And just like that, it’s another Tuesday. Let’s jump in …
The Daily Rabbit Hole: Lenses are about 2700 years old
“The first crude lenses occurred in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia; around 700BC they started polishing crystals (often quartz) in attempt to replicate optical abilities that they noticed can be made with water”
The actual Marlboro man didn’t smoke cigarettes at all, let alone Marlboros. Robert Norris got the job after ad execs saw him in a photo with John Wayne and pointed saying, “That right there is a man’s man.” Actually, the first part is true - Norris was spotted in a photo with John Wayne, but no one has the details on what exactly was said when they saw him. Though I have to believe something like that quote was uttered considering the lifestyle ads they ran with Norris front and center look, feel, and sound as if they were written by someone who said “That right there is a man’s man” more than once in their life.
The ‘Wait, What?’ Vortex: No, Peter Stuyvesant didn’t invent Fun-House Mirrors
“Peter Stuyvesant forbade all religious observances except those of the Dutch Reformed Church and sought to prevent Jews and Quakers from entering the colony, according to The Encyclopedia of New York City. Both efforts failed, enhancing New Amsterdam’s reputation for tolerance, no thanks to Stuyvesant. He was definitely not a Coney Island kind of guy.”
TBH this is a really strange rumor for the NYT to clear up for us.
A visual history of what I just endured researching for this edition of the newsletter.
Let me start by prefacing that I had heard before that you could breathe through the sewer system if you have a tube long enough to reach through the toilet water and into the open air behind it. This is in the event you are caught in a fire and need a few more smoke-less breaths of air to get out or to hold on to be rescued. So naturally I googled:
Which led me to page with this image as the header:
Where the article concludes that while you can use a toilet snorkel to breathe air …
“The best way to prevent smoke inhalation is to react quickly.”
This has led me to feel like someone pulled one over on me. I could have sworn the best way would have been a toilet snorkel! Who could have thought the solution would be to react quickly?!
Sometimes the Internet rabbit hole is just … smoke and mirrors.