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Art

In 125 years, millions of people have looked at this painting. No one really saw it until recently.

Van Gogh saw something it took scientists another 100 years to see.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Van Gogh's Starry Night, 1889.

Vincent van Gogh never got to enjoy his own historic success as an artist (even though we've been able to imagine what that moment might have looked like). Van Gogh died in 1890 at the age of 37 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France after shooting himself in the chest with a revolver. It was a tragic end to a turbulent life marked by mental instability and severe self-doubt.

According to the Van Gogh Museum, in a letter to his brother Theo in 1890, just a couple of weeks before his death, Van Gogh wrote, "...my life, is attacked at the very root, my step also is faltering." The man was struggling and exhausted. The high standards he had set for himself and his art were taking a toll. He was unsure about his future and, up to this point, had not received much recognition for his work and thought himself a failure "as a man and as an artist."

His most well-known work, Starry Night, was famously painted while Van Gogh was staying in an asylum in France 1889 after he mutilated his ear during a psychotic episode. According to the Van Gogh Museum, though, this may not be the full story. While it is widely agreed that Van Gogh did in fact cut off his own ear, the museum notes that it was because of a fight between Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin, the artist he had been working for in Aries, that led to the violent explosion that highlighted his deteriorating mental state.

Vincent Van Gogh, artist, 19th century, famous artist, Starry Night Vincent Van Gogh's Self-Portrait, 1889Image via Canva.

As one of the best known and most studied artists of the 19th century, Van Gogh's madness and how it influenced his work is not new information. But it turns out that those of us who have appreciated his work have been missing out on some critical details for more than 100 years—revealed in the 2010s thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope.

A video at the bottom of the page will explain everything, but before we get there, let's do some backstory:

We known Van Gogh was an artist—and a genius artist at that—but, it turns out, he was also scientist. Kind of.

Whether intentionally or not, fresh eyes have found that Van Gogh's art—aside from being breathtaking—also captures one of science and nature's most elusive concepts: Turbulence.

The concept of turbulence is hard to understand with math, but it turns out art makes it fairly easy to comprehend through depiction. So, what is turbulence?

According to Britannica, turbulence, or turbulent flow, is a concept of fluid dynamics in which a type of fluid flow (liquid or gas like air or water or air) undergoes an irregular fluctuation or energy cascade. In other words, the air or water swirls and eddies as it moves: big eddies make smaller eddies, and those make even smaller ones, and so on. Common examples of turbulent flow include blood flow in arteries, lava flow, atmosphere and ocean currents, and the flow in boat wakes or surrounding the tips of aircraft wings.

It looks like this:

figures, flow, turbulence, turbulent flow, science, movement Turbulent flow illustrated and animated.All Van Gogh GIFs via TED-Ed.

The thing is, scientists only started figuring this out pretty recently.

turbulence, turbulent flow, science, nature, research Animation of art referencing science.All Van Gogh GIFs via TED-Ed.

And yet, there was Mr. Vincent van Gogh, 100 years earlier in his asylum with a mutilated ear and able to accurately capture this turbulent flow in what would become his most famous work, Starry Night.

Starry Night, Van Gogh, turbulence, art, art captures science Animated Starry NightAll Van Gogh GIFs via TED-Ed.

The folks who noticed Van Gogh's ability to capture turbulence checked to see whether other artists did the same. Most of the Impressionists achieved "luminance" with their art—a striking and lifelike depiction of light's effect on color. While impressive, they did not capture or depict turbulence the way Van Gogh did.

The Scream, Edvard Munch, art, popular art, history, painting An animated depiction of The Scream.All Van Gogh GIFs via TED-Ed.

Not even Edvard Munch's The Scream, with it's swirling color and movement, could recreate what Van Gogh had accomplished.

Even in his darkest time, Van Gogh was able to capture—with eerie accuracy—one of nature's most complex and confusing concepts 100 years before scientists had the technology to do so.

Who would have thought that the beauty Van Gogh captured was foreshadowing what scientists would observe in the real, natural world in a century's time? To learn even more, watch the TED-Ed video below:

- YouTubeyoutu.be

This article originally appeared twelve years ago. It has been updated.

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art

Identity

10 common phrases that you may not know have racist origins

A lot of the American lexicon has a dubious past.

via Pedro da Casa/X

10 commonly used phrases that have racist origins.

As much as we'd like to pretend every phrase we utter is a lone star suspended in the space of our own genius, all language has a history. Unfortunately, given humanity's aptitude for treating each other like sh*t, etymology is fraught with reminders of our very racist world. Since I have faith that most of you reading want to navigate the world with intelligence and empathy, I figured it'd be useful to share some of the everyday phrases rooted in racist etymology.

Knowledge is power, and the way we use and contextualize our words can make a huge difference in the atmosphere we create.

1. Thug

According to Meriam-Webster's dictionary definition, a thug is "a violent criminal." Obviously, this definition leaves the word open to define people of all ethnicities.

However, given the frequent ways this word has been used to describe Black Lives Matter protesters, the 17-year-old murder victim Trayvon Martin, and sadly, almost every black victim of police brutality — there is an undeniable racial charge to the word.

