Page 1566 – fakuto

filed under: video

5332654101001

A watchmaker left a secret message inside of Abraham Lincoln’s pocket watch when the Civil War started. It wasn’t discovered for a century and a half.

March 6, 2017 – 4:00am

March 6, 2017

A New Food Delivery Service Caters to People With Digestive Disorders

Kirstin Fawcett

filed under: Food, health

Image credit:

Courtesy of Epicured

To make life easier for patients with digestive disorders, Epicured, a new meal delivery service spotted by The Mighty, provides subscribers with meals that are compliant with their treatment plans.

People with digestive disorders often have a hard time finding or cooking health-appropriate foods. Individuals with celiac disease—a genetic digestive disorder that causes harm to the small intestine—can’t eat gluten. Meanwhile, experts still don’t know what causes conditions like Crohn’s Disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), but research suggests that following a low FODMAP diet may improve symptoms.

Renee Cherkezian, a nurse, and Richard Bennett, an entrepreneur and former healthcare professional, launched Epicured in 2016. Other companies provide gluten-free meal plans, but Epicured bills itself as the only food delivery service that’s FODMAP-compliant, too. (For the uninitiated, FODMAP is an acronym for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols—all short chain carbohydrates, found in dairy products, wheat, certain fruits, onions, sweeteners, and more.)

Epicured’s menu changes seasonally; current offerings include everything from baked lasagna to Thai green curry to Tikka Masala. Not only are these choices diverse, they’re all 100 percent low FODMAP and gluten-free. “Many of our customers have not been able to derive a lot of pleasure from food, and we want to give them back that ability,” Bennett told The Mighty.

Epicured’s services are currently only available in the New York metro area, but the company plans to expand to include other East Coast cities. (Check here to see if Epicured delivers to you.) Before placing an order, though, consult with a doctor to make sure the meal plans fit your individual health needs.

[h/t The Mighty]

March 6, 2017 – 3:00am

March 5, 2017

15 Incredible Historic Women You Should Know

mentalfloss.com

filed under: History

Image credit:

Wikimedia Commons

March is Women’s History Month, and there’s no shortage of important women to celebrate. From fierce warriors to beloved poets, political activists to fearsome pirates, many women have made their mark on history, even if they aren’t household names. To celebrate the many achievements of women, here are 15 incredible women you may not know about, but probably should.

1. EDMONIA LEWIS

One of the first internationally famous African American artists, Edmonia Lewis was born in New York in 1844 and studied art at Oberlin College before becoming a professional sculptor. She was known for her marble busts of famous abolitionists like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Horace Greeley, and her patrons included President Ulysses S. Grant.

2. ANYTE OF TEGEA

One the great poets of Ancient Greece, Anyte (3rd century BCE) was one of the earliest poets to write primarily about the natural world and not the supernatural, focusing on plants and animals instead of the gods. Anyte was famous for writing epitaphs, many of which were humorous in tone. In one, she satirized the seriousness of most human epitaphs by commemorating the life of a cicada kept as a pet by a little girl. She wrote, “Myro, a girl, letting fall a child’s tears, raised this little tomb for the locust that sang in the seed-land and for the oak-dwelling cicada; implacable Hades holds their double song.” More of Anyte’s works survive to this day than any other female Greek poet.

3. JEANNE BARET

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Botanist and explorer Jeanne Baret was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. In 1766, the 26-year-old French woman boarded a ship disguised as a man named “Jean” and proceeded to sail around the world, collecting and studying plant samples with her paramour, the botanist Philibert Commercon. Her true gender was finally discovered somewhere in the South Pacific, and she and Commercon were kicked off the ship in Mauritius. Baret finally returned to France nearly a decade later, where she was lauded by the government as an “extraordinary woman” for her botanical work.

4. SARAH GUPPY

British inventor Sarah Guppy received 10 patents during her lifetime for a truly eclectic range of inventions. From a coffee maker that used its excess steam to boil eggs and warm toast to a device for removing barnacles from the bottoms of ships (for which the British Navy paid £40,000), Guppy was an unstoppable force in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. And her designs can still be seen: the stunning Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol would not have been possible without her 1811 plans for piling the foundations on either side of the Avon Gorge.

