Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

This week we're replaying some of our favorite shows about our favorite games. In this episode from December 2019, we look at the history of Oregon Trail, the invention of three student teachers from Minnesota who ended up changing video game history without realizing it. Plus: a hospital in San Antonio, Texas marks the holiday season by sending all its December newborns home in  red and white hats… and stockings! Oregon Trail: How three Minnesotans forged its path (City Pages) This Hospital Wins Christmas By Sending Newborns Home In Christmas Stockings For Over 50 Years Now (Bored Panda) You have reached Chimney Rock. Would you like to stop and back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

As automakers move toward all-electric vehicles, we're going to need a lot more batteries, only there are difficulties in getting some of the key elements. A startup called Nth cycle may have a way to help. Plus: meet a young reader who really knows how to multitask.  This new tech mines old batteries to find critical ingredients for electric vehicles (Fast Company) 5-Year-Old Indian-American Sets World Record for Reading 36 Books in under Two Hours (News18) Our backers on Patreon keep this show charged every day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On any given day McDonald's serves huge numbers of people, either in restaurants or via drive-thru windows. But once, in the 1990s, the company also tried to operate restaurant cars on a long-distance German train line. Plus: since April 15 is traditionally tax day, so did you know that ancient Rome once taxed bachelors?  The McTrain: The Rise and Fall of McDonald's Ambitious Plan to Conquer the Railroads (The Drive) 8 of History's Strangest Taxes (Mental Floss) Thanks to our backers on Patreon, this show is completely cost and tax free for you!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

One of the more than 700 survivors of the sinking of RMS Titanic was Violet Jessop, a stewardess who helped passengers get into lifeboats and wait for rescue. Amazingly, Jessop had been in one shipwreck before that, and would go on to be in another. Plus: today marks 100 years since the death of the man who patented the Ouija board. His tombstone pays special tribute to his contribution.  The story of Violet Constance Jessop (UK National Archives) A Woman to Know: Violet Jessop (A Woman To Know) One Of The Most Unique Tombstones In The World Is Right Here In Maryland (Only In Maryland) Our show will go on, thanks to our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It's National Scrabble Day, marking the birth of the person who started it all. Here's some of how Alfred Mosher Butts and, later, James Brunot turned the game originally called Lexiko got its start. Plus: on this day in 1818, the U.S. begins adding stars (but no longer adding stripes) for each new state.  A Short History of Scrabble (and Some Fun Scrabble Facts) (New England Historical Society) Only the Beginning (New Yorker) Grand Old Flag (Library of Congress) "Backer" is my favorite word, become one today on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is the birthday of Evelyn Berezin, whose inventions include the first computer-based word processor, the first computerized airline reservations system, and so much more that so many of us use regularly today. Plus: artist Nadia Gonegaï has made the Portrait Urn, a pretty special way to remember someone special.  The woman who invented the word processor and online flight booking system has died (Quartz) Evelyn Berezin, Computer Scientist Behind Groundbreaking Word Processor, Dies At 93 (NPR) Portrait Urn (Book of Joe) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Two design students have come up with an idea to turn the stretchy, plasticky parts of chewing gum into new wheels for skateboards, so the gum isn't wasted. It's the kind of idea that just might stick. Plus: today in 1965, the Houston Astrodome opened. They had a plan to grow grass indoors, but they also had a Plan B.  These Students Designed A Way Of Repurposing Chewing Gum To Make Skateboard Wheels! (Yanko Design) 9 things you didn't know about the once-majestic Astrodome (USA Today) Our Patreon backers have discovered a way to turn money into great podcasts --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Next month the website Yahoo Answers is shutting down, after 16 glorious years of... everything that went on over there. We look back at the most famous moments on a site that became, as the New York Times put it this week, a “haven for the confused.” Plus: a company is making a pair of sneakers that was produced in part from grapes. Yahoo Answers, a Haven for the Confused, Is Shutting Down (New York Times) New Whiskey, Chef-Approved Spices and Sneakers Made From Grapes (UrbanDaddy) How is podcast formed? Patreon backers, of course  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On this day in 1948, Idaho Fish and Game moved beavers to a new habitat in a very unusual way: they had the beavers parachute into the wilderness! We'll explain how they did it. Plus: a new map of New York City's most notable trees helps people find some unique green space even in the big city.  Parachuting Beavers Into Idaho's Wilderness? Yes, It Really Happened (Boise State Public Radio) New Map Unearths New York’s Oldest and Rarest Trees (Hyperallergic) We'd fly anywhere with our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Chuck Lamb found a unique way into TV shows and movies: he became "Dead Body Guy," playing a range of characters who had already passed on. And, of course, he took an unusual path to get there. Plus: it's the birthday of Billy Dee Williams, so here's a few lesser-known facts about the actor who brought Lando Calrissian to life.  Why 'Dead Body Guy' is calling it quits on his acting career (As It Happens) A Name in the Credits? Over His Dead Body (New York Times) 8 Suave Facts About Billy Dee Williams (Mental Floss) Our Patreon backers always give us more time!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

