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2012/06/07

Neatorama

Neatorama

The Truth About Gunfights in the Old West

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 05:02 AM PDT

Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.

Hollywood movies are famous (often notoriously so) for embellishing the truth. This is, of course, a polite way of saying filmmakers often lie. In the interest of entertainment, it seems justified. A down-and-out (but good-looking) young guy without a nickel meets a gorgeous girl, who falls for him, and despite all the warnings and their parents being against it and …well, you know what I mean. It’s fiction, it’s fluff. And that’s basically what movies do for us; they carry us out of our own mundane, unglamorous lives and into the land of make-believe. And that is fine.

But there’s another kind of cinematic embellishment. This is the distortion of actual events, real-life occurrences being changed and modified for the sake of “entertainment.” This brings us to the foremost example of this second distortion: the “Old West gunfight.”

First off, it’s not all the fault of Hollywood and the movies. Many years before cinema was even invented, dime novels were printed up, enthralling their eager and avid readers. These pulp novels were extremely popular and carried the written accounts of legendary Old West gunslingers Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill, Bat Masterson, etc. The authors would simply dream up fictional accounts of the exploits of these famed heroes and embellish things that actually did occur.

It wasn’t only the authors doing this embellishing, as many of the actual participants themselves would “color” their own stories for the sake of a good story. Newspapers, too, would dress up the tales of Old West gunmen in order to boost sales (no kidding? A newspaper not telling the truth? Gee, I’m mortified at that one!).

The fact is, Old West gunfights were few and far between.

In popular Western television shows like Bonanza, The Big Valley, Have, Will Travel, and Rawhide, the gunfight is a routine event, taking place about as often as we currently witness a politician being dishonest or your luggage being late coming on the carousel when you arrive at the airport. In some seasons of the longest-running Western TV series ever, Gunsmoke (1955-1975), a formal Hollywood gunfight takes place during the show’s opening credits.



The typical Hollywood gunfight, in TV or in the movies, is two cowboys meeting on the street, usually about ten, twenty, or maybe twenty-five feet apart. They formally wait for one of the two to take a first shot. This signals that the fight is on, and gives the second cowboy (almost inevitably the hero, the lead, the “good guy”) the right to then draw. This second guy, also almost inevitably, wins the fight.

Actual facts (I know, this is a redundancy, but I wanted stress) about the Old West are tough to pin down. The following facts do appear to be true.

Actual gunfights in the Old West were very rare, very few and far between. When they did occur, not one, but several gunshots were usually fired. Often onlookers were hit. And also, no one knew who actually won the fight until several minutes after the gunshots, as it took a while for all the gun smoke to clear in the air.

And unlike in the movies, easy shots were often missed. Often the two just continued firing until they had completely emptied their pistols. Most experts on the Old West also agree, it was not the “fastest gun” who won. Most gunfights went to the more accurate shot. But even above speed and accuracy, a “cool head” took precedence and was the single most valuable asset for a gunman.

Although many Old West legends have “fast gun” reputations, it appears that John Wesley Hardin, Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday, and Billy the Kid were actually really fast guns. But even famous “quick draws” didn’t go the formal route in their gunfights. Why? It was still too risky for a “fast draw” or a “good guy” to lose.

Much more frequently than the typical Hollywood face-to-face draw, a cowboy would gun a guy down at the most opportune point. Meaning, if he got a drop on his enemy, if he was unarmed, or even if it meant shooting him in the back.

The typical Hollywood gunfight distance too, was often varied. Sometimes two opposing gunmen would be very close and would circle each other, like caged animals, before opening fire  on each other.

In 1865, in one of the few actual documented gunfights (with evidence and valid testimony), James Butler Hickok (“Wild Bill” Hickok) had a bad quarrel with Davis Tutt in Springfield, Missouri. The fight was over a debt. At around 6PM, the two advanced on each other in the town square. The men drew guns at a distance of around 50 yards and blasted away.

Tutt missed. Wild Bill didn’t. Tutt fell with a bullet through his heart.

