Pylimitics

These days it’s not too hard to find academicians who are very independent-minded and stand up to things like traditions, university bureaucracy, and political niceties. But in the first half of the nineteenth century it was much more unusual. One example, though, is Augustus De Morgan, who was born June 27, 1806 in Madras Presidency.… Continue reading

You know about the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — all of them were talented novelists. But they had a brother, too, Patrick Branwell. He went by his middle name, Branwell, and while he was probably just as talented as his sisters, lived a short and troubled life.  Branwell Brontë was the only boy… Continue reading

One of the unique things introduced in the 20th century was “the popular fad introduced by comic characters.” Two of that century’s biggest such fads are connected by at least one coincidence: their creators shared a birthday.  The first such fad, in the US, was Kewpie Dolls. Kewpies were stylized babies with a topknot of… Continue reading

One of the small, ubiquitous objects we take for granted these days is the thumbtack. They’re such a good way to temporarily attach papers, posters, notices, and the like to a vertical surface that many offices are designed with walls to accommodate thumbtacks. They’re everywhere, and so vanishingly inexpensive that I’ll bet you can’t even… Continue reading

In the US, carbonated soft drinks loaded with sugar (or more likely corn syrup) have been in a marketing competition for decades. Coca-Cola almost always wins, and until recently Pepsi-Cola has been in second place. But earlier this very month, there was a new #2: Dr Pepper.  Dr Pepper is always pronounced “Doctor Pepper,” even… Continue reading