1. The top photo is the only surviving photo of President Lincoln’s funeral; the bottom is a touched-up close-up of his face. 2. The embalmed bodies of Archduke Franz Ferdinand & Duchess Sophie in their caskets, June, 1914.
Sep 4 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
Steve Irwin was tragically killed 18 years ago today when a stingray's barb pierced his chest.
He would have been 62 years old today
In his honor, here's a thread of Steve's best moments 🧵
1. Steve Irwin's classic ESPN commercial with the Florida Gator
2. That time he rode in to break up a kookaburra fight
Sep 4 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of where companies started & where they are today
1. Steve Jobs outside the garage of his childhood home, where he started Apple //// Apple Park in 2024 2. The 10"x15" wooden shed where the Harley-Davidson Motor Company started out in 1903 in Wisconsin & the replica of the shed today at the Harley-Davidson museum.
Sep 2 • 32 tweets • 22 min read
The NFL season begins in 3 days
How about some football history?
A thread on how ALL 32 NFL teams got their name 🧵
1. New England Patriots - Initially called the Boston Patriots when the team was founded in 1959, the founding member of the AFL became part of the NFL in 1970. When the team moved from Boston (where they played in various stadiums) to their current home in Foxborough in 1971, the name changed, too.
The “Patriot” part of the team's moniker was the result of a host of options submitted by locals when Boston began developing a team. “Patriots” was a nod to the revolutionary history and spirit of Boston, and the team's first logo featured colonial militia troops (minutemen).
The Patriots mascot, Pat Patriot, was created by cartoonist Phil Bissell in 1960.2. Dallas Cowboys - When the AFL was founded in 1959, Dallas was one of the cities awarded a team. The Dallas Texans grew under the auspices of Lamar Hunt. To counter the inception of the AFL, however, the rival league - the NFL - decided to expand.
As part of this expansion, Dallas became home to the Dallas Rangers. The Dallas Rangers didn't last long. Due to the existence of a minor league baseball team called the Rangers, the owner of the football franchise, Clint Murchison Jr., and general manager Tex Schramm scrambled for another option.
Both men wanted something that made sense in Texas, didn't want an animal, and knew Texans wasn't an option. They came up with 12 potential names, narrowed it down to three, and when Schramm pushed Murchison to make a choice, the team owners simply said, “Okay, Let's go with Cowboys.”
Several years later, Murchison actually thought about changing the name back to Rangers. He'd never considered “Cowboys” to be anything more than a temporary name. When the possibility of another name change went public, calls flooded into the team. Out of 1,148 calls, only two said to change the name to Rangers. Another 1,138 wanted the Cowboys to stay. The other eight simply voted that “Murchison is stupid.”
Aug 30 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
12 bizarre yet fascinating historical facts you've definitely never heard before
A thread 💙
1/12
Jadwiga, a canonized saint & the first female monarch of Poland, held the title of King as Queens couldn’t rule, but the law didn’t state that a King had to be male.
2/12. In 1979, Casio made a pocket calculator that doubled as a cigarette lighter, also known as the ‘calculighter’.
Aug 29 • 18 tweets • 6 min read
A thread of American Civil War images you've (probably) never seen before
1. Teenage soldiers - both black & white, some as young as 12 - serving in the Union Army, 1861. 2. A Union soldier's drawing & journal entry of his pet cat, 1861.
“Virginia (born in Seceshia)
Became attached October 14, 1861
Portrait of
my cat. I had her four months in the army. She was not afraid of horses, guns or any noise. Used to be with me on picket and regularly buried herself to sleep inside my arm. I sent her home by a sick soldier.”
