Neatorama |
- Five for Fighting
- How We’ve Commemorated the Civil War
- Cat on a Ledge
- A Collaborative Investigation
- Straight Razor: A Short Film about the Traditional Barbershop
- Be Careful What You Say -- The Walls Have Ears
- The Straw Hat Riot
- Not #Winning: Bomb Threat Over 2½ Men Reruns
- The Digital Diet
- Geeky Teens: It Gets Better
- Butchered Apron
- Gmail Hackers Used US Government Backdoor
- Duff Beer: Yes, It Does Exist!
- Super Grover Tattoo
- Parking Meters Collect Money for the Homeless
- The Moon Is Wetter than Expected
- New Zealand's Sky Blue Mushroom
- Declassified: A Look at Formerly Top Secret Aircraft
| Posted: 30 May 2011 04:01 AM PDT The following is an article from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Salutes the Armed Forces.. In 1942 five brothers made a sacrifice that showed just how much a family could give to the war effort. PATRIOTIC FERVOR January 3, 1942: After ringing in the New Year, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, enlisted in the Navy. The brothers were George, 28; Francis, 27; Joseph, 24; Madison, 23; and Albert, 20.The brothers all joined the Navy, which (along with the rest of the military) discouraged family members from serving together in a highly dangerous area. It was not forbidden, though, and the brothers wanted to stay together. So they requested permission to serve on the same ship, the USS Juneau, a new light cruiser. It first took them to fight in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, and then set off for Guadalcanal in September. FIGHTING SPIRIT The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the most important fights of World War II. Japan wanted control of the island to build a strategic base, and U.S. and Allied forces waged a campaign to stop them. The entire battle lasted two months, and the USS Juneau was just one of the ships involved.  USS Juneau DAMN THE TORPEDOES The intense battle that followed didn’t take long. It was only 15 minutes before two Japanese destroyers, a Japanese battleship, and five American destroyers were felled. The Juneau was hit by a torpedo, so it cruised away to seek repairs at Pearl Harbor. But the massive boat could only make speeds of 18 knots, and reaching Pearl Harbor seemed impossible. So a few hours later, the Juneau turned around and rejoined the battle. The bloody confrontation raged until almost noon, when the Allied forces retreated. The Juneau limped along at a speed of 13 knots before it was hit again. The time, the torpedo split the cruiser in half; it sank almost immediately. About 600 men on board were killed right away, including Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan. The eldest brother, George, was severely wounded but made it into a lifeboat. More than 100 men from the Juneau were also still alive, but the odds were greatly stacked against them. IN THE WATER Finally, the Japanese left, and with the surviving men of the Juneau in need of rescue, the captain of the USS Helena radioed the sinking ship’s position and asked for aircraft assistance. Unfortunately, that message never reached its intended audience. For a full week, the remaining servicemen had to fight exposure, exhaustion, and sharks. Many died from the wounds they had already suffered. Only three crowded lifeboats were available for the entire remaining crew, and sharks circled each of them, waiting for anyone to fall overboard. George’s wounds were serious but not life-threatening. He might have made it, but was attacked by a shark when he attempted to quickly clean himself in the ocean. The last remaining Sullivan brother had perished. And by the time a rescue ship returned to the area, just 10 survivors remained. Back in Waterloo, Iowa, the Sullivans’ parents did not know of their sons’ deaths. The U.S. military, in an effort to keep the Axis from knowing how much damage its forces had sustained, did not make the cruiser’s destruction public. The Sullivan parents suspected something was wrong only when they stopped receiving letters from their sons. They did not receive an official notice until January 12, 1943. HEROES REMEMBERED
The Navy awarded the brothers several posthumous medals, including the Purple Heart; the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; the World War II Victory Medal; and the Good Conduct Medal. Thomas and Alleta remained staunch supporters of the war effort, and they began a tour to promote the buying of war bonds. Genevieve joined the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), a female service corps employed by the Navy during the war. The house the Sullivan brothers grew up in has since been torn down. In its place stands a park dedicated to the family. Waterloo, Iowa, also hosts the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, and the city’s Grout Museum opened a wing called The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veteran’s Museum in 2004. THE LEGACY LIVES ON The first USS The Sullivans served the U.S. Navy through the Korean War. After the conflict, it was decommissioned and now resides in Buffalo, New York, as a tribute to the brothers. A second USS The Sullivans was launched on August 12, 1995, and is still in service.  