-
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 7.15
On July 15, 1983, the Nintendo Entertainment System was first released in Japan. Confession: I used to “cheat” at Duck Hunt by putting the gun controller against the screen. I understood gender discrimination once I added “Mr.” to my resume and landed a job – This stuff astounds me. What is going on in the head of the average resume…
Read More » -
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 7.10
On July 10, 1553, Lady Jane Grey took the throne of England and ruled for 10 days. I know this might not seem like a big piece of history to post, but I’ve always been fascinated with the British monarchy. Babies Not Even Worth It Anymore – Are children now a luxury for the rich? From Moniqa. PETA Finds Itself…
Read More » -
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 7.8
On July 8, 1947, reporters broadcasted that there was a UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico. I still find it fun to read all about the “investigations” and such, and admit it, you watched Alien Autopsy (hosted by Jonathan Frakes). Laws: Labour’s sexist suicide mission – “One of the great problems with being a white, middle-aged male in New Zealand…
Read More » -
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 7.3
On July 3, 1844, the last pair of Great Auks were killed and the bird species is now presumed to be extinct. The birds had been dying off, but then a small colony was discovered. Unfortunately, museums took this opportunity to kill off the colony so that they could mount specimens for display. Seriously, some jerk killed off the last…
Read More » -
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 7.1
On July 1, 1908, SOS was adopted as an international distress signal because it is easy to distinguish in Morse Code (three dots, three dashes, and three dots). Interestingly, VTB produces the same sound but SOS is just easier to remember. Nowadays there is a new distress code system, but SOS is still recognized as a visual signal. BUT HE…
Read More » -
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 6.26
On June 26, 1870, Christmas was officially declared a federal holiday in the United States. The next day, the secret atheist cabal declared war on it, terrorizing good Christians around the country. Muhaha! The Gospel According to Hadley – A book review for Hadley Freeman’s Be Awesome: Modern Life for Modern Ladies. And check out the Skepchick shout-out at the…
Read More » -
Quickies
Skepchick Quickies 6.24
On June 24, 1374, the town of Aachen, Germany, had an outbreak of St. John’s Dance, which is a phenomenon where groups of people allegedly can’t stop dancing (until they collapse). Sometimes, groups of musicians would accompany the dancers to try to end the manic episodes, but (you may find this hard to believe) that actually made more dancers join…
Read More » -
Book Club
Skepchick Book Club: The Ghost Map
(Note: The details for next month’s book and the themed recipe are at the bottom of this post.) Welcome back to the Skepchick Book Club! This month, we read The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. The book is about a deadly cholera outbreak in Victorian-era London and the investigation done by Dr. John Snow (no, not the same one, and…
Read More »