A device in Denmark, WasteShark, has been roaming through water to scoop up floating debris. Now it's going to have a flying companion drone to help spot waste and maybe even clean up oil spills. Plus: photographer Nancy Floyd has been taking self-portraits and other images, structured the same way, day after day since 1982, to show the passage of time. Talk about playing the long game.  These drones look for trash in waterways—and then send sailing drones to clean it up (Fast Company) An Intimate Series About Aging and Time Compiles Portraits of Photographer Nancy Floyd Every Day Since 1982 (Colossal) Our Patreon backers make this show happen, day after day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1827, Joseph Dixon began manufacturing pencils at his factory in Salem, Massachusetts, so it's a good day to go back through the centuries and centuries that helped make the pencil what it is now. Plus: there's a vintage and specialty pencil shop in Wisconsin called the Pencillarium! The Write Stuff: How The Humble Pencil Conquered The World (Popular Mechanics) A Visual History of the Pencil (Museum of Everyday Life) 9 Weird Ways Pencils Changed the World (Reader's Digest) You Won’t Find Another Store Like The Pencillarium In Wisconsin (Only in Wisconsin) Our backers on Patreon are always worth writing home about --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

As sea levels rise, small island nations like Kiribati face some tough choices. A European design studio has an idea that might help: sustainable buildings that can collect rainwater, generate electricity, and help grow food. And they float. Plus: Boston's Museum of Science joins with Leonard Nimoy's family to mark his 90th birthday in a fascinating way.  Kiribati Floating Houses address rising waters and land limitations (Inhabitat) Nimoy Family and Boston's Museum of Science Announce Vulcan Salute Monument (Star Trek) Keep this show growing as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated and opened, but it was only one of hundreds of ideas for what should be built there. And some of the other proposed designs were wild. Plus: a new device would be able to extract water from the air wherever the user already is.  The Story Behind The Eiffel Tower's Forgotten Competitors (Ozy) The Eiffel Tower’s Long-Lost Competition: A Granite Lighthouse (Frenchly) GE researchers are developing a portable device that produces water out of thin air (designboom) Our backers on Patreon keep us standing tall  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Babies born ahead of schedule can benefit from close contact with parents and caregivers - and for the times they're not available, there's a new hospital bed called Calmer that can simulate the rocking motion they feel when they're being held up close. Plus: anybody need a fancy door that can fold down into a ping pong table? Cause that exists now.  Pulsating bed could prevent brain damage in premature babies (New Atlas) Ping Pong Door (Nag on the Lake) Keep this show rockin' as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On this day in 1849, Henry Brown escaped slavery from a Virginia plantation in a very unusual way: he arranged it so he could hide in a small wooden box that was sent to Pennsylvania. Here's some of his story. Plus: it was on this day in 2011 that a paramedic rescued a doctor from a fiery car crash, 30 years after that same doctor had helped the paramedic survive as a newborn.  Slavery cost him his family. That’s when Henry ‘Box’ Brown mailed himself to freedom. (Washington Post) Little Known Black History Fact: Henry ‘Box’ Brown (Black America Web) OC Paramedic Helps Rescue Doctor Who Saved His Life as Baby; Pair Reunited (KTLA) Help us make more episodes like this one as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1804, the US Senate held a party featuring something called the “Mammoth Loaf.” To explain, we have to first tell you about Thomas Jefferson, an enormous block of cheese and an archeology project. Plus: a very cold town in Siberia has some very cool music, thanks to spring ice drums.  Jefferson presented with a “mammoth loaf” of bread (History.com) Thomas Jefferson and the "mammoth loaf of bread" (part 1) (The New York Evening Post via Newspapers.com)  Spring ice drums in the village of Oymyakon, Yakutia (Siberian Times) Our backers on Patreon are the coolest people  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It's a state holiday today known as Maryland Day, so it's a good time to talk about how in 1962 Maryland named jousting its official state sport. Plus: in New York City there's a "space clearer" who removes the negative energy from homes that won't sell and apartments with unsettling or tragic histories.  A look into Maryland’s curious state sport: Jousting (Shore Monthly) Mary Lou Bartram (Maryland Jousting Tournament Association) The Healer That Real-Estate Agents Call to Clear Their Cursed Apartments (Curbed) Our backers on Patreon help this show hit its targets every time --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

An engineer and beekeeper in New England has developed a system using radar and vibrational sensors to detect when a hive is being robbed by a rival colony, or when some of the bees are about to leave and start their own colony. That should create a buzz among beekepers! Plus: IKEA has just published a digital "scrapsbook" intended to help people turn leftovers into new meals and not into food waste.  Radar-Piezoelectric Tech Tracks Hive Mind—of Bees (IEEE Spectrum) IKEA's Free Scrapsbook Cookbook For Food Waste (Cool Hunting) We will always bee here for our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It was on this day in 1857 that the first commercial elevator began operating at a department store in New York City. And once elevators took off, they started shaping the world around us in some pretty big ways. Plus: a city in Oregon is home to an elevator that is technically a street! March 23, 1857: Mr. Otis Gives You a Lift (Wired) Oregon City is home of America's steepest street (Offbeat Oregon) Our Patreon backers give us a lift every day - join them! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message