Salvage

Actually From XKCD (#1598)

In honor of the 104th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which is this Thursday, April 14th.

 

 

Happy Birthday George Washington, The Most Interesting Man in American History

Curator’s Comment: His real birthday was yesterday, February 22nd. If he was alive today George would be 284 years old and probably tired of all the attention.

Poll Shows 67% Of High Schoolers Think MLK Was An American President

Actually From The Daily Currant

Jan 19, 2015

In a stunning Pewter Poll, it was revealed today that a majority of American high schoolers think civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. was president of the United States before his assassination in 1968.

About 3,169 high schoolers from grade 9 through 12 were polled on Jan. 16 in a survey that simply asked if Martin Luther King Jr. was ever the president of the United States. The results shocked Pewter, who reported 67 percent of high schoolers thought King has held that office.

Sarah Small, a 9th grader in Ohio, told USA Today, “Of course he was president. I follow politics. He was the first black president. That’s why we celebrate his birthday, duh.”

“He was a great man,” said Tommy Jones of Los Angeles. “Too bad they killed him for being the first black president.”

Results were equal among male and female students but the percent of incorrectness actually rose through the grade with more 12th graders getting the question wrong compared to 9th graders.

New York Times editor Wally Joyce said, “It was a remarkable poll. How could a teenager think MLK was president? The students weren’t that young when Barack Obama became president. How did they not know Obama was the first black president?”

Some statisticians say the report shows how much more accepting the younger generation is of different races and culture. “It’s as if these kids didn’t know of America’s racist past,” pollster Matt Tenison told Yahoo! News. “I’m not sure if that part of history is being glossed over by the history books but the results of the poll were amazing. We are still studying the implications of this seemingly simple poll and our conclusion will be reported in the next few months.”

[Click HERE to read the rest, which is worth it]

 

Professor Izzard Explains the Use of Flags Throughout History

Happy Flag Day

Which is tomorrow, by the way.

Happy Memorial Day 2015

We hope you celebrated however you saw fit.

The Other Side of Women’s History Month

In Honor of the 241st Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party We Proudly Present: A Mercifully Brief History of Tea

Actually By Doug DuCap

According to legend, tea was invented one day when the Buddha’s eyelids suddenly fell off and landed in Lao Tzu’s roiling pot of Hot Water, which was at the time the Chinese National Beverage.

“Hey, cut that out!” Lao Tzu, the Father of Taoism (and several dozen illegitimate children) was heard to exclaim to the Buddha. After sampling the drink, however, he was pleasantly surprised at the delightful taste and aroma.

“Holy Cats!” Lao Tzu cried, “And I thought Hot Water was tasty!”

Read the rest (it’s worth it…)

 

We Never Forgot, We Just Didn’t Remember

A little inspiration in honor of tomorrow’s

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

This Day In History

Histerical Markers & More

Please be aware that the American Hysterical Society does not endorse the following company (but we sure do love their work).

We don’t usually think of historical markers as being potentially subversive or funny (though one artist out there does). However, LSC Creations may have changed that. They offer a wide range of histerical markers, novelty state plaques, and fake historical markers, among other items.

They offer the now-famous:

For the more civic-minded they have various state histerical markers, such as:

Of course, if you don’t like their text they offer blank plaques so you can write your own:

Thanks to LSC, we finally have the ability to correct errors, debate interpretation, and make fun of the information found on historical markers. Perhaps most importantly, we can do all of that free of committees, politicians, or oversight of any kind.

If given the chance to (anonymously) post a sign of your own, what sign would you challenge or parody?