Hickok was tried for manslaughter and acquitted. A sensational account of the gunfight appeared in Harper’s magazine in 1867. This account made Hickok a national celebrity. This fairly “Hollywood” gunfight, although it did occur, was a rarity. The 50 yard distance was questioned by skeptics, but was verified by several onlookers.

Another “mistake” Hollywood makes about gunfights is the “gun in the holster” myth. True, gunfights were sometimes conducted with the opponents’ guns in their respective holsters, but often the guns were held in belts or in their pockets, and sometimes just tucked into the front of their pants. It was rare, but sometimes the two duelists would just stand up and face each other, each man clutching his gun in hand, no holster draw, no nothing.

Oh, and there is one gunfight factor Hollywood did get right: “liquid courage.” A great number of Old West gunfights were not the result of some noble cause, like “defending a woman’s honor” or some such deal. The consumption of whiskey, liquor, and booze had a hand in a great percentage of mano et mano confrontations in the town square.

Still, despite knowledge of the truth. most of us enjoy a good TV or movie gunfight. They’re dramatic, they’re romantic, they’re exciting, and I guess we like them because almost inevitably the good guy wins. And this isn’t always so in real life, is it?

The Rocking Reading Rainbow

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 04:39 AM PDT

(Video Link)

I remember Reading Rainbow being pretty epic, but not like this. I don’t know if LeVar Burton would be proud or ashamed of this one. what do you think? -Thanks, Andy!

Something Seems Wrong Here

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 03:35 AM PDT

This Chinese bootleg version of Game of Thrones has something wrong with it…I just can’t figure out what it is. Any ideas guys?

Link Via io9

Disney Princesses As Tough Gals

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 02:25 AM PDT

What happens when Aurora becomes a wrestler, Tiana becomes a mercenary and Pocahontas becomes a warrior? Find out with the delightful art of JoshWMC. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d love to see all of these gals star in a video game.

Link Via io9

M.C. Escher’s LEGO Star Wars

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 02:00 AM PDT

You can find the whole trilogy in Paul Vermeesch’s amazing LEGO diorama inspired by both M.C. Escher’s Relativity and Star Wars. He covers the little details, from Luke’s severed hand to Obi-Wan distracting stormtroopers so that he can disable the tractor beam on the Death Star. You can find more pictures at the link.

Link -via io9

How to Make Alcoholic Gummy Bears

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 01:19 AM PDT

No, it’s not a matter of making gummy bears from scratch, it’s much more simple than that -just pour alcohol over them and let it absorb until the gummies become nice and soft -like Jell-O. Yummy!

Link

This Little Piggy Loves Doggies

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 12:15 AM PDT

(Video Link)

The best thing about this video is how the little pig gets so into it even though the dog is the one running all around the house over the playtime excitement.

Via I Can Has Cheezburger

Mama Dog Nurses Baby Tigers

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 12:00 AM PDT


(Video Link)

The mother of these two Siberian tiger cubs refused to nurse them, so zookeepers in Oktyabrsky, Russia recruited a lactating Shar Pei to nurse them. The dog, who is named Cleopatra, took to the work and is nursing them alongside her own puppies.

Link

Ambulance Chasing: It’s Not Just for Lawyers Anymore

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 11:00 PM PDT

Once it was a competitive sport practiced only by lawyers, but now everyone can chase after ambulances. The Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company in northern Virginia raises money by challenging people to pursue one of its ambulances:

The run was launched by local attorney Hana Brilliant three years ago when she was president of the company, and helps purchase actual fire trucks and ambulances for the station.

"I got tired of all the ambulance chasing jokes around the firehouse," Brilliant said, "so I decided to use it to the Fire Department's benefit."

It's properly timed and organized, and last year nearly 200 runners raised $7,000.

News Story and Official Website -via Lowering the Bar

Photo: Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company

Professor Toothy Insists on Directly Supervising Your Dental Care

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT


(Video Link)

Professor Toothy’s advice is dubious. As are his social skills, for that matter. But you cannot doubt his dedication to dental hygiene. Content warning: some NSFW language.

