More people are growing to adulthood with an extra artery

From Science Focus: "More and more adults have an extra artery in their arms as humans continue to evolve at a rapid rate, a study has found. Scientists in Australia believe that humans are undergoing a micro-evolution in which evolutionary changes can be observed over a short period of time. The artery forms while a baby is in the womb and is the main vessel that supplies blood to the forearm and hand, but it usually disappears during gestation and is replaced by the radial and ulnar arteries. However, some people retain all three. The investigation by Dr Teghan Lucas of Flinders University showed a significant increase in the prevalence of the artery. The team analysed records in anatomical literature and dissected cadavers from individuals born in 20th Century. "Since the 18^th Century, anatomists have been studying the prevalence of this artery in adults and our study shows it’s clearly increasing," said Dr Lucas.

Two men in a hot-air balloon in 1832 hold the record for highest altitude without oxygen

From Everything is Amazing: "It’s just before two on an afternoon in early September, and professional aeronaut Henry Tracey Coxwell has just discovered something that’s turned his blood cold. The balloon he’s riding in with meteorologist James Glaisher has developed a serious fault. As it rose above the countryside around Wolverhampton, it’s developed a slow but inexorable spin - and Henry’s just discovered this has tangled up the release-valve line, the duo’s only way of venting enough gas from the balloon to trigger a descent. Around them, the sky is turning a deeper blue. The temperature has fallen below freezing, and every surface is becoming slippery with ice. They’re past 8,000 metres, the altitude which mountaineers call ‘The Death Zone’, because of the catastrophic effect it can have upon the unprotected human body."

The Texas Flapper Bandit robbed multiple banks and got away with it

From Atlas Obscura: "It’s a crisp Saturday morning on December 11, 1926, when a young woman walks into Farmers National Bank in the small town of Buda, about 15 miles south of Austin, Texas. Posing as a reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise, the five-foot-two woman with auburn hair and brown eyes moves confidently around the building, questioning residents about recent crop conditions. After gaining the trust of the two bank tellers, the woman slips behind the counter to use the typewriter. One of the tellers makes a deposit in the safe, and, as he turns around, he finds himself face to face with a cocked .32 automatic pistol, held by the fake journalist, 21-year-old Rebecca Bradley. She takes off with $1,000 — equal to over $17,000 today — and hightails it back to Austin."

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.

Thomas Edison sued one of his sons for selling snake-oil products under the Edison name

From Wikipedia: "Wanting to be an inventor, but not having much of an aptitude for it, Thomas Edison's son, Thomas Alva Edison Jr., became a problem for his father and his father's business. Starting in the 1890s, Thomas Jr. became involved in snake oil products and shady and fraudulent enterprises producing products being sold to the public as "The Latest Edison Discovery". The situation became so bad that Thomas Sr. had to take his son to court to stop the practices, finally agreeing to pay Thomas Jr. an allowance of $35 (equivalent to $1,187 in 2023) per week, in exchange for not using the Edison name; the son began using aliases, such as Burton Willard. Thomas Jr., experiencing alcoholism, depression and ill health, worked at several menial jobs, but by 1931 he would obtain a role in the Edison company, thanks to the intervention of his half-brother Charles."

A French king who thought he was made of glass put on the worst masquerade ball ever

From Boing Boing: "In 1393, a French king who believed he was made of glass hosted a masquerade ball that ended in flames. The Ball of the Burning Men became one of history's most notorious party disasters, made even more bizarre by the host's deteriorating mental state. King Charles VI of France had suffered his first mental breakdown just months earlier, attacking his own knights in a paranoid rage and killing four men before falling into a four-day coma. His glass delusion — which was common among the upper class at the time — led him to wrap himself in blankets and refuse to move, terrified his body would shatter. As chronicled by Jean Froissart, Charles would "run howling like a wolf down the corridors of royal palaces" and sometimes failed to recognize his own wife. In one particularly episode, he refused to bathe or change clothes for five months, convinced that touching water would cause him to break."

Jon Bon Jovi helping rescue a woman who is thinking about jumping from a bridge

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