Just like it says, Popcorn Shorts is about the kind of things we think are really interesting, but don’t really need a large article to explain them. From the sublime to the ridiculous, check in here for crunchy bits of info you’ll love to munch. By the way, much (but not necessarily all) of our delicious Popcorn comes from articles we’ve posted on our Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, please stop by and “Like” us and we’ll keep a fairly-constant-but-not-frequent-enough-to-be-annoying stream of these coming to your virtual door!
Tomatoes: Poison you can eat!
This crunchy bit of Popcorn comes to us from Tom Dwyer himself, who ran across some interesting history of the tomato while doing research for his own garden. If you’re a tomoato fan, like virtually everyone else on the planet, then you’ll enjoy learning where tomatoes came from, how they spread, why people thought they were poisonous for so long (it was a pretty good reason!), and the answer to the ultimate question: is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? We have two links for you; first is the link that Tom sent us to Tomato History on Veggie Care, and Smithsonian Magazine gets even saucier (sorry!) by explaining “Why the Tomato was feared in Eruope for more than 200 years.”
Hobo Coins: Work of Masters
“Hobo nickels” (or hobo coins) are named after the people who first made them, wandering “hobos” who carved their own designs into coins during their ample downtime. We first saw hobo coins through the work of Roman Booteen (more of his work here), a Russian artist who seems to be the most prominent coin-carver today. His coins aren’t just incredibly detailed, they MOVE! You’ll be hypnotized by his beating human heart, flapping insect wings, or moving golden trap. If you’re hooked you’ll want to learn about the history of hobo nickels, but then you’ll also want to check out the work of other people creating these masterpieces here and here.
Remembering the Scopes Monkey Trial
(from NPR)- “Eighty years ago, in July 1925, the mixture of religion, science and the public schools caught fire in Dayton, Tenn. The Scopes trial — or “Monkey Trial“, as it was called — dominated headlines across the country. The trial lasted just a week, but the questions it raised are as divisive now as they were back then. NPR looks back at the Scopes trial, the events that led up to it and its aftermath.”
(from Tom Dwyer)- If you clicked here for Scopes, then we have more for you. The same anti-science feelings walk the world today. Check out NOVA’s “Judgement Day: Intelligent Design On Trial”, as creationists go to court to fight evolution again… in 2004.
HISTOMAP- 4000 Years Of History In One Chart
(from VisualCapitalist)- Imagine creating a timeline of your country’s whole history stretching back to its inception. It would be no small task, and simply weighing the relative importance of so many great people, technological achievements, and pivotal events would be a tiny miracle in itself. While that seems like a challenge, imagine going a few steps further. Instead of a timeline for just one country, what about creating a graphical timeline showing the history of the entire world over a 4,000 year time period, all while having no access to computers or the internet? Today’s infographic, created all the way back in 1931 by a man named John B. Sparks, maps the ebb and flow of global power going all the way back to 2,000 B.C. on one coherent timeline.
