London's Victorian Era Exhibition in 1897 featured a wide variety of modern innovations, the weirdest of which was a lamppost that doubled as a vending machine, dispensing coffee, cocoa, milk, tea, and a concoction called "fluid beef." Called the Pluto Lamp, this monstrous hybrid was installed throughout London. — Read the rest

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In 1986, the New Republic held a reader competition to submit the most boring headline ever. The idea for the contest was inspired by a New York Times column from April of that year, headlined, "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." The New Republic said of the headline, "Each word taken alone is sleep-inducing. — Read the rest

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Kurt Andersen, co-founder of the late great Spy magazine, announced that the 40th anniversary of the magazine will be celebrated on Substack, where "we'll start publishing starting next Monday the 5th, a limited series of daily excerpts and links from the magazine's archive, with bits of new commentary and context. — Read the rest

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