Link -via Weer’d World

R2-D2 Budgie

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT

The force is strong with this bird! YouTube user 3pdave uploaded a short and sweet video clip of a budgie that can mimic the sound effects of R2-D2 perfectly.

He used an old Sony Ericsson phone to play the sound to the bird for 5 minutes a day till the cute budgie got it down cold!

Geeks Are Sexy has the clip: Link [embedded YouTube]

The Web’s Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 08:00 PM PDT


Image & Recipe: Closet Cooking

Grilled cheese sandwiches sure have gone a long way since we used to slap a cheese on two pieces of bread and call it a day! Mike Newman of Cool Material has a really neat post that put together the web's best grilled cheese sandwich recipes.

Take a look and drool: Link - Thanks Mike!

The Super Wan Wan Dog Circus

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT


(video link)

The newest episode of The Cute Show from VICE shows us the Super Wan Wan Dog Circus of Tsukuba City, Japan. Many of the dog performers, all adopted from shelters, hold world records for various trucks! -Thanks JE!

Black Hole Ejected From Home Galaxy

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT


Image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/F.Civano et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Optical (wide field): CFHT, NASA/STScI

Astronomers from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory spotted a black hole being evicted from its home galaxy:

"It's hard to believe that a supermassive black hole weighing millions of times the mass of the sun could be moved at all, let alone kicked out of a galaxy at enormous speed," said Francesca Civano of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), who led the new study. "But these new data support the idea that gravitational waves -- ripples in the fabric of space first predicted by Albert Einstein but never detected directly -- can exert an extremely powerful force."

Although the ejection of a supermassive black hole from a galaxy by recoil because more gravitational waves are being emitted in one direction than another is likely to be rare, it nevertheless could mean that there are many giant black holes roaming undetected out in the vast spaces between galaxies.

"These black holes would be invisible to us," said co-author Laura Blecha, also of CfA, "because they have consumed all of the gas surrounding them after being thrown out of their home galaxy."

Black holes freely roaming the universe? Aspiring sci-fi writers, there's your cue! Link

Empire of the Binary Sun

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Rob Wood of Cu3ik designs reimagined the Empire of the Sun movie poster into something from a galaxy far, far away. Behold, Empire of the Binary Sun: Link

 

Grimms’ Fairy Tales Postertext

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 04:18 PM PDT

Grimms’ Fairy Tales Postertext – $34.95

Do your walls look gruesomely bare? Livening them up is child’s play with the Grimms’ Fairy Tales Postertext from the NeatoShop. This great conversation piece features many short stories including Little Red Riding Hood and other works by The Brothers Grimm, as translated by Edgar Taylor and Marian Edwardes.

Finally, there is a way to hang the text of your favorite book on the wall. The negative space from the text recreates an iconic moment from the book. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Postertexts and Posters!

Link

Cellular Symphony of a Developing Embryo

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT


Micrograph: Keller et a./Nature Methods

Scientists have created a new technique to capture 3-D images of a developing fruit fly embryo:

Order emerges from cellular tumult in this video of a developing fruit fly embryo imaged with unprecedented cell-by-cell three-dimensional detail.

The technique, called simultaneous multiview light-sheet microscopy, illuminates a biological sample with thin sheets of light positioned at the focal planes of multiple high-resolution digital cameras. Together they collect 175 million voxels–the 3-D version of pixels–of information per second. The photographs are then combined and assembled to create a 3-D image.

Brandon Keim of Wired Science has the post and mesmerizing video clip: Link

Colors and Personalities of Gouldian Finches

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT

Scientists studying the Gouldian finches of Australia discovered that the bird's colorful head actually correspond to their personalities:

Scientists from Liverpool John Moores University and The Royal Veterinary College investigated the "highly sociable" Australian birds.

The team set the finches a series of behavioural tests to understand the purpose of their bright appearance.

They found that red-headed finches were more aggressive, while black-headed birds were bolder and took more risks.