When you consider the people who are called thugs — groups of black protesters, victims of racist violence, teenagers minding their own business, and flip the racial element, you'd be hard-pressed to find examples of white people being called thugs in earnest by the media (or really by anyone).

Several prominent activists and black writers have written about the phenomenon of thug replacing the n-word in modern culture. In a popular press conference back in 2014, the Seattle Seahawks player Richard Sherman explained his feelings about the word.

"The reason it bothers me is because it seems like it's an accepted way of calling somebody the N-word now. It's like everybody else said the N-word and then they say 'thug' and that's fine. It kind of takes me aback and it's kind of disappointing because they know," Sherman said.

If you're talking about an actual criminal, there are so many descriptive words to invoke besides "thug." Given its current use as a negative, racially-coded word, avoiding its use seems like an easy and obvious move.

2. Grandfather Clause

When most of us hear the term "grandfather clause" we just think of the generalized description: a person or entity that is allowed to continue operating over now expired rules. But the literal meaning reveals the "grandfather clause" was a racist post-Reconstruction political strategy.

This is the historical definition, according to Encyclopedia Britannica:

In modern speak, this basically meant the Grandfather Clause let white people off the hook for new voting requirements because their ancestors were already registered voters. Meanwhile, black people were required to fill out impossible literacy tests and pay exorbitant poll taxes to vote. This in turn, meant many black people were unable to vote, while white people weren't held to the same standard.

3. Gypsy or "Gyp"

The word "Gypsy" was (and is) a racial slur referring to the Roma people. The Roma people are descendants of Northern India who, due to severe marginalization and threats of violence by others, lived a nomadic lifestyle of forced migration for centuries.

During a fraught history, Roma people were taken as slaves in Romania and were targeted for genocide by the Nazis.

The word "Gypsy" is a slang word perpetuating stereotypes of Roma people as "thieves, rowdies, dirty, immoral, con-men, asocials, and work-shy" according to the Council of Europe.

In a similar vein, the term "Gyp" or "getting gypped" means to cheat or get conned, and many connect this meaning as another racist extension of Gypsy.

4. No Can Do

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the very common phrase "no can do" was originally made popular as a way to make fun of Chinese immigrants.

5. Sold Down The River

Upon first hearing, many people associate the phrase "sold down the river" with the notion of being betrayed, lied to, or otherwise screwed over. While these definitions all technically apply to the origin, the root of this phrase is much more bleak.

According to a report from NPR, being "sold down the river" was a literal reference to slavery, and the families that were torn apart in the south.

"River" was a literal reference to the Mississippi or Ohio rivers. For much of the first half of the 19th century, Louisville, Ky., was one of the largest slave-trading marketplaces in the country. Slaves would be taken to Louisville to be "sold down the river" and transported to the cotton plantations in states further south.

This heavy connotation sadly makes sense, but also makes casual use of the phrase feel way more cringe-inducing.

6. Welfare Queen

The term "welfare queen" was first popularized by Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign in which he repeatedly painted a picture of a Cadillac-driving welfare queen.

This straw woman in Reagan's campaign served as a racially-charged exaggeration of one minor case of real welfare fraud used to pedal his platform for welfare reform.

Needless to say, the term has sadly lived on as a racially-charged vehicle used to undermine the importance of welfare programs, while peddling gross stereotypes about black women.

On top of all the other offenses, this stereotype is of course ignoring the fact that poor white Americans receive the most welfare out of any economically-disadvantaged demographic.

7. Shuck And Jive

The term shuck and jive is both common and very obviously rooted in the language of slavery.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the phrase shuck and jive refers to:

Likewise, the modern usage of this phrase refers to pandering, selling out, or instances in which black people go along with racist white people's wishes. Again, not a phrase to be thrown around lightly.

8. Long Time No See

The very commonly used greeting "long time no see" first became popular as a way to make fun of Native Americans. The phrase was used as a way to mock a traditional greeting exchanged between Native Americans.

This is the official definition, according to the Oxford Dictionary:

The act of committing genocide is not limited to human lives, but also translates to a normalized cultural violence. Deconstructing, mocking, and erasing someone's language contributes to this pattern of colonialism.

9. The Peanut Gallery

Most modern uses of the term "the peanut gallery" is in reference to a group of people who needlessly criticize or mocking another person. However, the historical roots of this term are much more racist and painful.

Originally, this term referred to the balconies in segregated theaters where black people were forced to sit. The nickname "peanut" was given due to the fact that peanuts were introduced to America at the same time as the slave trade. Because of this, there was a connection drawn between black people and peanuts.

10. Uppity

As of now, the word "uppity" is often used as a synonym for "stuck up" or "pretentious" or "conceited." But the roots of the word are far more specific and racist.

The word Uppity was first used by Southerners to refer to slaves who did not fall into line, or acted as if they "didn't know their place."

So, basically, any black person who overtly stood up to racism. Given the heaviness of this origin, it seems best to leave this word at home when looking to describe a pretentious acquaintance.

Sadly, given our ugly history, there are many more words and phrases I could add to this list. In the meantime, hopefully this list is helpful for navigating the racism innate in our language.

