The 4th is on a Wednesday this year, which, besides making for a very awkward work week, means that next Tuesday's Society for the Advancement of Social Studies meeting is basically on a weekend. Get ready for Independence Day by learning a few things about good old America.
We'll cover the history of political parties in the States, give you a timely refresher on the Revolution, and a history of crazy American laws. There'll be drink...
Architecture is fun! Because it's inherently interesting and also because you can impress your friends by casually dropping things like "oh, what a nice example of an Ionic column," so let's get a-learning.
Here's a really short version: our friends the Greeks and Romans generally built temples in three "orders" - Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.
These styles are characterized, among other things, by the type of column used, and that's...
Last week, at our maple syrup class, we were perplexed by a very important question. Why did all the real maple syrup bottles have these tiny, useless handles?
You know the type:
The infamous tiny handle. courtesy Brett L.
So, why go through the trouble of having these little handles when a smooth bottle would do the job just fine?
The internet's favorite answer is that the handles are a remnant from when most jars were large...
I was researching botulism and tetanus, as you do, when I came across this neat anecdote about the U.S.'s attempt to use botulism as a biological weapon during WWII. This is shortened from the original, to just the interesting bits:
During World War II, the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) developed a plan for Chinese prostitutes to assassinate high-ranking Japanese officers with whom they sometimes consorted in occupied Chinese cities....
Masters of Social Gastronomy (MSG) is a monthly lecture series all about the history and science behind some of your favorite foods. This month: gelatinous edibles of all sorts.
Sarah will discuss the origins of gelatinous desserts, starting long ago when jiggly delights were made with drippings from beef stew or extracts from the swimbladders of sturgeon. Then we'll take on that modern wonder: Jell-O, exploring the greatest ...