Link 

Ray Bradbury’s Letter: All My Friends Were On The Shelves Above

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 02:30 PM PDT

 

Ray Bradbury, who just
passed away, wrote this letter in 2006 about how he wrote his novella
The Fireman, which later got expanded into Fahrenheit
451,
by renting a typewriter in the basement of the UCLA library.

Letters of Note has the post: Link

Industrial Light and Magic: Behind The Scenes of The Avengers

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT

How did the visual effects masters at Industrial Light and Magic bring the Hulk to life in the blockbuster The Avengers? Scott Broock of The Daily has the behind the scenes look:


[YouTube Clip] - via The Daily

Creating the New York City battle scene is fascinating:


[YouTube Clip]

Macho Guys Can Be Surprisingly Cooperative

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:30 PM PDT

Macho guys are usually portrayed as go-it-alone heroes in the movies, but Hollywood may have gotten it wrong.

New study suggests that men with macho faces may actually be surprisingly cooperative, if needed by their home teams:

"Men with wider faces have typically been portrayed as 'bad to the bone,'" study researcher Michael Stirrat of the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom said in a statement. [...]

The wider a man's face, the less likely he was to cooperate with his group when told that he'd be compared with other men from his school. But when given an outside rival, these broad-faced macho guys got competitive. Suddenly, they became more likely than average to gamble their own money for the good of their group.

The findings reveal that masculine traits can come out in both pro-social and anti-social ways. In other words, masculine guys may be more aggressive in general, but their manly characteristics are downright warm-and-fuzzy in some circumstances, such as when they need to support the home team.

Link (Image: Macho Tissues from the NeatoShop)

 

“Vampire” Skeletons

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Archaeologists in Bulgaria discovered two skeletons with iron rods piercing their chest to stop them from turning into vampires:

"These skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th Century," explained Bozhidar Dimitrov who heads the National History Museum in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

People believed the rod would pin the dead into their graves to prevent them from leaving at midnight and terrorising the living, the historian added.

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Did Zombies Plague Medieval Ireland?

Blind Tennis

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT

The photo of a tennis game above may look a bit strange to you: the court is a bit small, the net is a badminton net lowered to the ground, and the oversized ball bounces two to three times and jingles because it has ball bearings inside. But strangest of all are the players: they're blind.

Welcome to blind tennis, a sport that was invented in Japan back in 1984 and is now growing in popularity in the USA:

When he first heard about tennis for the visually impaired, his reaction was “No way!” he said. “I was skeptical.”

So were faculty members at the Perkins School for the Blind here, when a sighted student from nearby Newton proposed it nearly two years ago. But Perkins, known for athletic innovations like adapted fencing, decided to offer what are believed to be the first blind tennis classes in the country.

Like tennis for sighted people, the game requires speedy court coverage and precise shot-making. Blind players rely on their ears to follow a foam ball filled with ball bearings that rattles when it bounces or is struck.

“Your ears have become your eyes,” said Dr. Robert Gotlin, director of orthopedic and sports rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

Thomas Lin of The New York Times has the interesting story: Link 

How Monkey and Ape Ancestors Colonized Africa

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT

Eosimias

We learned that humans evolved from earlier primates in Africa and then spread around the world. But what about those earlier primates? Where did they originate?

Until about 20 years ago, the answer seemed obvious: Africa. That's where the earliest fossil evidence was found, mainly from Egypt's Fayum Depression. Starting in the 1990s, however, relevant fossils started popping up in Asia. Paleoanthropologists now consider a 45-million-year-old primate discovered in China, called Eosimias, to be the earliest anthropoid, the group of primates that includes monkeys, apes and humans. Eosimias was tiny, weighing less than half a pound. But it possessed certain dental and jaw characteristics that link it to living anthropoids.

The newly discovered species, named Afrasia dijijidae, dates to roughly 37 million years ago and was found in Myanmar. So far, all that's known of Afrasia is based on four isolated teeth. But the nooks, crannies, crests and bumps on those teeth reveal a few things about where the ancestors of today's monkeys and apes came from.