11. (Bonus) Master bedroom/bathroom

In the plantation days, the owner of the slaves was known as the master. Therefore, when people refer to master bedrooms and bathrooms in the home, usually the most spacious ones, they evoke imagery from the slave era. That's why numerous real estate companies across the United States now prefer to use the term "primary" when referring to these rooms.

The article was originally published by our partners at someecards and was written by Bronwyn Isacc. It originally appeared six years ago.

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racism

Animals & Wildlife

How were cats domesticated? Contrary to popular belief, it didn't start with the Egyptians.

Evidence of pet cats actually predates Egyptian kitties by 4,000 years.

Photo credit: Canva

When did cats become pets for humans?

We're all somewhat familiar with the history of house cats, right? At some point in school, we learned something about how ancient Egyptians loved cats and viewed them as gods and that's how we ended up with Whiskers McFluff and Princess Meowface deigning to grace us with their presence in our homes. Right?

That was our understanding of cat domestication for much of modern history. But in the early 2000s, researchers found a burial site on the island of Cyprus that included the skeleton of a human, an offering of stones, tools, and jewelry, and a skeleton of an eight-month-old cat. The site dated to approximately 9,500 years ago—4,000 years before the ancient Egyptians had their feline gods.

egyptian cat gods, cat domestication, cat figurines, pets, pet cat People often associate cat domestication with ancient Egypt. Photo credit: Canva

"The cat skeleton lay just 40 centimeters away," the researchers wrote. "Both the relative intactness of the skeleton and the surrounding sediment indicated someone had dug a small pit or grave, then placed the cat inside and rapidly covered it."

The cat showed no signs of butchering and it was lying in symmetry with the human, both of their heads facing the same direction, which gives more credence to the idea that the cat may have been a pet or had some kind of relationship with the person. (Today, Cyprus has more cats than people. That should perhaps serve as a warning.)

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

According to PBS Eons, today's domesticated cat—felis catus—is its own species that descended from another species, felis silvestris. A subspecies of felis silvestris from Africa is the direct ancestor of all domesticated cats today, according to genome studies. Those African wildcats can still be found in North Africa and Southwest Asia. They look a lot like house cats but are larger and have less variety in their coat coloring.

But how did we get from those wildcats to our dorky little floofballs? It turns out, we now believe cats were domesticated twice, once in Southwest Asia bout 10,000 years ago and again in Egypt about 3,500 years ago. Again, genome research indicates that the genes of two different source populations contributed to the cat gene pool at two different times and the archeological record also supports that idea.

cats, pet cats, grooming, kitties, pets, felines adorable cats GIFGiphy

Evidence (and common sense) indicate that cats were welcomed by humans for rodent control, and that may be where domestication began. But we don't really know, and we don't know exactly when or where it began, either. The oldest evidence we have of cat domestication is from Cyprus, but that's an island. Who brought cats there? All we know is that people from Southwest Asia began to migrate to Europe in the Holocene epoch, approximately 11,000 years ago. Clearly, they brought our cats' ancestors with them. Were they already domesticated then? Were the cats just wild stowaways? Nobody knows.

But people are okay not knowing because it's far more fun to come up with jokes about how we've come to today's happy (and hilarious) alliance.

"Here kitty kitty"--Your ancestors 10,000 years ago."

"Meanwhile, cats are debating whether they have fully domesticated humans."

"I could well imagine a cat lecturing on how humans were domesticated."

cat face, cat domestication, cat ancestors, cat, animals, pet cats Did we domesticate cats or did they domesticate us?Photo credit: Canva

"Meanwhile in the Cat Universe: ‘How we enslaved humans.’"

"Kitties domesticated themselves. They saw a large warm cave with lots of food and a creature that would help it take care of it's babies, and was like 'I'm moving in, and I'll tolerate you, I guess' and humans were like 'you're fluffy and cute, okay!'"

"The greatest scam cats ever pulled on us was domestication and we fell for it TWICE."

"I have always considered that millenia ago, in some village somewhere, some lost kitten was crying mournfully, a toddler girl picked it up, it purred, and that was it, we were lost."

"Cat: mew

Humans: so anyway I adopted it."

cat, gif, pet cat, domesticated cat, cat videos White Cat Hello GIFGiphy

As Terry Pratchett said, “In ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.” It does seem like cats just decided at some point that they would allow us feed them in exchange for them letting us look at them and touch their fur. "We domesticated cats" feels like a bit of a misnomer, even if we supposedly did it twice.

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history

History (Education)

1981 Afterschool Special, 'The Wave', still holds up with its lessons about fascism

The chilling story was based on a real high school experiment.

Image by Elias from Pixabay

"The Wave" demonstrates how easy it is to pull people into fascism.

"What are you watching?" my 13-year-old son asked.

"An old Afterschool Special," I responded.

"What's an 'Afterschool Special'?" he asked.

Hoo boy. Kids these days have no idea how different television was for those of us who grew up in the '80s or how many core memories we have wrapped up in the ABC Afterschool Special.

I briefly explained and then he sat down to watch with me. It was 2022. A discussion about fascism on X had led me to look up "The Wave," a 1981 ABC Afterschool Special based on a real-life high school experiment in Palo Alto, California, in 1967.

