Analog Nation

By now, everyone has heard. Someone spilled the beans, the cat’s out of the bag, the information is out in the ether, and now there are beans and cats everywhere. Granted, it’s not that hard to clean up beans, and whoever thought it would be difficult to put a cat back in a bag has [...]

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Honestly, I was just sitting here minding my own business. I’d just finished dinner, had a bit of time before “Lost,” and was cleaning up some of the mess that accumulated over the last two weeks while I was locked in a theater. Out of nowhere, a friend of mine broadcast a challenge all throughout [...]

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• On September 27, 1951, a team of anthropologists from Indiana University discovered the oldest shopping cart ever found. Working at a dig site in Egypt, the team believed at first that the relic was some sort of bronze cage or basket. Once they unearthed the handlebar and wheels, they realized the magnitude of their [...]

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• On August 18, 1883, Thomas Edison completed a working prototype for what is widely regarded as his worst invention, the pedal-operated pencil breaker. The shoebox-sized contraption, which weighed over thirty pounds, was designed to sit on the desk of a clerk or accountant, who powered it with his feet. Why an accountant would need [...]

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• On July 21, 1989, the worst domino-related incident on record occurred at Union Station in Kansas City, MO. Over 846,000 dominoes experienced an “unplanned collapse event” (UCE), tumbling haphazardly after a passer-by slipped on the freshly mopped floor. Domino wranglers on hand were powerless to stop the event once it began. When the dust [...]

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In honor of Independence Day, we present an all-American edition of “Own Words.” “It is wholly fitting that we should celebrate July 4th, 1776. It is the day when the rest of the world’s nations dropped their playthings and said, ‘Uh-oh, Dad’s home.’” -George S. Patton, 1943 “America is a train. A train that steams [...]

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