International entanglements

I find it odd and interesting that there is a specific injunction against joining the Peace Corps if you've ever worked for the CIA (or any intelligence agency, for that matter). Likewise there is a temporary injunction the other way round...you can't be employed by an intelligence agency for a period of time (determined separately by each agency). I wonder why this might be the case; closest I can come is that because the Peace Corps is often an overseas posting, members have the potential to make non-secure contacts during their tenure with the Peace Corps which would then take advantage of their intelligence clearances and whatnot? Dunno. Strange.

Which came first...

So which was it, the telephone or the fax machine? Wait, what? Seriously? Of course there had to be phone lines in place before a fax machine would even be useful, right? Nope.
According to Wikipedia:
"Scottish inventor Alexander Bain worked on chemical mechanical fax type devices and in 1846 was able to reproduce graphic signs in laboratory experiments. He received patent 9745 on May 27, 1843 for his 'Electric Printing Telegraph.' Frederick Bakewell made several improvements on Bain's design and demonstrated a telefax machine. The Pantelegraph was invented by the Italian physicist Giovanni Caselli. He introduced the first commercial telefax service between Paris and Lyon in 1865, some 11 years before the invention of telephones."
There's something interesting that I did not know.

You're so knotty...

Apparently, knot theory is a thing in mathematics, and it's interesting enough to mathematicians that they hold international conferences about it.

Tom Swift immortalized...in the Taser

Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, began developing the Taser in 1969. By 1974, Cover had completed the device, which he named after his childhood hero Tom Swift ("Thomas A. Swift's electric rifle"). The middle initial (the 'A') is gratuitous, as Tom's full name is unknown.

Submarine Spiders

The diving bell spider or water spider, Argyroneta aquatica, is the only species of spider known to live entirely under water. However it breathes air, which it traps in a bubble held by hairs on its abdomen and legs.Females build underwater "diving bell" webs which they fill with air and use for digesting prey, molting, mating and raising offspring. They live almost entirely within the bells, darting out to catch prey animals that touch the bell or the silk threads that anchor it. However they have to surface occasionally to renew their personal air supplies and those of their webs. Males also build bells, but these are smaller and the males replenish their bells' oxygen supply less often.

Ty Cobb metagamed his batting average

Ty Cobb was kind of a douche when it came to his batting average relative to other players:

Going into the final days of the season, Cobb had an .004 lead on Nap Lajoie for the American League batting title. The prize for the winner of the title was a Chalmers automobile. Cobb sat out the final games to preserve his average. Nap Lajoie hit safely eight times in his teams' doubleheader; however, six of those hits were bunt singles, and later came under scrutiny. Regardless, Cobb was credited with a higher batting average. However it was later found out that one game was counted twice and so Cobb technically lost to Nap Lajoie.

As a result of the incident, Ban Johnson was forced to arbitrate the situation. He declared Cobb the rightful owner of the title. However, the Chalmers company elected to award a car to each of the players.

Cobb regarded baseball as "something like a war," Charlie Gehringer said. "Every time at bat for him was a crusade." Baseball historian John Thorn has said, "He is testament to how far you can get simply through will... Cobb was pursued by demons."

Cobb was having a tremendous year in 1911, which included a 40-game hitting streak. Still, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson had a .009 point lead on him in batting average. What happened next is discussed in Cobb's autobiography. Near the end of the season, Cobb’s Tigers had a long series against Jackson and the Cleveland Naps. Fellow Southerners, Cobb and Jackson were personally friendly both on and off the field. Cobb used that friendship for his advantage. Whenever Jackson said anything to him, he ignored him. When Jackson persisted, Cobb snapped angrily at Jackson, making him wonder what he could have done to enrage Cobb. Cobb felt that it was these mind games that caused Jackson to "fall off" to a final average of .408, while Cobb himself finished with a .420 average.

And the LORD did grin...

On 19 March 2009, several buildings in Shoreditch, East London, were evacuated after water company workers discovered a replica of the Holy Hand Grenade under a fire hydrant cover. The workers reported the suspicious object but the bomb squad determined there was no danger and after about 45 minutes they declared the area to be safe.