In the real experiment, first-year history teacher Ron Jones had students at Cubberley High School engage in a simulation of how fascism spreads as part of a lesson on World War II, with him playing the role of the dictator. His intent was to show skeptical students how the Nazis came to power by creating a social movement he dubbed the Third Wave.

afterschool special, family, kids, specials, afterschool programming Family watching television. Image via Canva.

"It started out as a fun game with the most popular teacher at school," Mark Hancock, one of the students in Jones' history homeroom class, told Palo Alto Online in 2017. "He told us, 'If you're an active participant, I'll give you an A; if you just go along with it, I'll give you a C; if you try a revolution, I'll give you an F, but if your revolution succeeds, I'll give you an A.'"

Hancock said he started off planning to get that revolution A, but it quickly grew beyond grades and turned into something real. "At the end, I was scared to death," he shared.

It began with Jones rallying the students around the idea of "strength through discipline" and "strength through community." He had them engage in regimented behaviors and handed out membership cards. At first, it was just fun, but students began to enjoy feeling like part of a special community. Jones pushed the importance of following the rules. The students even formed a "secret police" to monitor other students, and if someone broke a Third Wave rule, they'd be reported and publicly "tried" by the class.

The students got wrapped up in it to a frightening degree and even Jones found himself enjoying the way the students responded to him. "It was pretty intoxicating," he told Palo Alto Online.

But according to Verde Magazine, Jones felt like he'd lost control of it by the fourth day.

The experiment ended at the end of the week with a rally. Jones told the students they were actually part of a real national Third Wave movement and that the national leader was going to speak to them at the rally. Jones turned on the televisions to white static and watched the students eagerly wait for their leader to speak. That's when he broke the news to them that they'd fallen for a totalitarian regime. Instead of a Third Wave leader speech, he played them a video of a Nazi rally.

Nazi rally, history, fascism, nazi germany, nazism Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, September 8, 1938.Image via Canva.

According to a school newspaper at the time, most students were disillusioned. But one student said, "It was probably the most interesting unit I've had. It was successful in its goal to achieve the emotions of the Germans under the Nazi regime."

"The Wave" follows the true story quite closely and still holds valuable lessons. One chilling scene shows a kid who had been sort of an outcast prior to the "movement" saying, "For the first time, I feel like I'm a part of something great." He was particularly crushed to find out it was all a fascist facade.

As is the cyclical nature of history, "The Wave" and what it can teach us is especially relevant today. According to NPR, "a survey of more than 500 political scientists finds that the vast majority think the United States is moving swiftly from liberal democracy toward some form of authoritarianism." The benchmark survey, known as Bright Line Watch, had "U.S.-based professors rate the performance of American democracy from zero (dictatorship) to 100 (perfect democracy)," noted NPR. "After President Trump's election in November, scholars gave American democracy a rating of 67. Several weeks into Trump's second term, that figure plummeted to 55."

John Carey, co-director of Bright Line Watch and a professor of government at Dartmouth, summed up the matter by saying, "We're moving in the wrong direction."

Since President Trump's election in November, various publications worldwide have suggested that much of Trump's rhetoric echoes that of Nazi Germany, with some pointing out parallels between each administration's first 100 days in office. Other publications have criticized the comparison.

At any rate, this afterschool special is incredibly timely. If you can get past the '80s aesthetic, it's worth watching. Even my teen kids got into it, once they stopped making fun of the hair and film quality.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.

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fascism

Science

The mood ring's mysterious history: the invention everyone claims but nobody patented

One of the most dramatic oversights in fashion history.

Photo credit: Canva

The mood ring is a cautionary tale.

Every child in elementary school is familiar with the mood ring. With its inscrutable, color-changing stone and cryptic ability to "read" the wearer's emotions, the mood ring has stood as an enigmatic symbol of self-expression since the 1970s.

Yet, ask the average American about what they know about the mood ring, and they might shrug and say that they're a fun piece of jewelry that shifts with the user's emotions. Or, a more astute person might propose that there is some element of body heat technology at play. However, almost no one knows how it all began or the story behind the fight for custody of the mood ring.

Hand, mood ring, emotions, history. Where did the mood ring come from? Photo by No Revisions on Unsplash

Origins

The idea originated with an American jeweler named Marvin Wenick, who first conceived of the idea after coming across a magazine article in 1974 about the liquid crystal elements found in thermometers. Fascinated, he quickly developed a compound that changed color between two distinct ranges: black to green and blue to green, within a temperature range of 89.6°F to 100.4°F.

By 1975, he had found a way to use this "magic" compound in necklace pendants and rings. A natural salesman, he claimed that the shifting colors indicated the "warmth of the wearer's character." However, Wenick never patented his invention, resulting in one of the most dramatic oversights in fashion history.

Star Trek, disappointed, missed opportunity, dang If only Wenick had patented the mood ring...Giphy

Potential customers weren't the only ones who took notice of Wernick's invention. Soon, two New York inventors, Joshua Reynolds and Maris Ambats, began producing their version of the temperature-sensitive jewelry, based on Wenick's "magical compound."

