Animals
Tank Pigeons
Tanks were first used in combat during World War I, but they often relied on a very old-fashioned form of communication: pigeons.From military-history.org:
A pigeon about to be thrown from a tank during World War I
Posted By: Alex - Sun May 01, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Military, War, 1910s
Cutting a sheep in half with one stroke
Swordsmanship shows often used to include demonstrations of the ability to cut a dead sheep in half with one stroke.I've never been to a swordsmanship show, but I'm guessing that this particular display of ability is no longer a standard routine.
I'm also guessing that it must be pretty hard to do.
Birmingham Gazette - Apr 16, 1920
Ithaca Journal - Sep 23, 1922
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 06, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Weapons
CHANGE RETURN
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 05, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Technology, Poor People, Poverty, Proles, and the Underclass, Science Fiction, Cartoons
Six drown trying to save chicken
Actually, only one of them jumped into the well trying to save a chicken. The others were trying to save humans. But still, it was a mass tragedy apparently started by an attempt to save a chicken.
Edmonton Journal - Aug 2, 1995
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 04, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Death, 1990s
Haarlem Oil
Their home page.The Wikipedia page.
A 300-year-old "remedy," whose ingredients are:
Ad from 1920.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 02, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Seventeenth Century
Buster’s Joke on Papa
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 21, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Movies, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Comics, 1900s, Pranks
Jealous Judy Prefers Gentlemen
Reno Gazette Journal - May 12, 1937
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 17, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Love and Romance, 1930s, Men
Town Founded by a Jackass
It was Noah Kellogg's donkey that alerted the prospector to a mountain outcropping of galena, a lead ore often containing silver. This miraculous moment would attract a rough-and-tumble-type crowd to dig up and refine the resources below. What this visually stunning Silver Valley town is today — through mining ups and downs, population decline and industry changes — is just as the town motto cheekily states: "Founded by a jackass and inhabited by his descendants."
Article on the current state of the place.
Their Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 15, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Government, Humor, Regionalism, Mining
The Contents of an Ostrich’s Stomach
Frederick William Bond took the photo below at the London Zoo showing the items found in an ostrich's stomach following an autopsy: a lace handkerchief, a buttoned glove, a length of rope, a plain handkerchief, copper coins, metal tacks, staples, hooks, and a four-inch nail. The nail had killed it.The photo is undated, but I'm guessing it was taken sometime in the 1930s. (Update: the Flickr source says it was taken circa 1930.)
Image source: National Science and Media Museum on Flickr
Along similar lines is this story from 1972 about items found in the stomach of an ostrich at a private French zoo: coins, telephone tokens, and stones. What wasn't found was the diamond watch it had snatched off a spectator the previous year.
Miami News - Jun 12, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 12, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Food, Stomach
First Pig To Fly
In 1909, a pig (subsequently named Icarus) became the first pig to fly in an airplane.However, as far as I know a pig has never gone beyond the atmosphere into space. I know this because I once briefly had the idea of writing a book titled Pigs in Space about the history of animals in space. But I abandoned the idea when I couldn't find any record of pigs in space. The closest I found was when, in 2005, the Chinese sent some pig sperm into space. I didn't think Pig Sperm in Space would work as a title.
More info about the flying pig: londonist.com
image source: waymarking.com
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Nov 25, 1909
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 29, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Air Travel and Airlines, 1900s
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