5. SAYYIDA AL HURRA

via YouTube

Sixteenth-century Islamic pirate queen Sayyida Al Hurra was both the governor of the city of Tétouan in Northern Morocco and a legendary pirate who ruled much of the western Mediterranean Sea for nearly 30 years, wreaking havoc on Spanish and Portuguese ships between 1515 and 1542. Though her real name is unknown, the honorary title “Sayyida Al Hurra” translates to “noble lady who is free and independent; the woman sovereign who bows to no superior authority.” She was also the last woman to hold the Al Hurra title.

6. MIRABAI

Mirabai, also known as Meera, was a 16th-century Indian poet who wrote numerous bhajans (prayerful songs) to the Hindu god Krishna. Mirabai was born into a wealthy family, but she eschewed her aristocratic life, devoting herself fully to the worship of Krishna and the singing of bhajans.

7. APHRA BEHN

Wikimedia Commons

Seventeenth-century playwright, novelist, poet, and government spy Aphra Behn may have been the first woman in England to earn her living as a professional writer. Though many men of her time vocally disapproved of female writers in general—and of the often risqué content of Behn’s writing specifically—her theatrical works were popular with audiences. Behn worked for most of her adult life as a writer, but took a brief break from the literary world from 1666 through 1667 when she traveled to Antwerp under the name “Astrea” to work as a spy for Charles II.

8. TRIỆU THI TRINH

Sometimes called the Vietnamese Joan of Arc, Triệu Thi Trinh (3rd century BCE) was a warrior who led a rebel army against Chinese invaders. Legend has it that she was 9 feet tall and fought over 30 battles against the Chinese, sometimes riding an elephant. When someone tried to discourage her from fighting, she famously said, “I will not resign myself to the lot of women who bow their heads and become concubines. I wish to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I have no desire to take abuse.”

9. HARRIET POWERS

Harriet Powers’s pictorial quilt. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Born into slavery in Georgia in 1837, Harriet Powers became known as one of the greatest Southern textile artists in United States history. Throughout her life Powers used intricate quilts to tell stories, stitching stunning and elaborate images from Bible stories, myths, and celestial phenomena while also drawing on West African artistic traditions. Only two of her quilts survive today; one is held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and the other by Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

10. SARAH MOORE GRIMKE AND ANGELINA GRIMKE

Abolitionist sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke were 19th-century orators and educators who traveled America lecturing on the horrors of slavery, and who penned numerous abolitionist tracts. They also spoke frequently on behalf of women’s rights, and were considered radical for arguing not only for the abolition of slavery, but in support of genuine racial and gender equality.

11. FANNIE FARMER

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Nineteenth-century culinary expert Fannie Farmer is often called the “mother of level measurements.” Farmer, who was born in Boston in 1857 and whose cookbooks are still in print over a century after their initial publication, helped standardize the cooking measurements which we now take for granted.

12. LOZEN

A great Apache warrior, Lozen rebelled after she and her family were forced onto a reservation in the 1870s. Together with her brother Victorio, she led a band of warriors, raiding the lands that were taken from them by settlers. “Lozen is my right hand…strong as a man, braver than most, and cunning in strategy,” Victorio famously said of his sister. “Lozen is a shield to her people.”

13. QIU JIN

Wikimedia Commons

Chinese feminist, revolutionary, poet, and eventual martyr, Qiu Jin fought for women’s access to education and against foot binding, founded a feminist journal, and fought against the Qing Dynasty before being executed in 1907 at age 31 after a failed uprising. She often wrote poetry about current events and historical female warriors and is considered a national hero by many in China.

14. MARGARET E. KNIGHT

Born in Maine in 1838, Margaret E. Knight went from working in a factory to inventing a product that would change the world—or, at least, the way we package groceries—forever: the paper bag. Knight created a machine that could mass-produce paper bags with flat bottoms (while earlier paper bags existed, they were more like flat envelopes). Her creation not only had a huge impact on the paper industry at the time, but machines based on Knight’s original design are still in use to this day.

