“If you don’t find it in the Index, look very carefully through the entire catalogue.”
— Consumer’s Guide, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1897
Anesthesia Awareness
In 1998, Carol Weihrer was undergoing eye surgery when she woke up. Desperate and in agony, she could feel everything that was happening to her, but the muscle relaxants kept her from moving or speaking.
This happens to 4,000 people each year, largely due to anesthesiologists’ errors, and the psychological trauma can lead to years of nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia, and alcoholism. It’s called “anesthesia awareness.”
Water Music
On seeing Niagara Falls, Gustav Mahler exclaimed: “Fortissimo at last!”
“Remarkable Inscription”
“The following singular inscription is to be seen carved on a tomb situated at the entrance of the church of San Salvador, in the city of Oviedo. The explanation is that the tomb was erected by a king named Silo, and the inscription is so written that it can be read 270 ways by beginning with the large S in the center. The words are Latin, SILO PRINCEPS FECIT.”
T I C E F S P E C N C E P S F E C I T
I C E F S P E C N I N C E P S F E C I
C E F S P E C N I R I N C E P S F E C
E F S P E C N I R P R I N C E P S F E
F S P E C N I R P O P R I N C E P S F
S P E C N I R P O L O P R I N C E P S
P C C N I R P O L I L O P R I N C E P
E E N I R P O L I S I L O P R I N C E
P E C N I R P O L I L O P R I N C E P
S P E C N I R P O L O P R I N C E P S
F S P E C N I R P O P R I N C E P S F
E F S P E C N I R P R I N C E P S F E
C E F S P E C N I R I N C E P S P E C
I C E F S P E C N I N C E P S F E C I
T I C E F S P E C N C E P S F E C I T
“Besides this singular inscription, the letters H. S. E. S. S. T. T. L. are also carved on the tomb, but of these no explanation is given. Silo, Prince of Oviedo, or King of the Asturias, succeeded Aurelius in 774, and died in 785. He was, therefore, a contemporary of Charlemagne. No doubt the above inscription was the composition of some ingenious and learned Spanish monk.”
— Barkham Burroughs’ Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889
11/02/2014 UPDATE: A reader points out that S.T.T.L. is the Roman equivalent of R.I.P.: Sit tibi terra levis means “may the earth rest lightly upon you.” “H.S.E.S. is a little less clear, but my conjecture is it stands for Hic Sepultus Est Silo = here Silo has been buried. H.S.E. is a not-uncommon abbreviation on tombstones.” (Thanks, Noah.)
Pull Over
Uninspiring land speed records:
- 39.24 mph, Dec. 18, 1898, Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat (France)
- 41.42 mph, Jan. 17, 1899 Camille Jenatzy (Belgium)
- 43.69 mph, Jan. 17, 1899 Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat (France)
- 49.93 mph, Jan. 27, 1899 Camille Jenatzy (Belgium)
- 57.65 mph, March 4, 1899 Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat (France)
- 65.79 mph, April 29, 1899 Camille Jenatzy (Belgium)
Interestingly, these were all set with electric vehicles.
Unquote
“I never knew an enemy to puns who was not an ill-natured man.” — Charles Lamb
Source Forge
How to Treat Tuberculosis
In January 1892, Rhode Island farmer George Brown buried his daughter Mercy. She had died of consumption, as had her mother and sister.
Two months later George’s son, Edwin, also became sick, and the farmer decided that one of his dead family members was returning from the grave as a vampire to cause his son’s illness.
So he dug up his daughter’s body, cut out her heart, mixed it into a potion, and told his son to drink it.
Edwin died two months later.
Privacy
If Earth were the size of a tennis ball, the sun would be 2,460 feet away.
And the nearest star would still be 125,000 miles away.
Dorchester Pot
The June 1851 issue of Scientific American reported that a zinc and silver vase had been blasted from solid rock 15 feet below the surface of Meeting House Hill in Dorchester, Mass. The bell-shaped vessel had floral designs inlaid with silver.
Experts at the time estimated it to be about 100,000 years old, which would obviously throw everything we know out the window.
Unfortunately, it disappeared after circulating through several museums. What’s the real story? Who knows?