There was a distinction: Reynolds and Ambats told customers that they had created a "real biofeedback tool" that allowed the wearer to learn information about their bodies, positioning their rings as devices to help people meditate and control anxiety. (Which seems eerily similar to a few of today's developments...)

Now inextricably linked with the self-exploration and individualism of the 1970s, sometimes referred to as the "Me Decade," Reynolds and Ambats' "mood rings" became a major fad in the United States.

How mood rings work

Mood rings contain a thermochromic element, which is a crystal encased in quartz or glass that changes its color based on the wearer's body temperature. These specialized crystals are designed to react to changes in temperature, which alter their molecular structure and, consequently, the wavelengths of light (colors) they reflect. Psychologically, the idea is that one's emotional state influences body temperature, so when it changes, its meaning will be reflected in the ring. Today, the spectrum of color has expanded far beyond Wenick's simple black, green, and blue system.

When the mood ring rests at a neutral body temperature (typically around 98.6°F), the crystals will reflect a pretty blue-green hue. According to HowStuffWorks.com, the following colors are associated with these emotions, although they can vary from one mood ring to another.

Crystal, mood ring, science, colors, spinning Crystals encased in quartz or glass change color according to body temperature. Giphy

Black: Significant levels of stress, tension, or anxiety. There is a deep well of emotional turmoil here, bubbling just under the surface. (This could also indicate that the crystals have been compromised.)
White: A lack of emotional clarity. This color can signify that the wearer is uncertain about how to express or process their current feelings, and is often associated with feelings of frustration, confusion, or a lack of emotional clarity.
Amber or Gold: "The appearance of an amber or gold-colored mood ring often signifies a blend of emotions, potentially encompassing a mix of feelings such as surprise, nervousness, or even a touch of upset. This color can be a reflection of the wearer's internal turmoil as they navigate a complex emotional landscape."
Pink: "The appearance of a pink mood ring is often linked to the initial stages of arousal, interest, or a sense of emotional uncertainty. This color can suggest that the wearer is experiencing a heightened state of emotional vulnerability or a newfound sense of attraction or curiosity."
Red: "The presence of a red mood ring is typically associated with high-energy emotions, such as passion, anger, or even fear. This intense color can be a reflection of the wearer's heightened state of arousal, whether it be in the context of romantic love, intense frustration, or a surge of adrenaline."
Blue: "The presence of a blue mood ring is often interpreted as a sign of happiness, joy, and a generally positive emotional state. This color can suggest that the wearer is feeling upbeat, sociable, and in a state of emotional equilibrium."
Purple: "A purple mood ring is frequently associated with a sense of clarity, purpose, and spiritual insight. This color can signify that the wearer is in touch with their higher self, tapping into their intuition and creativity to navigate their emotional landscape with a renewed sense of direction and understanding."

Debunked

So, some unfortunate bad news. Mood rings are not scientifically factual. Why? Let's debunk.

First off, mood rings measure temperature, not emotion. While emotions can influence body temperature, the ring's color shifts are more likely to be affected by other factors, such as environmental temperature, physical activity, health conditions, and caffeine intake. Also, the color guide (above) is fun but completely arbitrary. There have never been any scientific studies on whether the corresponding colors have anything to do with their associated internal emotions.

Bill Nye, science Unfortunately, mood rings are not backed by the power of science. Giphy

The end of the story

Back to the "one of the most dramatic oversights in fashion history." The mood ring is a cautionary tale. When mood rings hit the market in 1975, the public went wild, with Joshua Reynolds and Maris Ambats selling an astonishing 40 million rings in just three months. They had the ingenious idea to start selling the rings at a premium, with silver-banded versions priced at $45 and gold-banded versions costing $250 ($1,400 today). By the end of the year, their total sales had reached $15 million.

Yes, the original creator, Marvin Wenick, was mad, but Reynolds and Ambats were even more upset in the end. They also had failed to patent the mood ring, the very fatal error that had allowed them to steal the creation in the first place. By the onset of 1976, just as sales were peaking, the market became oversaturated with cheap knock-offs and demanded plummeted, leaving companies with stockhouses full of unsold inventory. What goes around comes back around. Perhaps they should have consulted their mood ring first?

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history

Democracy

12 of the most unbelievable moments ever captured on live TV

It's hard to believe how many world-altering events were unintentionally broadcast to millions

CNN/YouTube & Robert H. Jackson (29) - Flickr

The Challenger space shuttle tragedy and the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald were both shown live on television.

The first television was invented in 1927. In the early days, much of the programming available was previously recorded. It wasn't until around the 1950s that we had the technology for live broadcast television.

Simply put, live TV changed everything. It was only a few years earlier that the Hindenburg disaster had the world's attention rapt. The incident saw a state-of-the-art Zeppelin flying machine burst into flames without warning, killing 36 people. You might remember, even if you can't place it, the iconic and tragic radio broadcast of the accident: "Oh, the humanity!" Though even that commentary by broadcast journalist Herbert Morrison was recorded live and broadcast to the world much later.

