bluefin tuna. It also hosts two large tarpon populations: one that spawns off Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula and follows the Texas coast to northern waters and another that spawns offshore near Florida.

3. … BUT LESS SO EVERY DAY.

This rich ecosystem is in trouble; 52 of its species appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. These include Bluefin tuna; whooping cranes; Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead, and green sea turtles; grouper species; blenny species; corals; blue, finback, and sperm whales; and sixteen species of sharks. Because of overfishing and destructive fishing practices, as well as declining water quality—including oil spills, pollution, and debris from coastal development—as well as invasive species and climate change, many species are on the decline.

4. A LOT OF RIVERS RUN INTO IT.

Forty percent of the continental U.S.—the entire landmass between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, covering 31 states—drains into these waters. Thirty-three major rivers drain into the Gulf, the largest of which is the Mississippi. That means the Gulf has to handle the agricultural runoff from the Mississippi basin. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers and oxidized nitrogen from fossil fuel combustion flow from the Mississippi into the waters of the Gulf. These unnaturally high levels of nutrients significantly increase growth of phytoplankton and algae. As these plants die and bacteria feed on them, it uses up oxygen in the water. This process has created an ever-growing hypoxic area, a region where the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water falls so low that plants and animals die. This “dead zone” grows every summer, and it’s the largest human-caused dead zone in the world. In 2106, it is expected to grow larger than the state of Connecticut.  

5. BUT FOR NOW, EAT UP!

While many fish species are in decline, seafood is still big business here. In 2014, commercial fishers landed 546,478 metric tons of seafood in the Gulf of Mexico, representing a dockside value of more than $989 million. Shrimp accounted for more than half of that. Commercial fishing in the Gulf accounts for a lot of jobs: 26,000 in 2012, with another 6,720 in seafood processing, 11,459 in seafood wholesale businesses, and 59,098 in seafood retail. That’s not to mention casual fishing: Recreational anglers spend around $1.5 billion a year on fishing trips in the Gulf, and about twice that on related equipment like tackle and boat expenses.

6. IT’S NOT JUST PARADISE FOR SEAFOOD CONNOISSEURS.

The Gulf is just as popular with corals. Caribbean-style coral reefs grow on top of salt domes rising from the floor of the Gulf near the edge of the continental shelf, the northernmost reefs in the U.S. and some of the healthiest in the world. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, 100 miles off the Texas and Louisiana coasts, protects three of the Gulf’s almost 20 reef areas. Sanctuary scientists monitor these three areas annually as part of a long-term program that began in 1988, making it one of the longest such coral reef research programs anywhere in the world.

7. LARGER CRITTERS LIKE IT TOO.

Whale sharks gather in groups as big as 100 to feed near the mouth of the Mississippi River during the summers. The world’s largest fish, growing up to 50 feet long, whale sharks eat primarily plankton. While they mostly feed at the surface, they can dive 4,500 feet deep. Sharks tagged by Belize-based shark researcher Rachel Graham proved that individual animals travel between Belize, the Yucatan and the northern Gulf of Mexico, an impressive distance. Unfortunately, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List ranks this species as endangered. They are targeted for their meat and fins, killed when caught in nets set for other species (especially tuna), and injured or killed by ships.

8. YOU COULD CALL IT AN AQUATIC HIGHWAY.

The Nature Conservancy recently analyzed data on 26 species from more than 100 scientists for a report identifying four major migratory pathways—dubbed “blueways”—criss-crossing the Gulf. These routes are used by fish, mammals, sea turtles, and birds, with migrations occurring year-round. But the organization notes that less than one percent of these aquatic corridors, and less than 20 percent of area used as stopovers by migratory birds, are currently protected or managed areas, and few multinational agreements provide protection to migrating species.

9. THE GULF DOESN’T ALWAYS STAY IN THE SEA.

One of the reasons it’s such a popular spot for animals and birds is Sargassum, a gold-colored, floating algae that provides resting, feeding, and breeding areas for many species. The gulf annually produces about a million pounds of the seaweed. It rides on currents from the Gulf to collect in the Sargasso Sea, a 1.5-million-square-mile area in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. It also circulates onto Gulf beaches, sometimes piling up in significant, stinky quantities. Many communities that depend on tourism clear it from the beach as fast as they can, but scientists discourage this, as Sargassum likely contributes to beach and dune stability (providing increased protection from storms), and provides food for a variety of creatures. Galveston, Texas, recently put up educational signs and handed out fliers asking visitors to be tolerant and recognize the seaweed’s importance. The Galveston Park Board even organized a Bucket Brigade, training volunteers to introduce beach-goers to the interesting creatures living in the seaweed.