USS The Sullivans A movie about the Sullivan brothers’ sacrifice, The Fighting Sullivans (originally titled just The Sullivans), was released in 1944 and was nominated for an Academy Award. The film Saving Private Ryan, which won five Academy Awards, was partially inspired by the brothers’ deaths but did not directly tell any part of the story. The Fighting Sullivans (segment 9 of 9) Today, there’s a widespread belief that a law was enacted after the death of the five Sullivan brothers to prevent family members from serving together on the same ship, but that’s not true. The Navy does, however, continue to recommend against it, as do the other branches of the military. Still, if enlisted servicemen and woman fill out a request form, the rule can be bent. __________
Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out!  |
| How We’ve Commemorated the Civil War Posted: 29 May 2011 08:12 PM PDT
The 100th anniversary was supposed to be a big deal, but it fizzled out for various reasons, which you can read about at Smithsonian. Link |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 08:08 PM PDT The cat was walking around the second story ledge of an apartment building, apparently not wanting to jump down and unable to get inside. YouTube user MrsChantrea says,
-via Buzzfeed |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 08:06 PM PDT This photograph of a liquor store was taken in Minneapolis in 1939, and recently posted to Shorpy. Interesting, but… what is that futuristic thing sticking up out of the car parked in front? The first comment on the picture identified the car as a new 1939 Mercury, and the second commenter asked about the flashy antenna. It didn’t take long for someone to find another car with the same gadget, and another to find an advertisement for the exact radio and antenna. This kind of collaboration and information sharing is one of the things that makes the internet so addicting. Link -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell! |
| Straight Razor: A Short Film about the Traditional Barbershop Posted: 29 May 2011 04:42 PM PDT (Video Link) “[...] ’cause honestly, the barbershop is one of the few last refuges of an old man, you know, where you can go and be a man’s man. And if that ever goes away, it’ll be a sad day, because I don’t think that it’ll ever come back.” So speaks barber Dave Devine of American Classic Barbershop of St. Louis in this short film by Bruton Stroube. via Doobybrain | Studio Website |
| Be Careful What You Say -- The Walls Have Ears Posted: 29 May 2011 03:39 PM PDT Colossal has a roundup of some of the whimsical pieces created by the artist Michael Beitz. I especially like this one called “body/brick”, which was installed in Brooklyn. |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 03:37 PM PDT
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| Not #Winning: Bomb Threat Over 2½ Men Reruns Posted: 29 May 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Link | Image: sodahead.com |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 11:25 AM PDT
New York techonology reporter Daniel Sieberg explains in his book The Digital Diet
Lena Groeger of Wired has the story: Link | The Digital Diet |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 11:23 AM PDT
(Yes, the title is inspired from the It Gets Better Project, which lets LGBT kids and teens know that things will get better … if they can just get through their teen years. Here’s a fascinating story about the project over at NPR) |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 11:22 AM PDT
Are you still looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift? Behold the Butchered Apron from the NeatoShop. It would be a crime not to get Dad this fabulous gift. We suspect Dad will be very pleased. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fantastic Aprons. |
| Gmail Hackers Used US Government Backdoor Posted: 29 May 2011 11:21 AM PDT
Security expert Bruce Schneier says it’s not just Gmail that’s affected:
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| Duff Beer: Yes, It Does Exist! Posted: 29 May 2011 09:48 AM PDT
Duff Sudamerica, the Chilean producer, expects to sell $750,000 worth of Duff beer this year, but personally I think they’ll surpass that once Simpsons superfans get in on it. Link | Image: Jim Wyss / Miami Herald Staff |
| Posted: 29 May 2011 09:33 AM PDT Certainly a good premise for a tattoo is an inspirational, heroic figure. Super Grover from Sesame Street will do the trick. This particular tattoo was made by Cecil Porter of Murrieta, California. Link (main site is NSFW at times) | Cecil Porter’s Website |
| Parking Meters Collect Money for the Homeless Posted: 29 May 2011 08:44 AM PDT
This is a neat idea: parking meters repurposed to collect change for the homeless. The program is now running in Orlando, FL, as well.