Soon, the biggest most earth-shaking events were being broadcast all over the world live, not just for people to hear, but to see with their own eyes. In some cases, they were even being captured (sometimes unwittingly) before producers had a chance to cut away.

Here are some of the wildest and most famous incidents to have ever occurred in the roughly 75-year history of live television.

1. The second plane hits on 9/11

Almost anyone who was alive in 2001 can tell you where they were the morning of September 11.

Though there is some footage of the first plane to hit the World Trade Center, it wasn't until after that impact that news and media began to descend upon the area. No one knew the extent of what was happening at first, except that it was a horrible tragedy. And then the second plane hit the South tower as millions watched in absolute horror, changing the world forever.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

2. Randy Johnson obliterates a bird during MLB game

Not all the crazy things that have happened on live television had such far reaching impacts. And, thankfully, not all of them have been quite as tragic.

Well, I guess we should try telling that to this poor bird. It flew through the middle of a baseball diamond at the worst possible time, getting instantly annihilated by pitcher Randy Johnson's fastball! The freak incident was a one-in-a-million occurrence that's still known as one of the wildest things to ever happen during a pro sports game.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

3. The Challenger tragedy

In 1986 the world watched eagerly as the space shuttle Challenger launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida with seven crew members aboard. The event was being broadcast live in schools all over the country when the unthinkable happened: The shuttle exploded without warning just 73 seconds into its flight.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

4. Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walk on the moon

Thankfully, here's one space flight with a happy ending. In 1969, Apollo 11 took astronauts to the moon for the first manned landing. Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon as millions of onlookers watched on live from their homes, with the help of incredible NASA camera and satellite technology.

(Of course, to this day some people still insist the whole thing was faked!)

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

5. The killing of Lee Harvey Oswald

Though there was much media coverage of JFK's doomed appearance in Dallas in 1963 and, of course, his assassination, the actual moment of his shooting was never shown live on television. However the death of Lee Harvey Oswald, his presumed killer, was.

Just two days later, while being moved through the police station in handcuffs, Oswald was approached and shot by a man named Jack Ruby. The entire thing was captured and broadcast to a huge audience who was tuned-in constantly for updates on the case.

6. Gary Plauche murders his son's kidnapper

It was a horrible story, but all too familiar. No one watching at the time had any idea that they were about to witness a historic and shocking moment.

A man named Jeffrey Doucet had been arrested on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a young boy, and a news crew was waiting for him to arrive in police custody at the airport in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Unbeknownst to Doucet, the police, the reporters, and the live audience, the victimized boy's father was also waiting. Gary Plauche remained incognito until Doucet walked past him, at which point Plauche pulled a gun and shot, killing him.

Plauche did not serve significant time for the murder, receiving a lenient sentence.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

7. A guy wins $250,000 on a scratch-off while being interviewed about a winning a new car on a scratch-off

OK, that was a dark stretch, right? Here's another one-in-a-million moment that's a lot more fun.

In 1998, an Australian man named Bill Morgan was down on his luck. He lived in a truck and nearly died twice in a small period, once from a terrible car crash and then from an allergic reaction to medication. His luck turned around when he won a brand new car on a lottery scratch-off ticket.

A local news station came out to cover Morgan's story and asked him to scratch off another ticket for B-roll footage for the story. In the live video, Morgan is absolutely stunned to find that he won $250,000 on the second ticket.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

8. Magician dies on stage and the audience thinks it's all part of the act

Tommy Cooper, a comedian and magician, was performing on the UK television show Live from Her Majesty's in front of an audience of roughly 12 million people when he suddenly collapsed during an illusion.

The audience, knowing Cooper liked to have a little fun with pretending to fail the trick, began laughing. In reality, Cooper had suffered a heart attack and was dead on arrival by the time he made it to the hospital.

9. Damar Hamlin goes into cardiac arrest on Monday Night Football

About 15 million people watch a typical Monday Night Football game. The audience was likely bigger than that for a highly anticipated showdown between the Bengals and Bills in January of 2023.

Early in the game, after a seemingly routine tackle, Bills safety Damar Hamlin stood up, wobbled, and collapsed to the field. Trainers rushed to his side, and soon, first responders and an ambulance showed up as well. Viewers had very little idea what was happening, except that the stadium was absolutely silent and players on both sidelines were shown crying.

Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest on the field, more specifically an episode of commotio cordis which is almost always fatal if not treated immediately. The Bills' training staff that rushed to his side saved his life on live television via CPR, and Hamlin eventually returned to NFL duty the next year.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

10. The Max Headroom TV hijacking

Here's a weird one. In November 1987, a masked "hijacker" took over the live feed of WGN-TV in Chicago. The person was dressed as the character Max Headroom. There was no sound or speech for 30 bizarre seconds before station engineers regained control over the television feed.

The same person, later that day, hijacked the feed of another major Chicago station: WTTW. This interruption lasted about 90 seconds and included, well, a lot of extremely strange stuff.

The FCC investigated the incident but were never able to identify the culprits.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

11. Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at The Oscars

Will this incident earn a place in the history books one day? Maybe not. But for a brief moment in 2022, we all thought this was the craziest thing that had ever occurred. Was it all a skit? Was it real? No one knew for sure at first.

