Analog Nation

Late summer has clenched us in its sweaty, wheezing grip. Everybody’s all beached out. Everyone’s hair is a fluffy/frizzy mess. Electricity bills ache like letters from the Civil War. Defeated, we cast our withered glance toward Autumn. This way marches a savior, flanked by trees of gold and crimson: the foot-ball season is almost here. [...]

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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 September 1, 1904, Cardinals pitcher Reginald “Pants” Dixon was beaned in the head by one of his own pitches. • On September 2, 1906, Reginald “Pants” Dixon mistakenly arrived in Pittsburgh for a game against Philadelphia. Dixon pitched five innings against the Pirates anyway, getting tagged for a 5-0 loss. • On September [...]

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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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This is going to be about sports. I’ll understand if you’d rather look at stick figures. Last Friday, a friend of mine asked me to explain how scorekeeping works in baseball. It was one in the morning, and there were four of us left of the twenty or so who had taken over the top [...]

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