10. GULF ENERGY POWERS MUCH OF THE U.S.

Oil production from the Gulf in 2011 accounted for 54 percent of U.S. total, and natural gas production from the region accounted for 47 percent. The area also contains almost half the country’s refining capacity. There have been thousands of wells drilled in the Gulf, the first in 1938 in 14 feet of water about a mile from the Louisiana coast. The first offshore well out of sight of land was drilled 10 miles off the coast in 1947. Today, offshore rigs drill in waters deeper than 10,000 feet.

11. WE’RE STILL FIGURING OUT THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF REPEATED OIL SPILLS.

 
This oil and gas development can come with a price. The three-month-long Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 poured an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil (nearly 206 million gallons) and an equivalent volume of gas into the Gulf, with about 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersants added by BP. It represents the second major spill in the Gulf; the first was Mexico’s Ixtoc 1 well in the Bay of Campeche, which blew in June, 1979, spewing 140 million gallons of oil until it was stopped almost a year later. These two Gulf spills are the largest accidental marine oil spills in history, and both occurred due to platform blowout, John W. Tunnell Jr., endowed chair for biodiversity and conservation science at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, tells mental_floss. Tunnell was one of the few scientists who studied the ecological impact of Ixtoc when it happened. Funding for research on its effects quickly dried up, though, which Tunnell calls a missed opportunity—one that became clear after Deepwater Horizon. In 2015, Tunnell received funding for a three-year project to document residual impacts from Ixtoc as part of efforts to predict the long-term impacts of Deepwater Horizon. It’s still ongoing.

 
Presidential campaigns today seem like non-stop odysseys of speeches, interviews, and most importantly travel. But in 1896, presidential candidate William McKinley and his campaign manager, Mark Hanna, formulated a unique strategy that allowed McKinley to run for office without having to ever leave home. Using the media and his own supporters to his advantage, McKinley managed to undertake an aggressive presidential campaign while remaining close to home to care for his ill wife, Ida.

William McKinley and Ida Saxton married in 1871, after the two met at a local picnic. Their family life quickly met with tragedy, though, after Ida’s mother died in 1873, followed by the deaths of the couple’s two daughters: one, a little girl also named Ida, died during infancy, just months after Ida’s own mother died; the other, Katie, died of typhoid fever in 1875. While grieving her losses, Ida developed a series of debilitating health issues, including phlebitis (vein inflammation) and epilepsy, which forced her to frequently use a cane and spend much of her time bedridden.

McKinley, who was elected to the U.S. congress in 1876 and became governor of Ohio in 1891, still appeared at political functions with his wife, even as stories about her declining health were reported. At social events, she would often be seen holding a bouquet of flowers to mask her tremors, and when an epileptic fit attacked her in public, William held a handkerchief over her face until it subsided.

Though Ida spent most of her time indoors due to her condition, William found little ways to show his love for her throughout the day. While he was governor, he would wave to her from a specific spot on the street outside their house as he left for work in the morning. And every day at 3 p.m., he would open his office window, which was visible from where he and Ida lived, and again wave at her as she kept busy inside. They would often end their nights by reading the Bible or playing cribbage together. When McKinley decided to run for president in 1896, he knew Ida’s health would play a big role in how the campaign was conducted.

 
Wanting to campaign, but refusing to leave his wife during what promised to be a lengthy process, McKinley and Hanna came up with a “front porch campaign” that would allow him to run for president from his Canton, Ohio home. The idea was derived from a similar strategy used by James Garfield in 1880.

Before Garfield’s day, it was seen as beneath a candidate to “actively” seek the presidency by traveling and talking about themselves; instead, they would have surrogates campaign and boast on their behalf. But Garfield’s candidacy was different; as a Civil War hero, people flocked to his Mentor, Ohio home to wish him luck on his campaign. Garfield began speaking to the crowds of well-wishers and reporters, creating unique campaign opportunities in the process. After Garfield’s success, Benjamin Harrison used the technique for his 1888 campaign, followed by McKinley, who would soon expand the scope of the front porch.