Find out more about this new, yet very old, ancestor at Hominid Hunting. Link

(Image credit: Nancy Perkins/Carnegie Museum of Natural History)

What Killed Giant Insects That Ruled The Skies of Ancient Earth?

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 11:30 AM PDT


A fossilized insect wing from the species Stephanotypus schneideri and it is about 300 million years old. The wing is about 7.5 inches (19 centimeters long), substantially smaller than the largest fossil insect (Meganeuropsis permiana, about 33 cm long). Superimposed on the fossil is a drawing of the largest Cenozoic insect (it's about 12 million years old), Epiaeschna lucida, which comes in at 2.6 inches (6.7 cm) long, similar to modern insects. (Photo: Wolfgang Zessin and Matthew Clapham)

What happened to giant insects that ruled the skies of ancient Earth? Studies by Matthew Clapham of University of California at Santa Cruz and colleagues showed that insects gradually get smaller and smaller as dinosaurs evolved flight and took to the skies as birds:

Millions of years ago, oversized insects like griffinflies boasting wingspans comparable to today's hawks scuttled across (and fluttered above) the planet. But why these jumbo jets of the insect world shrunk to modern size has remained a mystery, until now.

Turns out, as dinosaurs evolved flight and eventually took to the skies as birds, they beat down the huge insects already living there, effectively putting a cap on insect size through predation and competition in the prehistoric skies, as birds developed into sophisticated flying machines.

Link 

Man Builds Replica of Golden Gate Bridge across Creek in Kansas

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT

In 1967, Larry Richardson saw San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge as he headed to Vietnam:

The story began in the dead of night in February 1969, when Larry was on a troop bus on his way to deployment. Jolted awake, he caught a glimpse of one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. The image stuck with the kid from Kansas, who was headed for the exotic world of the Mekong Delta.

“Jungles and swamps. Rice paddies,” he said. “The Golden Gate Bridge was one of the last major things I saw from the states for a long time. It was home, you know.”

He never forgot that moment or what the bridge meant to him. So, decades later, Richardson decided to build a model on his farm in Mulvane, Kansas:

Although Richardson, 63, says he built his bridge on his farm on a whim, this is no coffee-table model. It is 150 feet long and wide enough to fit an automobile. He used 97 1/2 tons of concrete, which he hand-mixed in a wheelbarrow. Progress was slow because he kept wearing out the hoes he used to turn the mixture. [...]

In all, it took 11 years, cost $4,000 and was finished in 2002, making it just 10 years old compared with the Golden Gate’s 75.

Link -via Oddity Central | Photo: Flickr user Suspensionstayed

Knitted Spam Poetry

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:30 AM PDT

Those strangely written emails in your spam folder make a lot more sense once you understand that they’re actually lines of poetry. Mar Canet and Varvara Guljajeva knitted them together into a form that will be perfect for your next open mic poetry night.

Link -via Craft

Giant Googly Eyes

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:11 AM PDT

Giant Googly Eyes – $6.95

Are you looking for a way to add a little pizzazz and personality to boring everyday items? You need the Giant Googly Eyes from the NeatoShop. This eye popping set of two giant googly eyes comes with an adhesive backing. The eyes will stick to virtually anything to make a gigantic silly face. Happy decorating!

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more  Home & Garden fun!

Link

Saintly Superheroes

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT

Igor Scalisi Palminteri purchased a few images and figures of saints from street markets in his native Palermo. With a bit of acrylic paint and presumably some modeling clay, he turned them into serene and contemplative superheroes. You can find Superman, Catwoman, Spider-Man and more at the link.

Link -via Nag on the Lake | Photo: Tribe Art

Traumdeutung

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT


(vimeo link)

Have you ever dreamed about a squirrel? Ah, we know what that means! This surreal animation by the Helsinki creative team Fellowland involves a narrator who took advice from a squirrel that appeared in his dreams. Then he found squirrel dreams were more common than he thought! -via Laughing Squid

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 09:03 AM PDT

06 World Fantasy Con III 1977 Ray Bradbury Signing Next to Robert Bloch

Ray Bradbury, author of classic works of fiction such as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and The Illustrated Man, died this morning in Los Angeles.