15. CAROLINE HERSCHEL

Wikimedia Commons

British astronomer Caroline Herschel was born in Germany in 1750 and spent her early years doing housework for her parents (she once called herself the “Cinderella of the family”). She later moved to England to help her astronomer brother run his household and became a great astronomer in her own right. Not only was Herschel the first woman to discover a comet, but she was the first woman to have her scientific writings published and to be paid for her work.

March 2, 2017 – 12:05pm

March 5, 2017

One of the Strangest Customs in Congress

Mental Floss Studios

filed under: video

5332634651001

Congress is famous for its time-honored traditions and customs—but they had to put a stop to this one.

March 5, 2017 – 1:00pm

March 5, 2017

Watch Technologists Get Excited About Pen Computers in 1991

Chris Higgins

filed under: computers, retro, tv, video

Image credit:

Tomorrow’s World (BBC)

In this clip from a 1991 episode of Tomorrow’s World we learn about a revolution in computing: A FREAKIN’ TOUCH-SCREEN! Of course you don’t actually touch it with your fingers, you use a stylus instead. And the screen is monochrome. And it’s bulky. But still, you can kind of draw on it and that’s a big deal.

The early computers demonstrated in this clip struggle to do very basic handwriting recognition, but they do work. In a fascinating segment, they visit a Jaguar factory and note how the touchscreen is actually used in the wild, to ensure quality in paint jobs.

My favorite quote from this bit:

“It’s predicted that we will soon see an electronic checkbook which can read the amount, verify your signature, and communicate directly with the bank’s computer.”

Not a bad prediction, though of course the checkbook itself was largely made obsolete by ATM cards.

For special bonus points, after the touchscreen computer segment we learn about an exciting new technology that will allow for widescreen “high definition” TV. The future was so exciting in 1991. Enjoy:

One of the computers shown appears to be a Kyocera Refalo KX-1601, which actually ran MS-DOS!

March 5, 2017 – 12:00pm

March 5, 2017

This Week’s Best Amazon Deals You Can Still Get

Smart Shopping Team

Image credit:

amazon / istock

As a recurring feature, we share some amazing Amazon deals we’ve turned up. These items were the ones that were the most popular with our readers this week, and they’re still available.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers (including Amazon) and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Good luck deal hunting!

March 5, 2017 – 11:00am

March 5, 2017

A German soldier was trapped in an underground food…

Two German soldiers were trapped in an underground food and supply warehouse for 6 years after retreating troops dynamited the entrance. Polish workers removing rubble discovered them in 1951. 10

March 5, 2017

The producers of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest…

The producers of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest asked local car salesman Mel Lambert to help them find grotesque-looking locals to play extras. Lambert placed an ad asking ”Do You Have a Face That Scares Timberwolves?” Despite subsequent editorials protesting the insult, the ad was a success. 10

March 5, 2017

During a 2014 concert, Kanye West halted the performance…

During a 2014 concert, Kanye West halted the performance of “Good Life,” due to not the entire audience standing. The person he signaled out, was in a wheelchair. 00

March 5, 2017

In 2003 an ER doctor in Idaho saved a patient…

In 2003 an ER doctor in Idaho saved a patient’s life by performing emergency surgery with a cordless drill in a church parking lot to relieve pressure on his brain caused by internal bleeding. 00

1. EDMONIA LEWIS

2. ANYTE OF TEGEA

3. JEANNE BARET

4. SARAH GUPPY

5. SAYYIDA AL HURRA

6. MIRABAI

7. APHRA BEHN

8. TRIỆU THI TRINH

9. HARRIET POWERS

10. SARAH MOORE GRIMKE AND ANGELINA GRIMKE

11. FANNIE FARMER

12. LOZEN

13. QIU JIN

14. MARGARET E. KNIGHT

15. CAROLINE HERSCHEL

GADGETS, TOYS, AND MEDIA

KITCHEN

HOME

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

OFFICE, SCHOOL, AND CRAFTS

OUTDOORS, GARDEN, AND SPORTS

ELECTRONICS

TOOLS