His doodles made him famous then put him in the psych ward
During his student days, Sam started to experiment with the idea of an artistic alter ego – a character to accompany his work. He turned up to give a third-year presentation in a fully doodled suit, replete with doodled accessories (fedora, briefcase), announcing he was The Doodle Man from Doodle Land. Then, in 2017, a passerby filmed him at work. That recording ended up going viral on Facebook, and his online influence started to snowball: hundreds of thousands of followers flocked to his accounts. Lucrative brand collaborations followed. That’s when he got the keys to this house, and filled it with doodles – on the walls, the ceilings, the floors, everywhere. And then it all fell apart. At the hospital where he was eventually committed, he was convinced that people were trying to kill him and was running around shouting: ‘I’m Mr Doodle, and I need help.’ He was diagnosed as having a psychotic episode. (via The Guardian)
The unkillable soldier fought in three wars, lost an eye and a hand and died in his 80s
Carton de Wiart served in the Boer War, World War One and World War Two. In the process he was shot in the face, losing his left eye, and was also shot through the skull, hip, leg, ankle and ear. Despite being one of the most battle-scarred soldiers in the history of the British Army, he wrote in his autobiography: "Frankly, I had enjoyed the war." In WW1 he was severely wounded on eight occasions and mentioned in despatches six times. Having previously lost an eye and a hand in battle, Carton de Wiart, as commanding officer, was seen by his men pulling the pins of grenades out with his teeth and hurling them with his one good arm during the Battle of the Somme. In 1899 he saw the opportunity to experience his first taste of war. Abandoning his studies, he left for South Africa to serve as a trooper in the British Army during the second Boer War. As he was under military age, wasn't a British subject and didn't have his father's consent, he pretended to be 25 and signed up under a pseudonym. (via the BBC)
In Turkey and Nepal you can get honey that will make you high or even kill you
We’re here to harvest deli bal or "crazy honey" and Turkey’s Black Sea region is one of only two places in the world to produce it, the other being Nepal’s Hindu Kush Himalayan mountain range. The bees harvest nectar from purple rhododendron blooms in spring, which contain a naturally occurring toxin called grayanotoxin. The amount that makes it into the honey varies per season and what other flowers the bees have been feasting on, but a spoonful can pack enough buzz to deliver a gently soporific high — while a jar would land you in a hospital. This is a food that has felled armies. In the 4th century BCE, the Greek military leader Xenophon wrote of soldiers who overindulged and then couldn't even get up. For millennia, deli bal has been used as folk medicine, a spoonful taken daily to lower blood pressure or used as a sexual stimulant. Today, this potentially dangerous delicacy sells at a premium price.(via CNN)
Hi everyone! Mathew Ingram here. I am able to continue writing this newsletter in part because of your financial help and support, which you can do either through my Patreon or by upgrading your subscription to a monthly contribution. I enjoy gathering all of these links and sharing them with you, but it does take time, and your support makes it possible for me to do that. I also write a weekly newsletter of technology analysis called The Torment Nexus.
Only a small portion of Ellis Island belongs to New York and the rest belongs to New Jersey
Liberty Island and Ellis Island have been the property of the United States government since 1800 and 1808, respectively. Historical circumstances have led to the unusual situation of Liberty Island and 3.3 acres (13,000 m2) of Ellis Island being exclaves of New York, both completely surrounded by New Jersey. The dominion, jurisdiction, and sovereignty of the islands have variously been the subject of a colonial land grant, a provincial governor's directive, and an interstate compact, as well as several court cases and a U.S. Supreme Court decision. The result of which is that the natural land masses including Liberty Island and the original acreage on Ellis Island are part of New York City, and the 24 acres (97,000 m2) created by land reclamation at Ellis Island belongs to New Jersey, all surrounded by the municipal borders of Jersey City. (via Wikipedia)
Scientists still aren't sure why only some leaves go red in the fall
Every autumn, trees break down the green chlorophyll in their leaves, so that they can recover precious nitrogen before the leaves fall. (That nitrogen is necessary for photosynthesis, as well as building proteins and DNA.) The loss of this chlorophyll exposes yellow pigments that have been there in the leaves all along. That makes yellow leaves easy to explain. But the red color is different. It comes from brand-new chemicals that are generated just days before a leaf plunges to the ground. So why are trees bothering to create costly red pigments in leaves that are almost done for? Hughes says scientists don't have a lot of answers. One possible explanation says that the red pigments basically act as a kind of sunscreen for the plant, to help it cope with excess light it suddenly has to deal with when chlorophyll activity is declining. This is known as the photoprotection hypothesis. But not all researchers are convinced. (via NPR)
This Russian "walking excavator" is one of only six ever built and weighs 900 tons
Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other newsletters that I rely on as "serendipity engines," such as The Morning News from Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Jodi Ettenberg's Curious About Everything, Dan Lewis's Now I Know, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton's The Browser, Clive Thompson's Linkfest, Noah Brier and Colin Nagy's Why Is This Interesting, Maria Popova's The Marginalian, Sheehan Quirke AKA The Cultural Tutor, the Smithsonian magazine, and JSTOR Daily. If you come across something interesting that you think should be included here, please feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com