I guess you just had to be there.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

12. January 6, 2021

Millions of Americans watched it unfold live in the aftermath of the 2020 Presidential election as a mob of over 2000 protestors approached and then stormed the US Capitol.

The footage captured by the media present that day is among the most shocking in American history.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Can you imagine if there were dozens of iPhone videos taken aboard the Titanic as it sank? If someone been trying to sneak a selfie with Abraham Lincoln in the background just as John Wilkes Booth was sneaking up to assassinate him?

It's amazing to think that there will likely never be a major historical or pop culture event that's not captured, if not on live television, at least on self-shot video. On second thought, after seeing some of these videos, maybe that's not such a good thing.

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Unbelievable new story reveals how Disney classic The Emperor’s New Groove almost didn't happen

It's being called “the most torturous production in history.”

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What really happened behind the scenes.

It was the 1990s and the Disney Animation department seemed unstoppable. Over the past decade, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and his army of directors, writers, and animators worked tirelessly to produce a shiny new animated movie for Disney every year, sometimes two or three times yearly. And by all accounts, it was working. These “little hits” they were pumping out for the big boss? Box-office miracles, all of them. Disney had cornered and perfected this market so well that audiences started to forget there were other animation studios out there. The time was known as the Disney Renaissance, and could you blame them? Between 1989 and 1999, Disney Animation truly had the Midas touch, and every movie they produced was imbued with once-in-a-generation movie magic.

Walt Disney Pictures, logo, magic, disney, films, disney renaissance Disney made magic happen in the 90s. Giphy

It began with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and was followed quickly The Rescuers Down Under in 1990 and Beauty and the Beast in 1991. Aladdin (1992) followed, then The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Lion King (1994), A Goofy Movie (1995), Pocahontas (also 1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and to cap off this incredible dynasty, Tarzan in 1999. Sprinkled between these hits were more hits from Disney's other studio, Pixar (Toy Story in 1995, Toy Story 2 in 1999, A Bug's Life in 1998). Though not technically part of the Renaissance, these hits only added to Disney's bank of classics.

The success seemed to make the team confident they could start doing stranger, quirkier films that strayed from the current cookie-cutter Disney model. But that hubris would lead to an epic battle within the studio. Though Katzenberg was dismissed in 1994, his mark had been made and the Renaissance was still moving ahead one until one of the most fraught productions in Disney’s history. Filled with creative clashes, drastic rewrites, personnel changes, and a rushed timeline, this project had the odds stacked heavily against it. That movie was Kingdom of the Sun.

Or, that’s what it would have been called if everything went according to plan. On December 10, 2000, at the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, Disney premiered The Emperor’s New Groove, a zany, highly funny comedy about a selfish young emperor who is accidentally transformed into a llama by his treacherous advisor. To return to his human form, he must rely on a peasant from the village, Pacha, whom he’s already wronged before the initial plot is underway. On paper, this had the potential to be a masterpiece. The cast was beyond stacked. David Spade playing the most David Spade-est characters of all time, a tart, conceited 17-year-old brat emperor named Kuzco; Eartha Kitt (!!) played Yzma, the emperor’s diabolical elderly advisor who secretly wishes to usurp him; and John Goodman played Pacha, the noble and kind village-dweller who must bring Kuzco back and return him to his human self. At the time, audiences were confused by the lack of grandeur, coming off the heels of Tarzan. (Although The Emperor’s New Groove received generally positive critical reviews, by Disney standards, it had underperformed, grossing $169.5 million on a $100 million budget.)

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

But back to Kingdom of the Sun. In 1994, fresh off the gigantic success of The Lion King, Disney Studios' President at the time, Thomas Schumacher, handpicked the movie’s original director, Roger Allers, to lead their next film, which would explore an ancient culture such as the Incas, Aztecs, or Mayans. Allers, alongside co-writer Matthew Jacobs, dreamt up an epic tale set in Peru, where a greedy emperor (voiced by Spade), bored by life at the palace, would trade places with a similarly looking peasant (to be voiced by Owen Wilson), resembling Mark Twain’s novel, The Prince and the Pauper. There were a few other Disney tidbits thrown in, like an evil god of death (Kitt) who sought to destroy the sun, and two love interests: the emperor’s betrothed fiancée Nina, and a llama-herder named Mata (voiced by Laura Prepon). It was perfectly lovely and entirely safe, ideal for its studio. James Berardinelli and Roger Ebert’s book, The Reel Views 2, describedKingdom of the Sun as a “romantic comedy musical in the ‘traditional’ Disney style.” The team even traveled to Machu Picchu in 1996 to immerse themselves in Incan culture and study artifacts and architecture.

This did not go over well with the studio. First, they had already done a version of The Prince and the Pauper, a Mickey Mouse short from 1990 that the studio paired with various at-home releases. The idea felt tired. They needed more, especially considering the “underperformances” of Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Disney execs were worried that Kingdom of the Sun would fall into the same trap: too self-serious and too ambitious (they had flown to Machu Picchu, c’mon!). So, they called Mark Dindal to come in and punch up the material, naming him co-director. This is where things start to go a bit haywire.