Instead of traveling by rail and giving speeches in a different city every day, McKinley had the voters come to him. Delegates and special interest groups would arrive in Canton—often accompanied by lively parades—where they would read prepared remarks to McKinley (which he previewed and edited beforehand) before pledging their vote to the Ohio native. McKinley, one of the savviest presidents when it came to press relations, always had newspapermen on hand to report on his growing support. Hanna reimagined the Canton home as less of a permanent campaign stop, and more of a political pilgrimage for those in the Republican party. (Notably, the home was portrayed in the press as having belonged to the McKinleys for decades; in fact, although the couple had moved in shortly after their marriage, they had moved out after their daughter Ida’s death in 1873. Over two decades later, they rented the house during the election, partly to create an image of continuity.)

From August through November 1896, approximately 750,000 people shuffled through McKinley’s rental. He gave speeches outside at all hours of the day, except for Sunday. Scores of trains arrived, full of people ready to not only meet the future president, but pledge their support and spread the word once they returned home. These delegates included members of Republican clubs, Grand Army of the Republic veterans (a military fraternity), women-led groups, and the occasional oddity, like the Six Footers Club of Pittsburgh, which was made up of people who measured 6-foot or taller.

 
Ida, for her part, would occasionally serve lemonade to reporters and supporters when her condition allowed it. Other times, when she was either too sick to entertain, or the onlookers became too curious about her condition, she would travel to one of the family’s farms to recuperate and remove herself from wandering eyes. Mostly, Mrs. McKinley kept to relatively simple tasks during the campaign. That didn’t stop rumors about her health or country loyalty from spreading—at times she was called everything from a lunatic to an English spy. To stave off some of the questions regarding his wife’s mental and physical well-being, the McKinley campaign had a biography of Ida written—the first ever for the wife of a presidential candidate—and mailed it to voters, highlighting her patriotism and the reputation of her family.

McKinley’s front-porch brain trust, meanwhile, was running against a man whose campaign was the exact opposite: Democrat William Jennings Bryan. A prodigious campaigner, Bryan traveled an estimated 18,000 miles during the election of 1896, giving countless lengthy speeches along the way.

But it turns out that a walk onto the porch was all McKinley needed. He went on to defeat Bryan in both the election of 1896 and again in 1900. His devotion to his wife, and refusal to stray far from her sight, was seen as a political asset instead of a liability. In the 1900 election, McKinley altered his strategy and left most of the physical campaigning to his running mate, Theodore Roosevelt, who campaigned across 24 states for a total of 21,000 miles, outpacing Bryan in the process.

And once her husband was elected, Ida McKinley made history as a First Lady. In addition to being the first incumbent to ever be captured on film and to visit a foreign country, she advocated for the right of women to receive a proper education. She was also the first incumbent First Lady to publicly endorse women’s suffrage.

When McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901, Ida proved stronger than many anticipated. She nursed McKinley at his bedside during the eight days he survived after the attack, and she accompanied his coffin from Buffalo (where the assassination had taken place) to Washington, D.C. Ida would survive nearly six more years, and upon her death was interred along with McKinley and their daughters in the McKinley Memorial in Canton—the city of the “front porch campaign” all those years ago.

The financial toll debt takes is obvious: The average American household carries over $15,000 worth of consumer debt and doesn’t have the cash reserves to pay for a $500 emergency. The psychological toll of debt, however, is often overlooked. But a study from Northwestern University found that consumers with higher levels of debt had a 13.2 percent increase in depressive symptoms and an 11.7 percent increase in perceived stress.

In her book Dear Debt, personal finance writer Melanie Lockert chronicles her own experience with this kind of financial anxiety. She offers some useful advice for coping with money-induced stress and depression.

1. FOCUS ON BOOSTING YOUR CONFIDENCE.

After graduating from a prestigious university, Lockert had amassed over $80,000 worth of student debt and she was unable to find work. As her confidence dwindled, she says she learned to create her own opportunities to earn extra cash, even if it wasn’t a standard full-time job. She sold her stuff. She babysat. She passed out flyers in Central Park.

Obviously, the extra cash helped. But more importantly, Lockert says, these gigs gave her the confidence boost she needed to cope with her financial stress. “Realizing that I could create my own work and not just wait for others to give it to me helped boost my confidence,” she tells mental_floss. “During hard times or points of doubt, I just kept repeating ‘I am a money-making machine’ to myself.”