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| The Moon Is Wetter than Expected Posted: 29 May 2011 08:12 AM PDT
The big deal is that now we’re even less certain how the Moon formed. The presence of water in subsurface lunar rocks messes with the Giant Impact Hypothesis, the leading theory on the topic to date. Read more at Bad Astronomy. Link | Image: Sunday Mercury |
| New Zealand's Sky Blue Mushroom Posted: 29 May 2011 07:46 AM PDT It looks like a piece of Photoshop trickery, but that bit of fairlyand fungus is Entoloma hochstetteri, the Sky Blue Mushroom. In its native New Zealand the mushroom is well known, appearing on a postage stamp and on the back of the country’s $50 note, but it is virtually unheard of outside the Land of the Long White Cloud. The Sky Blue Mushroom is probably poisonous, but no daring forager has offered to find out. There are more pictures and information on Kuriositas. Link | Image credit: little tomato |
| Declassified: A Look at Formerly Top Secret Aircraft Posted: 29 May 2011 05:19 AM PDT During the Cold War, the US military developed top secret aircraft at the Air Force facilities at Groom Lake, also known as Area 51. Decades after the projects were finished, these designs remained classified. Although these planes were “technology demonstrators” and were never put into service, they were crucial for testing systems and technologies that are part of modern military and civilian aircraft alike. Read the stories and see photographs of three of these projects (one of which only exists in photographs, as the planes are still missing) at UrbanGhosts. Link |
The nation mourned the loss of all aboard the Juneau, but especially the sacrifice of the Sullivan family. The brothers’ parents, Thomas and Alleta, were left behind, as was a sister, Genevieve, and Albert’s widow and son. Pope Pius XII sent his condolences. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote a letter to the Sullivan parents in which he said, “I am sure that we all take heart in the knowledge that they fought side by side.” President Roosevelt also asked Mrs. Sullivan to christen the new naval destroyer, the USS The Sullivans, in San Francisco in April.
The article above is reprinted with permission from 
It has been 150 years since the US Civil War began. How should we mark the anniversary? The first recorded reunion of Civil War soldiers (Union only) took place a mere ten years after the beginning of the war. The anniversaries in the first 50 years after the war were dedicated to healing the wounds that still divided the North and the South. Then in 1936, there was something new for the commemorations.
The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 is an example of what can happen when folks take fashion too seriously. Unbelievable as it sounds, a gang of young hoodlums in New York City decided to enforce an unwritten rule that straw hats were not to be worn after September 15. Beginning a little early on September 13, 1922 they snatched straw hats from people’s heads and trampled them, beating with sticks those who resisted. The mob’s numbers swelled to 1000 and the brawling continued through the next night leading to hospitalizations and imprisonment for some.
I’m as sick of Charlie Sheen as anyone, but a New York City resident named Freddy Caldwell is maybe a little more annoyed than the rest of us. On May 11 and May 23, after WPIX-11 aired reruns of “Two and a Half Men,” Caldwell called in bomb threats to the station, demanding that they not run any more of the syndicated sitcom episodes.
Are you an Internet junkie? Do you constantly check your smartphone for email updates, tweet incessantly, and post the smallest details of your life on Facebook? Then you need to go on a diet. A digital diet.
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Are you bullied in high school because you’re a geek? Don’t worry, it gets better.
Remember the Chinese hackers who hacked into gmail last year? Turns out they were able to do that because Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts for the US Government.
If you’re in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia or Chile anytime soon, you can pick up a bottle of Duff, Homer Simpson’s lager of choice. Though the product is probably in violation of licensing agreements–or more specifically, being produced without one–it’s a hot seller in South American markets.
Our ideas about the Moon — what it’s made of and how it got there, and even how we can 
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