Aug 28 • 23 tweets • 6 min read
A thread of vintage menus that show what we used to eat & drink vs today
Pay close attention to how prices have changed
1. The Titanic’s 1st class & 3rd class menus from April 14, 1912, the last day food was served before the ship sank 2. Red Wagon Inn kids menu from Disneyland, 1950s
Aug 27 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of historic landmarks before & after excavation/restoration
1. The Great Ziggurat of Ur, built 4,000 years ago by King Ur-Nammu of the Neo-Sumerian Empire, in honor of the Moon God 2. Machu Picchu
Aug 26 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
A fascinating thread of old photos in real life
1. The Lincoln Memorial, 1917 to 2016 2. Big oak tree, Thomasville, Georgia, 1885 to 2020
Aug 26 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of mind-blowing facts that will mess with your perception of time
1. John Tyler, the 10th U.S. president, was born in 1790 & has a living grandson.
John had a son, Lyon, at age 63 in 1853
Lyon had a son, Harrison, at age 75 in 1928.
Harrison Tyler is now 95. 2. George Washington died in 1799; the first dinosaur fossil was discovered in 1824. This means that George Washington never knew that dinosaurs existed.
Aug 25 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
A captivating thread of 'then vs. now' photos that show the relentless march of time
1. Piccadilly Circus, London, England, 1949 to 2021 2. 3rd & Central Streets, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1890 to today. 25,000 people were displaced to build I-75 and the surrounding parking lots.
Aug 25 • 21 tweets • 6 min read
A thread of amusing & educational maps you've never seen before
1. Map of the GPS tracking of multiple wolves in six different wolf pack around Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, shows how much the wolf packs avoid each other's territories 2. Capybara Map-ybara
Aug 24 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of World War II images you’ve (probably) never seen before
1. Adolf Hitler with 2 of the Goebbels girls. The 2 girls, along with their other 4 siblings, were murdered with cyanide by their parents in 1945. 2. An American soldier turns a blind eye in the background as former Dachau prisoners prepare to execute an SS guard with a shovel. The guard was known to terrorize and murder men, women & children. (April 29th, 1945)
Aug 21 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
A thread of fascinating history facts you (probably) weren’t taught in history class
1. The Hindenburg was a Nazi Germany airship - Here it is casually flying over New York City in May of 1937, just a few hours before it crashed in New Jersey
Here is the crash that happened later that day
Aug 20 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
A thread of wild examples of the Mandela Effect you (probably) hadn’t heard about
1. Sinbad in ‘Shazaam’ - Many claim to have seen a movie called "Shazaam," wherein American comedian & actor Sinbad played a genie summoned by a young brother and sister. No such movie exists. 2. Britney’s Music Video - Though many people can distinctly remember Britney Spears wearing a microphone headset in the music video of ‘Oops!... I Did It Again,’ she was not actually wearing one.
Aug 19 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of the most insane Mandela Effect examples that will blow your mind
The Mandela Effect is a phenomenon where many people vividly remember events or details differently from how they actually occurred.
1. The Fruit of the Loom logo never had a cornucopia in it 2. Looney Toons or Looney Tunes? Its always been Tunes
Aug 19 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
A thread of unsettling historical images you've (probably) never seen before
1. 9-year-old Eunice Winstead & her 22-year-old husband Charlie Johns with Reverend Walter Lamb, the man who married them, Tennessee, 1937. 2. The Nazi’s pride & joy, the Hindenburg, flying over New York City on the afternoon of May 6, 1937, just a few hours before its historic, fiery crash in Manchester Township, New Jersey.
Aug 18 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
A thread of rare media of animals that are now extinct
1. Footage from 1933 of the last known surviving Thylacine, commonly called the Tasmanian Tiger. It died in 1936 in captivity in Tasmania.
2. Footage of Golden Toads, extinct in 1989
Aug 18 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
A thread of ancient wonders of the world virtually reconstructed
1. The Colossus of Rhodes, Greece, destroyed in 226 BC
2. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt, severely damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323 AD
Aug 17 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
A thread of sounds that will instantly make you nostalgic
Let me know which one was your favorite!
1. Nintendo Wii startup (2006)
2. Bill Nye the Science Guy theme song (1993-1999)
Aug 17 • 20 tweets • 5 min read
A thread of discontinued fast food items I still dream about
1. McDonald's Snack Wraps, introduced in 2006 & discontinued in 2016 2. Taco Bell’s Meximelt, introduced in 1988 & discontinued in 2019