His grandson, Danny Karapetian, shared these words with io9 about his grandfather’s passing: “If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone’s memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it’s always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know.”

Bradbury was 91. Link -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Flickr user By California Cthulhu (Will Hart))

Tim Burton: A Filmography

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

Produced by Martin Woutisseth, this video is an entry in a French contest that challenges filmmakers to pay tribute to Tim Burton in five minutes or less. You can see almost 300 other entries at DailiyMotion. Link -via The Daily What

How to Memorize a Deck of Cards with Superhuman Speed

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT

In a guest post, two-time USA Memory Champion Ron White tells us how he memorizes a deck of cards. It involves advance preparation in creating a simple yet bizarre mental image for each card placement. It may help you win card games, but it also might be used to create a work of surrealist fiction! Check it out at The Art of Manliness. Link -via the Presurfer

The Other Diamond Jubilee

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 07:30 AM PDT


(YouTube link)

Only one other monarch has reigned over England as long as Queen Elizabeth II, although the current queen may surpass that record in the next few years. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901, and was the first British monarch to be photographed or captured in motion pictures. This sequence was recorded during Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1897. See more surviving film footage and photographs at Buzzfeed. Link

Woman Accidentally Steals Getaway Car

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT

A Houston woman identified only as Blanca was cashing a check at the Chase bank in Uvalde, Texas, when armed bank robbers stormed in. She was so frightened, she ran to the first car she saw and drove away. She later found out that she had taken the robbers’ getaway vehicle!

She said the car was on, so she floored it, desperate to escape.

She said she drove a few miles from the bank, pulled into a parking lot, fell out of the car and ran into a Cricket store, screaming for help.

But what she didn't know was, she'd just stolen the suspects' getaway car – which police said the suspects had stolen from someone else.

“Then, they arrested me, and they said, 'You're the one that stole a stolen car.' And I'm like, 'Oh my God, it was their car,'” Blanca said.

The FBI cleared Blanca of car theft charges. The robbers simply carjacked another vehicle and are still at large. Link (with priceless video)  -via Arbroath

A Found on Flickr WTF?

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:35 AM PDT

Looking through Flickr for an article the other day, I randomly came across this odd picture of a fancy-dressed goat who happens to be urinating and I couldn’t help but share it with all of you. Enjoy.

Link

The VW Bug’s Rare and Quirky Czech Mate

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT

This odd-looking vehicle is a 1950 Tatra T-600 Tatraplan, a Czechoslovakian car collector Justin Pinchot found in Canada. It has an air-cooled, rear-mounted engine. If that reminds you of the Volkswagen Beetle you drove in the ’60s, here’s why:

Founded in 1850 as a manufacturer of horse-drawn coaches, by 1899, Tatra was one of Europe's leading automakers, producing a sports car that reached 71 miles per hour. Then, in 1921, an Austrian named Hans Ledwinka was named Tatra's chief designer. Ledwinka was something of a rock star among European automobile designers between the wars. "Hitler had dinner with Ledwinka many times when he was touring Czechoslovakia prior to the war," Pinchot says. "'That's the car I want for my roads', Hitler told his designer, Ferdinand Porsche [at the time, Porsche's company was still a design firm; its famous 911 would not be released until 1964]. It was very well known that Hitler and Porsche stole the idea for the Volkswagen Beetle from Tatra. In fact, after the war, Germany paid Tatra three-million Deutschmarks to settle a lawsuit Tatra had filed in the 1930s."

But there are differences. The Tatraplan has front suicide doors, a luggage compartment between the riders and the engine, and pop-up semaphore turn signals! Read more about this interesting car at Collector’s Weekly. Link  -Thanks, Ben!

The Credible Hulk

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 05:28 AM PDT

Unfortunately, I don’t think that attacking things while angry, even if it is somewhat justified, is necessarily a credible course of action.

Link Via The Daily What
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