1896 British America
The 1896 textbook The New Eclectic Series: Elementary Geography includes a map of British America - Canada - as defined by the British North America Act, 1867 which created the…
Correction Respectfully Requested
This map is displayed about halfway through the documentary Chernobyl: Secrets, Lies and the Untold Truths. Can you spot anything interesting? The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred in 1986, therefore the…
The Lost Cafe Schindler
An extraordinary memoir of a Jewish family spanning two world wars and its flight from Nazi-occupied Austria. Meriel Schindler spent her adult life trying to keep her father, Kurt, at…
Random Learnings #58
Today I needed to go to the First National Bank Building in downtown St. Paul, MN for a personal appointment. The external cladding of the north entrance I used screams…
Random Learnings #57
My wife and I are traveling to Switzerland this fall for some bucket-list train rides, including the Glacier Express between Chur and Zermatt. The Glacier Express requires seat reservations which…
Kraków Building Signs
You'll notice these extending from buildings throughout Kraków, Poland: triangular, metal signs with the building number prominent and the street name at the top or bottom. They contain lights to make…
Functional Art
I recently traveled to Oslo, Norway to speak at a tech conference, staying at the Clarion Hotel The Hub opposite Oslo Central Train Station. Traveling internationally keeps your mind sharp…
Random Learnings #56
After the 1960 season, the American League Washington Senators became the 1961 Minnesota Twins, at least that's always been my understanding. Team ownership didn't change. Five regular position players from…
Random Learnings #55
Many (most?) newspapers have soft paywalls that allows you to read a few articles before require you to subscribe. My local newspaper, the Minnesota Star-Tribune, is no different: the headline…
Cold War Polish Defector
The Polish Netflix series 1983 tells an alternative Cold War history: simultaneous bombings across Poland keeps the communist party in power until the present. Twenty years later, the truth unravels…