Suddenly, the original director, now co-director, Roger Allers, calls up the singer Sting to compose songs for the movie. He agrees, under one condition: his wife, Trudie Styler, can come along and document the process (more on this later). They settled on the terms, and Sting and his collaborator began to work on eight original songs, each of which is “inextricably linked with the original plot and characters.” Only two songs made the final cut when The Emperor’s New Groove premiered, with three added to the soundtrack CD as bonuses. By the summer of 1998, Disney’s studio executives began to crash out.

Disney, Emperor's New Groove, David Spade, film, disney animation Turns out, the film was in shambles.Giphy

The film was in shambles, nowhere near where it should be for a 2000 release—and it had to be released then, due to various crucial promotional deals Disney had set up with Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Allers had gone wild, overstuffing the film with too many plot elements, eager not to repeat the tired Disney “formula”: a hero, a villain, and a love song. In a panic, the Disney executives devised a plan that would later be known infamously as a “Bake Off.” The crew was split in two.

“They gave Mark Dindal a small crew, and me a small crew, to come up with two different versions of the story. Which is just kind of awful to compete against each other,” recalls Allers to Vulture. On one side was Allers, who proposed a complex yet emotionally moving film that had the potential to rival The Lion King. Dindal was on the other side, but his pitch didn’t involve story elements or characters being cut. He suggested an entirely different movie. According to storyboard artist Chris Williams, “Even more than probably pitching a story or new characters, we were pitching a tone. We were suggesting a radically different tone than what Kingdom of the Sun had been. A lot of what was funny about it was just how preposterous it was. And I’d never heard Tom and Peter laugh before. They were almost literally on the floor laughing.”

The Emperors New Groove, angel, devil, scene, movie, Disney It wasn't really a pitch, like the movie ended up being, it was funny.Giphy

Roger Allers saw what was happening—this was the movie—and left the project. It was September 1998, and Disney had already wasted $30 million of its $100 million budget. Oh, and only 25% of the film was animated. They had about a year to pull off the heist of the century.

When they emerged from the “Bake Off,” Dindal and producer Randy Fullmer halted production for six months. They returned with The Emperor’s New Groove,a buddy comedy set loosely in Peru. It had become an entirely new film: most of the cast, except Spade and Kitt, had been fired. It was leaner: fewer characters, simpler backgrounds. They squeaked by the deadline and somehow managed to release a movie that year.

And that would have been the end of it. Kind of weird and tonally different Disney film breaks even. Nothing more to see. That is, if not for Sting’s wife, documentarian Trudie Styler, who had been capturing all of the drama from the sidelines. Remember Sting’s ultimatum at the beginning? Styler kept her promise, creating a documentary called The Sweatbox, named for the screening room at Disney Studios in Burbank that had no air conditioning and caused the animators to sweat while their work was being inspected. What began as a behind-the-scenes vanity project for her husband transformed into an unprecedented glimpse behind the curtain at the corporate dysfunction at Disney.

Sketch, Disney, Emperors New Groove, Disney, behind the scenes Sketches from Kingdom of the SunDeviantArt

But while The Emperor’s New Groove has found a niche cult following since its release, The Sweatbox can’t be found… anywhere. The 86-minute documentary, which Disney approved, was initially scheduled for release in 2001 and even enjoyed a few screenings, including a worldwide premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and an unpublicized one-week run at the Loews Beverly Center Cineplex in Los Angeles. Reporting on The Sweatbox, Wade Sampson wrote:

“The two executives did come across as nerdy bullies who really didn’t seem to know what was going on when it came to animation and were unnecessarily hurtful and full of politically correct speech. They looked like the kids in high school that jocks gave a “wedgie” to on a daily basis. How much of that impression was due to editing and how much was a remarkable, truthful glimpse is up to the viewer to decide.”

Now and then, a brave vigilante dares to post a clip of The Sweatbox online, but Disney always removes it. But it’s funny how things end up: after the first screening of The Emperor’s New Groove, someone from Disney leadership said, “We’ll never make that kind of movie again.” Yet, since then, Disney has released a direct-to-video sequel named Kronk’s New Groove, an animated TV series, and various games based on that “cursed movie.”

Seems like the Emperor didn't throw off Disney's groove after all.

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history

Van Gogh saw something it took scientists another 100 years to see.

A video at the bottom of the page will explain everything, but before we get there, let's do some backstory:

Even in his darkest time, Van Gogh was able to capture—with eerie accuracy—one of nature's most complex and confusing concepts 100 years before scientists had the technology to do so.

A lot of the American lexicon has a dubious past.

1. Thug

2. Grandfather Clause

3. Gypsy or "Gyp"

4. No Can Do

5. Sold Down The River

6. Welfare Queen

8. Long Time No See

9. The Peanut Gallery

10. Uppity

11. (Bonus) Master bedroom/bathroom

Evidence of pet cats actually predates Egyptian kitties by 4,000 years.

The chilling story was based on a real high school experiment.

One of the most dramatic oversights in fashion history.

Origins

How mood rings work

Debunked

The end of the story

It's hard to believe how many world-altering events were unintentionally broadcast to millions

It's being called “the most torturous production in history.”