This tiny island had a coup almost every year for 24 years

"You know that island between Mozambique and Madagascar that you visited," she said. "Was it called Anjouan? Well, there's been a coup." Actually, there had been 24 coups in as many years, the pace accelerating after 1997 and culminating with two in 2001. On an island no bigger than the Isle of Wight, this means that a significant proportion of the adult population has indulged in some storming of the presidential palace, albeit usually short-lived. To be honest, any able-bodied person with some pluck and peripheral vision stands a good chance: the Maoist revolutionary, Ali Soilih, took over in 1975 armed with little more than the spokes from a bicycle wheel; the French mercenary, Bob Denard, succeeded 20 years later with a dozen soldiers all aged over 60. When I left to sail to Anjouan, an ex-Foreign Legion man warned me that, despite being an unarmed lone traveller, I would be viewed as an invasion force. (via The Guardian)

Evolutionary scientists say the human chin is a biological accident

Absent from other primates — and even Denisovans and Neanderthals — the bony, protruding chin is a uniquely human characteristic. As such, it’s tempting to indulge in another uniquely human trait and come up with a reason it was honed by natural selection. Supporting the lower jaw to facilitate chewing or acting as a secondary sexual characteristic to advertise maturity to mates, are two such stories. To investigate theories of the evolution of the chin, researchers examined gene sequences involved in the development of the head and jaw for evidence of evolution. Specifically, the team looked at whether sequences involved in producing the chin itself were subject to direct selection, whether they arose neutrally due to genetic drift, or whether they were merely a byproduct of evolution acting upon other traits (a spandrel). They found that the evidence pointed toward the chin being an accident. (via Nautilus)

Napoleon's nephew moved to Florida and was known as the Prince of Tallahassee

Napoleon’s nephew Achille Murat was one of the more eccentric Bonapartes. After growing up as the Crown Prince of Naples, he became a colourful Florida pioneer known as the “Prince of Tallahassee.” Achille was independent-minded, restless and adventuresome, always seeking an elusive fortune. Though he claimed to be a democrat, he remained at heart an aristocrat. He pined for his family’s lost throne and wealth. In 1808, Napoleon made Joachim and Caroline Murat the King and Queen of Naples. Achille became Prince Murat, heir to the throne. He grew up imbibing his father’s taste for military bravado, his mother’s sense of entitlement, and both parents’ outsized egos. Achille nursed a huge resentment towards the reactionary monarchs of Europe. Upon becoming an adult, he petitioned for a passport to travel to the United States. This was granted, but Achille had to promise to never return to Europe. (via Shannon Selin)

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.

Kodak knew about the Trinity atom bomb test because its film was fogged by radiation

Prior to WW II the Kodak Company had gone to considerable trouble to ensure that the cardboard it used for packaging its film was free of radioactive contamination. Kodak had learned to their dismay that cardboard and paper made from recycled products could be contaminated due to materials originating from the radium industry. Then the Kodak Company observed spotting on film that they traced back to contamination in their cardboard and Dr. J.H. Webb concluded that the contamination must have come from a nuclear explosion somewhere in the U.S. In fact, it came from the world’s first nuclear explosion, the Trinity Test at Alamogordo New Mexico. Fallout from the explosion had contaminated the river water that the mill in Indiana had used to manufacture the cardboard pulp. Recognizing the sensitivity of this information, Dr. Webb waited until 1949 before publishing the story in the open literature. (via the ORAU)

The last emperor of China was considered divine but later worked as a gardener in Beijing

Puyi was the last emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh monarch of the Qing dynasty from 1908 to 1912, and a brief return in 1917, when he was forced to abdicate. Growing up with scarcely any memory of a time when he was not indulged and revered, Puyi quickly became spoiled. The adults in his life, except for Wang, were all strangers, remote, distant, and unable to discipline him. Wherever he went, grown men would kneel down in a ritual kowtow, averting their eyes until he passed. Soon he discovered the absolute power he wielded over the eunuchs, and he frequently had them beaten for small transgressions. As an emperor, Puyi's every whim was catered to while no one ever said no to him, making him into a sadistic boy who loved to have his eunuchs flogged or forced to eat dirt. Later, he sided with Imperial Japan and was made ruler of Japanese-occupied Manchuria. After over 10 years of imprisonment for war crimes, Puyi worked for four years as a gardener in Beijing. (via Wikipedia)

After a loss in the giant slalom at the Olympics he left the slopes and walked into the woods

Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other places 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 and Why Is This Interesting by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy. If you come across something you think should be included here, feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com