If you’re struggling to find a job or even side gigs while you’re in debt, volunteering might be another useful option. Not only can it lead to paid opportunities [PDF], but it can also help you establish a sense of purpose and confidence at a time when you need it most. Of course, an increase in income will go a long way toward offering relief, but in the meantime, it’s important to look out for your sense of self-worth and well-being.

2. EMBRACE ACCOUNTABILITY.

When your debt load feels overwhelming, it’s easy to give up. The stress takes over, you forget about your goal, your debt increases, the stress multiplies. It’s a vicious cycle that snowballs. This is where accountability partners come in handy. When you feel like giving up, a trusted friend or loved one can gently remind you why your debt payoff goal is important to you. They can also help boost your spirits.

Lockert held herself accountable through her blog, where she wrote letters to debt, chronicling her financial and emotional journey to the black. “I started my blog as a lifeboat during a dark time in my personal and professional life,” she says. “The writing gave me a purpose and helped me stay accountable in the debt payoff process.”

3. GET PROFESSIONAL HELP.

There are also professional resources available when you feel helpless against your debt. Credit counseling is designed to educate consumers about debt and then come up with a realistic plan they can stick with in order to stay above water.

While debt plan services typically come with a small fee, agencies accredited by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) begin with a free session that explains the basics of managing your debt and your budget.

In Lockert’s case, she enlisted the help of a low-cost therapist at her university to talk about her anxiety and depression. If you can’t afford a private therapist, many church organizations, community centers, or employers also offer low-cost options for mental health services.

4. PRACTICE GRATITUDE.

It sounds hokey, but a little gratitude can put you in the right frame of mind for sticking with your payoff goal. Lockert believes the daily gratitude exercise suggested by her therapist played a crucial role in changing her perspective. “Gratitude can help you get out of debt because it can shift your mindset. At the suggestion of my therapist at the time, I started writing three things I was grateful for each day,” she says.

Those three things could be anything, Lockert explains, from a cup of coffee to a nap to an afternoon walk. She says that embracing gratitude made her realize that, in many ways, she did have a rich life, despite her financial struggles. Her debt didn’t disappear overnight, of course, but the ritual gave her the motivation she needed to keep pursuing her payoff goal.

For those of us who prefer our blood sugar to remain relatively stable, doughnuts are an occasional treat—nutritionally bankrupt but delicious fried dough laced with flavors from chocolate to bacon. You might even choose to indulge only in honor of National Doughnut Day, observed the first Friday of every June.

Curiously, a second National Doughnut Day pops up just five months later, on November 5. We don’t have two Thanksgivings, two Halloweens, or even two National Hot Dog Days. So why do doughnuts get to claim two dates?

It helps to know how the June date originated: During World War I, volunteers who wanted to support troops were charged with preparing food to deliver to soldiers on the front lines in France. The Salvation Army dispatched over 250 women there, who found that battle-tested helmets were perfect for frying up to seven doughnuts at a time.

In 1938, the Salvation Army decided to honor these proclaimed “doughnut lassies” by recognizing an annual pastry holiday that could also raise awareness (and money) for their charitable efforts. National Doughnut Day was born.

Its calendar doppelgänger is harder to trace. According to food holiday historian John Bryan Hopkins, who cataloged several fringe holidays for his site Foodimentary beginning in 2006, mentions of the November Doughnut Day could be found as early as the 1930s in copies of Ladies’ Home Journal. Hopkins speculated that the November 5 date is close enough to Veterans Day on November 11 that a retail outlet likely introduced the date to acknowledge their service.

But which date do the major doughnut industry forces recognize? Entenmann’s tells us they don’t participate in November 5 celebrations. In a statement, a Dunkin’ Donuts spokesperson told mental_floss:

“Dunkin’ Donuts celebrates National Donut Day which is traditionally celebrated on the first Friday of June, which was originally established in 1938 by the Chicago Salvation Army to honor women who served donuts to soldiers during World War I. This past year on June 3, guests were able to enjoy a free donut with the purchase of any beverage. The brand does not have any plans for the other National Donut Day holiday in November.”

Krispy Kreme likes to remain the Switzerland of doughnut delegating, having been known to give doughnuts away on both dates. But considering June’s date has a proven—and noble—lineage, you might want to side with Dunkin’ and consider it the more official of the two holidays. And if you manage to miss both days, don’t be concerned: June 8 is National Jelly-Filled Donut Day, and National Cream-Filled Donut Day lands on September 14.

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